Standard Disclaimer: I do not own the Earth's Children series, I am only inspired by it.
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The Zarnadonii returned to the Lion Cave, well pleased by the group encounter with Crun's clan. By this time, no one including Zelandoni questioned the humanity of the Clan. Zelandoni was especially intrigued by the legends that had been told. She privately told Ayla that she would like to learn the legends, if Ayla could teach them to her. Ayla agreed, smiling at the thought of the legend of Durc becoming known to the Zelandonii. Meanwhile, nearly all of the children were pestering Echozar to show them some sign language. They all wanted to be able to greet Narg if he came back with Crun for trading. He agreed to give lessons each night as they traveled to the Summer Meeting.
When they reached the Lion Cave, they immediately began preparing for the trip to the Zelandonii Summer Meeting. Bologan was in charge of the trading that would be done, assisted by Serena. The two of them sorted through the shells, little tusks, and boxes of salt, as well as scented cakes of soap and the salted caviar. Ayla offered to let Serena ride Whinney to the Summer Meeting, so that she would be able to attend with the rest of the Cave. Serena happily accepted, since she wouldn't have been able to walk the distance as far along in pregnancy as she was. She was glad that she would probably give birth at the Summer Meeting, since that meant her mother would be there to see her newest grandchild.
Within a few days, the Zarnadonii and their visitors were ready to leave for the Zelandonii Summer Meeting. Zelandoni was again mounted on Racer and Marthona on Gray. But this time Ayla and Jondalar walked while the heavily pregnant Serena rode Whinney. Of the Zarnadonii, Marala rode Cloud, Verdegia rode Amber, and Folara and her half-moon old daughter rode Dusty. The foals cavorted alongside their mothers. Whinney and all three of the Zarnadonii mares also pulled travois carrying travel gear and trade items.
They traveled easily, hunting and gathering along the way. Echozar, helped by Ayla, offered Clan sign language lessons to anyone who was interested each evening after the meal. All of the older children, plus Bologan, Lanidar, and Lanoga all took advantage of the lessons. Latie and Danug also sat in occasionally, to refresh their memories. Zelandoni worked on memorizing the Clan legends that Ayla told. She thought she would tell the legend of Durc at the Summer Meeting without telling the rest of the zelandonia where the legend came from. She chuckled, thinking of the consternation that would be caused when she finally told them where she heard the legend.
But at the same time, she worried about the effect on the Zelandonii as a whole when the full story of Marona, Madroman, and Charoli became known. She was afraid that some Clan-haters might decide to seek retribution for their deaths. Zelandoni quietly voiced her concerns to Echozar, knowing that he, Latie, and Dalzarna and Talunar would be at greatest risk from any potential troublemakers. But her fears were relieved when they arrived at the Summer Meeting to learn that the Fifth Cave had broken up.
Apparently, the men of the Fifth, Ninth, and Nineteenth Caves who had come to help the Zarnadonii against the raiders had spread the story far and wide about what had happened. Most of the people of the Fifth Cave were so disgusted that their leader and Zelandoni had permitted such evil to grow within the Cave that they simply left to find shelter in other Caves. Zelandoni of the Fifth Cave declared the Cave cursed, and disappeared. The former leader and a couple other families still resided in the Cave, but they were being shunned by the rest of the Zelandonii. Apparently even those who still didn't think the Clan were human thought that the cold-blooded slaughter of entire Caves of flatheads was going too far. And they felt that the former leader of the Fifth Cave should have noticed trouble brewing before Madroman and Charoli left with the troublemakers.
Overall, the Summer Meeting was successful for the Zarnadonii. Bologan had learned well from Willomar, and proved himself a shrewd trader. Serena gave birth to a boy, whom she named Rolanar. Lanidar won the spear-thrower competition, while Nogala won the dance competition. Danug was a close second to Jondalar in the flint knapping contest. And Latie, Madenia, and Doriza put on a riding demonstration that interested some people in trying to train horses of their own. The idea seemed less preposterous somehow, than when Ayla was the only person who had trained a horse. After all, Doriza had been Zelandonii up until last year. She was an excellent leatherworker and played the drum fairly well, but she was just an ordinary young woman with mate and children. If she could learn to ride the horses, people reasoned, maybe they could too. Latie spent several evenings telling the interested people how the Lion Camp had originally captured the horses to train, and how to go about the training.
