Moonsong Glacier through the fog of an early morn

A boy? Raiyuk, he thought, and then he imagined Sulukinak hiding behind a tree and listening in on one of the boy's conversations.

"A man can only be husband to women," he said patiently. "I cannot take a husband for myself. But a man with wives may still have a hunting partner. Lodge brother." After a moment, he said, "I may take a wife. Someday."

He'd thought so all his life. It had always been among his desires, and yet, almost never among his goals.

"I would like us to be family," he said to Sulukinak. "Conclave. If I joined a lodge, I would want to bring you with me."