The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel [359]
Both Marthona and Ayla knew that he must have been practicing the S’Armunai greeting so he could say it in Zelandonii, and they were both impressed. To Marthona, it spoke well of the handsome young man that he was willing to make the effort, and she had to admit he was a handsome young man. She could understand her daughter’s attraction and, so far, was pleased with her choice.
Ayla had never heard the formal greeting of the S’Armunai; neither she nor Jondalar had ever been formally welcomed to a camp of the S’Armunai. Jondalar had been taken prisoner by Attaroa’s Wolf Women and kept in a confined fenced area along with their men and boys. Ayla and the horses with the help of Wolf followed his trail to the camp.
After the formal greetings, Marthona and Aldanor began chatting, but Ayla recognized that while the former leader was being charming, she was also asking pointed questions to learn as much as she could about the stranger her daughter was planning to mate. Aldanor was explaining that he had met Danug and Druwez when they stopped to stay with his people for a while. He did not belong to Attaroa’s Camp, but one farther north, for which he was grateful when it became known what had been going on there.
Ayla and Jondalar had become legendary figures to the S’Armunai. The tale was told of the beautiful S’Ayla, the Mother Incarnate, a living munai as fair as a summer day, and her mate, the tall, blond S’Elandon, who had come to earth to save the men of that southern camp. It was said that his eyes were the color of water in a glacier, more blue than the sky, and with his light hair, he was as handsome as only the shining moon would be if he came to earth and took human form. After the Mother’s fierce Wolf, an incarnation of the Wolf Star, killed the evil Attaroa, S’Ayla and S’Elandon rode back up to the sky on their magic horses.
Aldanor had loved the stories when he first heard them, especially the idea that the visitors from the sky could control horses and wolves. He thought the legend came from a traveling storyteller, who must have had an inspiration of sheer genius to come up with such an innovative story. When the cousins claimed the two legendary figures were kin, and that they were on their way to visit them, he couldn’t believe they were real. The young men got along well and when the two cousins extended the invitation, he decided to travel with them on their Journey to visit their Zelandonii kin, and see for himself. As the three young men traveled west, they heard more stories. The couple not only rode horses, but their wolf was so “fierce,” he allowed babies to crawl all over him.
When they arrived at the Zelandonii Summer Meeting and he heard the true story of Attaroa and the people of her camp from Jondalar, Aldanor was amazed that the incidents in the legends were so accurate. He had planned to go back with Danug and Druwez just to tell everyone how true they were. A woman named Ayla did exist and was living with the Zelandonii, and her mate, Jondalar, was tall and blond with surprisingly blue eyes, and if a little older, still a most handsome man. Everyone said Ayla was beautiful, too.
But he decided not to go. No one would have believed him, any more than he had believed the stories that he heard were actually true. They were supernatural fables, which had a mystical kind of truth that helped to explain things that were unknown—myths. And besides, Jondalar’s sister was a beauty in her own right, and she had captured his heart.
People had been gathering around as the stranger and Marthona talked, listening to the story Aldanor was telling.
“Why are the couple in the story called S’Ayla and S’Elandon, and not Ayla and