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Marthona watched her put roots and powders into various bowls of hot water, then handed her some material “Zelandoni likes to use this,” she said

Ayla looked at it The soft material was not made from hides It lookedtunic Marthona had given her was made of She dipped it in the water of one of the bowls The fabric absorbed it quickly “This will do, very well, in fact Thank you,” Ayla said

Zelandoni arrived about the ti her turn the wolf over so she could work on his other side The First worked with Ayla to clean a particularly bad wound, then Ayla surprised several people when she threaded a thin piece of sinew through the small hole in her thread-puller and used it to sew the worst of the wounds together with soenious device to several people, but no one had ever seen it used to sew living skin She even sewed his torn ear, though it would still have a jagged edge

“So that’s what you did to rim smile

“It does seeether so it can heal properly,” Zelandoni said “Is that so you learned froether?”

“No Iza never did this They don’t exactly sew, but they do knot things together They like to use that sharp little bone that is in the lower foreleg of a deer as an awl to pierce holes in skins, and sinew after it’s partially dried and hard at the ends to poke through the holes, and then they de it into knots They make birch bark containers that way, too It hen Jondalar’s wounds kept sliding apart and opening up even when I tried to wrap it tight to hold everything together that I wondered if I could make soht place So I tried it It seemed to work, but I wasn’t sure how soon to take them out I didn’t want the wounds to tear apart, but I didn’t want the knots to heal into his skin, either Ibefore I finally cut them It probably hurt a little more than it should have when I pulled them out,” Ayla said

“You ether?” Jondalar said “You didn’t know if it would work, but you tried it out on lad you did Except for the scars, you would hardly knoas mauled by that lion”

“So you invented this technique to seounds,” Zelandoni said “Only so andin the zelandonia”

Ayla looked unhappy “But I don’t want to be in the zelandonia,” she said “I … I appreciate … I mean … please don’t misunderstand me, I feel honored, but I just want to be ood Zelandonii wo at the donier

“Please, don’t you misunderstand htly with only a ht, like a casual invitation to a ht so for some time A person with your skill needs to associate with others who have a si a healer, don’t you?”

“I ae that,” Ayla said

“Of course you are, that’s not the issue,” the First said “But a to the zelandonia are healers People would not be comfortable with a healer who is not You would not be called upon when a healer is needed if you are not in the zelandonia You would not be able to be a medicine woman, as you call it Why do you resist the zelandonia?”

“You’ve talked about all that ood mate to Jondalar and take care ofto be a Zelandoni?” Ayla said

“There are Those Who Serve The Mother who are mated and have children You yourself told lacier with a mate and several children, and you have met Zelandoni of the Second Cave,” the woman said “There are others”

“But not very many,” Ayla said