Brazen Ecstasy

by Janelle Taylor

  “Iyasni, Wanmdi Hota,” she commanded sternly. “Iyotanka!”

  He stared at her bowed head and hidden face. She had ordered him to silence, to sit down! “Hear my words, Shalee. Leah speaks falsely. Do not allow her words to trouble you,” he gravely entreated.

  “Iyasni, Wanmdi Hota!” she shrieked angrily, fearing he would vanquish her train of thought and halt her progress. “Shalee iwaktaya. lyotanka o-winza. Wastay pezuta. Wakantanka wayaketo. Wilhanmna ku-wa. Shalee wayaketo, wohdate. Wiyakpa wowanyake. Shalee htani si. Shalee wookiye wocin,” she hurriedly related.

  Gray Eagle was bewildered and alarmed. Why was she babbling about coming dreams, about wanting peace, about the Great Spirit seeing, about Shalee seeing, about good medicine, and about bright visions? Why did she want him to sit down on the mat and keep silent?

  Suddenly she was crying! “Shalee?” he hinted in panic.

  She looked up at him and took his hand, pulling him down beside her. “Kokipi sni, Wanmdi Hota. Waste cedake. Leah kaskapi. Leah witkowin. Leah hiya wastay. Shalee Wanmdi Hota winyan.”

  He stared in greater confusion. She was telling him not to fear! Leah was a captive, a whore! Leah was bad! Then, she found it necessary to claim herself as his woman, to say she loved him! What was the meaning of her words and actions? Abruptly, he realized she was speaking only Oglala! In private, they still spoke English, for it seemed easier for her. Was she trying to make some point? What? Why?

  “You’re speaking Oglala,” he remarked, his voice strained with warring emotions.

  Shalee laughed merrily. “And you, my husband, are speaking wasichu.”

  He shook his head to clear this web of mystery and alarm. “What did Leah say to you to upset you this way? You talk and act unlike Shalee.”

  She scanned his worried expression. “My love, my one and only true love…” She caressed his cheek and smiled radiantly. “Kokipi sni, Wanmdi Hota. Shalee Oglala; Shalee ia Oglala. Wanmdi Hota hiya wasichu; Wanmdi Hota ia wasichu,” she mirthfully teased, savoring the telling of her wonderful news.

  “I do fear, Shalee. You are Oglala and my woman. I speak wasichu to understand you,” he panted in exasperation.

  She covered her mouth to suppress her happy giggles. His brow lifted inquisitively. “Ia Oglala,” she coaxed, wishing him to communicate in Sioux.

  “This is not the time to practice your new skills,” he chided her.

  “I need no practice, dear husband. I have spoken your tongue for many years,” she stated lightly, wondering how long it would take before he comprehended the truth of her recovery. She grinned mischievously.

  Perplexed by her odd behavior, he decided it was best to humor her, to avoid upsetting her further. He asked her to tell him what Leah had said to her.

  She shrugged her shoulders and stated calmly that it didn’t matter, for it was all lies. She said she agreed with Running Wolf’s decision to sell her since she was trying to cause so much trouble. She casually told him Leah loved and desired him, but she wouldn’t ever have him! But he was struck speechless for a time when she related Leah’s daring scheme about the baby. She sighed ruefully when she informed him she had slapped Leah and ordered her to silence!

  “She lied! She does not carry my child! I have never mated with her!” he shouted his denials.

  She laughed happily. For the first time, she spoke in English, “I know, Gray Eagle. You have never desired or loved any woman since meeting me. I trust you and love you with all my heart. I know Leah tempted you many times. But I also know you never betrayed me or our love, not even when you thought I was dead.”

  He lowered his head to shield the guilt that must be shining in his ebony eyes, guilt she was acquainted with and understood. “Look at me, Gray Eagle,” she softly commanded. “Didn’t you hear me? I trust you. Nothing happened between you and Leah.”

  He mopped the beads of sweat from his upper lip. “How can you believe me and trust me when you cannot recall our love?”

  “That’s why I can believe you and trust you; I do remember. Haven’t you realized by now that I’m speaking fluent Sioux? Don’t you wonder why?” she teased.

