Zonaton (8 page)

Abisod

           
We heard about the incident yesterday in the village.

            Then you know Emmala and I have a True Pairing.

            Yes, you do. However, that is not the issue.

            Then what is the problem? Why have you and the Elders called me here, Abisod?

            There are claims you injured a villager.

            I touch no one except Emmala.

            The villager is her mother.

            She lies. She is lying to get Emmala back. That human is the cause of Emmala's suffering, and the reason why I Paired with the girl in the first place. She was adamant that Emmala return to their home, and tried to forcefully take her there. I intervened, but I never touched her or any other villager. I know the laws, and I obeyed them.

            How did Emmala take it?

            She suffered mentally. Emotionally. But she is better now. I was able to calm her fears.

            Regardless, there still remains the matter of the villagers rising against you. Against us. They are adamant that Emmala and all the other children who were taken be returned immediately.

            Tell them to go suck a rock.

           
The old, midnight-black geron appeared amused.
Perhaps it is time we tell the villagers why their younglings must take The Walk.

            They will never believe you. They will never own up to their imperfections, their hatred, or their cruelty.

            Your objection is noted, Zonaton. However, the villagers are demanding an apology. And an accounting.

            The villagers were there when I took Emmala away from that woman. They saw what occurred. They already know the truth.

            The villager is claiming you returned afterward to harm her.

            And I swear she is lying. Emmala will vouch for me.

            That may be so, but will the villagers believe her? Or will they think she is lying to protect you? Stop and think, Zonaton. Did you at any time leave Emmala alone after you took her away from the village?

            Briefly. No more than a few minutes to search for food. She was exhausted and went straight to her pallet. She never awoke, even after I returned.

            Then you have no witness and no alibi. You have no way to prove your innocence. And the woman has the backing of the entire village.

           
Zonaton stood in stunned silence at what the Elders were saying.

           
What are you implying, Abisod? Are the Elders going to order me to return Emmala to her first home?

           
The thought sickened him. After the encounter, Emmala had almost reverted back to the terrified five-year-old she had been. He had sworn to himself he would never subject her to that kind of ordeal again, even if it meant going against orders from the Elders. Before Abisod could respond, Zonaton re-directed.
Have other parents demanded their children be returned?

           
Of course. All of them have.
Anticipating what Zonaton's next question would be, the geron added.
But none of them have claimed they were attacked by one of us.

            I tell you, the report of an attack is false. What kind of injuries is the woman reporting?

            Scratches, mostly. Some bite marks and bruises.

           
Zonaton paused. Already he could see holes in the woman's falsehood.
Are any of the injuries serious?

            Fortunately, no.

           
Mentally girding himself, Zonaton lifted his head to face the Elder full-on.
What are the Elders requesting I do?

            Meet with the woman in front of their own council. Make retribution.

            The only retribution that woman will accept is the return of her child.

            Then that leaves you with just two options. Either you return Emmala to her and denounce your Pairing. Or you find another way to appease the mother and the village's demands.

            What if there is no other way?

            Then it is very possible the village will rise up against us, as they did back in the days when they first landed. Only this time, they will rally the other villages to join them, and there are thousands of them now, as opposed to the few hundred they were back then. If that happens, if they do attack us, there can be only one outcome.

           
Zonaton bowed his head in sorrow.
I know. The wholesale slaughter of their race.

Chapter Ten

The Stranger

            One of the benefits of last night's storm was the abundance of plunderberries appearing on the bushes. Emmala worked to fill her shoulder pouch with the sweet white fruit while Zonaton was away at a meeting with the Elders.

            The gentle wind brushed away her hair, then teased her by blowing several strands into her face. Smiling, she licked her fingers first before tucking the hair behind her ears. The sun felt good on her bared arms, and the berries were plentiful.

            With one bush well-picked, she hefted the heavy pouch over a hip and straightened up to move to the next cluster when a movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Glancing over, she froze at the sight of the figure standing less than a dozen meters away.

            Her first thought was that it was the mystery lover who came to her during the nights when Zonaton was away. Her heart pounded with the possibility, until she noticed how the sunlight shone on the dark red hair. Her lover's hair was a pale color, not dark. And this stranger wore blue clothes, not light gray.

            She glanced behind her, at the mountain range looming close by. Behind the man was Genesis. The miners were a straight shot to her left, further away than the village. Zonaton had brought her to this location to pick her berries, even though it was located in a completely different area from where she normally gathered them, because it put her far enough away from the alien intruders to satisfy him.

           
Emmala, are you well?
Zon had detected her shock at seeing the man. His concern was a welcome presence in her head.

           
"I'm fine. There's someone here."

           
Do you need me to come to you?

           
"No. I'm fine. He's human, like me. From the village. I'd like to find out who he is. Talk to him."

