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“And your clan allowed it!” Zelandoni said

“Women of the Clan ives her the signal That’s what they are taught”

“I can’t understand that,” the donier said “Why would a man even want a woman if she didn’t want him?”

“I don’t think Clan woe a nal Iza told me about them, but I never wanted to use them Certainly not with Broud I hated it so , I didn’t want to leave Creb’s hearth But when I found out I was going to have a baby, I was so happy, I didn’t even care about Broud anynored him He stopped after that It wasn’t fun for hiainst my will”

“You said you could only count eleven years when your child was born? You were very young, Ayla Most girls are not even wo, but not most”

“I was old for the Clan, though Soirls of the Clan become women at seven years, and by the tiirls have becoht I would never becoht I would never have children, becausefor a woman,” Ayla said

“But obviously you did”

Ayla paused, thinking “Only wo of spirits, why did Doni create men? Just for company, just for Pleasures? I think there has to be some other reason Women can be company for each other, they can support each other, take care of each other, they can even give each other Pleasures

“Attaroa of the S’Armunai hated men She kept them locked up She would not allow them to share the Gift of Pleasure omen The woht if she did aith men, the spirits of woirls, but it wasn’t working Some of the women shared Pleasures, but they could not couple, they could not mix their essences Very few children were born”

“But some children were born?” Zelandoni asked

“Soirls—Attaroa crippled two of the boys Most of the women did not feel the way Attaroa did Some of them sneaked in to visit their uard the men helped them The women with children were the ones who had a ht the men were free They were the ones ere mated, or wanted to be I think the only reason they had children was because they visited a ether long enough for a man to shoorthy so his spirit would be chosen They saw their h to couple It was dangerous, Attaroa would have had the that nant”

Zelandoni nodded “Your reasoning is interesting, Ayla We are taught that it is aof spirits, and that seeins But most people don’t question it, they just accept it Your childhood was different, you are more ready to question, but I would be careful about whom you discuss this idea w

ith There are some ould be quite upset I have wondered sometimes why Doni made men It is true that women could take care of themselves and each other if they had to I have even wondered why she madealone, and the ether, only at certain times of the year when they share Pleasures”

Ayla felt encouraged to press her point “When I lived with the Mamutoi, there was a man of the Lion Camp His name was Ranec and he lived with Wymez, the flintknapper”

“The one Jondalar talks about?”