Ren's friend stepped forward to address her curiosity. "His name is Makah'Alay, and he is the elder brother of your future husband."
"Buffalo!" his father snapped. "Mind your place!"
Ever loyal, Buffalo shrugged innocently. "I was only being hospitable, my most honored chief. She was curious about your eldest son"-Kateri cringed as Buffalo recklessly rammed that dig home-"and so I obliged her. No offense was meant to anyone." He offered Butterfly a smile and something unspoken sparked between them. A mutual admiration that left Kateri wondering about the two of them and their relationship.
Coatl passed a cold smile to Buffalo before he spoke to Butterfly and her parents. "You'll have to forgive my warrior. Since Makah'Alay was born mentally retarded, Buffalo champions him constantly and is his voice since he doesn't have one of his own."
Several of the others present laughed and whispered among themselves while Ren swallowed hard. He tightened his grip on his bow until his knuckles turned stark white.
"I'm surprised you kept him," Butterfly's father said. "It was my understanding that your people killed such infants at birth. I am glad to know that your clan has more mercy and decency than I was led to believe. You are indeed a most noble and admirable chief to take pity on a son so afflicted."
Coatl cast a smug glance at Ren. "I try to be patient with him, though he doesn't make it easy. I believe he was sent to remind me that no matter how much we might attain in our lives, we are all still frail humans in the end." He clapped Coyote on the back. "Just a few weeks back, I almost lost Coyote when he rushed to defend Makah'Alay from a vicious wild animal. There aren't many men who'd risk their life to save someone so afflicted."
Her expression one of worship, Butterfly smiled up at Coyote. "You are indeed a most wonderfully brave man. I am thrilled to be marrying such a hero."
Coyote smiled at her, then glanced to Ren. Something that appeared to be an unspoken apology passed between them.
What had really happened?
But Ren didn't give her time to explore that. He pulled her out of his past and stepped away from her as if he was afraid of being too close to her for too long. "I didn't care about being chief. Since my mother wasn't Keetoowah, I never expected it to come to me. It couldn't. Yet by all rights, Butterfly should have been mine. As the eldest, I should have married first. But my father refused, saying I wasn't man enough to provide for a wife. That I wasn't smart enough to have one. So I let my jealousy over their engagement infect me to the point that I took things out on my brother I had no right to. Coyote was a good and decent man until I turned him into the monster he is today."
Somehow, she doubted that. "Why did he give you that look when your father spoke of his saving your life?"
He clenched his teeth hard enough to make the bones in his jaw protrude. "We were hunting."
"Just the two of you?"
He nodded. "We ended up in a fight. Coyote wanted to head to the south where I knew boar made dens. Since we didn't have the right equipment with us to hunt them, I wanted to head east for other game. He wouldn't listen and stormed off without me. Angry, I went east, but I kept having a bad feeling about Coyote so I doubled back. All of a sudden, I heard him yelling for me. By the time I reached him, a wild boar had him treed. I killed the boar, but almost lost my life doing it. By the time I came to, I was in my bed at home and everyone was celebrating Coyote for saving my life."
That irritated her. "Did he not tell your father the truth?"
"He tried, but my father thought he was being humble and didn't believe it."
Kateri narrowed her gaze on the ground as she saw a different play of events in her mind.
Coyote ran toward their town to get help for Ren. Luckily not too far from where he'd left Ren, he came upon two men who were also out hunting. She knew one to be Buffalo. The other she'd seen a few times in other dreams, but he never spoke.
"Choo Co La Tah, Buffalo ... I need your help."
"Did you kill your brother?" Buffalo accused as he saw the blood on Coyote's clothes.
"No!" Coyote snapped. "We were hunting when Makah'Alay was attacked by a boar. I managed to kill it, but he's badly wounded. I need help carrying him-"
Buffalo grabbed him by the arm and started running with him before he could finish his sentence. "Show us!"
Coyote took them to where Ren lay beside the boar that was riddled with arrows. The animal had torn him apart.
"Makah'Alay?" Buffalo breathed, reaching to see if he was still alive.
Ren moaned low, but it was enough.
Buffalo picked him up and carried him. "You killed the boar?" he asked Coyote.
"Yes."
"Then why do you have a quiver full of arrows and Makah'Alay has none?"
Coyote curled his lip and gestured to the injury on his own leg. "I was injured, too!"