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touching this creature, that this was only an illusion. A memory came to me of a little boy who had sat at Mother’s feet with me, who had shoved me when Mother wasn’t looking, but who had also repaired one of my broken toys. I touched his cheek again, imagining how rough his skin must be, then pulled away.
    “What is it you want?” I asked, forgetting the ritual. “Why do you call Me?”
    “You must help me, Lady,” the young man said. His lips moved only a little as I picked up his subvocalized surface thoughts. He was saying that he was alone, that his guardian had left him to travel to a city, that his band had then traveled south with other men only to die under the beams of a city’s ships. “I am alone,” he finished. “Please help me, please tell me how I can find my guardian, Tal, again.”
    “Wait,” I said, then removed the circlet as I recalled what Eilaan had said about Devva. That city, it seemed, had acted, and this young man had been with the men Devva had attacked. I clasped my hands together. Mother had been accused of disobedience; I had been told by Bren that I doubted, and now my twin was telling me that he had narrowly escaped Devva’s action.
    The door behind me slid open. I spun around, startled. Mother waved at the light on the wall. “Laissa, what are you doing?”
    “My twin is calling you,” I said. “Devva’s destroyed that settlement of men they were so worried about.”
    “What does that have to do with him?”
    “He was there. He escaped.”
    Mother covered her mouth. “But his band roams the lands beyond our southern wall. He shouldn’t be so far south.”
    “He says that they traveled to that other place. He’s alone now. He says he wants to find his guardian.”
    “He means his father. The boy can’t live out there for long if he’s alone—men live in groups.” She went to the console and played back what the boy had told me, then scowled. “This isn’t good. I must think of what to do.”
    “I know I probably shouldn’t have talked to him, but I was careful. I. . .”
    “It’s all right, Laissa. Leave me alone now. I’ll speak to him.”

    I paced the outer chamber as I worried about what Mother might do now. At last she joined me, but she did not speak until she had taken a bottle of wine from the dispenser in our wall. Her hands shook as she poured wine into a glass.
    “I’ve called the boy here,” she said in a low voice. “If he’s strong enough to make the trip, he’ll be with his father again, and Button will have two males to look after him. They might find another tribe.”
    I folded my arms. “But he’s only seventeen. He’s young to be called, and he was with those men Devva attacked as well. You shouldn’t have done that.”
    “I had no choice!” she said harshly. “The boy is alone. His father has no tribe now. Even with two males, Button’s chances won’t be good. With only his father, they’ll be much worse.” She gulped her wine and poured more. “I just hope the boy can get here. I’ll have to wait for him. It means I’ll have to keep Button a little longer.”
    “But Eilaan told you…”
    “I had to do it!” she shouted. “As it is, I may only be sending Button out to die. If only he could stay even a year or so longer. I know it’s wrong to think it, but I do.” She downed the wine and set the glass on a table.
    “You didn’t have to do this,” I said as calmly as I could. “You might have given Button to a man who has a group to return to.” I paused. “We’ll be disgraced.”
    She came to me and grabbed my shoulder; her fingers dug into me painfully. “This isn’t disobedience. This will test their strength. I haven’t violated my duty.” She seemed to be saying the words more to herself than to me. “If your twin can make such a journey alone, it will only show that he and those with his traits are strong and should survive to pass on those traits to future generations of women.”
    “That