Recognition (9 page)

Dominic moved so swiftly I was as surprised
as the man was when he looked up to see his adversary almost on top
of him. “Shall I make you eat your words here and now?” Dominic
spoke in an undertone. His sword was halfway out of the scabbard.
“Or would you prefer to rephrase your sentiment?”

The man had gone pale with Dominic’s sudden
approach. He was a large, powerful-looking individual, yet he
seemed terrified of Dominic’s abrupt challenge. “Margrave, I meant
no offense.” He smiled a shit-eating grin. “It is only natural to
wish to share a windfall.”

The scrape of Dominic’s sword being pulled
from its sheath startled me; the swoop of it cutting the air inches
from the man’s face made most of us jump. “That was not the
retraction I expected,” Dominic said.

The Viceroy had been calling for quiet for
some time. “Margrave Aranyi,” he said. “Whatever the offense, I
request that you permit Sir Mikal Hattori to live another day.”
Despite his mild tone, the words were an order.

Dominic glowered at the Viceroy but bowed his
compliance. “Until tomorrow,” he warned Sir Mikal in a whisper as
he returned the sword to its scabbard. “Enjoy your last supper
tonight.”

Sir Mikal was regretting his foot-in-mouth
disease. “I will apologize later, Margrave,” he promised.

Lord Zichmni resumed control. “Thank you,” he
said when he could be heard at last. “Some of us would like to be
done in one day.” He used the familiar, kind voice to me as he
explained what would happen next. There would be a period of
debate. Every member of a ‘Graven family was allowed to express an
opinion; only those who held a seat in the Assembly could cast a
vote. Yes, that I possessed
crypta
and should be treated
as ‘Graven; or No to both propositions.

For what seemed like the hundredth time I was
escorted by Dominic’s guards, minus the gifted one who must stay
for the debate and vote. Once again I sat alone in Dominic’s rooms.
I barely had time to admire the array of weapons arranged in
swirling patterns on the walls before I was called back to hear the
results.

I stood before the Assembly, heard the
verdict that was like a finding of guilt. Gifted, status uncertain.
A split decision. Like them, but not really one of them. Not even
the most skeptical had doubted the power of my gift, but they had
deadlocked on the next step.

“You have no family, young mistress?” Lord
Zichmni inquired in an afterthought. “No brother, not even a
cousin?”

My negative answers were a formality, taken
for granted.

“You see,” Lord Zichmni continued, “as an
unmarried woman, not ‘Graven by birth, you have no ties of kinship.
We are eleven families here, twelve if we include our absent
contingent from Andrade.” He nodded at the section of empty seats.
“None of us has the right to be your advocate until we can decide
on the best place for you.”

I turned to look at Dominic. He had sworn
yesterday to protect me, to defend my choice, although so far I had
not been offered any alternatives.

Dominic stood up. “Viceroy,” he said, “I
repeat that I am willing to act as Ms. Herzog’s guardian—”

“Sit down!” Lord Zichmni said. “I refuse to
go over this again.”

The others jeered openly at Dominic. “The
wolf guarding the sheepfold,” they laughed. “The bull guarding the
heifers.” Unlike Sir Mikal’s indiscretion, these insults were
apparently part of the debate, as Dominic endured them in silence,
clenching his jaw but not answering back.

In the suspenseful atmosphere of a trial
awaiting the judge’s pronouncement of the sentence, Lady Ertegun
approached Lord Zichmni. “Then I, too, will repeat my request,” she
said, glaring out at the Assembly, daring anyone to challenge her.
The others deferred to her position. There were impatient mutters,
but no open threats. Lord Zichmni signaled his permission.

The sibyl reworked her frown into a
surprisingly warm smile as she addressed me. “You have great
potential,” she said. “I can say unreservedly that should you wish
to train at La Sapienza Seminary and Signal Station you will be
welcome.”

There, that was what Dominic had mentioned
yesterday. A
signal station
. But what exactly was that? I
knew more or less what a seminary was, enough to realize I had just
been offered something of great value, like winning first prize in
a competition. I must at least acknowledge the honor the sibyl did
me.

