"So," said Hushidh. "You see that you are with us."
"No," said Nafai. "Because if the City Party keeps up this stalemate, either Gaballufix or Roptat will get impatient and people will start to die. Then we won't need outsiders to destroy us. We'll do it ourselves. How long do you think women will continue to rule in this city, if it comes to civil war between two powerful men?"
Hushidh looked off into space. "Do you think so?" she said.
"I may not be a raveler" said Nafai, "but I've read history."
"So many centuries we've kept this a city of women, a place of peace."
"You never should have given men the vote,"
^They've had the vote for a million years."
Nafai nodded. "I know. What's happening now-it's the Oversoul."
He could see now that Hushidh was looking off into nothingness because her eyes were so full of tears. "She's dying, isn't she?"
It hadn't occurred to him that someone could take this so personally. As if the Oversoul were a dear relative. But to someone like Hushidh, perhaps it was so. Besides, she was the daughter of a wilder, a so-called holy woman. Even though everyone knew that wilders' children were usually the result of rape or casual coupling in the streets of the city, they were still called "children of the Over-soul." Maybe Hushidh really thought of the Oversoul as ho- father. But no-the women called the Oversoul she. And Hushidh knew that her mother was a wilder.
Still, Hushidh was barely containing her tears.
"What do you want from me?" asked Nafai. "I don't know what the Oversoul is doing. Your sister-like you said, she's the seer."
"The Oversoul hasn't spoken to her all week. Or to anyone."
Nafai was surprised. "You mean not even at the lake?"
"I knew that you and Issib were very, very closely tied to the Oversoul all this week. She was wearing you out, the way she does with Lutya and... and me, sometimes. The women have been going into the water, more and more of them, and yet they come out with nothing, or with silly sleep-dreams. It's making them afraid. But I told them, I said: Nafai and Issib, they're being touched by the Oversoul. So she's not dead. And they asked me ... to find out from you."
"Find out what?"
The tears finally spilled out and slid down her cheeks. "I don't know," she said miserably. "What to do. What the Oversoul expects of us."
He touched her shoulder, to comfort her-Nafai didn't know what else to do. "I don't know," he said. "But you're right about one thing-the Oversoul is wearing down. Wearing itself out. Still, I'm surprised that it would stop giving visions. Maybe it's distracted. Maybe it's ..."
"What?"
He shook his head. "Let me talk to Issib, will you?"
She nodded, ducking her head at the end to wipe away tears. "Please, yes," she said. "I couldn't-talk to him"
Why in the world not ? But he didn't ask. He was too confused by all that she'd told him. All this time that he and Issib thought their research was secret, and here was Hushidh telling all the women of Basilica that the two of them were being worn out by the Oversoul! And yet, for all that they knew, the women were also hopelessly ignorant-how could he and Issib know anything about the reason why their visions had stopped?
Nafai went straight to the library and repeated to Issib all he could remember of his conversation with Hushidh. "So what I'm thinking is this. What if the Oversoul isn't all that powerful? What if the reason the visions have stopped is that the Oversoul can't deal with us and give visions all at the same time?"
Issib laughed. "Come on, Nyef, as if we're the center of the world or something."
"I'm serious. How much capacity would the Oversoul have to have, really? Most people are ignorant or stupid or weak enough that even if they thought of one of these forbidden subjects, they couldn't do anything about it, so why watch them? That means the Oversoul has to monitor relatively few people. And with them, if it checks in on them every now and then, it has plenty of time to turn them away from dangerous projects. But now, with the Oversoul weakening, you were able to desensitize yourself. That was a contest between you and the Oversoul, and you won , Issib. What if during all those struggles, the Oversoul was completely focused on you, giving no visions to anyone else, monitoring no one else. But you were going slowly enough that it still had time leftover."
"But the two of us, working together," said Issib. "It had to concentrate on us, constantly. And it's losing, too-weakening even more."
"So I'm thinking, Issib-we're not helping here, we're hurting"
Issib laughed again. "It can't be? he said. "This is the Oversoul we're talking about, not a teacher with a couple of unruly students."
"The Oversoul has failed before. Or there wouldn't be any war wagons."
"So what should we do?"
"Stop," said Nafai. "For a day. Stay away from the forbidden subjects. See if people start getting visions again."
"You seriously think that we, the two of us, have taken up so much of the Oversoul's time that it can't give visions to people? What about during the time we sleep and eat? There are plenty of breaks."
"Maybe we've got it conftised. Maybe it's panicking about us because it doesn't know what to do."
"Right," said Issib. "So let's not just quit. Let's give the Oversoul some advice, why not!"
"Why not?" said Nafai. "It was made by human beings, wasn't it?"
"We think. Maybe."
"So we tell it to stop worrying about trying to block us. That's a pointless assignment and it should stop wasting time on it ryfht now, because even if we easily think of every forbidden subject in the world, we're not going to tell anybody else and we're not going to try to build any ourselves. Are we?"
"We're not."
"So take an oath to that, Issib. I'll take it too. I swear it right now-you listening, Oversoul?-we're not your enemies, so you don't need to waste another second worrying about us. Go back and give visions to the women again. And spend your time blocking the dangerous guys. The Wetheads, for instance. Gaballufix. Roptat probably, too. And if you can't block them, then at least let us know what to do so we can block them."
"Who are you talking to?"
"The Oversoul."
"This feels really stupid," said Issib.
"It's been telling us what to think our whole lives," said Nafai. "What's so stupid about giving it a suggestion now and then? Take the oath, Issya."
"Yes, I promise, I take the most solemn oath. You listening, Oversoul?"
"It's listening," said Nafai. "That much we know?
"So," said Issib. "You think it's going to do what we say?"
"I don't know," said Nafai, "But I know this- we're not going to learn anything more by hanging around the library for the rest of the day. Let's get out of here. Spend the night at Father's house. Maybe we'll have a really good idea. Or maybe Father will have a vision. Or something."
It was only that afternoon, as he was leaving Mother's house, that Nafai remembered that Elemak was courting Eiadh. Not that Nafai had a right to hate him for it. Nafai had never said anything to anyone about his feelings toward her, had he? And at fourteen he was far too young to be taken seriously as a possible legal mate. Of course Eiadh would look at Elemak and desire him. It explained everything-why she was so nice to Nafai and yet never seemed to get close to him. She wanted to keep his favor in case he had some influence over Elemak. But it would never have crossed her mind that she might give a contract to Nafai. After all, he was a child.