Bologan made a quick trip north with Willomar, to trade for amber and sealskins that were the specialties of a tribe near both the Great Waters and the Great Wall of Ice. The northern tribe was quite pleased with Lanoga's soap cakes and Folara's linen fabric. They also identified the little tusks as coming from a giant sea creature that they called a nar-whale. They had plenty of the little tusks, so those weren't as useful as Bologan had hoped. Still, he thought, now he knew better for next time he traded up there. And even without the little tusks, he brought back plenty of amber and sealskins for the Zarnadonii.
The Summer Meeting drew to a close. The people of the Zarnadonii spend one last evening with their kin among the Zelandonii, then set out for the Lion Cave in the morning. They were well pleased with their accomplishments in the competitions and the trading, and were looking forward to the autumn hunts at their home. Bologan was planning another trip to the Great Waters for more shells and salt and tusks. And Jerekal was anticipating the first trades with Crun's clan. When they arrived home safely and found their stores undisturbed, Lanidar called for a Festival to Honor the Mother, to thank Her for Her generosity towards the Zarnadonii.
The Mother Festival came and went. The Zarnadonii were busy preparing for the coming cold season, hunting, fishing, and gathering daily. Crun and several members of his clan arrived to trade, bringing the incredibly soft furs the Clan women were known for. They also brought Narg and Una. Crun explained that he did not want Una to stay with the Lion Cave for a long time just yet, as she was still very young. He thought, however, that she would benefit from meeting and interacting with the Others before being faced with having to live with them.
The children of the Lion Cave were very happy to see Narg again, and welcomed Una with equal enthusiasm. The two Clan children were pleased to discover that the Lion Cave children had learned some Clan signs, and that they could communicate now. Una quickly learned the names of all the members of the Lion Cave; their real names, and not just the Clan versions. This pleased Echozar and Crun. Una was definitely capable of vocal speech, and would be a valuable asset to any trading parties between Clan and Others. Crun also brought the news that Abra had delivered a boy, whose naming ceremony had been held the day before the traders had left the clan's cave. Crun said that he'd named the boy Creb, in honor of the man who had raised Ayla. Echozar promised to send that news along to Ayla as soon as possible.
Crun and his people departed a few days later, having traded their furs for smoked sturgeon and salted caviar, as well as for dried meat and grains. The children were sorry to see Narg and Una leave, but understood that they had to get home before the cold weather came. Dalzarna, Valdemar, Findala, Crozina, and Renidan were consoled by being permitted to gather apples… which meant climbing trees… under the watchful eyes of Janida and Rufina. And eight-year-old Willona was allowed to accompany the hunters on the cliff drives. Marala and Verdegia made a second, larger baby surround. Now Logani, Markelan, Lanada, and Zolena had a place to play separately from the younger ones who couldn't yet walk.
Bologan, Madenia, Danug, and Folara made a trek to the Great Waters for shells, tusks, and salt, returning with full loads. Torolan made a second attempt at recreating a Ramudoi boat, this time successfully. But his trial voyage ended with him overturning the boat when he leaned out too far in trying to haul in a fish. He grumbled throughout the cold he caught as a result of his dunking, but admitted that the mishap was his own fault. And he was happy to learn that Lorimar was able to recover the undamaged dugout a short way downstream where the river curved sharply. Only the paddle was lost, but a new one could be made over the winter. Jerekal asked Corridan and Peridal to build two more shelters within the cave. That way, should any more families wish to join them, they would have the shelters already built.
Jerekal also scouted the territory around the cave that the Clan originally camped in, two days' walk upstream. He liked the camaraderie of the small group of Zarnadonii, and he wanted to think ahead about expanding the tribe. He didn't want any one Cave becoming as large as most of the Zelandonii Caves were. It was all too easy for lazy people to lose themselves in the crowd and let the rest of the people of the Cave support them. He knew from Latie and Danug that the Lion Cave was already twice the size of most Mamutoi camps. But from what they said, the Mamutoi generally didn't have as much problems with families such as Laramar and Tremeda. Not that there weren't lazy people among the Mamutoi, but they tended to be put out of their Camps before they became a drain on the resources. The lazy ones also tended to congregate with other lazy ones, evenually forming their own Camps. Then they had to work, at least enough to survive.
