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Joharran dropped one of Ayla’s hands, but, holding up the other, faced out toward the assembled Caves “Please welcome this woman who traveled so far with Jondalar, welcome her to this land of the Zelandonii, the Great Mother Earth’s Children Show this woman the hospitality and respect hich the Zelandonii honor all their guests, especially one of the Blessed of Doni Let her knoe value our visitors”

There were sidelong glances in the direction of Marona and her friends The joke wasn’t at all funny anymore It was their turn to feel embarrassed, and Portula, at least, turned cri on the Speaking Stone wearing a Zelandonii boy’s underwear and puberty belt She hadn’t known the clothing she was given was inappropriate It didn’t matter The way she wore it made it entirely proper

Then Ayla, feeling a need to do so, took a small step forward “In the nareet you Zelandonii, Children of this beautiful land, Children of the Great Earth Mother, and thank you for welcoWolf to stay with ” Wolf looked up at her at the sound of his na a place for the horses, Whinney and Racer”

The ih her accent was quite noticeable, it wasn’t the way she spoke that astonished the people In the spirit of the formality of the introductions, Ayla said the naiven it to Whinney, and they were stunned by the sound that had come out of her mouth Ayla had made such a perfect horse’s whinny that for a ht it was a horse It was not the first time she had surprised people with her ability to imitate the sound of an animal—a horse was not the only animal she could mimic

Ayla had no e she had known as a child; she could not re about her life before the Clan, except a few vague dreams and a mortal fear of earthquakes But Ayla’s kind had an inherent coer, for verbal speech When she was living alone in the valley after she left the Clan and before she had learned to speak again from Jondalar, she developed verbalizations for herself to which she attributed e only she, and Whinney and Racer to some extent, could understand

Ayla had a natural aptitude for reproducing sounds, but having no verbal language and living alone, hearing only

the sounds e she devised was a coun to make before she was forced to leave him, the feords spoken by the Clan, and ono bird whistles Ti their sounds, even the animals could not tell the difference

Many people could iy if the ood, it was uncanny That hat caused the moment of consternation, but the people, ere used to a certain element of banter from speakers when the occasion wasn’t entirely serious, becaesture of huave way to smiles and chuckles as they relaxed

Ayla, who had been a bit apprehensive at their first reaction, noticed the easing of tension and relaxed in turn When they slorious, beautiful slow

“Jondalar, with a filly like that, how are you going to keep the young stallions away?” a voice called out It was the first open acknowledgment of her beauty and appeal

The yellow-hairedoften, keep her busy,” he said “You know that I learned how to ride while I was gone, don’t you?”

“Jondalar, you kne to ‘ride’ before you left!”

There was a burst of laughter; this tihter was meant in fun

Joharran spoke up when it settled down “I have only oneto say,” he said “I want to invite all the Zelandonii who have co Caves to join the Ninth Cave in the feast we have prepared to welcome Jondalar and Ayla home”

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