Free Lakota Flower by Janelle Taylor

shocked and dismayed his brother was and how his expression softened when he was told of Caroline’s terrified reaction.
    War Eagle said, “She has many wits and skills and she senses much. It is good you told her of your conflict with our cousin, but not the whole truth about it. I do not believe Two Feathers seeks the white girl in trade as a helper for Pretty Meadow. Our father’s sister is not old or weak. It worries me our cousin watches Caroline on the sly. Why does he think I desire her as a woman? Have I behaved in such a manner?”
    Cloud Chaser asked, “What are you thoughts and feelings about her?”
    “She possesses a strong but gentle spirit. She is brave, wise, and skilled. She is obedient. She can be trusted not to escape and endanger us. Is that not true, my brother, from what you have seen and heard?”
    “That is true, War Eagle, but what of her as a woman?”
    “I must not look or think upon Caroline as a woman.”
    Cloud Chaser noted that he spoke the female’s name in a tender tone and with a sad look in his eyes. “Why?”
    “She is white, a captive. I am Oglala. Red Shield. Son of a chief.”
    “Do these things prevent thoughts and feelings about her?”
    “I have told you what I think and feel. Why do you dig for more?”
    “Is there more to reveal but you wish to keep it buried?”
    “I wish she were not here and had not been with the soldiers.”
    Cloud Chaser surmised that War Eagle had answered too quickly, even falsely, out of desperation and denial. “Because she does evoke strange and unwanted thoughts and feelings?”
    War Eagle lowered his head as he took a deep breath. “At times strange thoughts enter my head and strange feelings tug at my heart, but I do not know why or what they mean. She is unlike all women I have known.”
    “Is that why you gave her to me and Dawn, to escape her temptation?”
    “Yes, and to save her life. She is a good woman, and it is wrong to slay her. But there can be nothing more between us.”
    “Only the Great Spirit can make that choice, my brother. Do not forget I carry white blood and I am joined to a Red Shield. Many others, including her parents, resisted our union and viewed me as an enemy. What if the Great Spirit placed her in your path as He placed me in Dawn’s and placed my mother in Rising Bear’s for a short time?”
    “What if an evil spirit did so to shame and defeat me?”
    “If that is so, the truth will be revealed soon. Until that sun rises, War Eagle, do nothing to harm her or turn her against you. But guard your secret and honor fiercely, as many will oppose such a bond. Do not forget you are next in line to become chief if our brother dies or is slain.”
    War Eagle knew Cloud Chaser did not have to tell him that many would not want what they viewed as a lowly white captive to become his mate and weaken their chief’s bloodline, just as both knew that the “tainted” blood Cloud Chaser carried would prevent him from becoming chief even if War Eagle and Wind Dancer were both slain. But why were they even speaking about such an impossible feat? Why had he foolishly exposed such private thoughts and emotions? Had he done so before others, or was their cousin only guessing at that possibility, perhaps only using such words as a ploy to coax Cloud Chaser into a trade? Why was his second brother seemingly encouraging such a perilous bond? It would be agreat loss of face if he took Caroline as his woman, mate or not, if the Great Spirit did not clear that tangled path; and he could not imagine why the Creator would choose her for him.
    Cloud Chaser was thinking much the same and scolded himself for what he had said and done, as it could be terribly wrong and hazardous for his brother to accept and follow his reckless advice. Perhaps it was her resemblance to his beloved lost mother or Omaste’s gentle spirit that was guiding him in that direction. No matter, he must say and do nothing more to promote such a relationship.