“My grandfather loved her people. They taught him many skills for hunting and riding a warhorse. He shared with them the stories he’d accumulated in his travels. And he courted the Bear Paw Woman, which ever after was the name she was known by.
“When he finally returned to the chief to request the hand of his daughter, the chief refused him. Both he and the Bear Paw Woman were devastated. Her mother, however, didn’t give up hope. She explained to my grandfather why the chief wouldn’t give the Bear Paw Woman to him.
“It was because so many white men--trappers, soldiers—had taken women from the village in what they believed were honorable unions, only to later learn the women were abused, mistreated, shunned by white society, and often abandoned. He did not want that fate for his daughter.
“My grandfather gave this concern grave thought. He decided to prove himself to the chief in a way that would set him apart from the lowlifes that had harmed the village daughters before him.
“Ceremonies were important to the Lakota, as they were to my grandfather’s people. He decided to architect a ceremony that would incorporate essential elements of the Lakota belief system, as well as integrate the honor of his people.”
Kelan adjusted his arms around Fiona. “Do you want me to stop? I can tell you the rest tomorrow.”
She looked up at him. “What if we don’t have tomorrow?”
He touched her face. “We will have tomorrow.”
“I want you to go on.”
He nodded. “So my grandfather thought long and hard about how he could prove to the Bear Paw Woman’s father that his intentions were pure and true. He considered the pain white men had caused some of the women. And he thought about how the women had no voice, no say in their fate.
“My grandfather, you see, was an artist. He asked the Bear Paw Woman to cut two wide strips of leather that he would eventually wear as gauntlets. She pierced the leather so that the edges could be laced up. He embossed the leather with Celtic images that pleased him.
“He collected scrap pieces of iron that he melted down into eight small brands—four for him, four for her. Both sets were made with designs from his Celtic ancestors.
“When everything was set, he requested a private meeting with the chief and his wife. He and the Bear Paw Woman met in the chief’s tipi. My grandfather put the brands in the fire until the ends glowed orange. He explained that each brand represented a vow made from one to the other, one from the body, one from the heart, one from the mind, and one from the spirit.
“The chief was incensed that my grandfather wanted to brand his daughter. My grandfather calmly explained that the brands were not for her but for him. It was for him to bear the burden of their union. They each got to choose the vows they would live by for the rest of their lives. He would wear the permanent reminders of those vows on his forearms. He held up one of the cuffs he had designed and explained that their vows would be covered up so that they remained private between the two of them. He explained that it was his responsibility to see that his wife had everything she needed to keep her vows, and he would do the same for himself.
“In this way, he convinced the chief that his love for Bear Paw Woman was forever. That he would put her first, before himself, before the world. The chief asked him about the rest of his ceremony. After much discussion, the chief helped him incorporate the four primal elements and the four directions into the ceremony.
“This is the ceremony that we follow to this day, where I claim you and you claim me and we are forever united.”
Kelan paused, bracing himself for Fiona’s response. She lifted her head and looked at him. Tears were in her eyes. She smiled as she reached up to touch his face.
“I love you.”
“I love you,” he said.
“Was that a true story about Bear Paw Woman?”
He smiled. “It’s the story I was told. It’s best not to question the elders about such things. But I believe, at the very least, it was true in my grandfather’s heart.”
“I look forward to our ceremony.”
“I do too.”
“But I don’t want you to be hurt. Couldn’t we have the brands tattooed on your forearms instead of searing them?”
“Fiona, I’ve looked forward to wearing the marks of our union my entire life. Don’t rob me of that experience.”
“It makes me nervous to think about it. It sounds intimidating.”
“It is. It’s meant to be a solemn event. When two people join their lives, that can never be based on whim.”
“For some, it is.”
“Not for me. Not for my people.”
Fiona sat up and faced him, her legs folded in front of her. He did the same, and took her hands. “Am I your people?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Listen to your heart.”
Her heart belonged to him. It was all she knew, the only truth she believed in this upside-down world they were in.
“In the claiming ceremony, I prepare a sanctuary for our spiritual joining. It can be in a cave or outside, but it is always where we can touch earth. I paint a sacred circle divided into quarters to represent the four directions: east, west, north, south. In the center is a fire. Near the ceremony site is a stream or pool or lake. In this way, all four elements are also an important part of the ceremony. The spirits of the four directions carry word of our uniting out to all of our ancestors.”
Fiona felt tears in her eyes. “It sounds beautiful.”
“It is.”
“Are there witnesses to our ceremony?”
“Only the four winds and the four elements and all of our ancestors. The heavens, the earth, and everything in between.”
She met his steady gaze, already beginning to feel changed by the solemnity of the ceremony.
“In preparation for the ceremony, we’ll each come up with four vows we’ll give the other.”
“What kind of vows?”
“Intentions you set for the rest of your life.”
“What if we change? People do, you know.”
He smiled. “We will. Nothing that lives remains unchanged. But we will change together.”
“Do your people ever fall out of love? Divorce?”