Ouroboros Spine amaniittuk ≐

Murre's arrival had not only opened up a path for Kausiut -- it had also opened Lótë's eyes. The painter had not quite considered that there might be other villages that were blood to Moonglow, that their family was larger than the Spine. Nor had the second wife considered that a hunter could take more than one husband. 

Such thoughts lingered in her mind as she gathered in the ulaq with her sister and husband, their many children, as food and story were shared alike. For the first time, she invited @Makan to join her large family and drink in the stories that caused his eyes to dance with life. 

The cloudberry had accepted her place in the mountains and found happiness in it. But...her thoughts occasionally trailed to the future, to the idea of finding what sparked between first wife and Aiolos. It was only her duty to the clan of Nuiruk and her reluctance to break the hearth of their many little ones that kept her heart from similarly wandering to fulfillment. 

Perhaps it would not always be so. If the walrus women could have multiple husbands, if it was the way of their people, then mayhaps someday Lótë might take a second mate without severing ties from Aiolos and the family they had built. 

She stood with her kin to send Kau off, smiling and offering a brief embrace to her stepdaughter if allowed -- for the daytime star had always been distant, though she still held a place in the herd-stalker's heart as daughter. Wistful inspiration stirring as she watched the first of their children leave home, an ache beneath her breastbone both for the loss of moonwoman's child and for something unnamed as the figures grew smaller in the distance.