"I know," she whispered back. "Me, too—"
They knew what they wanted, but only vaguely how to go about it. Then they found each other, and Rimon was lost in feelings. Kadi met his rhythm as if their hearts beat together, surging in a wave of snared pleasure to a euphoric peak… to fall into sweet contentment in one another's arms.
For a long time they lay still, but the sun was setting, and the air began to cool. Kadi shivered. "Come on," said Rimon, "let's go back to the fire."
They left the soft bed of grass beside the pool, picked up their clothes, and returned to their campsite to curl up together under a blanket, as they had done so many times before. But it was not like any time before. Rimon's arms were locked about Kadi, and he knew that all his strength existed only to protect her.
He was too happy to fall asleep yet, and so was she.
After a time, he said, "You are so beautiful, Kadi. I can't understand it. You seem to have that same glow a Sime has after a kill!"
She pulled herself up on one elbow to look at him. "You mean you can zlin again?"
He paused, searching. "Yes! Yes, I can, but—it's like normal now. I can, but I just don't want to. I only want to look at you like a child—there's a purity in that, you know."
She regarded him critically. "You know, I think you have that same post-kill glow, too. I can't recall ever seeing you look like that before."
He nodded. "I feel… right, for the first time I can remember. Kadi, you've given me what I'd been looking for all my life! Only I didn't know what it was until today. But—it won't be just us. You weren't afraid—and you didn't die! Simes don't have to kill! Gens don't have to die! I didn't kill, and I feel better than I've ever felt in my life. It's a whole new way of life, Kadi!"
She laughed. "Rimon, it's our old way of life—our old plan. We're as good as married, just as we always wanted to be, in spite of my turning out all wrong." Then she sobered. "But what are we going to do now? Where can we go?"
Rimon sighed. "Well, home, I guess, where else? Dad's always been pretty reasonable about my aberrations. If we can make him understand…" He hugged her close. "Oh, we will, Kadi! It's so obvious we've found the way things should be. You are my wife, now. Our children will grow up unafraid—think of it! No more killing. Once we teach everyone what we know, no one else will have to go through what you've been through, baby."
"Rimon?"
"Yes?"
"Don't call me 'baby.' I'm not a child anymore. I'm a woman now."
He was delighted. "You certainly are, Kadi. We're neither of us children anymore. Because of you, Kadi, my love… my wife… at last, I'm a man. We are complete."
He hugged her to him, knowing that with Kadi by his side he could make the dream of a new way of life come true. Through the night, two lovers on a mountaintop lay in one another's arms, sharing their love and planning to change the world.
Chapter Five
HOMECOMING
It took five days to get home on horseback from the point on the border that Rimon and Kadi had sought after leaving Reloc. They met few people on the road, but those they did meet stared at them in disapproval or swung widely out of their way.
There was nothing unusual about a Sime traveling with a Gen tagged in his name—but there was no chain attached to Kadi's collar, no fear or resentment emanating from her, and nothing at all normal about the way Rimon and Kadi spoke to one another. Those who zlinned them also stared curiously when they perceived Kadi's low field. That had caused Rimon some concern on the first day of their journey, for he had expected Kadi's selyn field to spiral upward again, like that of a newly established Gen. When it did not, he feared for a while that it might be that a Gen only produced enough selyn to serve a Sime once—that he had taken her lifetime supply, even if he had not killed her.
Soon, however, he had perceived her field was rising slowly, apparently in perfect unison with his own rate of depletion. When he was in need again, Kadi would be high-field once more.
The only problem Rimon foresaw was figuring out exactly what they had done.
They had to stretch the small supply of food Rimon had brought. He had not expected to have Kadi's company on the way home. She didn't complain at having nothing but a handful of berries for breakfast the fourth morning, but by afternoon Rimon was berating himself for eating any of their supplies.
There were small communities along the way where they could have purchased food if they had had any money. "I'm sorry you had to spend all you had for me," said Kadi. "The dealer asked a terrible price. It was lucky you had enough to cover it."
"I didn't." He laughed, remembering with pleasure how he had fooled that obsequious dealer. "There was just about half what he asked in that purse."
But Kadi's alarm pierced him even when he was nowhere near need. "Then you didn't legally buy me! It's not valid! They'll come and claim me!"
"Hey—calm down, Kadi! The papers are all legal. I made sure of that, and I stamped your tags myself. If the dealer was too stupid to count his money before signing the papers, that's his problem, not mine. Besides, he got more than a fair price."
Kadi was still upset. "Don't worry," he assured her. "I'll pay him when Del pays me what he owes me. But in the meantime, we've got to get some food for you. Maybe we can stop somewhere that I can do some chores for a meal."
"That would look peculiar," Kadi said.
"We are peculiar!" he replied. "We're going to have to get used to that."
When Rimon and Kadi rode up to the big house on the Farris Genfarm, Wolf set up a loud barking to herald their arrival. Rimon found himself expecting Marna Morcot to come out onto the porch, to see what the fuss was and scold Wolf… but of course Marna was not there, nor Ran, nor Serri. We'll find them and bring them home, he thought.
They dismounted and entered the house. In the kitchen they found Su Thorbee, wife of one of the overseers, directing several children in preparing a meal. The results did not seem very successful.
Su stared at them, zlinning them, and gasped, "Shendi! Raf—run and get the N'vet!"
Rimon said, "It's all right, Raf. We'll find my father ourselves. Is he out at the Pens?"
"No," said Su, "he's checking that broken irrigation line —but he should be back soon."
They went on out the back door, very much aware of eyes following them. Kadi pulled herself tall, walking proudly beside Rimon, but he could feel the apprehension at the pit of her stomach. They stood in the back yard, not far from their playground swings. Soon they heard the sound of a lone horse.
Syrus Farris was riding alone, hastily, along the road to the house. Someone must have ridden to tell him the moment Rimon and Kadi had arrived. He galloped into the yard, an imposing figure on his huge black horse. When he pulled to a halt, the horse reared, forcing the two young people to retreat before the flying hooves. Then Farris controlled the animal and sat staring down at them, Rimon and Kadi at a clear disadvantage.
He took his time to zlin them before he spoke, his voice under careful control. "Rimon, why have you brought this Gen back with you?"
Aware of the gathering crowd, Rimon put his arm around Kadi's shoulders. She stood proudly, looking squarely at Farris. "Father," said Rimon, "this is no nameless Gen. This is Kadi Farris. My wife."
Rimon felt his father recoil and then surge with the fury that had always so unnerved him before. But he was no longer a child. He faced Syrus Farris as an equal.