Gratuitous Epilogue : Touchstone Extras (7 page)

I think it's helping
Shar, too, to be Shar instead of Sharlotsofsyllables – just some
thirteen year-old boy. He's going to grow up to be a serious and
leaderly person, and Place Sight really is something which it can
be a struggle to live with, but Lohn and Mara are giving him some
quality just-a-kid time as well as helping him with the strange
politics which comes with his name. [A terribly complicated
situation, since he's basically a member of the ruling family who
was left to die with the crowd, instead of joining whatever it was
the Nuran Cruzatch allies were trying to achieve.]

Sen tore about madly,
got wholly overexcited, and then came and smothered me in very
sticky kisses – I think that was thanks for how happy Rye was,
chatting with a half-dozen boys his own age about Muinan animals
and the park design and canoeing, and making arrangements to teach
them to swim. [We've since had the whole pack over to our island,
for a mass swimming lesson, and gone over to Siriath for another.]
Ys and Lira didn't embrace popularity so completely, but they
weren't hostile or rude either, and I was very pleased to see that
Ys had decided to be protective of Enna and make sure she wasn't
overwhelmed – that's Ys all over.

The Setari-relatives'
children will be attending the talent school as well – most of them
have near-Setari level talents or were even washed out of the
Setari program early on. I'm really glad of that, of the changes it
should bring to the school, and the opportunities it will give Ys
and Rye to be around some peers they haven't erected huge walls
against. Mara's brother's sons, Del and Serry, have joined Fein as
Rye's closest compadres, and they fill what few moments he had left
spare. Sen, of course, considers everyone around her age as
belonging to her. Ys and Lira are polite, but for the moment
enjoying their own friendship most.

I eventually got a bit
exhausted from all the socialising, and Kaoren and I have been
having a quiet week this week. We also wanted Sen to have a break
from so many people. She thoroughly enjoyed the wedding, was
brimming over with joy, but this is also an effect of her Sights –
being surrounded by radiantly happy people is a bit like swilling
champagne. Psychic children are complicated.

Mara came over today
for a bit of peace and quiet as well. First and Second Squad are
really enjoying living with their families near them, but their
places can get pretty raucous. We sat out on the balcony (Maze and
Alay were my guards) and talked about the transformation Siriath –
and all of Muina – has undergone in such a short time. I still feel
guilty about it sometimes, particularly when I found out that my
otters seem to have moved away from their stream – or died – and
that KOTIS Command is talking about settling Border Collie-ville
next.

Maze is looking very
alive and non-tired these days, and full of plans to turn his bit
of Siriath into a test ground for his landscaping ideas. He's been
doing courses in his spare time, and takes very seriously the time
he spends with Rye, who had a lot of practical experience on Nuri
(at least until the bastard head of his house realised how much he
loved gardening and wouldn't let him tend the vegetables any more).
Rye and Maze are actually doing a couple of the same courses, and
while Rye struggles a little with reading (he does okay, but it's
not quick and natural for him yet and he has to use the
text-to-speech facility a lot), he's picking up the scientific
concepts quite well for a kid of twelve. [Rye's not able to do the
level of courses that Maze is doing, yet, but they can both attend
all the 'practical farming' courses which the 'university' is
running. Re-learning how to farm Muina, and getting large-scale
food production established, is a very important part of KOTIS'
settlement plans.]

The kids came home
while Mara was still here (we've more than a couple of boats
between us now – simple covered sleds that are slow but easy to
drive about – and we rotate kid-collection). I could tell from the
way Sen behaved that Alay was, as I'd suspected, not feeling nearly
as happy with the world as everyone else. She's always been 'the
quiet one' of First Squad – she isn't shy, is actually pretty
decisive and definite about things, but she's the least chatty.
Since Nils told me about how she'd loved one of the Setari killed
by the massive – Suzlein – I've wondered whether part of the reason
Alay's quiet is the same as the reason Maze is (or was)
sad.

The way Nils talked
about him, I don't think Alay was very in love with her technician,
which is probably a good thing because so far I haven't seen any
sign that he's coming to Muina to be with her. Perhaps she cared
about him more than Nils suggested, and that's why she's down, or
maybe it's just because she's surrounded by romantic things, and
the person she loved is dead.

She really likes Sen,
though (everyone does!) and let herself get drawn into a silly game
with Sen and the kittens and it was nice to see both of them
laughing. Sen's had such a rough time of it the past couple of
months, and still her first instinct is to cheer up anyone who
isn't happy.

My kids are the
best.

The Muinan new year is
at the end of this month. The one-Muinan year anniversary of me
telling the platform that Kaoren was Muinan. We'll be going into
Muina Year 2, and there's plans for all sorts of ceremonies and I
have turned down numerous invitations. Still going to celebrate,
will maybe start a tradition of a New Year's Cake or
something.

June

Sudden Developments

Picture me wide-eyed.
Scarcely know what to think.

I'd noticed that when
Maze schedules people to be my babysitter, he's usually obliging
about sticking couples together – Nils and Zee, for instance. Not
Lohn and Mara together any more, since they adopted, but he'll
usually pair Ketz and Jeh, or Ketz and Grif. And Mori with Ro,
since Eighth is currently stationed on Muina. Maze obviously knows
all about people's love lives. I thought that scheduling himself
and Alay together semi-frequently was just because they were
'left-overs' and didn't have kids to look after.

They never acted like
there was anything to it, but a short time after the wedding I
noticed that Maze and Alay were awake long after midnight out on
the balcony, and the next day Alay was even quieter than usual,
looking like she was doing some hard thinking. And she was weirdly
awkward with Maze, which naturally made me curious.

Maze didn't schedule
himself or Alay to be my bodyguard for nearly a month, but when he
did, it was both of them together again. Sen was going through a
bad patch, so I was distracted during the evening, and the most I
thought was that Alay looked a bit stressed and I wondered if I'd
upset her because she almost looked like she wished she wasn't
there.

Quite late in the
night, though, when I'd gotten up to fetch Sen – who had woken from
her latest nightmare and was just lying there all wrecked – I
noticed that Alay was in Maze's room. Terrible timing for me – when
Sen's in such a bad state, I have to concentrate myself on totally
supportive thoughts and just try and project safety to her – it's
the only thing that seems to help. So I couldn't let myself obsess
over it nearly as much as I wanted to.

When Kaoren woke me in
the morning I instantly checked where Maze and Alay were, but Maze
had gone for a walk down by the lakeshore, and Alay was back in her
own room, asleep. Maze seemed totally normal – maybe a little
thoughtful – when he came back for breakfast, and when Alay came
out and didn't even look at him I was starting to think maybe
they'd just been discussing missions or something. In the middle of
the night. Really close together.

But then Sen (who was
still very tired and subdued) suddenly brightened magnificently,
and hopped off her chair so she could fling her arms around Alay
(at thigh-level) and pronounce in ecstatic tones:
"Baby!"

She'd used the English
word, since it's something I sometimes call her when she's very
upset, and Alay just looked confused. Maze knew the word though,
and his eyes went rather wide, then he gave Alay one of his
super-special smiles and obligingly translated. I think for a
moment Alay was on the verge of just running away, but then she
stroked Sen's head and looked at Kaoren, asking: "Can she really
tell?"

Kaoren (who I think
thought the whole thing super-funny, but was good about not showing
it) nodded. "Pregnancies are very clear almost immediately from
conception. Congratulations."

Alay looked hugely
conflicted and put on the spot, but then bent down and hugged Sen
and said "Thank you," and then she and Maze went down to the pool
to talk (we've put a couple of benches in nooks down at the pool,
and they seem to always attract couples, even though it's icy-cold
outside these days). Sen took the opportunity to point out to me
and Kaoren that here was proof that there was no need to wait until
after a wedding to have babies and I had no more excuses (so much
fun watching Siame's face whenever Sen starts insisting that Kaoren
and I have babies NOW!). Kaoren then gave Sen – and the rest of us
by proxy – a careful lecture about letting people make their own
announcements, and respecting their privacy as much as possible,
and Siame (very nicely) volunteered to take the kids off to school
to clear them away.

Kaoren and I then had a
brief exchange of "What the hell?" since neither of us saw this
coming (which says something given Kaoren's Sights). We moved on to
a fun discussion about him being able to know when I get pregnant
before I do, and the invasive aspects of my powers, and of Sight
talents, and why I never use my visualisation abilities to find out
for sure what's going on – and whether Lira is likely to. But then
he had to head out to meet his squad for an Ena mission.

Alay eventually came
back without Maze, and I think was very glad that it was only me
there stacking the dishwasher. I smiled at her and said:
"Congratulations, too. Do you want me to pretend Sen didn't say
that?"

I think she was kind of
tempted, but instead shook her head and said: "That would be
pointless."

I figured that Alay
probably wanted some thinking time, since she wasn't exactly
looking happy, and asked her to work out with me since I couldn't
go out in the canoe (it's way too cold – will probably start
snowing soon). I don't like working out much at all, but it's a
useful preoccupation if you just want something to do and not talk.
Of course, Alay could have been having plenty of lively discussions
with people over the interface, but I kind of doubted it. She
almost seemed like she didn't want to be pregnant, even though she
would have had to have had the medics take away her contraception.
And have had sex with Maze.

Of course I was boiling
over with curiosity, and only managed to do a half-assed routine
swapping from machine to machine, having to put all my energy into
not gaping at Alay. Wasted effort, since Alay didn't even notice
that I was managing one repetition a minute.

"Do you want a boy or a
girl?" I finally asked, unable to keep my mouth shut any
longer.

Alay blinked – I think
she'd forgotten I was there – then said: "A girl.
But…either."

"You'll make great
parents. Sen loves playing with you."

"Sen loves playing with
everyone," Alay said, amused, and then shook her head. "You must
have no hope of keeping any secrets, with three Sight Sight talents
in the house."

"Trying not to have
secrets to keep," I said with a shrug. "I'm not sure Kaoren could
be with me if I did. He sometimes even picks up when I'm planning
birthday presents, and gets stressed about it. Sight Sight might
conveniently explain things usefully sometimes, but when all it
does is tell him there's something I haven't told him, it's really
awful."

"He and Selkie are so
good at not reacting to the things they must see that it's easy to
underestimate just how much Sight Sight is telling them. I won't
make that mistake again."

"Don't forget Lira's
and my people-sense either," I said (getting all hot with
embarrassment). "One of the reasons I was so happy to move away
from Setari accommodation was because I just didn't need to know so
much about who was sleeping with who. It's not a sense I can turn
off, either." I paused, then added: "Are you going to get
married?"

"I don't know. I didn't
expect this to happen so quickly." She looked frustrated, then gave
me a very dubious glance – I'm not a person she usually has
personal conversations with. But I think she also didn't want to
talk to Zee or Mara or Ketzaren or any of the people who have known
her and Maze for years. "Maze will never stop loving Helese. They
completed each other in a way that makes any other person
impossible for him. And I – I lost someone too, and though I did
try to pretend I could recover from that, I never have. I blame
your children for this."

That made me blink, but
then I understood. "Maze really loves Rye, doesn't he? But you like
Sen more, I think. So you both decided you wanted
children?"

"We could have adopted,
of course. We might still. And we're not on Tare any more, where it
would be so difficult to gain permission to raise a child alone.
But–" Her expression changed, and she shook her head. "But there's
no 'we', and what kind of situation is that to bring children
into?"