“I gave you food.”
“You gave us food when no one else would.”
“I had enough.”
Keona studied him.
“That is what good men say when they do not want praise.”
Ethan gave a tired shrug.
“I wasn't expecting a wife as payment.”
A few warriors exchanged surprised looks.
Even Serena almost smiled.
Keona's face remained stern, but something in his eyes softened.
“You may sleep here tonight.”
“Thank you.”
“Tomorrow we speak again.”
Ethan nodded.
He released Serena's hand.
She lowered her eyes.
Before he walked away, Ethan quietly said, “You don't owe me anything.”
Serena looked up.
“Not even gratitude.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody should have to earn the right to be treated like a human being.”
Then Ethan turned toward the fire.
Serena watched him go.
For the first time in years, she wondered what it would feel like to believe someone.
And that frightened her more than being alone.
The Woman Everyone Rejected
Serena did not sleep that night.
Neither did Ethan.
The camp became quiet after midnight, but the wind continued moving through the valley.
Serena sat outside her father's lodge, wrapped in a wool blanket.
She watched Ethan sleep beside the dying fire.
He had refused a warrior's offer to take the warmest shelter.
Instead, he had chosen the cold ground.
Perhaps he was stubborn.
Perhaps foolish.
She wasn't sure.
She only knew that he was different.
Different was dangerous.
Serena had learned that lesson when she was seventeen.
That was when she had first been promised to a young man named Tomas.
Tomas had been kind.
He had laughed easily and once told Serena that he liked the way she sang while working.
She had believed him.
Then she became ill.
The illness lasted several months.
When the healers finally understood what had happened, they told her that she would probably never carry a child.
Tomas's family immediately ended the agreement.
Serena had been devastated.
But that was only the beginning.
Over the next several years, other families considered her.
Each time, the same thing happened.
They wanted a healthy woman.
A woman who could bear children.
A woman who could continue a bloodline.
Serena had begun to believe that was all a woman was worth.
Then the rumors started.
“She is cursed.”
“She cannot give a man sons.”
“Something is wrong with her.”
Nobody said those things to her face.
They didn't have to.
She could see it in their eyes.
Eventually she stopped allowing herself to hope.
She became useful instead.
She cooked.
She gathered herbs.
She cared for children.
She repaired clothing.
She helped the elderly.
She did everything except ask anyone to love her.
Because asking made rejection hurt more.
Now a stranger had arrived and spoken to her as though her worth had never been in question.
That frightened her.
At dawn, Ethan found her near the horses.
“You're awake early.”
“So are you.”
“I didn't sleep.”
“Neither did I.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Because of what happened last night?”
She nodded.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“For being the reason your father made that demand.”
“You didn't cause it.”
“He wants you to marry me.”
“He wants you to have a future.”
Serena looked away.
“He thinks a husband will make me acceptable.”
Ethan was silent for a moment.
“Do you?”
She looked back.
“Do I what?”
“Do you think you need a husband to become acceptable?”
Her eyes hardened.
“You don't know me.”
“No.”
“You don't know what it is like.”
“No.”
“Then don't pretend you understand.”
“I don't.”
His honesty disarmed her.
Ethan continued.
“But I know what it is like when other people decide who you are before you get to speak.”
Serena looked at him carefully.
“My father thinks you are a good man.”
“I don't know about that.”
“He remembers what you did.”
“I told you. I only gave them food.”
“Why?”
Ethan frowned.
“Why what?”
“Why did you help us?”
He looked toward the mountains.
“My father taught me something.”
“What?”
“He said hunger doesn't ask what tribe you belong to.”
Serena lowered her eyes.
Ethan continued.
“And neither does winter.”
Something inside her chest loosened.
She had spent years listening to people explain why she wasn't enough.
This man had never once asked what she could give him.
That was new.
By noon, Ethan's horse had been examined by the camp's animal healer.
The animal had a badly injured leg and could not travel.
“You'll need another horse,” Keona told him.
“I'll stay until the snow melts.”
Keona nodded.
Serena stood nearby.
Ethan noticed her.
“Can I ask you something?”
She nodded.
“Do you want to marry me?”
Her eyes widened.
Keona looked over.
Several warriors turned their heads.
Serena swallowed.
“I don't know.”
“That is an honest answer.”
“I barely know you.”
“That's fair.”
“You might regret it.”
“That's possible.”
“You might change your mind.”
“So might you.”
She stared at him.
“You're not afraid?”
“Of what?”
“That I cannot give you children.”
Ethan took a breath.
“I don't know whether I want children.”
She looked stunned.
“Every man wants children.”
“Maybe.”
“Then why say that?”
“Because I won't promise you something I haven't decided for myself.”
Serena studied him.
“What do you want?”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
“A hot meal.”
She laughed.
It was the first real laugh Ethan had heard from her.
It was soft and surprised, as though she hadn't intended to make the sound.
Keona watched from a distance.
The chief understood something his daughter did not yet understand.
Ethan wasn't trying to rescue Serena.