Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'brien Read Free Book Online

Gaia!” she said. “Do you bring us a little boy or a little girl?”
    “A healthy boy, Masister,” she said politely.
    The woman made a little ticking noise. “Girls are very much in style just now. That’s okay, though. There are plenty of traditional fathers who still want a little junior. Come to Masister,” she said sweetly, reaching for the child.
    Gaia leaned the baby gently toward Masister Khol and was startled to feel something sharp against her fingers under cover of the child’s wrap. She glanced at Masister Khol, but the woman’s face showed no unusual expression. Still, Gaia could feel her shoving something toward her, and Gaia quickly grasped it and tucked it into her pocket without letting the guards see.
    “Such a sweet little mouth he has,” Masister Khol said. “And he’s how many minutes?”
    Gaia’s pulse quickened. She lifted the locket watch that hung from around her neck, trying to act naturally. “Seventy two.”
    “She arrived here a good fifteen minutes ago,” Sgt. Lanchester said. He stepped aside to let two of the men from the Enclave pass back inside.
    Masister Khol nodded her head reassuringly. “It’s no matter. Anything under the ninety minutes is fine. Lovely, lovely,” she crooned. She gave Gaia a warm smile. “That’s the quota for this month, then, so I probably won’t see you again until June. Keep up the good work, Gaia. You’re being well compensated, I hope.”
    “Yes. I have all I need,” Gaia said. “I’m glad to serve the Enclave.”
    “As am I,” Masister Khol said.
    “And I,” Sgt. Lanchester echoed.
    “And I,” said the second guard.
    Masister Khol was turning back into the gate.
    “Is it true the quota may go up to five next month?” Gaia asked.
    Masister half turned back, looking closely at Gaia. “Where did you hear that?” Masister Khol asked.
    Gaia glanced at Sgt. Lanchester and saw him shake a quick negative of his head.
    “It’s just something I overheard around the quadrangle,” Gaia improvised. “It isn’t true, is it?”
    Gaia saw the two guards exchange glances, and Masister Khol frowned.
    “You speak as if an increase in the quota would be unwelcome to you,” Masister Khol said quietly.
    “Oh, no!” Gaia said quickly. “I just want to be prepared.”
    Masister Khol’s reproving expression lightened somewhat. “The Protectorat makes those decisions,” she said. “I could not confirm or deny it. But I will say, our babies are going to only the very finest families in the Enclave.”
    “Don’t they always?” Gaia asked.
    Masister Khol’s smile was guarded. “Of course. The future of all of us depends on it.”
    Gaia nodded. She knew this to be true. And she sensed that this was not a good time to ask questions. She reached into her pocket, fingering the sharp object Masister Khol had passed to her. When she realized it felt like paper folded very tightly into a tiny triangle, a spark of excitement almost made her jump.
    Before Gaia knew it, Masister Khol had slipped back inside the Enclave with the baby, and Sgt. Lanchester opened his hand toward the road behind Gaia.
    “There you go, Masister,” he said kindly to Gaia. “We don’t want to block the way, now. And get some rest while you can,” Sgt. Lanchester added. Under the wide brim of his black hat, his eyes were warm with concern.
    “Thank you, Mabrother,” Gaia said.
    She was weary and thirsty, she realized, especially there in the hot sunlight, but more than anything, she was curious about the triangle in her pocket.
    “I serve the Enclave,” she said.
    “And I,” the two guards answered in unison.
    Keeping her fingers wrapped around the triangle in her pocket, she started back down the main road and veered into one of the narrow lanes of Eastern Sector One. She waited until she had turned several corners, passed a row of merchants, and then, ducking into a quiet doorway, she pulled out the object. It was a small, tightly folded piece of brown