Cedar Sweep the empty bowl

This seemed too good to be true. I will teach you what I know, Asivaq promised, But I must warn you—it is much different than the ways of the sunshine people. Which she hadn't thought was bad, but she could see how Tartok's ways could be off-putting to others. I was in training when we went north, and the branch that took us in taught me a lot.

When asked about her husband, Asivaq did not deny Meerkat the information; there was no reason for her to skirt around the subject. He left his children and former wife for a time two seasons ago. One of those children, Kivaluk, was taken in by my mother, and he was raised as her own. I never really got to know him like a brother or saw him as one, as I went out on my own and explored beyond the wilds. I think it is a mix of that and that he is much older than I am. She shrugged. I think that they were mostly worried for me, but I feel deep in my heart that he has changed for the better.

That is why I left my people behind—village Moonsong, my family, everything. They could not see why I had picked him, and I was constantly being judged for a decision that made me very happy.