Grey Owl took it all in without a single interruption, his expression unreadable the whole while. When she finished, he stood quiet a long moment before speaking again. "You've done something rare, white man," returned to me what I value above all else, and asked nothing in exchange for it. "That speaks to your character. " "Only did what was right. Many men wouldn't have. " Grey Owl studied him a moment longer, taking his measure the way a man weighs a horse before he trades for it.
And then, unexpectedly, a faint smile crossed his weathered face. "Interesting. Very interesting indeed. " He turned to his daughter. "Naelli, you know our ways. This man bought you, saved you, protected you across hostile ground, and brought you home.
There is only one honorable path forward from here. " Color rose in Naellili's cheeks and she nodded slowly. I know it, father. Wyatt looked between the two of them thoroughly lost. What custom? What's he mean?
Grey Owl's face stayed serious, though something playful glinted behind his eyes. Among my people, a warrior who saves a woman's life and returns her safely to her family, especially the daughter of a chief, earns the right to ask for her hand in marriage. The ground seemed to drop clean away under Wyatt. Marriage. He looked to Naellili, whose expression carried surprise, tangled up with something else he couldn't quite name.
Father, I it is our tradition, Grey went on. But I also believe a person deserves a choice in their own life. His full attention swung back to Wyatt. So I ask you plainly, white man, do you wish to marry my daughter? Every eye in that camp turned his way at once.
He felt the full weight of a hundred watching faces, waiting on whatever came next. His mind raced back over every hour of the last four days. The fire lit talks, the way she'd saved his life without a moment's hesitation, her laughter, her sharp intelligence, the fierce steadiness running clean through her. He thought of how empty that ranch had felt before she rode into it, and how impossible it seemed now to picture the place without her standing somewhere inside it. "Yes, Steier," the second time.
"Yes, I want to marry her. " A murmur rolled through the crowd. Naellili's eyes went wide, and Wyatt pressed on, looking straight at her and no one else. "Only if she wants it, too. Not because your customs say so. Not because I paid a price at some market.
Because she truly wants to stand beside me. Grey Owl nodded, clearly pleased. Wellspoken, daughter. What do you say? Naellili held Wyatt's gaze a long moment, searching his face for whatever truth she needed to find there.