More and more, she had began to see Hallie hanging around the pens watching with great interest, which made her chuckle, as she could remember doing the same thing when she was the young girls age. The day came when she had looked at her and asked "Are you just going to stand and watch, or do you want to help?" That was all it took. From that point on, she under took teaching all she knew, starting with the mares that were heavy with foals. Hallie was taught how to do the first checks on them to see if they were carrying. A great deal of time was spent with Cana standing beside or behind her as she learned how to run her hands over their swollen bodies to judge size, position and the length of pregnancy. It was something that was hard to teach in some ways. She had a hard time explaining it. It was just something that you come to know from en'var of experience and tending to the animals. She was pleased to see that Hallie seemed to have the touch, and learned quickly.
They kept very close attention on the pregnant mares, and moved the ones closest to foaling to special pens. Cana explained with great patience about watching them, making sure that when the foal dropped, that there was some sort of fresh game so it would be able to make its' first kill.
Hallie was good with the animals. She had that gentle voice and way of talking to them that would serve her well should she decide that this was her clan of choosing. She also seemed to have a second sense of that they wanted or needed, which was rare.
People choose a clan for varying reasons. Some, because it was the clan of one of their parents, some because one of their parents guided them into it, and even some that just thought they would be good at it. But, there were the ones, that the clan chose them. It called to them just as surely as the marsh cranes called in the early morning. That is how it had been for Cana. She had stubbornly held to that calling, even through her time of studying at the healers fires. All she wanted to do was work with the kaiila. She saw that same light in Hallie's eyes, and it caused her to smile, and vow to help the young woman all she could.
This day she had shown up with a thong with green beads strung on it almost identical to the one she wore herself, entwined in her braid.. Hallie looked at her oddly and asked what it was. She had motioned to her to come and sit beside her. She carefully tied the beads onto the braid that snaked down Hallie's back, and spoke softly. "If you are going to be of the Kaiila Clan, then you need to wear our colors." She watched as the young girl drew her fingers along the beads, and she was rewarded by the brightest of smiles, and a hug that squeezed her breath from her, and a promise that she would never be disappointed.
Watching Hallie run off to check the mares, she sat there remembering the little girl that was bent upon drowning her new brother, and the cage, and the urt. How far she had come. How beautiful she became each passing season. It was bittersweet in a way. This was no longer a child, but a young woman standing on the brink of the rest of her life. A young woman poised to take her place among her people.
It was a moment where sadness and joy mixed within her. How could Tara stand to see her children grow like this? She wanted to keep her own sons close to her, but she knew that was not the way of life. They grew, they matured, they took mates, they lived and they died. A great crushing pain took her breath away. She hoped that she never had to stand beside the pyre of one of her children. And at that moment, she had great love and respect for Tara, and her strength.
Shaking off such thoughts, she moved to join Hallie in the pen with the mares, and notice the young, unscarred warriors that stood by the fence, admiring the young woman. She moved over to them, and growled.
"Do not even have those thoughts. If her mother, the harsuspex does not kill you, I will."
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