Hoshor Plains allotment

The more he heard about her past, the sadder it seemed to him.

"It is meant to be an act of joy between two wolves who care much for one another," he said quietly, a long moment after Sulukinak had finished speaking. "I will not speculate on whether or not your mother found joy in these acts. It is possible. And women may join with women, or men with other men, and find this same joy, although no children will result from these pairings. There are many different practices, and I would call very few of them wrong. But as someone very accomplished at this thing, I say to you: it is best enjoyed with trust."

He did not speak firmly, lest Sulukinak think her thoughts unwelcome, but he tried to convey his surety all the same.

"It is hard for wolves to be isolated, Sulu," he said, the subject shifting. "And it is a hard life on the ice. Frightening, sometimes. Your mother had to make choices there that she wouldn't have had to in other places. But there are many more things here than there are where you were born. And correspondingly, there are many more choices."