Epilogue

Two weeks later

Mercy waited in their lodge for Arrow to return from the council meeting. The Gageagaono had lost over thirty lives in the British attack on their village. Twelve warriors, the remainder women and children.

The village was quiet, everyone still on edge and seemingly waiting for more soldiers to strike. So far they had not come. Perhaps due to the war party that went out for retribution. Two runners had come back and reported that more lives were lost on both sides, Gageagaono and British alike. More Mohawk warriors had joined the war party, and even some Seneca villages. Some had taken up the tomahawk to keep their ancestral land. Others to fight against the Colonists. Others, Mercy feared, just to fight.

It all made no sense, and Mercy could do nothing but pray John and Sarah Grossman and their children would be safe back in German Flats. Mercy had no intention of ever going back. It was safer here, and she was loved. She had a family here.

Mercy passed Deer and Ray of the Sun each a cup of maple tea. They each sipped thoughtfully and Talise and Tarlo played with Aeruski, Deer's seven-year-old daughter. Despite their protests to play and run outside, Mercy and Deer thought it best to keep them inside for now or at the very least within sight.

The women spent the morning teaching Mercy their language. Mercy felt that she did not to it justice, but they both assured her that she was a quick learner.

Arrow came inside. His expression told her he seemed surprised to see them all sitting together. "No fighting from any of you?"

"Why would we be fighting?" Deer cast him a snide stare. "We are not like you and have enemies at every turn."

Arrow tried to hide a smile. He looked at Mercy.

"How did everything go?"

He sighed. "The fighting still continues. Some of our warriors think it best to come home and protect their families."

"I'm glad." Ray of the Sun nodded.

"A war is coming I am afraid. Not just any war, but one in which will split everyone apart. Gageagano, Colonials and Redcoats, Hurons, even the French." He sat by Mercy and his children piled in his lap. "I will stay here with you, horonkas. I promise you I am not going anywhere."

Mercy knew it took a lot out of Arrow just to stay. Not fighting made him feel less of a man, and he was doing that for her. To say she was scared would be an understatement, and she wondered how the rest of the world would fare. There was no guarantee any of them were safe, but when did life ever hold a guarantee?

All she could count on for now was love, and she had found that in Arrow's arms and with his promise of a family. Careful of his wound which was still sore, she put her arms around him and kissed him long and hard, not caring if his family or his children--or the whole world for that matter--was watching. She had gained back everything she had lost. Not in a way she could have ever predicted, but that was all right.

She would carve out a life here, with Arrow and his family and his people. It would not be like anything she was used to, but she would have love. And that was all anyone needed.

The End.