Most important, what about Jondalar? Would he be willing to give up his Journey back to the land of the Zelandonii and settle here instead?
19
Tholie walked to the front of the large fireplace and stood silhouetted against the red glow of dying embers and evening sky framed by the high side walls of the embayment. Most of the people were still in the gathering space just under the sandstone overhang, finishing the last of their blackberries or sipping a favorite tea or slightly foaming, newly fermented berry wine. Their feast of fresh sturgeon had begun with their first, and only, taste of caviar from the female caught earlier. The balance of the oily fish eggs would be put to more mundane use in the making of soft chamois skins.
"I want to say something, Dolando, while we're all gathered together here," Tholie said.
The man nodded, although it wouldn't have mattered. Tholie continued without waiting for his acknowledgment.
"I think I can speak for everyone when I say how glad we are to have Jondalar and Ayla here," she said. Several people spoke out in agreement. "We were all worried about Roshario, not only because of the pain she was suffering, but because we feared she would lose the use of her arm. Ayla changed that. Roshario says she feels no more pain and, with luck, there is a good chance that she will have full use of her arm again."
There was a chorus of positive comments expressing gratitude and invocations for good luck.
"We owe our kinsman, Jondalar, thanks too," Tholie went on. "When he was here before, his ideas for changes in the tools we use were a big help, and now he has shown us his thrower, and the result is this feast." Again the group made vocal expressions of affirmation. "In the time he has lived with us, he has hunted both sturgeon and chamois, but he has never said whether he prefers the water or the land. I think he would make a good River man…"
"You're right, Tholie. Jondalar's a Ramudoi!" one man shouted out. "Or at least half of one!" Barono added, to an uproar of laughter. "No, no, he's been learning about the water, but he knows the land," a woman said. "That's right! Ask him! He threw a spear before he cast his first harpoon, he's a Shamudoi!" an older man added. "He even likes women who hunt!"
Ayla glanced up to see who had made the last comment. It was a young woman, a little older than Darvalo, named Rakario. She liked to be around Jondalar all the time, which annoyed the young man. He had complained that she was always in the way.
Jondalar was smiling broadly at the good-humored argument. The commotion was a demonstration of the friendly competition between the moieties; a rivalry within the family that added a little excitement but was never allowed to go beyond well-understood limits. Jokes, bragging, and a certain level of insults were permissible, but anything that might unduly offend or cause real anger was quickly squelched, with both sides joining forces to calm tempers and alleviate hurt feelings.
"As I said, I think Jondalar would make a good River man," Tholie continued when everyone had settled down, "but Ayla is most familiar with the land, and I'd like to encourage Jondalar to stay with the land hunters, if he is willing and they will accept him. If Jondalar and Ayla would stay and become Sharamudoi, we would make an offer to cross-mate with them, but since Markeno and I are Ramudoi, they would have to be Shamudoi."
There was a great outburst of excitement among the people, with encouraging remarks and even congratulations directed at the two couples.
"That's a wonderful plan, Tholie," Carolio said.
"It was Roshario who gave me the idea," Tholie said.
"But what does Dolando think about accepting Jondalar, and Ayla, a woman who was raised by the ones who live on the peninsula?" Carolio asked, looking directly at the Shamudoi leader.
There was a sudden silence. Everyone knew the implications of her question. After his violent reaction to Ayla, would Dolando be willing to accept her? Ayla had hoped his angry raving would be forgotten and wondered why Carolio had brought it up, but she had to do it. It was her responsibility.
Carlono and his mate had originally been cross-coupled with Dolando and Roshario, and together they had founded this particular group of Sharamudoi when they and a few others moved away from their rather crowded birthplace. Positions of leadership were usually conferred by informal consensus, and they were the natural choice. In practice, a leader's mate usually took on the responsibilities of a coleader, but Carlono's woman had died when Markeno was quite young. The Ramudoi leader never formally mated again and his twin sister, Carolio, who had stepped in to care for the boy, began to take on the duties of a leader's mate as well. As time went on, she was accepted as coleader, and, as such, it was her duty to ask the question.
The people knew Dolando had allowed Ayla to continue treating his woman, but Roshario had needed help and Ayla was obviously helping her. That did not necessarily mean he would want her around permanently. He could be merely controlling his feelings for the time being, and even though they needed a healer, Dolando was one of their own. They did not want to take in a stranger who might cause a problem for their leader and possible dissension within the group.
While Dolando was considering his answer, Ayla's stomach churned up a lump in her throat. She had the uneasy feeling that she had done something wrong and was being judged for it. Yet she knew it wasn't for anything she had done. She became upset and a little angry, and she wanted to get up and walk away. The wrong thing was being who she was. The same kind of thing had happened with the Mamutoi. Is this how it would always be? Is this what would happen with Jondalar's people? Well, she thought, Iza and Creb and Brun's clan had taken care of her, and she wasn't going to deny the ones she loved, but she felt isolated and vulnerable.
Then she sensed someone had moved quietly to her side. She turned and smiled gratefully at Jondalar and felt better, but she knew it was still a trial, and that he was waiting to see how it would come out. She had been watching him closely, and she knew what his answer to Tholie's offer would be. But Jondalar was waiting for Dolando's response before he framed his own reply.
Suddenly, in the middle of the tension, there was a peal of laughter from Shamio. Then she and several other children came rushing out of one of the dwellings with Wolf in their midst.
"Isn't it amazing how that wolf plays with children?" Roshario said. "A few days ago I would never have believed that I could watch an animal like that in the middle of children that I love and not be afraid for their lives. Perhaps that's something to remember. When you get to know an animal that you once hated and feared, it's possible to become very fond of it. I think it's better to try to understand than to blindly hate."
Dolando had been quietly pondering how to respond to Carolio's question. He knew what he was being asked, and how much rested on his answer, but he was not quite sure how to frame what he thought and felt. He smiled at the woman he loved, grateful that she knew him so well. She had sensed his need and shown him a way to reply.
"I have blindly hated," he began, "and I have blindly taken the lives of those I hated, because I thought they had taken the life of one that I loved. I thought they were vicious animals and I wanted to kill them all, but it did not bring Doraldo back. Now I learn they did not deserve such hate. Animals or not, they were provoked. I must live with that, but…"