But as a result of all his thinking, Jerekal knew he didn't want more than twelve families in his Cave if he could help it. He'd already told a few families that wanted to join with the Zarnadonii that he wanted to hold off on adding new families for another year. Oh, he'd let them know that they weren't being outright rejected. He'd told them that he wanted to be sure that the good hunting of the previous autumn wasn't just pure luck and the fact that people hadn't hunted there before. And it was true that he didn't want to risk straining his resources with more people if the hunting did become bad. Well, he was reasonably certain now that the hunting wasn't going to become problematical any time soon. But if he was going to think about adding more people, he was going to have to think about expanding.
Actually, Jerekal thought, all four of the families that had spoken with him had been from the Fourteenth Cave. Fishing, the Fourteenth Cave was known for fishing. He knew that Torolan wasn't overly happy with the river here; while it was navigable, there were a lot of barely-submerged rocks which made even rafting a challenge. Upstream at the other cave, the water was deeper. He wondered if Torolan would be willing to move to that cave, to start the second Zarnadonii cave. If he would, then all four of the families from the Fourteenth Cave could go with him, and then the Zarnadonii would have their own cave specializing in fishing. Well, there were any number of possibilities. He decided to speak on the matter with Torolan once the master fisherman got over his cold. They could scout the area together in the spring. Jerekal just wanted to make sure that Torolan inspected the area before making any final decisions. After all, Jerekal thought, Torolan was the one that knew water and fish. He'd be much more competent to judge whether or not starting a second cave there would be a smart thing to do.
Winter passed relatively uneventfully. Lanoga, Madenia, Doriza, and Rufina all found themselves pregnant. Rufina was quite surprised as she had miscarried twice after having Renidan but she seemed to be carrying this one well. She thought that she would give birth around the time of the first thaws. The three younger women guessed that their babies would arrive in late spring or early summer. People engaged in the usual winter activities; beadmaking, sewing and quill embroidery, toolmaking, and the like. Willona developed an interest in healing, so Danila began training her over the winter. The young girl also seemed drawn to Lanidar's talk of the Spirit World. He began teaching her the knowledge that was offered to anyone showing interest; some of the chants and legends, and some of the drawn symbols. He wondered if she might choose to become an acolyte, but didn't want to push. She was still quite young. And Nogala began teaching dance to the older children in an effort to help them work off some of their energy when they couldn't play outside of the cave.
Just as she had thought, Rufina gave birth to a healthy boy when the thaws came. She named him Sandemar. The other women spent their time tapping the maple trees and gathering the earliest greens. Danila began taking Willona out to gather medicinal herbs, showing her where they grew and how to recognize them. And Jerekal and Torolan left to scout the upstream cave.
Torolan was most pleased, both by the cave and the potential for fishing. He asked Jerekal to help him build a rough landing before they headed back to the Lion Cave, to make it clear to any passing travelers that the cave was claimed. He also pointed out that if there was a landing already in place, they could use the boat and rafts to move people and goods between the caves. Jerekal good-naturedly agreed, pleased that Torolan was so enthusiastic about starting the second cave. Jerekal also wondered if any of the other families would want to move to a new cave. He actually hoped so. Not that he disliked any of his people, far from it. But if the Zarnadonii as a tribe was going to continue to grow in the direction he hoped, it would be better if there was more than one of the founding families in the new cave. He thought that maybe one or even two other families might choose to go.
When they arrived back at Lion Cave, Torolan pulled his mate aside to discuss the possibility of leading the second Zarnadonii cave. Serena was agreeable, so the two of them conferred with Jerekal about the day-to-day responsibilities of leading. They decided to announce the expansion plans that evening, to see if anyone else from the Lion Cave wished to accompany them.