  His head jerked upwards and he stared at her. “Yes, my love; I remember everything,” she answered his unspoken question. “You forgot to tell me that after my people lashed you, you bit my hand to punish them through me. You forgot to tell me I was wearing a beautiful white dress the night we were joined, the night I foolishly tried to escape your love. You forgot to tell me how you teased me with the feathers the day you fought for me. You forgot to tell me we made love for hours by a stream at sunset after you bluffed my release at Fort Pierre. You forgot to tell me how I got the white eagle wanapin. Or how I made your first buckskin shirt. Or how you stayed at my side during Bright Arrow’s birth. Or how you chose the name Sun Cloud for our next son. You also forgot many important things, my adorable husband.”

  “You recall everything?” he asked in amazement.

  “Everything, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad,” she jested.

  Elation filled him. He seized her and hugged her fiercely. “It is true?”

  “Sha, it is true,” she vowed between giggles and kisses.

  He captured her face between his hands and gazed longingly into her sparkling eyes. “I feared you would never recall our life,” he confessed.

  “Didn’t you once tell me that the Great Spirit would return my mind when the time came? The time came today. When Leah threatened our love, Wakantanka revealed the truth to me.”

  “Leah threatened our love?” he repeated in puzzlement. “How so?”

  “When she claimed she was carrying your child. When she said I was barren.”

  “Barren?” he echoed.

  “That means I can’t have any more children, but I can. When the Great Spirit sees it is time, He will also answer that prayer. Sun Cloud will ride at your side one day,” she vowed confidently.

  “Why would Leah speak such lies?” he pondered aloud.

  “She wanted to destroy our love. What better way than to bear your son? To prove you had betrayed me with her?” she hinted tenderly.

  Gray Eagle shuddered, thinking how close he had come to making her lie a possible fact. If he had yielded to her, there would be no way he could positively deny he was the father. He sighed in relief and thanked Wakantanka for preventing such a cruel punishment for his weakness. “My seed has entered no body except yours; this I swear to you.”

  “It isn’t necessary, my love. I know you love only me, as I love only you.”

  Fury suddenly washed over him. “Leah must be punished and sold!” he fiercely declared, recognizing the damage she could have caused.

  “No, my love, not yet. Leah wouldn’t have made such a claim if she couldn’t prove it,” she reasoned aloud.

  “But she cannot! I did not mate with her!” he proclaimed.

  “Not you, but someone else. Such a claim could too easily be disproved. She must be pregnant. If so, we can’t endanger the life of an innocent child by lashing her,” she argued, her gentle nature showing vividly.

  He smiled and caressed her cheek. “It will take many moons to seek such a truth. If we cannot punish her, what will we do with her?”

  “First, find out who the father is; then, decide whether to sell her before or after the baby’s birth. If we sold her now, some other warrior or wife could harm the child by punishing her harshly. Leah does have a way of infuriating people beyond control,” she hinted contritely.

  “How is it possible? She is slave to my father. I have seen her cast her eyes upon no other warrior except…”

  When he apprehensively halted, she laughed and remarked gaily, “Except Wanmdi Hota. Still, a woman doesn’t get with child alone.”

  “Come, we will force the truth from her lips,” he decided, getting up and pulling her to her feet.

  “Yes, perhaps that would be best,” she agreed.

  They left their tepee to confront Leah. They walk
ed to Running Wolf’s tepee to find Leah in tears, shaking in fear before the withering words of White Arrow and the dauntless Sioux chief. The moment they entered the tepee, heavy with an air of hostility, Leah ran to her and fell to her knees, throwing her arms around Shalee’s thighs and pleading for help.

  “Please, Shalee, you must help me!” she cried in panic, honestly terrified for the first time. “They’re going to lash me! They’re sending me away! Help me, please. I promise never to hurt you again. Please…”

  Shalee gazed down at the distraught girl, annoying sympathy pulling at her. Leah had been wrong, even wicked and cruel. But did any woman deserve such harsh torture? She knew the demand of the lash. Once she had received five lashes for attempting to escape, for humiliating her captor and now husband. She cringed at the thought of witnessing another white woman undergo such a savage torture. She quelled her anger and resentment to make a decision she would live to regret….