           
The geron's concern didn't lessen, knowing the stranger was another human and not one of the humanoid miners.
I will be watching over you. If you need me, call me.

           
She smiled.
"I will."

            She felt him move to a rear corner of her mind, the way he had moved to the far side of the room at the village council. Remaining there to guard her. Caring about her. Loving her in the only way a geron could love a human.

            The stranger took several steps toward her, and her eyes focused on his face. Again, she got the impression she already knew this person, but a name refused to come to her.

            "Emmala?"

            "Yes?"

            "I'm Hawse. Do you remember me?"

            Hawse. Without trying, she recalled the image of the little boy who lived a few houses down from her, and she almost laughed with joy.

            "Hawse! I do!"

            She held out her arms as she ran to the young man to hug him. He hugged her back, and his body reminded her of her mystery lover. All hard and muscular in the right places, right down to the bulge in his pants. He even held her like her lover. Reluctantly, they stepped away from each other, both of them grinning from the moment.

            Hawse examined her from head to toe before gazing at her face. "When you showed up in the village, I didn't recognize you at first. You have...you're no longer that skinny little girl I went to school with. You've become a beautiful woman, Emmala. How are you doing?"

            "I'm doing very well. I'm very happy. Say, was it you I saw standing on the rooftop yesterday?"

            Pink tinged his cheeks. "That was me. I wanted to speak to you, but the crowds were too thick." Taking her hands, he tugged on them, drawing her down onto the pale blue grass where they could sit and talk. "I saw you speak with the councilmen."

            "There are miners between the mountains and the village. Humanoid miners. Zonaton told me the gerons had encountered them in the past. They had fought them, and managed to defeat them and drive them away. Now that they're back, the geron Elders sent us to warn the village, in case the miners were thinking of invading the villages. The Elders sent us for your own protection."

            "From the looks of it, and from what I hear, things did not go well."

            Emmala frowned. "They didn't believe me?"

            "Let's just say it was hard for them to take you seriously when you have that big ugly creature hovering over you."

            Jerking her hands from his grasp, Emmala scooted backwards. "Zonaton is not ugly. How dare you judge him like that when you know nothing about him."

            Hawse paled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound that way. What I meant―"

            "Why are you here?" she abruptly interrupted him. Her initial feeling of happiness was quickly fading.

            He stared at her. "Why?"

            Emmala gave a quick nod. "Yes. Why are you here? Why, after all this time, did you come here?" She pointed toward the village. "Aren't you taking a risk, being this far away from the perimeter? I thought there were stiff penalties for people who went beyond the boundaries."

            "I've been coming this way lots of times to pick berries. I know a way out, where no one will see me leave. Besides, the gerons usually keep to the opposite side. They rarely fly around this section of the fields."

            He was right. In all the years she'd been with Zonaton, this was her first time to this area.

            "You still haven't told me why you approached me."

            "To be honest, I thought you were dead."

            "But you saw me fly away. You saw Zonaton take me away from The Walk."

            "How was I to know it wasn't going to eat you?" Hawse argued. "I was five years old. I saw it take you away, but I thought it was going to kill you and eat you."

            "He. He took me away," she corrected him again in a terse voice.

            "What?"

            "Zonaton is a he, not an it."

            Hawse wiped a hand over his face. "Again, my apologies. I'm only..."

            "You're acting like the other villagers." It was easy to see the young man was chagrined. "You talk like them because you don't understand. You haven't been around him the way I have. You have no idea what my life was like before Zon took me away. You have no idea what it's like now."

            He stopped nodding to stare at her directly in the eye. "And you're happy living with...him?"

            "I'm very happy. He makes me happy."

            "How?"

            Emmala sighed and reminded herself he was only asking her all these questions because he didn't know the truth. He believed what he had been told all these years by people who were just as ignorant as he was.

            "He just does. He makes me happy the same way your life makes you happy."

            Hawse made a face. "Does he love you?"
            "In his own way, yes."

            "How do you know?"

            "By what he does for me. By what he says."

            "He
says?
He can talk?"

            "Not out loud." She tapped her temple with one finger. "He speaks to me here, in my mind."

            "Oh, wow. I've heard stories that that's the way gerons communicate, but you're the first person I've heard confirm it. So he's told you he loves you?"

            "He doesn't have to. His actions prove how he feels about me."

            "But he's never said the words."

            "Why does he have to, when everything he does is for my benefit?"

            "Is it?"

            The question left her momentarily speechless. "Huh?"

            "Are you certain everything he does is solely for you?"

            "Yes." She had no doubt this was the truth. After fifteen years, there was no reason why she wouldn't believe otherwise. "Yes."

            Their conversation lagged. Emmala took the moment to reach inside herself.
"Zon?"

           
I am here, Emmala.

           
"You do love me, don't you?"

           
With every breath I draw.

            "
Why haven't you ever told me?"