Kildeer Rest suammaktuk ≜

kukutux glanced fondly after kigipigak. she led towhee back to the den of snow. its sides were hardpacked, and she had breathed upon them to bind the ice crystals more closely. 

her man. so towhee know of issorartuyok. her tone had held approval. she wondered why the northern man held hesitation inside him toward meerkat, if he had already made a meeting with her mother. such things decided a marriage.

kukutux offered towhee a strip of winter-dried meat and a bit of liver from the last caribou killed by their camp. the air was dry, and so the venison preserved well. without the sun, however, curing it took twice as long. it was how she intended for moonglow to carry as much of it back as possible.

"sialuk has no man," she said softly. "but when the sun returns, i think she will take one. the green-time chooses one way or another, even if a woman has not decided." the idea of sialuk unmarried and without a clear path forward worried kukutux. but her daughter had been woman since the fall of moonspear and the building of a new village.

"fennec! yes." she smiled. "how is her life? it is good to have met many of your children. you are welcome among us."