"Why do you think that's weird?" Kira asked, not having understood most of what he had said.
Jason didn't answer for a moment, looking back down at the grass as they walked. "Back on Earth, a lot of stuff isn't face to face. You meet people and do things through links, and on the links it's easy to look like whatever you want to be. Most people spend a lot of time trying to look like something different than what they are. I mean, I know guys who show themselves in uniforms with swords and all, but it's just an act."
"You're not used to people who really are what they look like?" Kira asked, perplexed.
"Yeah." He shrugged. "It's how people on Earth do things."
"What are you really, then?"
He smiled crookedly. "A jerk."
"Why do you do that?" Kira asked. "It's like you want to insult yourself."
"Saves time," Jason said with another shrug. "Can I ask you something else? Why are you just an honorary officer in the cavalry? Is it because you're a kid?"
"A kid?" Kira asked, offended until she realized that Jason must also consider himself a "kid." "No. I mean, partly. But even when I get older I can't join Tiae's military. It's because of my mother."
"She won't let you," Jason said sourly, as if confirming his own worst suspicions.
"No," Kira insisted. "It's because of who she is. Lady Mari is supposed to be as impartial as possible, not favoring any group or country. If I became part of Tiae's army, people would think she was favoring Tiae. They already worry about that because everyone knows what good friends my mother and Queen Sien are."
"How do you know that's the real reason they won't let you?"
"Because Mother and Father sat down with me and explained it several years ago," Kira said.
"And you believed them?" Jason said with an edge of scorn in his voice.
"My parents have never lied to me," Kira said. "Never."
He stared at her, then at the ground. "I should hate you."
"It's a free world now. Go ahead," Kira invited him.
"I don't want to." They had reached the vicinity of the ship again. "Um…see you."
"Yeah," Kira replied in a noncommittal voice. She watched him shamble away, shoulders hunched, head down. It made her want to call a better goodbye, but she decided not to. Jason's problems weren't any of her business.
She looked around, seeing that Talese Groveen, from her expression and body language, was apparently saying something harsh to a group of her "people." Where were Mari and Alain? She finally spotted her mother talking to the Imperials again. Why did it have to be the Imperials? Gritting her teeth, Kira walked to them, trying not to look like she was in any hurry.
"Kira?" her mother said, not completely hiding her surprise that she had joined the group. From the looks of everyone, the conversation they had been having was not a happy one.
Kira feigned embarrassment. "There was something I needed to, uh…" She leaned close to her mother's ear, cupping her hands around her mouth as she quickly summarized what Jason had told her, including the warning about the ship being able to read lips. She saw Mari's eyes widen when she got to the part about thousands of copies of her, but otherwise her mother didn't reveal that anything unusual was being said.
Her mother nodded at Kira when she was done. "I'm sorry you don't feel well, dearest. Maybe if you sit in the coach for a little while you'll feel better. I'll send some people over there to keep you company. Your father is over that way speaking with other Mages. Tell him…I need him back over here."
One of the Imperials appeared ready to speak to Kira, but Camber stopped him, eyeing Mari and her with an appraising gaze. "I hope it is nothing serious," he said, adding extra meaning and a veiled extra question to his words.
"Hopefully nothing we can't handle," Mari said. "I'll let you know confidentially, for her privacy."
Kira walked toward the coach, now trying to look like someone who didn't feel well. She glanced back, seeing her mother in a huddle with Camber to pass on the warning as the other Imperials formed a protective wall around them.
Kira found her father and gave him the same message, earning herself a measured look and a nod of approval. She reached the coach and paused before getting inside, looking back. The Talese woman was in the act of brusquely waving Jason into the ship.
"Are you all right, Lieutenant?" a cavalry trooper asked, riding up.
Kira smiled at her. "Yes. Thank you, Sergeant Bete. You can let the others know I'm fine. Just, um, a little lightheaded."
"Next time, wear your helm when the sun's out," Bete advised with a grin, turning her mount to ride back to the rest of the lancers.
Kira sat in the coach, out of sight of the ship, as various people came by, expressing authentic-sounding condolences and then being told Kira's warning. Asha, Mage-solemn, touched Kira's hand in thanks as Mechanic Dav shook his head ruefully. "Uncle Dav? Can I ask a hard question?"
"You? Of course."
"Do you blame my mother for your limp?"
Dav smiled at her. "If not for your mother, my bones would have been resting on the bottom of the Sea of Bakre for the last twenty years. I've never felt anything but gratitude toward her. The one responsible for this," he tapped his hip, "is the legionary who fired a crossbow at me. And whoever he or she was, they were just doing their job."
"You don't even blame the Imperials?"
"I would if they tried again. Hey, our girls Devi and Ashira are wondering when you'll visit. You're always welcome in Tiaesun."
"I need to get down there again," Kira said. "Sien wants me to visit, too."
A long time passed, the slant of the sunbeams through the windows of the coach shifting down and toward the west, before her mother finally joined Kira in the coach. "Ugh," Mari said, checking to be sure she couldn't be seen from the ship. "That Talese woman kept pressuring us to approve things, and saying none of them were all that important but we should go ahead and say yes. Thank you for your warning, Kira."
