The Fourth Law

Chapter 6, Part 2

Bright, washed out sky. Broken land. Here again, Lily thought: their home. Was that woman... Fausta? She looked around. No one else was there, and her path...

The moss on the path was now grass; trees as tall as four or five feet grew along it, mostly evergreens, they seemed. There were now enough flowers for her to smell them. Seems peaceful enough, she thought. Was her life really in danger?

She paused a moment to see if anyone else was showing up, shrugged, and started down the path. The thought nagged: 'she might have killed you.' Might. Lily held onto that. Maybe this is some misunderstanding? Or was their family like any other? She thought of her father for a second. You never know who can kill. At that thought, she slowed her pace. She'd never thought about it before, but she looked down at her clothes. The same thing she was wearing in... her home. And, since she was just back from the park, she had her knife on her belt. She brushed it for reassurance. She certainly wouldn't start anything, but it was good to have it with her.

She spied the disk about the time her ears picked up the rumbling of the cylinders. Now, the path ended in a pretty palm tree about twelve feet tall. Nice! There was no one waiting for her, though.

"Ai?" she said. Then louder, "Ai! Are you here?"

"We can hear you just fine." Thaad stood some distance from the path and next to the circular platform. His quiet eyes gave nothing away. "Ai is engaged with Fausta at the moment." He looked at the two low backless chairs on the platform. "Would you care to wait with me?"

She nodded once. He was already seated by the time she made her way to her chair. Manners are different here, she thought, as she sat. Not particularly comfortable.

"You're puzzled," the youth said. Another nod.

"For the first time, I couldn't reach Ai... that bothered me," she said. "And, just before I came here, Ai said something... disturbing."

He sighed. "Ai should pick her words with greater care. Fausta is not a bad person." He stared hard at her, as if daring her to contradict him. "She is just..."

Lily essayed a smile. "Picking your words with care?"

He nodded. "...aggressive? No, I don't like the implications. Let me say, 'enthusiastic.' After learning of you from Ai, Fausta wanted to see you completely."

She was not sure what that meant. "Completely...?"

"Apologies," he said. "Do you recall the moment when silly Dorina took your hands? And do you recall what I said? Here in our home," he waved about, "things are not like they are in your home. If Fausta embraced you to learn everything she could about you, we don't know what would happen: it might shatter your mind, collapse your nervous system, or maybe nothing at all."

Again, a direct look. "Ai was not willing to allow that you might get hurt. She and Fausta argued."

"Is... that bad, arguing here?" she asked.

The lad smiled and leaned back. His eyes did not change. "Not at all! We've done it since the Dawn! But—"

Fausta stood just off the edge of the platform. Unlike Ai, her presence here looked exactly the same as on the tablet. Tall, a full six feet, and built like a butterfly swimmer. She wore field gray pants and a shirt that went well with her eyes. Not at all a uniform, but ready for battle. She smiled, but there was an odd gleam in her eye... she stepped up onto the platform.

Ai was next to Lily's chair, legs apart and arms straight out, palms toward the other woman.

"Do not." Ai said quietly.