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to decipher what they said instead of speaking up
and sounding so confused and out of place.
    We finished our meal, grabbed what little
belongings there were, and headed out. I carried my own bag,
despite Tanner’s offer of help.
    I walked out of the shop behind the men and
as I stepped on the porch, Snake said, “There he is. Grab your
arrow so it don’t go to waste.”
    It wasn’t immediately obvious what he was
talking about, though once Marie and Snake moved to clear the
hidden car, I saw what Snake was talking about.
    The Savage Sybaris lay on the ground, a thin
line of smoke rising from his smoldering carcass. What remained of
it was barely recognizable. It was nothing more than a burnt,
shriveled mess. What looked to be a hand, burned as well, extended
upward.
    Tanner walked over to it and pulled out his
arrow, wiped it on the side of his pants, and placed it in the
bag.
    We loaded into the car and set forth for
Angeles City. My stomach fluttered in nervousness about the
journey. I had so many questions about the citizens of Angeles, and
the revolution.
    Marie told me she would love to tell me, but
their leader always liked to be the one to fill in newcomers,
especially those who had little knowledge of the world beyond the
Sybaris.
    “Besides,” Marie said, “there are the
Archives of History and you really want to see it instead of just
hearing it.”
    I understood and was anxious. There was a lot
to learn, and I would. I was smart.
    “Tell me about your family,” Marie said as we
sat in the back together. “Are you worried about them?”
    I nodded. “Yes, more so that they are scared
for me. I don’t think they will be harmed. They weren’t the ones
who did wrong.”
    “Do you have a mother, father, brothers,
sisters??”
    “I have a mother. I never knew my father. She
married not long after we got to Akana, but he died from illness. I
have a little sister who is five and I had a brother… once.”
    “He passed away as well?”
    “He was our rite of passage into Akana. He
was just a few days old.”
    Marie tried to hide her shocked reaction to
what I said. She inhaled deeply, glanced away for a moment, then
looked at me and clenched my hand. “I’m sorry. Do you remember it
happening?”
    “I was there when the gatekeepers accepted
her gift.” I lowered my head. Just the thought of it made me sick
and angry.
    “Again, I’m sorry.”
    Marie breathed out loudly. “Okay, change of
subject. You seem like a nice girl. What on Earth could you have
done so wrong that you had to flee for your life?”
    “It was the monthly ceremony when the
Civilized ones come and choose. They smell as it is, and one
breathed too closely to me and—”
    “The civilized ones smell?”
    “Not rotten like the Savages, more musky.” I
shrugged. It was then I noticed Snake looked back at us, and Marie
and he locked into a stare.
    “Is something wrong?” I asked.
    “No. No. Continue,” Marie told me.
    “Well, her odor made me sick and when she
grabbed hold of my arm to choose me, I vomited on her. She always
had a distaste for me and I suppose it was the final straw. She
ordered her henchmen to get me, so I ran.”
    Marie laughed. “I’m sorry, that is funny. She
must have really been mad about it.”
    “That and it burned her, she screamed.”
    “Holy cow,” Snake blurted. “You burned her
and you smell them?”
    “Yes. I’ve always been different. Nito—that
is her name, the one that hates me— she called me Mare.”
    Softly, almost a whisper, Marie asked me,
“Mare? She referred to you as a Mare?”
    “Yes,” I answered, then was hit with instant
fear that I had said the wrong thing. “Please tell me I won’t be
shunned in Angeles City.”
    “No. No. Oh, Vala, more than you realize, you
are not only welcome in Angels City…” she gently rubbed my hand,
“you are needed there.”

19. Arrival

    What I remembered of my journey away from
Angeles City was still vivid in my mind. I embedded it