She shook her head.
"He said he was protecting me."
"From what?"
"I don't know."
She turned toward him.
"I keep asking. He never gives me the same answer."
Elias frowned.
"Have you ever seen your own face?"
She gave a small, surprised laugh.
"Of course."
"Then do you believe the stories?"
Ren looked toward the water.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then answered.
"Some days, no."
She touched the veil again.
"Other days, I hear people whispering, and I begin wondering whether they see something terrible that I cannot."
Elias watched her.
He did not ask her to remove the veil.
He did not offer empty assurances about a face he had never seen.
Instead, he said, "People can be wrong together."
Ren turned.
"What?"
He smiled faintly.
"A whole town can agree on a lie. Doesn't make it true."
She considered.
Then asked, "Do you think my father is lying?"
Elias looked toward the camp.
"I think he's afraid of something."
Ren's shoulders lowered.
"So do I."
They sat quietly.
Then Elias offered her the watch.
She accepted it carefully.
"Was this really your father's?"
He nodded.
She examined the engraving.
"A river."
"Yes."
Ren traced the winding line with one finger.
Then stopped.
Elias noticed.
"What?"
She looked toward the water.
Then back at the watch.
"This isn't just any river."
He frowned.
She turned the case toward him.
"See the bend beside the mountain?"
He nodded.
"And the little notch near it?"
"Yes."
Ren pointed upstream.
"There's a place where the river divides around a narrow island. The western channel dries in summer."
Elias studied the engraving.
She continued.
"My grandmother used to mark that place on maps. She said outsiders often drew the river incorrectly because they came during the dry season."
Elias felt his heartbeat quicken.
"Your grandmother knew my father."
Ren nodded.
"Willow Song told me."
He looked toward her.
"Do you know where she kept her maps?"
Ren hesitated.
Then whispered, "Some of them are still here."
Elias stared.
"Where?"
She looked toward the camp.
"In my father's shelter."
The broken watch lay between them.
For the first time, Elias understood that the little object might contain more than a memory of his father.
It might contain directions.
And perhaps a clue to the documents men had been willing to kill for.
The wedding approached beneath a growing atmosphere of unease.
Elias noticed armed scouts riding more frequently along the eastern ridge.
Families moved valuable belongings closer to the center of camp.
Horses were kept near guarded grazing areas.
And whenever the name Silas Crane was mentioned, conversations became quiet.
Iron Elk avoided speaking directly about the growing danger.
But one evening, Elias overheard him arguing with Willow Song.
They stood behind the chief's shelter.
The fire had burned low.
Elias had been returning a borrowed rope when he heard the old woman's voice.
"Marriage will not make our land safe."