Page 33 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

Sullha looked away before either of them caught her eye.

"So," Mattie said. "I have news."

"Good news?" Anita asked.

"Terrifying news. I booked a Perfect Match adventure. I thought I'd have to wait months, but someone canceled, and they called me to ask if I was interested. I said yes. It's next Thursday."

Anita clapped her hands, and Dimitri grinned at Mattie.

"That's wonderful," Sullha said.

"It's horrifying. Dimitri and I are going in together, so at least I know I'll love my partner for the adventure. But what if the adventure itself is terrible, and I can't get out and have to suffer through it? They say the three hours can feel like weeks or even months. It can turn into a nightmare."

Dimitri shook his head. "After what you've been through in real life, nothing virtual should scare you."

"True," Mattie said. "I'm just freaking out over nothing." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I think another round is in order." Dimitri rose to his feet. "The same for everyone?"

Sullha nodded. There was still a little left in her glass, and she finished it.

The second glass went down even faster than the first, and by the time it was half gone, she was telling Anita about the real computer she was dealing with, but her words were tripping over her tongue.

"Maybe that's enough," Yaaf said quietly.

"I'm here on doctor's orders." She turned and patted his cheek. "He said to go to the bar, and here we are. People drink in the bar, and I'm drinking. Everything's fine."

"What doctor's orders?" Mattie said.

Sullha told her everything.

She heard herself flapping her mouth and couldn't stop. She told them about Merlin's house, the stick she'd peed on, the stress, how her body was a very good soldier that didn't know the war was over, and how the doctor had looked at Yaaf and asked when he'd last taken her on a date, and how Yaaf hadn't known what a date was. She told them she wasn't transitioning because she was wound too tight, that the Hobbit was medicine, and that the pink drinks were probably medicine too, though Merlin hadn't said so.

Anita's eyes softened, and Mattie reached across the table and squeezed her wrist.

Petrov lifted his glass.

"To Merlin," he said. "I must buy this man a drink."

"To Merlin," they all said, and drank.

It was late when they left, later than Sullha had planned to stay. The cool air eased her spinning head, but not her feet, which suddenly felt too cramped in her shoes.

She stopped, took them off, and handed them to Yaaf. "My arms are too floppy to carry anything. You take them."

He looked at the shoes, then at her feet, and shook his head.

"You can't walk barefoot. The little rocks will cut into your soles, and it will hurt."

"The shoes hurt."

He looked at her for a long moment, then crouched in front of her, back to her.

"Climb on."

She laughed and held on to his shoulders as she climbed on, dress and all. He stood with her as if she weighed nothing, hooked his arms under her knees, and started walking.

He'd carried her like this when they were kids. She'd forgotten it, and now she remembered the dust in the enclosure yard and his skinny back. She rested her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes.