Destiny Mine Read Free Page A

stitched and beaded, they made guesses about the baby’s sex and destiny. Becoming a mother was one of life’s glorious moments for a female, a great happiness and victory Kionee was denied in her tiva rank.
    Young men were playing their flutes, giving doubleback rides, and taking long walks with girls. Soon snow would be gone; grasslands and trees would be green; flowers would bloom. Mother Earth and Nature would renew themselves and reproduce. Perhaps, Kionee reasoned, that was the cause of her discontent, envy, and tension during this changing season: female urges and instincts buried deep within her were straining to burst forth when she must hold them captive. It also was near the time for her blood flow, another reminder she was female, a reminder she was different and set apart from her true sex. She hated those few suns she was confined to the Haukau and often prayed they would cease since they had no purpose. The coldseason had been too long and harsh and given her too much thinking time. Suns spent at weapon-making and repairs while trapped inside by snow and strong winds had kept her hands busy but left her mind free to escape and roam forbidden territory.
    Though her feelings were in a turmoil, Kionee was too well trained in deceit and self-control to let it show. Yet Kionee felt as if the emotions might boil over at any moment, burning her and those around her. She realized she could no longer witness the tormenting scene and stay reserved, and she must not risk losing her pride and honor.
    Kionee drew a quiet breath in resignation of her fate as the hunter and guardian of her family, as the son her parents could not have. “I wait no longer for Sumba. I will speak with your brother on the new sun.”
    Before the tiva ’s sisters could use their talking-feathers for permission to speak to a “man,” Kionee ducked and departed. In an agitated state, she decided not to search for Sumba, who had taken the tiva vows with her at sixteen. Though Sumba remained her best friend behind Regim and Maja and had shared her existence in the elders’ tipi for eleven circles of the seasons, Kionee had not exposed her inner conflict to her “brother” who was happy in “his” rank. Their winter camp was spread along the river for a great distance in the sheltering canyon, and Sumba could be inside any of the 258 tipis where over a thousand Hanueva lived. Kionee also needed to be alone to regain her poise and to clear her head.
    “We go, Maja,” she told the silver wolf who joined her the instant she was in sight. Ever since she’d rescued him from certain death ten years before, the powerful and loving animal had been her constant companion and loyal friend, the only one at this point in time to whom she could spill her heart. On the way to her family’stipi, Maja’s head grazed Kionee’s fingertips in affection and in comfort, as if he perceived her distress. In response, she glanced down, smiled, spoke to him, and ruffled the thick fur on his neck. “We are a pair for life, Maja, for we do not belong to our packs or have mates.”
    In the distance, Kionee saw her father entering a friend’s tipi for a visit. He struggled with the crutches that enabled him to get around on one leg, as the other had dangled useless from his body after an enraged buffalo bull rammed his horse and trampled it two summers past. That was when she assumed the rank of sole provider and protector of her family. She was the youngest tiva with that responsibility, as most took control when their parents were older. She was aware of how much her family needed and depended upon her for survival. She could guess her family’s fate if anything terrible happened to her. For certain, she could never break her vow and leave them helpless, shame them and herself.
    Kionee entered Strong Rock’s dwelling and told her mother she was going to hunt fresh game and to scout the departure of winter.
    “That is good, my son. Watch the sky for