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“So do I, Brukeval But why do you think no woman wants you?” Ayla protested “I understand you have a ranking in the Ninth Cave that is near the first, and Jondalar says that you are an excellent hunter who contributes a lot to the Cave Jondalar thinks a lot of you, Brukeval If I were a Zelandonii wo to mate Jondalar, I would consider you You have so much to offer”

He watched her carefully, trying to s just so she could twist the sarcasm the way Marona used to do But Ayla seeenuine

“Well, you’re not looking, I’m sorry to say,” Brukeval said, “but if you ever decide to start, letto make it seem like a joke

From the first moment he saw her, Brukeval knew she was the wo to ht, but then, he alas lucky I hope he appreciates what he has, but if he doesn’t, I would I’d take her in a heartbeat, if she would have me

They looked up when they heard the sound of voices and saw several people co from the direction of the camp of the Ninth Cave The two tall men who looked so much alike were immediately identifiable Ayla waved and snized her and waved back The two tall young woh they were considered cousins, it was far cousins, but they both had a close connection to Jondalar The complex family ties of the Zelandonii had been explained to Ayla, and she thought about their relationships as she watched them approach

A the Zelandonii, only children of the same woman were called brothers and sisters; children of the sas Folara and Jondalar were sister and brother because they shared the sah the men of their hearths were different; Joplaya was his close cousin because although Dalanar was the man of the hearth to both of the relationship wasn’t acknowledged, it was understood Close cousins, especially the ones also called hearth cousins, were too close to mate with each other

The last person ith them was Echozar, Joplaya’s Proeneral shape and size as the tall men were, especially to Ayla Joplaya and Echozar would bethe same Matrimonial as she and Jondalar, and couples who shared the sa friendships She wished that could be true, but they lived far apart and it was not likely As they got closer, Ayla noticed that Joplaya glanced at Jondalar now and then, and surprisingly, she didn’t mind She felt an empathetic sorrow for her She understood Joplaya’sman, but for Joplaya there would be no last-moment reprieve

Close cousins were often raised together, or lived nearby and knew they were close kin and not available to be considered forBut when Jondalar went to live with the ht in which he knocked out the two front teeth of the hter of Dalanar’s hearth, Joplaya, was a little younger, but neither had known each other while they were growing up

Dalanar was delighted to have both his hearth children together and wanted theet to know each other He decided that one as to train theive theood idea, but he didn’t knohat effect the youngster as so much like himself would have on Joplaya She had always adored the man of her hearth, and when Jondalar ca love

to her close cousin Jerika saw it, but both Dalanar and Jondalar were unaware of it Joplaya always couched her feelings about hi that close cousins couldn’t mate, took it at face value and assu

There were relatively few people in Dalanar’s Cave of Lanzadonii, and none that offeredwoed Dalanar to take the Lanzadonii Cave to Zelandonii Sus occasionally They both hoped that Joplaya would find so men were interested in her, but she felt different and self-conscious because people stared at her And she could find no one hom she was as comfortable as she had been with her cousin Jondalar

She knew that occasionally some cousins did et that and fantasized that on his Journey Jondalar would decide that he loved her as she loved him She knew the dream was unlikely, but she passionately hoped that someday he would come home and claim her as his one true love Instead, he returned with Ayla She was devastated, but she saw the love he felt for the foreign woman and knew that her dream was shattered

The one man hom she had developed some affinity was a new member of Dalanar’s Cave, a man as also stared at wherever he went, Echozar, a rate into their Cave, made him understand that he was accepted by Dalanar and the Lanzadonii, and even helped hie skills And she was the one who coaxed his story out of him

His mother had been raped by a ave birth, she was cursed as a bad-luck woman because her mate had been killed and her son was deformed She left her clan, ready to die, but was rescued by Andovan, an older man who had run away from a vicious leader of the S’Armunai He had lived for a while with a Zelandonii Cave, but was not comfortable with people whose customs were so different from his own He moved away and lived by hiether they raised hins froh it was a e and the Zelandonii he had learned But when he reached manhood, Andovan died His mother couldn’t stand to live alone and succumbed to the death curse that had been i Echozar alone

The young man didn’t want to live alone He tried to return to a clan, but they thought of hih he could speak, he was rejected by the Caves as an abomination of mixed spirits Out of desperation, he tried to kill hi face, who found hiht him back to his Cave The Lanzadonii took him in, and he idolized the tall man, but it was Joplaya that he loved