Corvin hated that.
Heroes did not spend seventeen years hiding.
Heroes did not abandon women they loved because they arrived one day too early.
Heroes did not need forgiveness.
Talani remained at the ranch after the warriors left.
For three days, she barely spoke to him.
On the fourth morning, Corvin found her sitting beside the well.
He approached slowly.
“Your father left.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t.”
“I know.”
Corvin sat several feet away.
Silence.
Then Talani asked, “Why didn’t you search for her?”
“I did.”
“For how long?”
Corvin lowered his head.
“Months.”
“And then?”
“I became afraid.”
Talani looked at him.
“Of soldiers?”
“Of finding out she was dead.”
Talani’s expression hardened.
“So you preferred not knowing?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised her.
Corvin continued.
“I could lie to you.
I could tell you I searched for years.
I could tell you there was nothing else I could have done.”
He looked at her.
“But I stopped because uncertainty hurt less than truth.”
Talani said nothing.
“That was cowardice.”
Her eyes filled slightly.
“My mother waited.”
Corvin’s throat tightened.
“I know.”
“She married eventually.”
He looked away.
“She had a good husband.”
“I’m glad.”
“He died when I was eight.”
Corvin nodded.
Talani continued.
“Before my mother died, she said Elias Vale was the first white man who treated her freedom as more important than his safety.”
Corvin shut his eyes.
“She also said you were the stupidest man she ever knew.”
A laugh escaped him.
It surprised both of them.
Talani almost smiled.
Then her expression turned serious.
“She made me promise something.”
“What?”
“If I ever found you…”
Talani reached into her pouch.
She withdrew a letter.
Corvin stopped breathing.
“My mother wrote this two days before she died.”
His hands shook as he accepted it.
“Why didn’t you give it to me before?”
“Because first I needed to know whether you were still the man she remembered.”
Corvin looked at the folded paper.
“Am I?”
Talani stared toward the well.
“I haven’t decided.”
Corvin opened the letter.
The handwriting was careful.
Slow.
Words formed by someone who had learned English as an adult.
Elias,
If this reaches you, then perhaps the world has finally grown tired of keeping us apart.
I was angry with you for many years.
Then I was angry with myself.
Then I grew older and discovered anger becomes heavy when carried too far.
So I put it down.
You gave me freedom when doing so cost you your life as you knew it.
I never forgot.
There is something else you must know.
Corvin stopped.
His pulse accelerated.
He continued reading.
Talani is stubborn.
She is proud.
