Wild Magic

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Reyna and Dawa were waiting for her at the North-bank Approach; Tai and Areia One-eye were already across.

“You all right, Fa?” Reyna touched her cheek. When she nodded, he set his hands on her shoulders, clicked his tongue at the weariness he saw in her. “You better scoot across. The sooner you’re in bed, the better, Fa.”

“Venia to that, Rey. Come on.”

“We can’t, Fa. Dawa and I, we’re sealed out.”

“What? Jea’s over there with his friend. If he’s all right, why not you?” -

“I can’t set foot on the Bridge. I tried, but there’s some kind of wall in the way. Looks like Jea was already across when it went up.”

“The Barrier. SHE said… but SHE couldn’t have meant you, you’re HERS, you always have been.”

“Not any more, apparently.”

Faan exploded. “It’s not FA AA AIR!” she shrieked. She yanked out handfuls of waxed hair, stamped her feet, whirled round and round-fury, fear and exhaustion-slammed her body into one of the pillars, beat at it with her fists until they bled-all of this the toll taken by the repression of her will to allow control by the god-flames spurted from her hands, her face, her clothing caught on fire-frustration, aggravation, vexation-she screamed, “NO NO NO NO!” It was NO to being stolen from her mother, NO to being different from everyone else, NO to daughterloving someone who’d been working hard at destroying himself, NO to everything horrible in her life, everything that piled up on her until she couldn’t breathe any more. All the NOs she’d been storing up since she came here.

Ailiki ignored the smolders and the giggling flame-lets; she leapt to Faan’s shoulder, pressed her body against Faan’s head, warm, furry, soft, draining off the fury.

With an absurd little squeak, Faan went still; she dropped her arms and stood trembling, smoke from burning cloth coiling up about her. Her eyes glazed over, rolled back. For the first time in her life, she fainted.

Reyna reached for her as she toppled, but she fell through the Barrier and his hands slammed into it. He beat his fist against the thing, cursing.

Dawa caught his arm. “Rey! Listen. Calm down, I’ll go get someone, she’s just fainted, she’ll be all right.”

Reyna swung round. “How do you know that? How the Jann do you know?”

“Well, yelling and thumping that thing isn’t doing much good, is it? Listen, Rey, I’ll go fetch old Utsapisha, I saw her out there watching the House burn.” He went running off, his long hair flowing out behind him in a blue-black wave.

Reyna opened and closed his fists a few times, then dropped to squat as close to Faan as he could get. She was breathing through her mouth, he could see the dust on the planks shifting with each breath. “Secrets,” he said. “Honey, what have you been up to? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were friends again.”

The gray dust danced with her breath.

Utsapisha lumbered up, leaning on Dawa’s arm, two of her granddaughters with her.

“Ijjit gods,” she said. “What Dawa here told us?” Reyna slammed his fist against the Barrier. It hit hard and rebounded.

“Hunh!” Utsapisha poked her finger at the Barrier. Her hand went through as if it didn’t exist. “Like I said.” She waddled up-the easy slant, grunted onto her knees beside Faan, thrust two thick fingers under the girl’s jaw. “Verna. Good strong beat. No need to fuss y’se’f, Rey. She jes’ fainted. Girls do that.” She put out her arms and her granddaughters hauled her onto her feet. “The Kassian’s across already?”

Reyna nodded.

“Verna. Then we’ll get her to Low City. You better duck, Rey. The two of you. Don’t let those STRIKER bassards get aholt a you, they gonna torch you like they did the Beehouse.”

Reyna nodded. “We’ll be down at Ladroa-vivi, send someone to tell me how she is, will you?”

“Sure. And don’t you worry, girls this age faint when they feel like it, don’t do ’em no more harm than a night’s sleep.”