A/N: A missing scene from TMH. Jondalar turned down Latie's First Rites, but who was with her then? She did get First Rites before the end of TMH. And how do they make that an enjoyable experience to virgin girls anyway, with two dozen couples or so random groping in one darkened tent, then coupling beside each other, while nobody may even speak because they are not supposed to know each other? They don't have the calm, privacy and slow trust-building there that Noria and Jondalar had in VoH.
I published this first in the ECfans forum. Some people there mistakenly thought the Mamutoi did First Rites in the same way Jondalar&Noria had at the Hadumai: one woman, one man, one tent. Not so; far from it. The text in italics below is a quote from TMH, describing what they actually do.
Disclaimer: The books of the Earth's Children series and all characters therein are property of Jean M. Auel. This unworthy woman does not claim any copyright and does not make any money with this.
The day before the ceremony, the young women who were staying together in one
tent - occasionally there were too many for one tent and two Camps of young women
would be established - would go out as a group. When they found a man with whom
they wanted to spend the night, they would surround and "capture" him. The men thus
captured were required to go along with the initiates-few men objected to the
requirement. That night, after some preliminary rituals, they would all go together into
the darkened tent, grope to find each other, and spend the night exploring the differences
and learning the Pleasures of each other. Neither the young women nor the men were
supposed to know with whom they eventually coupled, though in actual practice, they
usually did. The watching older women made sure there was no undue roughness, and
were available on the rare occasion that advice was necessary.
Cast:
Darnev: Tulie's late first man
Deegie: young woman from lion camp, Tulie's daughter, promised to Branag, planning to found a new camp with her older brother Tarneg
Latie: young woman from lion camp, daughter of Nezzie and Talut, about to recieve first rites
Lomie: healer of wolf camp
Nezzie: Talut's woman, mother of Danug, Latie, Rugie; adoptive mother of Rydag and of her nephew Ranec
Rydag: child of mixed spirits
Talut: headman of lion camp, Tulie's brother
Tarneg: Tulie's firstborn son, living at his mate's camp, planning to found a new camp with his sister Deegie
Tulie: headwoman of lion camp, Talut's sister, mother of Deegie and Tarneg
Vincavec: headman and mamut of mamoth camp
First Rites
Tulie was at a loss, and now she deeply regretted pestering the Mamuti to allow the First Rites ritual despite the bad omen of the ashes cloud. Jondalar had turned down Latie's request. This was very unexpected, and unprecedented.
Long-distance travellers, so long as they appeared decent and physically healthy, were always invited to First Rites as well as any other activity to honour the Mother, and, as a rule, did not refuse. On an instinctive level, the people of the periglacial steppes, living in small groups scattered over a vast landscape largely devoid of human habitation, understood they needed the occasional traveler to prevent inbreeding.
The summer meetings allowed them at least to find partners from outside their own close-knit - and usually closely related - camp communities, but someone from far away was always desirable and in great demand. Besides, Tulie could well understand why Latie would have a crush on that tall, broad-shouldered, handsome man from the shores of the western ocean. Particularly when he was wearing Darnev's clothes she had a hard time herself not to jump on him and drag him to her furs as if he were her first mate returned from the spirit world. But even if he were, it was his choice whom to be with, and her - Tulie's - task to find a suitable man for Latie's First Rites.
Although she did not mind children of mixed spirits any more, having lived with Rydag for years and having learned his sign language from Ayla these past months, Tulie sincerely wished that Ayla had not mentioned her past with the Clan and her mixed son to the summer meeting as a whole. The timing could hardly have been worse.
It wasn't just that Latie kept getting ridiculed by her peers at the young womens' enclosure, particularly that girl from Chaleg's camp who had insisted she would have none other than her headman. Tulie was running out of options.
Two old friends from different camps whom she knew to be experienced and gentle had turned her request for Latie down, stating they would have nothing to do with a girl with a flathead connection. Well, those two would certainly not have to worry about their male parts rotting off from indulging with a flathead-friendly woman (or one sharing camp with a flathead child), since they would not have any use for their male parts at upcoming mother festivals anyway, at least as far as Tulie was concerned.
However, she still needed to find someone suitable for Latie. Besides, she would have to take extra care to steer Chaleg to that young woman from his camp exclusively and keep him well away from La... the other girls. Ideally, he wouldn't show up at all, or at least not be able to perform. Bouza could do that to a man, and Chaleg imbibed the stuff with gusto whenever he had the chance.
„Frebec is a caring man", Tulie mused, „loving and gentle, Fralie recommends him highly". Deep in thought, she left the young women's enclosure and wandered slowly towards cattail camp. „He's Chaleg's cousin; they are of the same height and built. I wonder ..."
But then, she thought, Latie would likely recognize him, and that was not supposed to happen with couples at First Rites, they were supposed to have no idea whith whom they were, though they usually did. The girl from Chaleg's camp would certainly learn she had been tricked as soon as the witches' salve would wear off. Chaleg himself would throw a fit, rightfully so for a change.
Was it worth all this just to make sure that that uncouth bouza-belly did not get his unwashed paws on Latie? If she only remained unopened that night, she could still have a quiet ceremony on her own with a trustworthy man the day after. Provided Tulie could find a trustworthy man ...
„And everyone would know", Tulie thought. People gossiped. Nobody would want the „flathead-sister". The entire lion camp's status would go down further. Tulie could not do that to Latie and her camp. She needed a man.