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“What did you teach me, and the Lion Camp?” Jondalar said

Ayla smiled “Baby talk,” she said

“Youbaby talk?” Jondalar said, appalled

“Even less than that, to be honest, but he understood Just the fact that you knew so, that you tried to speak the correct way, impressed him,” Ayla said

“The correct way? Guban thought his as the correct way to talk?” Jondalar said

Of course Don’t you?”

“I suppose so,” he said, then smiled “What do you think is the correct way?”

“The correct way is alhatever way you’re used to Right now, the Clan way, Mamutoi, and Zelandonii are all correct, but after a while, when all I have spoken is Zelandonii for a long time, I will no doubt think that is the correct way, even if I don’t speak it correctly, and I probably never will The only one I will ever know perfectly is the Clan language, but only of the clan I greith, and that’s not quite the same as the way they do it around here,” Ayla said

As they reached the sht up again by a glorious blaze of color in the sky They both stopped to watch for a while

“Zelandoni asked me if I wanted to be chosen for First Rites tomorrow, probably for Janida,” Jondalar said

“She told you that?” Ayla said “Marthona said the men are never told who they will be with, and they are never supposed to tell”

“She didn’t exactly tell me She said she wanted so She said she knew you were pregnant, and she thought I would kno to treat soht need the same kind of concern Who else could it be?” he said

“Are you going to do it?” Ayla said

“I thought about it There was a tier, but I said I didn’t think so,” he said

“Why?” she asked