As I searched for the right words, a man
jumped up shouting. He was Lord Singh, the same man who had been
convinced I was a Terran spy at yesterday’s meeting. “Then I’ll
repeat myself, too!” he bellowed. “How can you even consider
letting a Terran into La Sapienza? In a week they’ll have their
machines all over the ‘Graven Realms, grubbing for minerals,
cutting down the forests, building roads.”

Other voices came in supporting him until
Lady Ndoko, replaying her part from yesterday, interposed. “You
left out one thing, Landgrave Singh. At La Sapienza, at least for a
while, Ms. Herzog will be unavailable for sexual companionship, and
certainly for childbearing. Isn’t that bothering you more than
these other hypothetical considerations?”

Lord Singh scowled, but he didn’t answer. His
supporters were quiet as well. Lady Ndoko’s authority, that I had
noticed yesterday, was, if anything, stronger here in Assembly, in
front of an audience consisting entirely of her peers.

While debate was temporarily at a standstill,
Lady Ndoko thought to me directly, answering my questions.
A
signal station is the applied or practical section of our
seminaries, like the laboratory at one of your research
universities. It is devoted to the use and study of
crypta
. The work is not dangerous to us, but the amplified
energy from the large prisms we use with our gifts can harm a baby
in the womb. Young women in a seminary avoid pregnancy, just as you
do. If they wish to have children, they must leave
.

You see
, she concluded,
there
are some options for us, even birth control
. She opened her
mind still further, letting me in for a brief moment of communion,
a great intimacy from someone in her position, and accomplished,
through her skill, without physical contact. I learned that she was
in her twenties, Landgravina of the Ndoko Realm in her own right,
and Sibyl of Netrebko Seminary. She was unmarried by choice, and
would wait until she was ready to produce the heir to Ndoko.
We’re not so different, are we?
she thought with a soft
laugh as she disclosed this much, before she lowered a mental
barrier, shutting me out from her thoughts, just as the burqa she
wore hid her face.

I thanked her silently as the mental
barricade descended. She had shown me a way to escape my past, had
given me a taste of a promising future. I bowed my head, trying to
deliberate, to reach a considered decision, instead of rushing
impulsively ahead as I always did. It was impossible. All I could
think of was freedom. In this La Sapienza Seminary I could buy
myself time, learn to control my gift, be safe from all these men
so eager to find out if I was fertile. And I would not have to
impose on Dominic, force him into the role of protector that left
him vulnerable to the taunts and accusations of the others. I could
take a leave from my Terran job, maybe quit—

There was the catch. If I wasn’t careful, the
world I came from would follow me. Lord Singh, whom Lady Ndoko had
so thoroughly rebuked, might have been an alarmist about my spying,
but he was right about most of what he feared now. As soon as one
of their citizens entered the restricted world of ‘Graven and
signal station, the Terrans would take it as a mandate to overturn
Eclipsis’ Protected status that prevented development and commerce.
All the apparatus of modernization would follow. Everything I had
seen in my few weeks on my new job convinced me of the very real
danger.

Whatever my preferences, or those of the
other inhabitants, I didn’t want to bring ruin to Dominic’s world.
I knew him well enough to be certain that this was the only world
he could live in. Destroy it, and I destroyed him, as surely as if
I took a forbidden Terran weapon and blasted him into subatomic
particles.

The large meal had replenished my strength,
although I wished I had drunk some of that coffee-turpentine to
make my mind work less sluggishly. Still, a plan was forming, based
as much on what I could get from the others’ apprehensions as from
my own initiative.

I raised my head, took a breath and turned to
Lord Singh. “Your fears are well-founded, Landgrave,” I said, using
the honorific I had heard in the others’ speech, to show respect
for the man and his concerns. “If I go to La Sapienza as a Terran,
it’s an invitation to disaster.”

I turned next to the young man who had
befriended me earlier in the test. “Lord Roger, would you please
show me the inner flame?”

Lord Roger, guessing what I had planned,
winked at me, raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. A blue
flame appeared at the end of his thumb like a magician’s illusion.
He pretended to snuff it out with his right hand, then drew his
dagger and used the prism at the finial, much the way Dominic had
manipulated the traffic light, to concentrate his body’s heat into
a visible form that resembled a stove’s gas jet. He did it several
times, slowly, until I had observed and memorized all the
steps.

