Page 54 of The Gathering
“I’m trained to read the things people say without words. Who told you to marry one of these soldiers?”
Her face lowered then she faced the swamp.
“Hands and tongue tied,” he muttered. “That means either somebody you’re scared of or somebody you care too much about.”
She faced him, mouth and eyes wide open. “You need to teach me this trick,” she whispered.
“Which is it, Sister. Actually, don’t tell me—”
“Somebody I care about but not too much.” She returned to her spot from before and he wondered why she felt so comfortable getting that close to him.
He put his hands on her tiny shoulders and moved her back a foot. “If you’re in the practice of violating the personal space of males, then that might be adding to your other problem.”
“The Sister I could never care too much about secured our escape from a very bad place with this arrangement.” She regarded him, taking another step back. “And I know the males I’m safe with,” she informed. “But I should’ve considered your disposition on that. It won’t happen again.”
He fumbled with the first part of that puzzle, while all the others demanded his attention. “There’s nobody in these swamps that would require you marry a cyborg to secure your safety, Sister.”
She regarded him sharply. “What makes you think that?”
“TheBelleEveque—I think you know her as—makes me think that. I know for a firm fact she wouldn’t stand for that bullshit.”
A small smile crept over her mouth. “She’s just like Sister Isla in that regard. And if it wasn’t for our commitment, Sister Isla wouldn’t stand for it either. But we all agreed and it’s very important.”
He had no argument for that part, given the current circumstances. “Why exactly don’t you want to fulfill the agreement?” That answer ranked just as critical to him.
She gave lip chewing and eye shifting for answers.
“If it’s not too personal to say,” he added, not wanting any female confessions.
“I do want to, it’s just… I’m not altogether sure it’s… morally permitted.”
“To say or to do?”
“To do,” she said.
“Religious exemption, then,” he offered easily.
She angled her gaze at him. “My religion doesn’t exempt me, Mr. Chaos, it requires me. This is a world-saving mission that I’m very much obligated to, and that part I’m happy to give myself for.”
Mr. Chaos. Good one. He gestured to the path. “You can tell me what part you’re having issues with while leading Mr. Chaos to Mr. Morgue.”
She looked around then nodded, hopping back on the path, giving him all the details in one long bubbly confession. “For one, have you seen these soldiers? They’re terrifying! Mr. Quantum King, the Triplets—who are known as theTerrorTriplets by the way. And there’s poor Mr. Kaphas who has so much power he nearlykilledhis wife with it! I pinch myself many times in a day to make sure it’s all real, these strange creations, the state of the world, the spiritual signs of the time,the people here in these swamps, it’s all remarkable and I have never been more honored to partake—”
“Thenwhydon’t you want to marry a soldier?” Sinrik interrupted, ready to know that answer.
She was quiet for a dozen steps before finally saying, “Maybe it’s private.”
Hearing she wasn’t sure where that line was, made it less worrisome. “Tell it for a nine-year-old.”
“Nine, glorious heavens you don’t tell such things to a nine-year-old!”
“Pretend you’rewordingit for a nine-year-old, Miss Beatrice.”
“Oh!” she giggled. “Haven’t been called that in a while.”
“Yourname?” he wondered, kind of disgusted.
“No,Miss. Well, the children sometimes do but the adults always say Sister. I don’t mind,” she hurried. “I feel less odd being called Miss than Sister given our current assignment.”
