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Just as Little Sparrow started to form the words of her question on her lips, Fire Thunder intervened.
“My sister is inquiring as to your welfare this morning,” he said. He reached for Little Sparrow and swung her around to sit on his lap. Beyond the campfire he saw the men rising one by one from their bedrolls.
Fire Thunder’s eyes met and held with Kaylene’s. “And what do I tell my sister?” he asked, his voice soft as he was caught up in the sight of this beautiful, green-eyed woman.
But he reminded himself once again that he must control his urges—his desires. Time lay ahead of them where he would prove to her that he set the rules between them. She was the captive, he the captor.
He must never be caught off guard with her, to allow her to know that if she played her cards right, she would be able to get more from him than she would ever imagine!
Yes, he had to watch his actions and his emotions well, or be made to look a fool, not only in the eyes of this woman, but also his people’s.
“And how should I be this morning after having been stabbed yesterday, after losing my father, after being forced to leave my mother?” Kaylene spat out.
She trembled from the anger that rose in her insides like hot coals. “I have no idea what your plans are for me,” she said, her voice breaking emotionally. “I’m not sure if I am to live or die the sort of death forced upon my father. So, tell me, Fire Thunder, how would you feel if you were in my position?”
He wanted to tell her that her anger was understandable, and that, in time, he would be so kind and gentle to her, she would wonder why she had ever felt this way about him.
Even about her father’s death. In time she would accept, even admit, that her father was a fiend who preyed on children. She would know that the world was a better place without him.
But each day as she drew closer to Little Sparrow as a friend, she would think back to when the girl was caged like an animal. She would feel a deep, cold dread inside her heart, that if Fire Thunder had not come and rescued his sister, and made the evil man pay for having treated her so unjustly, Little Sparrow would even now be caged.
Little Sparrow would have become nothing more to people than a novelty—something to gawk at. Kaylene would have been witness to Little Sparrow dying a slow death inside, eventually becoming only a shell of the sweet little girl she had always been.
Black Hair came to Fire Thunder.
Fire Thunder was glad to have someone interrupt the awkward moment with Kaylene.
“Should I send warriors out to find food for the morning meal? Or do you wish to go on to our village and eat when we arrive?” Black Hair asked, giving Kaylene a wondering stare, finding her glare cold and pitiless.
Fire Thunder rose to his feet. “We have been gone too long from our people,” he said. He combed his long powerful fingers through his thick, black hair, then lifted it back across his shoulders. “We will return home now. Once we are there, we will eat.”
Black Hair nodded and spread the word.
The campfire was covered with dirt, putting out any embers that might flare up again in the morning’s brisk wind. The blankets and bedrolls were tied to the horses.
Fire Thunder went to Kaylene and started to lift her to carry her to his horse, but she took a step away from him, refusing to allow it.
“You are still stubborn, I see,” Fire Thunder said, placing his fists on his h
ips. “You force me to give you two choices. You either come willingly with me on my horse, or you can walk the rest of the way to my village.”
Kaylene’s cheeks grew hot with a blush. She lowered her eyes, then looked up at Fire Thunder again as she shifted nervously from one foot to the other. She had to relieve herself in the worst way, yet how could she with all of these men around her? How could she even tell Fire Thunder what the true problem was? Never had she been in such an embarrassing, precarious position.
Little Sparrow came and took her by the hand and gently yanked on it.
Kaylene glanced down at her, touched deeply again by the child’s sweet, innocent smile.
Then an idea came to her. She moaned as she bent to her knees before Little Sparrow, the sudden searing pain in her shoulder a reminder that it was far from well.
She started to mouth the words slowly to Little Sparrow, that she needed to go to the bathroom, so that Little Sparrow could read her lips.
But Kaylene was keenly aware of eyes on her, watching her, knowing that Fire Thunder could read her lips just as easily as Little Sparrow.
Kaylene turned anger-filled eyes up at Fire Thunder. She sighed with impatience. “Please turn your eyes from me,” she said, her voice drawn. “I have something I wish to tell Little Sparrow.” Another blush rushed up from her neck to her cheeks. She smiled awkwardly at Fire Thunder. “Please? What I have to say is quite private.”
Glad at least that Kaylene and Little Sparrow had this growing bond, Fire Thunder turned his back to them.
Kaylene spoke the words slowly and distinctly to Little Sparrow, making sure to form them exactly on her lips so that she would not have to repeat them. The need was getting urgent.
