Reclamation (63 page)

“Eat.” She held up the square.

Eric crawled to her and clutched the square with both hands. He ate it in four bites. Arla pulled the top of the can open and took a swig of the juice. It was too sweet and there wasn’t enough, but it was better than nothing. She passed the can to Eric and he drank deeply.

When he lowered the can from his lips, his eyes were less wild.

“Thank you,” he said. After a moment, he added, “Do you think you will ever get tired of rescuing me?”

“I hope not.” She felt herself smile. “You need to be rescued so often.”

“Yes, I do, don’t I?” he swirled the dregs of the juice around. “Why do you suppose that is?”

“I would say it’s because my Lord Teacher spends too much time thinking about what he’s supposed to be and not enough time dealing with what he is.”

He looked out through one of the rents in the dome. “I thought we could leave when this was done,” he said. “I thought we could get the Unifiers to get us all out of here.”

Arla had no answer for him, so she let them both sit in silence and tried to just enjoy the feeling of some of her strength returning to her.

“It’s all still out there,” he said eventually. “The Realm, and the laws of the Nameless, and the Teachers, and the Vitae. The whole Quarter Galaxy is still out there. And you’re still a Notouch and I’m still a Teacher.” He handed her the can of juice. “You finish that.” He paused. “Your sister is still on the other side of the World’s Wall.”

“We’ll get her back. The Mind is looking after her.” She swallowed the last drops. “Then we’re going to need to get those arlas out of the Temple vaults and see if the Mind has a way to identify who they belong to. Then we have to find those people and see if they’re willing to learn how to be Eyes. I think that should be my job, and Trail’s when we get her back.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “So, Eric Born
kenu
Teacher Hand
kenu
Lord Hand on the Seablade
dena
Enemy of the Aunorante Sangh, what will you do about all this?” She waved toward the dome’s tattered wall. “About what is still out there?”

He didn’t say anything for a long while. Arla waited. He looked down at his naked hands. They trembled slightly and she knew he wanted to reach for the Mind again. She did too. Parts of her soul were still down there, rejoicing in the freedom of her power.

She couldn’t do anything for him if he decided to give in to that false joy.

Eric looked her straight in the eyes. “When my brother-in-law gets back, I’ll help get us all to First City. My parents are not averse to getting themselves a little extra power. They won’t mind that their son is heir to the Servant and can prove it. I’ll help you find your children again. I’ll get to the
U-Kenai
and get a message to Dorias, and the Unifiers, and the Shessel and Kethran Colony. We’re going to need friends, Arla Stone, and they’re going to need to know who we are, and who the Vitae are.

“Will that be enough?”

“It’ll be a good start.” She nodded. “What will you do about yourself?”

“I will learn what I can from you.” He took her hand. “I will try to deal with what I am.” His hand tightened a little. “With what we are.”

She laid her scarred hand over his power-gifted one. “That is an even better start.”

After a while they picked themselves up out of the dome’s wreckage and, climbing carefully over the debris, made their way out into the daylight.

I
WISH TO THANK DOUG
Houseman, Leonard Zettel, Karen Fleming, and Timothy B. Smith for their expert technical help, the Untitled Writers Group for their infinite patience in reviewing so many revisions and Dawn Marie Sampson-Beresford, who always listens.

Sarah Zettel is the critically acclaimed author of more than twenty novels, spanning the full range of genre fiction. Her debut novel,
Reclamation
, won the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second release,
Fool’s War
, was a 1997 New York Times Notable Book, and the American Library Association named
Playing God
one of the Best Books for Young Adults of 1999. Her novel
Bitter Angels
won the Philip K. Dick Award for best science fiction paperback in 2009. Her latest novel,
Dust Girl
, was named as one of the best young adult books of the year by both
Kirkus Reviews
and the American Library Association. Zettel lives in Michigan with her husband, her rapidly growing son, and her cat, Buffy the Vermin Slayer.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1996 by Sarah Zettel

Cover design by Mimi Bark

978-1-4804-2216-2

This edition published in 2013 by Open Road Integrated Media

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