Iron Elk answered sharply.
"It may give us time."
"Only if the authorities honor the arrangement."
"They honor his papers more readily than our word."
"That does not make him the owner."
A long silence followed.
Then Iron Elk spoke.
"If Crane takes the river, where will the children go?"
Willow Song's voice softened.
"They have homes here."
"Crane's men do not care."
Elias remained motionless in the shadows.
The chief continued.
"A white veteran holding a registered parcel might force the territorial officers to hesitate."
Willow Song answered.
"And your daughter?"
Iron Elk said nothing.
She pressed him.
"Does Ren know you mean to make her marriage part of a land claim?"
The chief's voice became strained.
"She knows I am protecting our people."
"That is not the same as telling her the truth."
Iron Elk replied angrily.
"You think I do not know what I have done?"
Willow Song became quiet.
Then asked, "Why have you kept her veiled?"
The chief's response came almost as a whisper.
"Because the men who remember her grandmother would recognize her."
"Recognition is not a curse."
"It can become a weapon."
Elias felt something cold move through him.
Willow Song continued.
"You hid her because you feared other men would use her. Now you are using her yourself."
A long silence followed.
Then Iron Elk spoke.
"I know."
The pain in his voice surprised Elias.
The chief continued.
"But I cannot watch my people lose the river."
Elias quietly retreated before either noticed him.
He returned to his fire.
Opened his father's watch.
And stared at the cracked crystal.
He had come seeking a few acres beside clean water.
Now he understood that the river was not merely land.
It was the center of a struggle involving old crimes, forged boundaries, frightened families, and people whose lives might be uprooted by men who had never walked its banks.
And his proposed marriage was not a romantic offer.
It was an attempt to turn him into a shield made of paperwork.
Elias looked toward the chief's shelter.
He was beginning to understand Iron Elk's desperation.
But he could not accept the price.
Not without speaking to Ren.
Not without knowing whether she wanted the same future.
He found her beside the river the next morning.
She was gathering narrow willow branches into a bundle.
Her veil moved gently in the breeze.
Elias approached slowly.
"Morning."
She turned.
"Good morning."
He stood beside her.
"Can we talk?"
She nodded.
They walked toward a shaded place beneath the cottonwoods.
When they sat, Elias removed his hat.
For a moment, he struggled to find the right words.
Then he said, "I know why your father wants this marriage."
Ren became still.
"What do you mean?"
Elias looked at her.
"He wants my name on the river parcel."
She lowered her head.
"I suspected."
He stared.
"You knew?"
"Not everything."
She touched the blue ribbon on her wrist.