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Zelandoni’s coht Memories of Durc flooded back He was supposed to have been exposed, and she had no say in it She recalled with anguish the days spent hiding in the little cave to save his life They had said he was deformed But he wasn’t He was just a h Broud was the first to condemn him If Broud had known every tiht, he would never have done it! Ayla was te in the first place, but she didn’t trust herself to speak

Marthona was puzzled by the obvious distress Ayla was feeling True, it was not an easy thought to bear, but Ayla’s coiven back to the Mother Maybe it’s just that she’s pregnant, she thought She must be very sensitive

There was notthe Gift of Pleasure when a woman was close to delivery, for a certain period of ti, or after certain ceremonies Other duties of a mated woman, the times when it was necessary to fast, other times when certain foods were not to be eaten

There were also bans againstwith certain people, such as close cousins Jondalar had explained about close cousins, and when it was lanced at Joplaya in the unobtrusive, all but unseen way of Clan women She knew the reason for the aura of sadness that shrouded the beautiful young wons since they arrived at the Su about What did it n? The other women knew all about bans and prohibitions, and she didn’t want to say anything in front of them She decided to wait until most people left before she asked her question

“There is one other thing,” the First said, concluding “Some of you may have already heard that a request was received to delay the Matriret from a few of the women “Dalanar and his Cave of Lanzadonii planned to cohter of his mate could beandfrom the assembly “You may be pleased to know that no delay will be necessary Joplaya is here with her mother, Jerika Joplaya and Echozar will be mated with the rest of you

“Re that was spoken of here It is i will start tooes well, the Matrimonial will follow soon after I will see you all then,” said the One Who Was First

As theup, Ayla heard the word “flathead” a few times and “abomination” at least once It did not please her, but it was obvious that er to leave and tell someone else about the fact that Joplaya was promised to the half-flathead man Echozar

Many of the wo once before, the last time that the Lanzadonii came Marthona re Echozar and hisand she hoped it would not co that was unpleasant for her, the one that Jondalar had missed when he went on his Journey with his brother and left Marona waiting for a Matrimonial partner that did not arrive She did mate that summer, at the Second Matrimonial, just before they went hoain available, but Jondalar had brought a woman home with him, a won ways, if only because she genuinely cared for him and he loved her

Zelandoni had a passing thought of forbidding the wo, but she knew there was no way to enforce such an edict It was just too juicy a piece of news to expect people to keep it to themselves The First noticed that Ayla and those with her did not see to talk to her She was still Zelandoni of the Ninth Cave When nearly everyone except the zelandonia was gone, Ayla approached her

“I have so I’d like to ask you, Zelandoni,” she said

“All right,” the woman said

“You were talking about certain bans and prohibitions, people that you could or could not mate I know that someone can’t mate a ‘close cousin’ Jondalar told me that Joplaya is his close cousin—sometimes he says hearth cousin—because they were both born to the hearth of the sa at Joplaya, but Marthona and Jerika glanced at each other

“That’s correct,” Zelandoni of the Ninth said

“Just since we arrived at the Su else You did, too You said a person shouldn’t n What is a kinship sign?” Ayla asked

The other zelandonia had listened for a while, but when it appeared that Ayla was just asking for infor to their personal space within the lodge