Ouroboros Spine xlvv. before he gets there

Sialuk soothed Lote as best as she knew how. The murmurings of the mother were painful on her ears, but there was nothing Sialuk could do to will Adrastus here. The children came, one after another after another after another. Four mewling bundles that Adrastus was not here to witness.

The five of them slept now, the family with no taataa to bring meat, yet Sialuk knew the wolves of Moonglow would make the children feel welcome. They would not go hungry.

When the star was certain that they were safe and sound, she emerged from the den, weary.

Four, she said. Two girls, and two boys, and yet there was something... different about one of the boys. Sialuk could not put it into words. She would ask the bones when time allowed.

Shikoba, will you stay and guard them? she asked. The strange-speaking woman had been here first, and she had helped a great deal. With Adrastus gone... Sialuk did not trust the other men with Lote in such a state.