Most of the people of the Lion Cave were surprised by the announcement. Yet it made sense, especially as Jerekal explained it. They all knew that there were other families that wanted to join the Zarnadonii for whatever reason. And they also knew why Jerekal didn't want any one cave getting as big as the Zelandonii caves. A hum of conversation followed the announcement, as the various couples discussed the possible benefits of such a move. Finally, Jerekal called for quiet again. "I'm not going to ask for final decisions just now," he said. "But please do think about it."
Corridan spoke up then. "Rufina and I and the children will go," he said as Rufina nodded in agreement. "Now that all the shelters are finished here, you don't need three builders. Peridal is more than capable of handling any needed repairs since he's the one who invented the building technique. Besides, I know that my youngest sister and her mate are one of the couples that wanted to move here last fall. It will be nice having kin in the same cave again."
"I'll go as well," Danila announced, surprising everyone.
"Are you sure?" asked Lanoga.
"I'm sure, Lanoga. You are a capable healer now. And Lanidar is donier here. But who knows if any doniers will ask to join the new cave? I can come out of retirement. I'm not so old that I can't still conduct ceremonies. Besides, Willona has indeed expressed an interest in becoming an acolyte. I can train her if I live in the same cave," she concluded.
Lanoga frowned, but she couldn't refute the older woman's logic. "I'm going to miss your lectures, you know," she said.
Danila studied the pregnant woman for a moment. She thought she knew the problem. "Well, you'll have time to hear plenty more before the move is permanent," she said. "Especially since I'd like to help you train Nogala as a midwife. You, Madenia, and Doriza should all give birth before the move is complete, so she'll get plenty of practice."
Lanoga smiled then, relieved. "Yes, I guess I was worrying that you'd be gone before any of us gave birth."
"Me?" Nogala asked. "Not that I mind, but why me?"
Danila chuckled. "Well, of the women who will be staying here that aren't pregnant, you are the best choice. You are larger and stronger than Janida, and unlike Folara, you don't become upset by someone else's pain. Oh, and unlike Latie, you have only one child for someone else to mind and feed if your attention is urgently required by a birthing."
Everyone laughed at that, especially Latie.
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Torolan took Corridan upstream in the dugout to inspect the cave and mark the areas off for shelters. One good thing about the rammed earth construction was that skilled workers weren't as necessary. As long as one or two people knew the process well enough to direct the rest, anyone available could do the actual building. Corridan marked off eleven cloverleaf shelters and one six-leaved one for Danila as One Who Serves. "You know, there is one advantage I hadn't thought of, keeping the caves small," he commented to Torolan.
"Oh? What advantage is that?" Torolan asked.
"No one ends up with a bad hearth position," Corridan chuckled. "Even if some are still better than others, no one is stuck in a drafty spot, or all the way in the back with no daylight and the storage area for a neighbor."
Torolan gazed at the marked places where the shelters would eventually be. "I hadn't thought of that," he said, "but you're right. If anything, this cave is slightly larger than Lion Cave. That gives all of the shelters a bit more light. But even there, the way you and Peridal built, there are no truly bad locations."
The two men loaded up the dugout for the trip back downstream. They arrived just in time to pack for the trip to the Great Waters for sturgeon, shells, salt, and little tusks. Everyone enjoyed the trek and the break in the routine.
When they were nearly home again, Janida jokingly asked, "I wonder who will be waiting at the cave mouth this year?" But the laughter was cut short when they came around the bend in the river and spotted Jondalar's apprentice Matagan seated on the boat landing, obviously waiting for them.
Their smiles changing to looks of concern, Jerekal and Lanidar hurried forward to greet the visitor. In his turn, Matagan tried to reassure them that there was no reason to panic… yet. "There is serious trouble brewing among the Zelandonii," he said. "But it has not yet reached a crisis."
"What sort of trouble?" asked Jerekal. "And will it affect us?"
"It might," Matagan sighed. "That's why I am here. But since this could possibly affect everyone personally, I'd rather tell my tale to everyone at once. Let me help you store your supplies, then I'll speak."
