Smoke On The Water | 18+

Chapter 15

Word Count: 2,027

"Honey, I can handle this." I tell Mangas, taking back the rope from his large hands. He squints at me, and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Why do you call me honey? It is nectar." He questions curiously. I smile at him.

"You're sweet. Like honey. It's a term of endearment." I tell him, despite my annoyance at his brutish actions. He saw me trying to disassemble the tent by myself, and snatched the rope from me with no hesitation, wordlessly scolding me.

It hurt my feelings, a bit, despite the simplicity of the situation.

While Apache women are seen as equals- whether it's war or hunting or foraging- Mangas doesn't hold me in the same regard. He sees me as helpless. Like a lost puppy.

"I will watch." He says with finality, waiting for me to show him what Kuruk taught me a few moons ago.

Today is the day that we pack up our small camp and unite with the tribe once again. My rite of passage is almost over, as far as being fully accepted into our small portion of the tribe. However, Mangas has informed me that soon we will be uniting with the other parts of the tribe- and that they may not be as welcoming.

Despite my fear, I can no longer allow my insecurities to dictate my life.

It takes me a while longer than it probably would have taken Mangas, but I get the tent taken down and rolled up neatly.

"Well, you did it." Mangas says unenthusiastically- a sour look on his face. My blooming excitement is momentarily quelled.

"What's wrong?" I ask him quietly, taking a moment to sit in the grass. He sighs and chooses to sit in front of me.

"For the first time in a long, long time... I am nervous." He starts. I say nothing, hoping my silence will urge him to speak further.

It does.

"I have never been nervous before a battle- because I trust my warriors. I have never been nervous for winter- because I trust my hunters and foragers. I have never been nervous to rejoin my tribe- because it is, after all, my tribe... But only because they trust me." He says, his serious baritone sinking into my bones.

My eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"You have changed everything, Evelyn. Whether you know it, or not. Whether you acknowledge it, or not. You have changed me- my spirit. Who I am as a man." He tells me, cupping me cheek gently in his large hand.

"Why are you nervous, then?" I ask him gently, resting my hand on his knee.

"When I told you we will burn that city to the ground, I meant it. It is my promise to you. However, that does not mean that the rest of the tribe will accept it. They may not be willing to fight the fight of a pale face." He tells me honestly. I nod my head in understanding.

"Mangas, I-" he hold his finger up to silence me.

"But... They may not need an excuse to turn the town to ash. The men from that town have caused us problems since they first started building the railroad... Pushing us further and further away from our homeland so they could build wooden buildings and covered dwellings for the animals." I stay silent, thinking it over. It's rare that Mangas offers me his side of this whole "new country" thing.

To him and his people, this country is anything but new. It is as old as the world itself, to them.

Hell, even I can realize that the land isn't new, it's just new to Europeans.