The Heartwood oxbalm

"i will teach you, as i taught sulukinak. and meleys will teach you. listen to her." for the boy's benefit he grudgingly used sharadoii. of course she had not taught ghelan the tongue of the clan into which she had married! when had she ever been of use to sun eater since he had come to this place?

as if ghelan was quite young, the caribou hunter began to gesture toward various things. a tree standing limned in autumn's red, the pile of dung behind them. herons winging up from an unseen river. he said their names in sharadoii, and then lanzadoii. it was not so different from the valley words. practice would make ghelan keen in no time. and sun eater's refusal to speak sharadoii would do much for his aim.

a stamped foot echoed on the cold breeze. pausing, the dark man scented the air unhurriedly, then motioned for them both to continue along the game-trail.