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“You don’t think she’s going to be interested in someone whose mother was half flathead, do you?” Charezal said

There was a gasp from the crowd and a sudden silence No one had openly made such a reference to Brukeval in years His face distorted with a veno e Ayla was stunned to see the transfore frohtened her

But this was not the first time someone had poked fun at Brukeval like that He had felt especially sensitive to Ayla’s predicament when she

was laughed at for wearing the clothes Marona and her friends had given to her Brukeval had been the butt of cruel jokes, too He had wanted to run to her, protect her, as Jondalar did, and when he saw the way she stood up to their laughter, tears had come to his eyes As he’d watched her walk so proudly and face them all down, he had lost his heart to her

Later, though he ached to talk to her, he suffered agonies of indecision and hesitated to introduce himself Women didn’t always respond favorably to him, and he would rather have admired her from a distance than see her look at him with the disdain so her for some time, he finally decided to take a chance And then, she had been so nice to him! She had seemed to welcome his presence Her smile had been so warm and receptive, it made her even more beautiful

In the silence after Charezal’s re protectively He envied Jondalar He had always envied Jondalar, as even taller than h he had never taken part in the sport of na, and had in fact defended him more than once, he felt that Jondalar pitied him, and that orse Now Jondalar had come home with this beautiful woman that everyone admired Why were some people so favored?

But his glare at Charezal had upset Ayla more than he could know She hadn’t seen an expression like that since she left Brun’s clan; it reminded her of Broud, the son of Brun’s h Brukeval was not angry at her, she shuddered at the et away

She turned to Jondalar “Let’s go I’m tired,” she said under her breath in Mamutoi, and realized that she really was—exhausted, in fact They had just co, hard Journey, and so much had happened, it was hard to believe they had arrived only that day There had been the anxiety ofthem about Thonolan’s death; the unpleasantness of Marona’s joke as well as the excitee Cave; and now Brukeval It was too much

Jondalar could see that the incident between Brukeval and Charezal had distressed her, and he had so day,” he said “I think it’s tio”

Brukeval see so soon after he had finally gotten up the courage to talk to her He so?” he asked

“It’s late Many people have already gone to bed, and I a back at him Without that malevolent expression, she could sood night to the people nearby, but when she looked back, she noticed Brukeval glaring again at Charezal

As she and Jondalar walked back toward the dwellings and Marthona’s place, Ayla asked, “Did you see the way your cousin was looking at Charezal? It was filled with hate”

“I can’t say I bla upset at Charezal,” he said Jondalar had not exactly warmed to the man, either “You know it’s a terrible insult to call someone a flathead, and even worse to say someone’s mother is one Brukeval has been teased before, especially when he was young—children can be cruel”

Jondalar went on to explain that when Brukeval was a child, whenever someone had wanted to tease hih he lacked that specific characteristic of the Clan that had given rise to the epithet—the sloped-back forehead—it was the one word that was all but guaranteed toorphan who had hardly known her, it orse to refer to his mother in a way that inable, half animal, half human:

Because of his predictable emotional response, with the casual cruelty of children, those ere bigger or older often teased hi hi But as he grew older, what he lacked in stature, he th After a few battles with boys who, though taller than him, were no match for his phenoe, they stopped the hated taunts, at least to his face