"I just did what you asked me to do," Kira said, uncomfortable with the praise. "What did the Imperials say?"
"Camber was expecting that sort of thing. The Imperials see the Urth people not as welcome visitors but as rivals. And Sien badly wants to hurt that Talese woman, but she restrained herself. Everyone was warned, and even the Syndaris appear to be worried so much about being taken that they'll refrain from trying to make their own deals with the Urth people."
Kira realized that her mother was sharing diplomatic details with her just as if she was one of those who had worked with Mari ever since the war. The realization emboldened her to ask a question. "Mother, why didn't you ever tell me where the scar on your arm came from?"
Mari gave her a surprised look that shaded into guilt. "There never seemed to be a good time."
"Was it really bad?"
"No. Your father wrapped a bandage around it to stop the bleeding. When we made it to the Pride the healer stitched it up. Hurt for a while, that's all. Um, I did have trouble using that arm for…part of the battle in Landfall's harbor."
"Were you scared?"
Her mother met her gaze. "A little. We were all exhausted. Physically and emotionally numb. At the time I was mainly worried that we'd lose the tech manuals."
"Have you ever been scared?"
Mari looked away. "Sometimes I've been so scared I couldn't breathe."
Kira didn't ask any more questions, thinking her mother's answer couldn't be true, that no one could be scared and do the things her mother had done.
Mari also didn't say anything else until Kira's father entered the coach. "Is everything all right, Alain?"
"Perhaps." He sat down, frowning slightly. "Before I received Kira's warning, I did demonstrate a small spell at the request of some of the Urth people. All I did was create the illusion of mild heat above my hand. I did not agree to anything, even though they did ask for approval for something. I only demonstrated."
"Hopefully that's all right. Kira, did you actually say t
he Urth people were planning on making thousands of girls who were…me?"
"Hundreds of thousands," Kira said.
"Truly a frightening idea," her father said.
To Kira's surprise, her mother started laughing. "Yes, it is. I'm not exactly an easy person and I wasn't easy growing up. Think of all those poor mothers!" Mari sobered, still looking slightly dazed. "But I'm more worried about something else. What exactly did that boy tell you about Mages, Kira?"
She concentrated, trying to remember the words. "He said some of the people on the ship from Urth were very interested in Mages. He didn't know why, but he thought it was important enough to bring up while warning me about the genetic things."
Her father looked closely at Kira. "Was there something else?"
"No, I…" Kira paused. "When Jason mentioned the Mage thing, I felt an odd sort of tingle. It was weird."
"A tingle? As if something was trying to get your attention?"
"Yes." Kira stared at her father. "How did you know?"
"Foresight, in its simplest form." Alain looked at Mari. "The talent has emerged in Kira. It tells us the interest of the Urth people in Mages is what we have been warned against."
"Foresight." Looking distressed, Mari leaned forward to hold Kira's chin and gaze into her eyes. "So your Mage talents are getting stronger. Are you having any problems with Mechanic tasks?"
"No." Upset at her mother's reaction, Kira leaned back and away. "I'm fine."
"Can you—"
"I'm fine!"
Mari sat back as well and gave Kira's father an exasperated look.
Alain leaned forward slightly, his eyes on Kira. "I was once taught to forget that the idea of help even existed. I was once badly punished for helping another in need."
Kira gritted her teeth. "I know."
"Just as you would help those you love, do not reject help when it is offered by those who love you."
"This one understands," Kira mumbled, using the traditional Mage response in part to admit to her father that she knew he was right and in part to provoke her mother a little for making such a big deal out of things. "I'm sorry. But I'm fine."
Mari closed her eyes, moved her lips as she counted to ten, then looked at Kira again. "All right. We'd better get moving." She signaled to the driver and the coach surged into motion, the cavalry once more escorting it.
Kira hunched back again as the coach passed through the crowd of onlookers who were calling out to the daughter. Mari always insisted that Kira's father had been her equal in all things, had been right there beside Kira's mother the whole way in changing the world. But to the people Lady Mari was the daughter, the leader, the one who trailed myths and legends like a brilliant garment. And Kira, measuring herself against her mother, had long ago miserably realized that the myths and legends were not far short of reality.
Her mother, after taking some deep breaths to brace herself, leaned out the window and waved and touched hands with people as the coach passed them, the crowd calling her name over and over again. Mari kept it up until they had cleared the crowd, then sagged back into her seat.
"Why do you do it?" Kira asked her mother. "I've always been able to tell it's hard on you."
"It's important to them," Mari replied, looking worn out. "They deserve attention and concern. Just like everyone. Except this world, apparently. The people from Urth aren't going to share anything with us?"
"Nothing important. Just stuff that Jason called toys. Partly because they want to cheat us, and partly because of some law to keep our culture from being disrupted."
Her mother glared out the window of the coach. "At least now we know why the technical questions we ask Urth rarely get answered in any useful way. Yet these people seem very interested in learning our secrets."
Alain nodded. "You showed Mechanics and Mages what could be done when they worked together."
