Birthmarked Read Free Page B

to the Enclave for questioning,” he said. “It’s just a formality.” His voice was cultured, low, patient, and Gaia looked at him more closely. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t remember seeing him before at the gate or the wall. Many of the guards were strong, simple people from Wharfton who had been selected for military training and who were proud to earn their living serving the Enclave, but she knew others were from inside the wall, educated men with ambition or a natural bent for strategy who chose to serve. Gaia guessed this man was from the latter category.
    “Why?” she asked.
    “We just have some questions,” he said. “Where have you been?”
    She forced herself to stay calm. She knew to answer truth’ fully; she hadn’t done anything wrong. Her instincts warned her to cooperate with him just enough that she wouldn’t bring more trouble on her parents or on herself. At the same time, she feared him. His gun didn’t have to be pointed at her head to be a threat. As she set her satchel on the table, she realized her fingers were trembling, and she hid them behind her back.
    “At a birthing. My first,” she said. “It was the last house down Barista Alley, a young woman named Agnes Lewis. She had a baby girl, and I advanced her.”
    He nodded. “Congratulations. The Enclave is fortunate to have your service.”
    “I’m glad to serve,” she replied, using the polite phrase.
    “And why did you go to the birthing instead of your mother?” he asked.
    “She was already helping another mother. I left a note for her to join me when she was finished, but-- ” Her note was still on the table beside the candle. She looked around the little room, feeling the traces of fear that erased the usual homey warmth. The bolts of cloth, the baskets of sewing supplies, the chess set, the cooking pots, her mothers half dozen books, and even her fathers banjo on its shelf were all askew, as if they’d been systematically searched. Sgt. Grey knew perfectly well why her mother had not joined her.
    “So you went alone?” he asked.
    “A boy came for me and said it was urgent,” she said. She moved closer to the fire, picked up a poker, and stirred the coals. Until he made a move to arrest her, she might as well act like they were just having an innocent conversation. A late-night, innocent conversation to top off the arrest of her parents. She was reaching for a log when he put out a hand.
    “Allow me,” he said.
    She withdrew slightly while he threw two logs on the fire and a shower of sparks lit the room with the anticipation of more warmth. Gaia slid off her shawl and set it next to her satchel. To Gaia s surprise, the soldier took the rifle strap off his shoulder, ducking his head beneath it, and propped the rifle against the fireplace. It was almost as if he were making himself at home, as if some innate courtesy were overriding his formal training. Or he was deliberately manipulating her to try to put her more at ease.
    “You said you went alone?” he repeated. “You didn’t take your mother’s assistant?”
    She glanced up at him, noting he had a very straight nose and brown hair cut in the neat military style, short in back and a bit longer over the forehead. Though she could not see his shadowed eyes clearly, she sensed an emptiness there that matched the controlled composure of his other features. It chilled her.
    “You mean Old Meg?” she said. “No. I didn’t take her. Wasn’t she with my mother?”
    The guard didn’t answer. Gaia frowned, coming closer to him, wishing to see his eyes, to verify the coldness she sensed there, despite his gentle tone and considerate manners. “Why are you here?” she asked.
    He turned without speaking toward the mantel and slid off what looked like a little pamphlet or book. He tossed it onto the table with a bit of spin so it landed facing her. She could barely make out the title in the candlelight.
    Summer Solstice 2403
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