  “Listen to me closely, Leah Winston. Are you truly pregnant? If so, who is the father? I have regained my memory, so I know without a shadow of doubt it cannot be Gray Eagle. I know of your past sins,” she hinted meaningfully. She hadn’t dared tell Gray Eagle of her suspicions. She prayed she was doing the right thing. If it was possible she had guessed who the father was, she couldn’t allow his son to become a lowly slave. Yet, she feared the revelation and confirmation of her suspicion.

  Before Shalee could change her mind, Leah caught her insinuation and grasped another daring and deceptive ploy. “You know about us? Did you tell his son the truth? He’ll kill me! A powerful and proud man like that would never accept a half-breed child!” she craftily debated, fooling Shalee completely.

  “Then it’s true? You were sleeping with him?” she probed, their English lost to all ears except those of the warrior at her side.

  “How did you know?” Leah asked, watching her closely as she struggled for time to think and to plan this daring scheme. Would it work?

  Knowing her husband could understand every word, Shalee wisely replied, “I suspected the truth the day before my attack near the stream. Since I lost my memory that day, I didn’t remember those suspicions until moments ago. Is he the child’s father?” she boldly demanded.

  Leah dropped her head to conceal her face as she lied, “Yes….”

  “Then why did you tell me the child was Gray Eagle’s?” Shalee angrily probed, as the others witnessed some critical drama taking place, one they didn’t understand yet.

  “Because I love him and want him. I thought if I drove you apart, he would turn to me. I hoped I could convince him the child was his. I didn’t think you would have the nerve to tell him what I said,” she replied, calling upon her perceptions of Shalee’s character and nature to say the right things to win her trust and assistance.

  “If I hadn’t regained my memory, perhaps your vile scheme might have worked on me, but never on Gray Eagle. You underestimate his intelligence and cunning. You also underestimate his love and loyalty to me.”

  “I was crazy with love and desire for him. You have him! Can’t you understand my feelings? It was wrong, and I’m sorry. I was terrified and desperate. I didn’t have much time to trick him. I knew he would keep me and protect me if he thought I was carrying his second son.”

  “Why didn’t you tell the father?” she challenged.

  “Tell him?” she echoed in disbelief. “He would kill me! Do you think he would allow anyone to learn what happened between us? He only used me for a short time, then cast me aside. How could I tell him I was pregnant?” she debated incredulously, cunningly.

  This information staggering, the enraged warrior briefly forgot Shalee’s memory had returned. Gray Eagle demanded in English, “What man does she speak of, Shalee? Who would dishonor himself in this manner? She is a white whore; no Oglala warrior would place his seeds within her to grow,” he sneered contemptuously.

  “See!” she exclaimed in horror. “The only thing they guard with their lives is their bloody honor! He’ll never confess to such a cruel deed!”

  “Who?” Gray Eagle harshly repeated.

  “I can’t tell you,” Leah fearfully refused.

  Gray Eagle seized her arm and yanked her to her feet. He painfully twisted upon it, extracting a scream of agony. “Speak his name, Witkowin!”

  When Leah shook her head, he applied more pressure. Shalee started to interfere, but didn’t. She would later berate herself for her silence. She was savagely torn between right and wrong, between justice and punishment. If the child was his son, didn’t he have the right to know, to claim him, to keep him, to prevent his enslavement and abuse?

  “Running Wolf!” the name left Leah’s lips as Shalee wavered in doubt.

  Gray Eagle’s face grew livid with rage at her insult. His fury was unleashed. He forcefully shoved the offensive slave from him. For an instant he was tempted to kill her. When he menacingly started toward her, Leah scrambled to her feet and sought refuge behind the chief. She was shaking in terror. Never had she seen such a look of sheer hatred or murderous intent upon that handsome face.

  “It’s true; I swear it,” Leah shouted in panic.

  “I shall cut out your lying tongue!” he shouted at her, drawing his knife. He was suddenly aware of speaking English, but the truth demanded he continue this infuriating discussion. No matter now, Leah knew of his secret talent! She would die for this unforgivable insult!

