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HOWEVER, ASHA AND I didn’t sort out where we stood in relation to each other yet.
The ceremony was finished. It was now time for the newly instated clan members to go through the aggregated members of the clan and other visitors to establish where they belonged, to make new contacts.
“Come with me,” I said to the boy next to me.
He glanced over his shoulder, but his father was no longer in his seat. He followed me through the crowd.
Thayu stood with the others of my association. She was talking to Nicha, but when she saw me with the boy, her eyes widened. She knew.
They faced each other awkwardly.
“This is your mother, Thayu Domiri.”
“Nalya?” Thayu’s voice was barely more than a whisper.
The pain in her tone cut me. The last time she saw him, she’d left him on the floor in the