We learn this as children
, he
thought to me,
like your insect-frying on Terra. We don’t need
a prism once we’re adults. It’s why ‘Gravina Ertegun thought you
would know
.

Lady Ertegun handed me a similar dagger
without comment as I faced the Assembly one last time. Working
through the prism, I created my own blue flame that burned steadily
with only occasional flare-ups. With my right hand, I opened my
wallet and pulled out all my Terran documents. One by one, I held
each to the flame, let it shrivel and vaporize. Passport, off-world
ID, housing voucher, Information Department hologram. The hologram
made a satisfying popping noise as it melted.

When the documents were all gone I
extinguished the flame and announced, “I am no longer Terran. I am
simply a gifted woman, as you have voted. I will go to La Sapienza
for training, and if there is any Terran interference I will answer
for it.”

Of course the master records were all on
file, at the Terran Protectorate administrative offices, and on
Terra itself. Most of the Eclipsians knew that. But they appreciate
gestures, and they understood the significance of what I had done.
I had renounced my allegiance to my native world, had deliberately
cut myself off, made myself hostage. While Terra could always find
me, it could no longer claim me as its own without my consent. And
if I wanted to return to my old life, I would have to start from
scratch, like an Eclipsian. Like one of them.

I heard no more objections, from Lord Singh
or any of the others. The debate seemed to have ended, a conclusion
reached that all could accept. As people began to file out, Lady
Ertegun took charge of me. I was under her protection now, she
explained. I would spend the night in her quarters here in ‘Graven
Fortress, and we would go directly to La Sapienza in the morning.
“We will ride out first thing after an early breakfast,” she said,
a cautionary tone making her voice querulous. “To fly in one of
those helicopters, as I did yesterday, would only alert your
compatriots.”

She was not asking for my opinion or
agreement, merely stating the facts. I bowed my head in
acquiescence, grateful that she understood my desire to disappear
into another life, another self.
I would not even have to tell
them
, I thought with guilty pleasure of my coworkers and
supervisor. I would not have to argue about what my role should be,
would not have to try to hold back information. I would truly enter
this world, as I had imagined doing when I first had the idea of
coming here, before I learned it would be just another job, in
overheated buildings with stale air and surrounded by the same
oblivious minds.

Dominic joined us, elation obvious in his
face at this solution he had not allowed himself to hope for. He
took my hand as we walked, our shared consciousness creating a
throbbing between us of incipient communion. “I will visit you,” he
promised.

Lady Ertegun bristled. “No, Margrave Aranyi,”
she said, “you will not visit her. Nobody visits novices in
training.” Sibyl of a seminary, her word was law. As I had seen
with Lady Ndoko, not even the Viceroy would willingly defy her.

My new protector confronted Dominic and,
looking into his eyes, forced him to drop my hand. The two of them
squared off like duelists, each one trying to make the other blink,
giving up after a few tense moments. Neither could prevail, neither
would submit. With a shrug of irritation, Lady Ertegun turned her
back on Dominic, directing me to follow.

I walked off with her, taking one last look
over my shoulder. Dominic was standing very still and straight.
I will come to you
, he thought to me.

Somehow I didn’t doubt it.
I’ll be
waiting
, I thought back.

Can’t wait to find out what happens next?
Here’s a preview of
Choices
,
Book Two in the
Eclipsis
series of Lady Amalie’s memoirs:

The ride to La Sapienza was brutal, although
Edwige, ‘Gravina Eretegun, declared, a mocking smile on her face,
that the weather had “held up nicely, given the season.” It was
early in the first month of autumn, and autumn on Eclipsis, even in
the relatively low-lying plains between the city and the seminary,
features a great deal of wind, freezing rain and sleet. In our
fourteen-hour day of travel, broken up, again according to Edwige,
into two “easy stages,” we had encountered all of these conditions
as we maneuvered our mounts along the narrow, slippery, rocky
trails, Eclipsis’s only roads.