page33 (1/2)
She wasn’t reserved, exactly—she smiled and talked with easy comfort—just coli more hen she looked at her son
“What took you so long?” the boy said with relief when he saw the for you”
Darvo had seen Jondalar and his e but didn’t want to interrupt the to share his mother’s undivided attention at the hearth But he found that rather than having to share his mother’s time, there was now someone else who paid attention to him Jondalar talked to him, told hi and the ways of his people, and listened to hi, Jondalar had begun to show hi, which the lad picked up with an aptitude that surprised them both
The youngster had been overjoyed when Jondalar’s brother had decided to ht mean Jondalar would decide to stay andout of the hen they were together, trying in his oay not to i, he encouraged it
In fact, the idea had been on Jondalar’sSerenio Her hair was lighter than her son’s, more a dark blond than brown She wasn’t thin, but so tall she gave that impression She was one of the feomen he’d ht There was a strong resemblance between h his lacked her impassiveness And on her the fine features were beautiful
I could be happy with her, he thought Why don’t I just ask her? And at that moment, he truly wanted her, wanted to live with her
“Serenio?”
She looked at hinetism of his unbelievably blue eyes His need, his desire focused on her The force of his charisht her unaware and broke through the defenses she had so carefully erected to avoid pain She was open, vulnerable, drawn alainst her will
“Jondalar …” Her acceptance was implicit in the texture of her voice
“I … think e He could expressa way to speak his thoughts “Thonolan … ether Now he love Jetamio, he want stay If you … I want …”
“Cory and the food is …” Thonolan broke off as soon as he saw the close, lost in the depths of each other’s eyes “Uh … sorry, Brother I think I just interrupted so”
They backed off; the ht, Thonolan We shouldn’t make everyone wait We can talk later,” Jondalar said
When he looked at Serenio, she seeh she didn’t knohat had co to repair her shield of composure
They walked into the area under the sandstone overhang and felt the ware fire in the central hearth At their appearance, everyone found places around Thonolan and Jetamio, who stood in a central clear space behind the fire The Feast of Pro of a ritual period that would cul the interval, co couple would be severely curtailed
The warm space formed by the people, permeated with a sense of co only perfection in each other’s eyes, wanted to announce their joy to the world and affirm their commitment to each other The Shamud stepped forward Jetauide to place a crown of fresh-budding hawthorn on each of their heads They were led, still hand in hand, around the fire and the asse a circle that embraced the Cave of Sharamudoi with their love
The Shamud turned to face theins and ends in the sains and ends with the Great Mother; the First Mother who in Her loneliness created all life” The vibrant voice carried easily over the hushed gathering and the crackling fla and our end From Her we come; to Her we return In all ways, She provides for us We are Her children, all life springs froives freely of Her abundance From Her body, we take sustenance: food, water, and shelter Froifts of wisdom and warreater Gifts co love
“The Great Earth Mother takes joy in Her children’s happiness She delights in our enjoyiven us Her wondrous Gift of Pleasure We honor Her, show Her reverence, e share Her Gift But to the Blessed areatest Gift, endowed them with Her own miraculous power to create Life” The Sha woman
“Jeta the Blessed If you honor Mudo in all ways, you ive birth Yet, the spirit of the Life you bring forth comes only from the Great Mother
“Thonolan, when you make a commitment to provide for another, you beco Her, She may endow you with creative power as well, so that a child brought forth by the woman you care for, or another of Mudo’s Blessed, roup
“Each of us, e care for and provide for each other, honors the Mother and are blessed with Her fruitfulness”