“Just so long as you know the way!” Nona said, thrilled at this confirmation that the girl’s quest for information had been successful. It seemed so sensible now.
“Just so long as the despots don’t know the way,” Colene said. “Because if they do, they’ll stop us.”
“But we must succeed, because Provos remembers that we do,” Nona said.
“I’m not so sure of that. Provos remembers what’s in her own reality, because that’s where she’ll return to settle. But she’s just passing by this one, and maybe what she remembers is subject to change.”
“But surely her memories of her own world are fixed, because she isn’t there to change things,” Nona protested, though she wasn’t sure of her logic. “So the right things must happen here, so that she and her friends can go there.”
“I see Colene’s point,” Darius said. “Provos, Slick, and Esta may indeed be guaranteed their arrival at her reality. But the rest of us are not destined for her reality, and so her memory offers us no guarantee. She may take them with her after we succeed here—or fail. Nona can pass just the three of them through the anchor, and the rest of us may be bound here, if the animus continues.”
That made uncomfortable sense. There was indeed no guarantee for the success of her mission. Anything could happen—including death for several of them.
They crossed the sea that circled Oria between the Body and the Head and flew across the lesser mass of the Head. Nona remembered the story of Earle and Kara, flying similarly across the worlds. Would she herself someday be the stuff of a legend? Perhaps so, if she succeeded in bringing the anima.
Night came, as the ninety-eight-ray star disappeared behind the world. The myriad other stars now showed more clearly, large and small. It was beautiful, as it always was. Perhaps in the pristine early days of the world all of the patterns of glow had been visible all the time, but now much of it could be seen only in the dark.
Angus found an isolated place and came down to the surface. He was tired and needed to rest, and the rest of them needed food and sanitary relief. Nona took the leaf of a plant and transformed it into fruit. Seqiro accepted grain she made for him, then wandered away to graze, keeping in mind-touch. He was alert for other human beings, especially despots. The despots of this region would not be the same as those of Nona’s region, but they surely had spread the word. No despot, anywhere on Oria, could be trusted to be other than an enemy.
They settled for the night, Angus stretched out between rads, careful not to damage any trees, while the others formed a cluster in a glade. Nona made material for a tent, which Darius and Colene and Slick pitched with reasonable success. She made pallets and blankets for them each, but Darius and Colene elected to share theirs, as did Slick and Esta. Provos slept alone, and so did Nona. Surely it did not bother Provos, but Nona wished Stave were with her. Yet had he been with her, he would have been interested in sexual expression, and she was not. She could tell from the ambience of their minds that Slick and Esta had no such interest in each other, being blood relatives, and that Darius and Colene did but were not indulging it. So there was closeness and comfort for others, but not for Nona. By her own choice, mostly. Yet it frustrated her too.
The fact was, she realized, that though she had been slow to commit to Stave, she had expected to in time. The overwhelming importance of the anima had governed her emotion; she could not think of settling down with a man until that was done. If she failed to accomplish it, then she might be dead or imprisoned or exiled, and in no condition to marry. So she had suppressed what feelings she might have had. But now Stave was gone, and she knew that once he had tasted the endless blandishments of seductive rabble women, he would lose his interest in Nona. Why should he settle for one when he could have any he chose, a new one each day, each more eager than the last? She had realized from the part of his mind that Seqiro shared that he was as lusty as the next man, and that his attraction to Nona herself had been at least as much for her appearance as for her position as the ninth. Were she not pretty, and not the ninth, he would never have noticed her. He was a good man, yet she was not satisfied with this.
So it was best for her to break with Stave. They were not, in the end, right for each other. She needed a different sort of man. But where on Oria was the kind she wanted? If she brought the anima, she would be queen, the only one on the planet with magic. After the visitors from the Virtual Mode left. Who would care to marry her? Who would she care to marry? She didn’t want to marry at all!
And there was the heart of it. She did want a social life, but she was not ready to settle down. She preferred to have freedom and adventure, to experience a mystery of the future. Marriage, babies, growing old—that did not appeal at all. Not even if she were queen.
But what else was there? Her fate had been sealed when she was born as the ninth.
Nona settled into an unhappy sleep.
WAKE. The despots come.
It was Seqiro. Nona struggled awake, and heard the others stirring. Outside the tent was the noise of Angus getting up. It was still dark.
“How close?” Colene asked.
You have time to dress and make droppings.
Nona hurried to do those things. Then she transformed the tent material back to a piece of string, and the blankets to tiny swatches of cloth, She was ready when the others were, with a basket of fruit to hand out for them to eat on the run.
Angus squatted and laid his two hands on the ground. Each person went to the hand used before.
“No, you come with us, Nona,” Colene said. “This is Business Day.”
It was indeed! Nona joined Darius, Colene, and Seqiro on the right hand, while Provos, Slick, and Esta got on the left.
It was crowded, because of the mass of the horse, but Nona really liked being with Seqiro. She was jealous of Colene in that respect: she had the most fabulous companion!
Angus sailed up. As he did, several men rose from the forest at some distance; the despots were flying after them!
But they could not match the range and speed of the giant from Jupiter. Angus readily left them behind. However, several birds maintained the pursuit: the familiars of the despots. How could they escape pursuit by those?
Angus knows how. He can not use his magic while concentrating on flying, but you can use yours and I can use mine. Do you wish me to stun them?
Nona pondered the matter. The despots now knew about her, but should not know about Seqiro. “We must keep your secret as long as possible,” she decided. “You may need your magic as a surprise. I will try to divert them by illusion.”
So while Colene guided Angus toward what she called /R3, Nona fashioned a massive pair of illusions. One was of Angus, flying with his hands full. The other was of nothingness, where the real Angus was. Stave had shown how effective this ploy could be; now she was doing it on a larger scale. But a large illusion was harder to manage than a small one, because there was so much detail. Familiars would not be smart, but the despots guiding them would be alert for tricks. This had to be right.
She Grafted the two illusions, overlapping. Gradually she replaced the appearance of the real giant with the illusion giant, matching detail to detail. She could not see his back, but assumed that it matched the normal male configuration. When she had it as good as she could make it, she caused the Angus illusion to diverge from the nothingness illusion. This was the test.
Slowly they separated. Would the familiars follow the illusion? It was only visual, so if any were using smell, they would not be deceived.