  Shalee seized his arm and cried out in alarm, “No, Wanmdi Hota. She might speak the truth.”

  When Gray Eagle focused his astounded gaze upon her pale face, she quickly added, “I think they were… I think they did… sleep together several times. Ask Running Wolf if she lies,” she softly coaxed.

  “Ask my father, our chief, to defend himself against such lies?” he exclaimed disbelievingly. “Does your white blood betray you, wife? You take a white slave’s side against my father’s?” he charged unwittingly amidst his anguish and turmoil, cutting her deeply.

  Her face drained of what little color was left in it. “No, Gray Eagle, it does not. I’m not taking Leah’s side, but I saw and heard things long ago that tell me she speaks the truth.”

  “Then your ears and eyes deceive you, wife! My father would never touch a white slave! No Oglala warrior would mate with a white slave!”

  “Not even you?” she sent her stinging barb home.

  Stunned, he gazed at her. “You are my wife,” he coldly snapped.

  “When you took me, I was not your wife,” she reminded him, pained by his hurtful words, temporarily forgetting Leah’s presence and keen ears.

  “That was different!” he argued.

  “Was it? You saw and took a white woman you desired. Did it matter at the time that I was your lowly slave?” she challenged artfully and boldly.

  “If you recall your life here, Shalee, then why do you speak to you husband in such a disrespectful manner? It is not our way.”

  “I speak back to the cruelty of my husband’s words,” she replied.

  “You do so to defend a white whore over my father?” he probed.

  “No. If the child is his, doesn’t he have the right to know, to prevent its enslavement and cruel treatment?” she reasoned sadly.

  “She lies! Running Wolf’s seeds are old; he has not placed them in the body of a white slave. He would not,” he stubbornly argued.

  “Older men than Running Wolf have sired children. Ask him and end these cruel words between us,” she pleaded.

  “To ask him would reveal my lack of trust in him. It would shame him and me to show I wonder at such a repulsive act. I cannot!”

  Shalee deliberated this brutal and weighty scene. “Then say only that Leah is with child. See what he feels and says to that news,” she suggested.

  “I play no false games with my own father,” he blatantly refused.

  “Please, Wanmdi Hota. I promise to say nothing more if you just tell him she’s with child,” she compromised.

  “You
will say nothing more?” he asked wistfully.

  “Not one word,” she vowed, suddenly reserved.

  He gave her offer of truce some thought. What harm could it do? It seemed the only way to convince her Leah was lying and to prevent further words between them. He met his father’s baffled look and casually announced that Leah said she was with child. He was about to ask if they should sell her quickly, but the startled expression upon Running Wolf’s face prevented another word from him.

  The chief shuddered, then whirled to gape at Leah. His eyes flew to her stomach as he demanded if she was pregnant. Leah lowered her lashes in mock shame and nodded. His gaze fused with White Arrow’s and some intangible message passed between them. He looked as if he didn’t know what to say or to do, alarming Gray Eagle. Running Wolf had no way of knowing if Leah had proclaimed him the father, but he assumed from the scene he had just witnessed that she had. His child?

  Running Wolf faced Leah and demanded if she was telling the truth. She voiced a shaky, “Sha.” Running Wolf paled and trembled.

  Gray Eagle approached his father and stared into his face, a face lined with shame and anguish. He couldn’t believe what he was viewing and thinking. “A’ta?” he hinted.

  “Sha, michenkshe?” he replied, his tone empty and sad.

  Before he could control himself, he blurted out, “Leah claims the child is yours. What punishment do you command for her lies?”

  The old man’s shoulders slumped. He could not lie to his son, not again. Once before he had denied another son, and many had paid dearly for his selfish denial, including Gray Eagle and Shalee. Could he declare innocence? Could he hide the shame that flooded his body? Could he even look his son in the eye with such dishonor staining his face?

  At his self-incriminating silence and shameful behavior, Gray Eagle scathingly challenged, “Did you place your seeds within her?”

  “I am not worthy to be chief, my son,” he subtly answered.

  Gray Eagle’s heart was seared with pain and disillusionment. How could such a thing be possible? “Leah slept upon your mat?” He demanded a clear answer.