Jerekal nodded. The Zarnadonii had too many close ties to the Zelandonii for trouble there not to affect his people in some way. He handed Matagan a pack of smoked sturgeon and called out, "Let's get everything put away, then meet at the central hearth." Then he led Matagan to the storage area. Curious, everyone hurried to stow the supplies and travel gear, then gathered at the central hearth.
Matagan stood up before the group. "I may bore some of you with background, but everyone may not have heard the whole story. To begin with, the current trouble in some ways began ten years ago. That was the year that Jondalar set out on his Journey and also the year that Zelandoni of the Ninth Cave was chosen First among Those Who Serve. Zelandoni of the Fourteenth Cave resented the choice, feeling that she should have been picked instead. This caused a small rift within the zelandonia, but at first it seemed minor. Just some resentment on the part of the one not chosen and some of her friends, the sort of thing that would fade with time. But then Jondalar returned and brought Ayla.
"Ayla quickly earned the respect of the First, with her healing and her other Talents. But she also brought with her the firm conviction that flatheads, the Clan, were people. It took some time, but she convinced many of the Zelandonii, including the First. But Zelandoni of the Fourteenth Cave, whether from personal conviction or wish to oppose the First, refused to be convinced. She has slowly become more powerful, because she has the support of those among the Zelandonii who still wish to see the Clan as animals. While that group doesn't agree with what the raiders did, they do believe that people should avoid the Clan as much as possible, and certainly not attempt to make contact or trade.
"Ever since the Fifth Cave broke up over Madroman and the raiders that he and Marona led, the arguments have been getting worse. At this point, it looks like each faction has the support of about a third of the Zelandonii, with the remaining third either unsure what to believe or else afraid to give an opinion in case the opposing side ends up the stronger. The First asked me to come and give you the warning, and to tell you that she suggests you not come to the Summer Meeting as a group."
There was a concerned buzz at that. "When she said we shouldn't go as a group, did she mean that we shouldn't go at all, or that just a few of us should go and stay with our kin?" Torolan asked.
"She thinks that if just a few of you go, and stay with your kin, that should be safe. She was more worried that if you were to come as a group, your camp might become a target for those who oppose her. Especially because of Echozar," he finished uncomfortably.
Echozar could see that the young man felt awkward. "Matagan, don't worry about bringing up my heritage. I am who I am, and what I am, by Doni's wish. If She saw fit to make me of mixed spirits, She must have had a reason, even if I don't know about it. I may not like it when people act hateful towards me because I am mixed, but I would rather be honest about it than pretend it isn't really happening. I have no objection to staying away from the Summer Meeting this year. I wouldn't want harm to come to any of my friends because of me."
Matagan smiled ruefully. "Thank you. I wasn't quite sure how to say that without offending you or anyone else here. I didn't want to sound like one of the small-minded, but…" he shrugged. "It's just awkward."
"Someday," Echozar said, "I hope that people will take my heritage for granted, the way people can comment about Jondalar's blue eyes or Danug's red hair without giving offense. It's just something that makes them different from everyone else, but it doesn't set them apart either. Maybe someday it will be that way about the fact that my mother was Clan."
"Echozar, among the Zarnadonii, I think we're getting there," Jerekal said. "We're trying, anyway."
"And doing very well, thank you," Echozar said with a smile as Latie squeezed both of their hands. "But that doesn't change what's going on with the Zelandonii right now. So I say again, I will certainly stay home from the Summer Meeting."
Jerekal looked around. "I ought to go, since we're going to accept more people this year. And from the sound of things, we may have more people wanting to join us than we will have space for. I think Torolan and Serena should go, since Torolan will be leader of the new cave. They will also want to talk to the people who want to move there. And maybe Corridan and Bologan as well. Corridan's sister is one of the people who wants to move, and Bologan is our trade master. We can send our trade goods with him. But no one else."
Everyone nodded. Many of them were sorry to miss a chance to visit their kin, but they also didn't want to put themselves into a dangerous situation. And the way Matagan had described things, if they appeared as a group, they might well cause the split to widen until the Zelandonii people split into two. Lanoga made sure that Matagan was settled in one of the guest spaces in Otter Hearth for the night, and quietly warned him that he would have plenty of personal messages to pass along when he left.