"We showed that," Mari corrected him. "When we survived all of those attempts to kill one or both of us. But if the Great Guilds had ever cooperated that way, this world could never have been freed. We're being warned that Urth's pursuit of knowledge about Mages holds danger. We have to find out why. Especially since they're withholding their own secrets from us. The Great Guilds kept us from changing so they'd remain in control. Why is Urth doing it?"
"From the way Jason talked, it sounded like they think they're protecting us or something," Kira said.
"As if we're children?" Her mother looked at Kira. "And, yes, I know how much you've chafed against the limits put on you in the name of protecting you. But the goal wasn't to keep you unchanging. It was to help you grow, with the certainty that the day would come when you would make all of your own decisions."
Kira sighed. "Mother, I'm sorry about earlier. Even though we've argued sometimes—"
"Sometimes?" her father asked, keeping his voice even.
"Sometimes," Kira repeated, "you haven't been cruel to me like Jason's parents have. I know I complain about things. But I can tell the difference in how he has been treated. Jason was pretending to be all tough about it, but he's not all that good at hiding how he feels. I heard some real hurt."
Mari wrinkled her face in revulsion. "How can parents do that to a child?"
Alain gazed at Kira. "The boy Jason only wanted to get back at his mother? He did not have any other motivation?"
"He said something about it not being right, about wanting to help. But he wouldn't talk much about that." Kira made a face. "It was like he expected me to make fun of him for it. Just like he expected me to insult him. It was sort of sad. I hope he's all right."
Her mother glanced at Kira. "You care what happens to him?"
Kira felt suddenly awkward and uncomfortable . "Yes. A little. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing's wrong with that. From the way you described him the boy doesn't seem like he has a lot of friends."
"I'm not his friend," Kira muttered.
"I didn't say you were. I just think it's nice that you care about him."
"Mother! I don't care about him! Not that way!"
Mari held her hands up in a calming gesture. "I'm not implying anything. I just wanted your impression of him."
"He's a teenage boy," Kira said. "He doesn't seem to like himself, so how could I like him? I don't care whether I ever seen him again. Maybe he'll be all right when he gets older. But he's not my responsibility. I don't have any interest in trying to fix everything that's wrong with him."
Neither of her parents managed to completely hide their relief at her words, which irritated Kira enough that she spent most of the rest of the trip staring out her window and saying little.
* * *
Master Mechanic Mari, once "of Caer Lyn" and now simply "of Dematr," stood in her home looking out of a south-facing window toward the distant shoreline. She had wanted a place closer to the water, but that would have also been close to assassins trying to reach her or her family by sea. Queen Sien had been understanding of Mari's desires to hear the ocean, but also insistent on the need for safety, and Tiae did after all supply most of the troops that guarded Mari's home. Besides which, Sien was one of the few people on Dematr who could be more stubborn than Mari.
"You are there again," Alain said.
Smiling sadly and apologetically, she turned her head to see him. "I'm always there. Part of me will never leave Dorcastle. But, yes, standing here, looking out at the water, I remember that talk we had on the sixth wall."
"It should be a good memory," he said, coming to stand by her. "You were certain you would die, but you are here with me."
"I try never to forget how lucky I am." She grimaced. "But right now I need to be thinking about other people. Like our daughter."
"I did not expect foresight to develop," Alain admitted, his brow barely wrinkling in thought.
"She should be like Asha and Dav's kids," Mari said. "Devi is doing fine with Mechanic training and Ashira is showing signs of Mage talents. But Kira can somehow do both. How ca
n one mind hold two such incompatible visions of the world? Alain, I keep hoping one of the talents will fade. I don't care if Kira ends up a Mechanic or a Mage, as long as she's one of those. But if both sets of skills keep strengthening…" Her voice trailed off.
"We do not know what will happen," Alain finished.
"And now this mess with the ship from Urth." Mari sighed, feeling anger and disappointment mingled. "We had such hopes. But Urth turns out to be not all that much different from our world."
"The people of Urth do look different," Alain said.
She shuddered. "Designing children. How do we find out more about what they intend? The only one of them who gave us any real information was that boy who talked to Kira."
"If he will speak to Kira—" Alain began.
"I will not use our daughter as bait! I know a little bit about how that feels, remember?"
He took a moment to reply. "We could ask Kira. She said he was unhappy. Suppose that Kira asked him to come out here, so she could speak with him again? There would be no risk to Kira with us nearby."
"What if that boy tried to kidnap her? To force us to agree to those genetic things?"
"I think he would find that Kira is not easily forced to do anything," Alain said. "She is much like her mother."
"That's your fault! You're the one who wished for a girl who took after me!" Mari exhaled slowly, thinking. "I hate doing this, but…I'll ask Kira."
"I can—"
"No. I have to be the one who asks." Mari shook her head. "I complain about how hard it is being the daughter, trying to keep this world from blowing up, but raising my own daughter is a bigger challenge than that."
"Before you speak to her," Alain said, "we should talk of foresight. I have spoken with other Mages, and there is something we are all beginning to sense."
* * *
"Kira?"
Working at her desk in her room, Kira heard the tentative note in her mother's voice and braced herself for either bad news or being told to do something that she didn't want to do. "Yes?" Kira replied, trying to mimic her mother's tone.