Bound by Honor Bound by Love by Ruth Ann Nordin Page B

upset.
    “ Our sacred bundles, our
traditions, our ceremonies? That’s all that matters to
you?”
    “ No, it’s not,” he
whispered, stung by her words. How could she think that when he had
refused to take a second wife?
    “ Then don’t do it,” she
demanded, her voice uncharacteristically sharp.
    “ It’s not that
easy.”
    “ Of course, it is! You just
don’t want to do it because it would require you to do something
the chief doesn’t want. All you care about is the chief. If he
wants something, you do it. And right now, you’re forcing out good
people who’ve helped our tribe because it’s what he
wants.”
    He winced. “Onawa, it’s not like
that.”
    “ I’m not stupid. I can see
what’s going on.” After a moment of silence, she shot him a
pleading look. “Don’t do this, Citlali. You know it’s not the best
thing for our people.”
    “ You mean it’s not the best
thing for you.” Her lower lip trembled, and he regretted saying
those words to her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said
that.”
    “ You think I don’t want
what’s best for the tribe because I don’t want to force out the
white people?”
    “ I know you want what’s
best for the tribe. It’s why you’re a good wife for me.”
    She frowned, and he immediately wished
he hadn’t said those words either. It wasn’t exactly what he meant.
She was a good wife, but her wish for the good of the tribe wasn’t
the only reason she was. He struggled to think of a better way to
state his case, to explain more fully what she meant to him, but
the words wouldn’t come.
    “ I need to be alone,” she
said in a way that made him wonder whether she’d stay in his lodge
or not.
    When she walked away from him, he
never felt more alone in his entire life.

Chapter Ten

    “ I can’t believe he’s doing
this,” Onawa cried into the handkerchief Julia handed
her.
    “ He’s not doing it. The
chief is,” Woape said.
    The three sat in the grass, away from
the lodges. Onawa had to talk to her sister and Julia about what
she’d just learned. She understood the chief would make the
announcement the next day, so she hadn’t felt right about telling
everyone. But Woape and Julia were two people she was close to who
would understand why she was upset by the news. Usually, she’d want
to tell Amata, too, but considering she was Citlali’s sister, she
didn’t feel right in putting Amata in the middle of
this.
    “ You can’t blame Citlali,”
Woape softly replied.
    Onawa shook her head as she wiped her
tears from her cheeks. “He didn’t tell him no.”
    Julia put her arm around Onawa’s
shoulders. “It’s not as easy as that, Onawa. Chogan and I have had
enough dealings with the chief and Citlali to know that the chief
manipulates things so that Citlali doesn’t have a
choice.”
    “ If Citlali cared, he
wouldn’t give in, no matter how the chief manipulates things to his
advantage,” Onawa replied, her tone turning cold. “Citlali’s
brother is right. Citlali’s first love is his duty to the chief. No
one else matters.”
    Woape’s eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“It’s not like you to say things like this.”
    “ But how can I not say
these things when I’m going to lose you, our father, and Julia?”
Onawa protested. “Surely, you won’t allow Gary to leave with your
children. I won’t see my nieces anymore. And Julia is white, so she
can’t stay. Then Father will leave because he just asked Erin to
marry him, and she said yes.”
    “ I doubt Father and my aunt
Erin would have stayed in the tribe anyway,” Julia said. “Chogan’s
halfway done with our cabin, and Erin and I would like to live
close to each other. Even as we speak, your father and Chogan have
been thinking of building another cabin close to where Chogan and I
will be.”
    This news made Onawa cry even harder.
While she knew Julia and Chogan planned to leave the tribe during
the summer, she had no idea her father would leave with Erin.