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“Are you sponsoring her to becoh they seldom spoke out, there were a few quiet murmurs from the acolytes in attendance

“Not at this time I haven’t yet asked her if she wants to further her training,” the First said

Ayla felt a touch of consternation Though she would notwith some of them, she had no desire to become a Zelandoni She just wanted to mate with Jondalar and have children, and she noticed that few of the zelandonia had mates or children It wasn’t that they couldn’t mate if they chose, but it seemed that there were so many other demands on their time and attention when they were in the service of the Great Earth Mother that they didn’t have time to be mothers themselves

“Then why is she here?” the Fourteenth asked Her wispy gray hair had pulled loose from the small bun on the back of her head,her a careless, disheveled appearance If soest that she fix her hair before she went out, but the First wouldn’t drea she said as criticism

“I asked her to co that I think you will find very interesting”

“Is it about those animals she controls?” asked another donier

The First s to adht be worthy of the zelandonia “No, Zelandoni of the South Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave That , but this tih the South Holding Twenty-ninth was an assistant to the primary Zelandoni of the Twenty-ninth, it was only in tered Zelandoni in his own right, and the First knew hiht to speak out as any other donier

Ayla noticed that the One Who Was First addressed the members of the zelandonia by their full tides, which were so words of their Caves, but sounded very formal and important Then it occurred to her that the only way to differentiate aiven up their personal naed their na words

When she lived in her valley, she had scratched a mark on a stick every day she was there By the time Jondalar arrived, she had a bundle of sticks full ofwords to tally the cutshe had lived in her valley, it had seehtening When he taught the words were very ihly valued by the Zelandonii Now she realized that, at least a Those Who Served The Mother, they were ave them the essence of those powerful symbols

The First beckoned to Jonokol “First Acolyte of the Ninth Cave, will you use the sand I asked you to get and put out the fire? And First Acolyte of the Second Cave, will you put out all the lamps?”

Ayla recognized the two acolytes the First had called upon for assistance They had guided her when she visited the deep cave with the animals painted on the walls at Fountain Rocks She heard coroup who knew the First was setting the dra themselves to be critical They knew and understood the techniques and impact of dramatic presentations and were determined not to be easily deluded by tricks or misdirection

When all the fires had been put out, there was still enough light to see froht that filtered in here and there The lodge was not co in, particularly around the outline of the entrance, though it was closed, and around another less obvious access alht walk around the outside of the spacious zelandonia lodge to find out if she could see the second opening

The First knew the deht when the dark was total, but that didn’t matter with the ones ere here They would understand the possibilities immediately “Would anyone like to come here and verify that the fire in this fireplace is completely out?” she said

The Fourteenth quickly volunteered She patted the sand carefully and dug her fingers in at a fearm spots, then stood up to announce, “The sand is dry, warm in a few places, but the fire is out and there are no hot coals”

“Ayla, will you tell me what you need to start a fire?” the First said