Chapter 36
'Mother! Mother! 'Thona is here! Grandam finally came!' Jonayla cried, running into their lodge to announce the news, and then running out again. Wolf followed her in and out again.
Ayla stopped to think about how many days it had been since she had asked to have someone go for Marthona. She touched a finger to her leg as she thought about each day, and could count only four. Marthona must have been eager to come, as Ayla knew she would be, if a way could be found to get her here. She stepped out of the lodge just as four young men of approximately the same height lowered the stretcher on which Marthona was sitting from their shoulders to the ground. Two of them were Jondalar's apprentices; the other two were friends who happened to be nearby when the request for litter bearers was made.
Ayla looked at the contrivance upon which Marthona had been carried to the Summer Meeting. It consisted of two poles from straight young older trees, placed parallel to each other with strong rope woven across them diagonally, creating a diamond pattern. Shorter shafts were woven through the ropes at intervals between the long poles to give some added stability. Ayla was sure that Marthona, who was an experienced weaver, had a hand in making it. The woman sat on a couple of cushions near the back and Ayla reached out a hand to help her stand up. Marthona thanked the young men as well as several others, who apparently had traded off the job of carrying the former leader.
They had spent the night before in the small valley of the Fifth Cave with the few people from that group who had stayed back from the meeting, along with one of their Zelandoni's Acolytes. They were all quite interested in Marthona's mode of transport. A couple of them wondered to themselves if they could find some young men who might be willing to carry them to a Summer Meeting. Most of them would have liked to attend; they all felt they were missing out when they had to stay back because they were not able to walk the distance on their own legs.
When Jondalar's apprentices brought the stretcher into the lodge, it occurred to Ayla that their services might still be needed. 'Hartalan, would you and Zachadal, and maybe some of the others be willing to carry Marthona around the camp, if she needs you? The walk from here to the zelandonia lodge and some of the other camps might be a little too far for her,' Ayla said.
'Just let us know when you need us,' Hartalan said. 'It might be best if you could tell us in advance, but there is likely to be at least one of us around most of the time. I'll talk to some of the others and see if we can work out a way to make sure someone is here who can go and get more to help.'
'That's very kind of you,' Marthona said. She had heard Ayla's request as she walked in the entrance, 'but I don't want to keep you from your own activities.'
'There isn't that much to do anymore,' Hartalan said. 'Some people are planning to go hunting, or visiting relatives, or back home soon. Most of the ceremonies and feasts are over, except for the Late Matrimonial and whatever big event the zelandonia are preparing now, and no one seems able to find Jondalar lately, but he always does more training in the winter anyway. It's fun to carry you around, Marthona,' Hartalan said, with a grin. 'You can't believe how much attention we got just walking into camp with you.'
'Well, it seems I've become a new amusement,' Marthona said, smiling back. 'As long as you really don't mind, I may call upon you for your help now and then. I'll tell you the truth, I can walk much better for short distances, but I can't go very far even with a walking stick, and I hate slowing everyone else down.'
Folara suddenly came bursting into the summer lodge. 'Mother! You're here! Someone just told me you had come to the Summer Meeting. I didn't even know you were coming.' They hugged in greeting, and touched cheeks.
'You can thank Ayla for that. When she heard that you might have found someone that you really care about, she suggested that someone go and get me. A young woman needs her mother if serious plans are being made,' Marthona said.
'She's right,' Folara said and her smile was radiant, which made Marthona know that the possibility was true. 'But how did you get here?'
'I think that was Ayla's idea, too. She told Dalanar and Joharran there was no reason that I couldn't be carried here on a stretcher by strong young men, so several of them came and got me. Ayla wanted me to come with her when she came, riding on Whinney's back, and I probably should have, but as much as I like the horses, the thought of riding one of them frightens me. I don't know how to control horses. Young men are easier. You just tell them what you want, and when you want to stop,' Marthona said.
Folara hugged her brother's mate. 'Thank you, Ayla. It takes another woman to understand. I did want my mother here, but I didn't know if she was well enough, and I knew she couldn't walk here.' She turned to her mother. 'How are you feeling?'
'Ayla took very good care of me when she was staying at the Ninth Cave, and I feel much better now than I did last spring,' the woman said. 'She really is a very good healer, and if you look closely, you will see that she is now a Zelandoni.'
Marthona had noticed the mark on the side of her forehead, Ayla realised. It was healing and there was no pain, although it itched sometimes, and she had almost forgotten about it, unless someone mentioned it or made a point of staring.
'I know she is, mother,' Folara said. 'Everyone knows, even if they haven't announced it, but like all the rest of the zelandonia lately, she's been so busy, I haven't seen much of her. They're planning some kind of ceremony, but I don't know if it will be before or after the Second Matrimonial.'
'Before,' Ayla said. 'You'll have time to talk to your mother and plan.'
'So you are serious about someone,' Marthona said. She paused and was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then she said. 'Well, where is this young man. I'd like to meet him.'
'He's waiting outside,' Folara said. 'I'll get him.'
'Why don't I go out and meet him,' Marthona said. It was dark in the summer lodge. There were no windows, only the entrance with its covering drape pulled back and tied, and the smoke hole in the middle of the roof, which was often left completely open during the day when the weather was nice. Her sight wasn't what it used to be and she wanted to get as good a look at this young man as she could.
When the three women went out of the entrance, Marthona saw three young men whom she didn't know, dressed in unfamiliar clothing, one of them a veritable giant with bright red hair. When Folara approached him first, Marthona took a deep breath. She had rather hoped he would not be the one her daughter had chosen. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with him. It was Marthona's aesthetic sense, which wasn't a deciding factor in any case, just that she always had hoped that the man Folara chose would fit well with her, that they would complement each other, and a man that big would make her tall and elegant daughter seem small. Folara began the introductions.
'Danug and Druwez of the Mamutoi are Ayla's kin. They came all this way to visit her. On their way they met another man and invited him to travel with them. Mother, please welcome Aldanor of the S'Armunai.'
Ayla watched as a young man with the dark good looks of the S'Armunai came forward. 'Aldanor, this is my mother, Marthona, former leader of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, Mated to Willamar, Trade Master …'
Marthona breathed a sigh of relief when Folara started to formally introduce her to Aldanor, not the young red-haired giant, and began to recite the strange names and ties of the young man to the older woman.
'In the name of the Great Earth Mother, you are welcome here, Aldanor of the S'Armunai,' Marthona said.
'In the name of Muna, Great Mother of the Earth, Her son Luma, bringer of warmth and light, and Her mate Bala, the watcher in the sky, I give you greetings,' Aldanor said to Marthona, putting his hands up with arms bent at the elbow and palms facing her; then he remembered, and quickly changed the position so that his arms were stretched out and his palms were facing up, the way the Zelandonii made a greeting.
Both Marthona and Ayla knew that he must have been practising the S'Armunai greeting so he could say it in Zelandonii, and they were both impressed. To Marthona, it spoke well of the handsome young man that he was willing to make the effort, and she had to admit he was a handsome young man. She could understand her daughter's attraction and, so far, was pleased with her choice.
Ayla had never heard the formal greeting of the S'Armunai; neither she nor Jondalar had ever been formally
