The Makers of Light by Lynna Merrill Read Free Book Online Page B

and my old parents. I am here because your Master is not doing his job! Because the Mother just might."
    " A path wrought by tears and desperate hope, " Dominick thought, and it was a line from a tale, an old Balkaene tale he had thought banished from his mind long ago. He did not even remember if it were a proper tale about the Master or an aberrant one about samodivi, or a mixed tale about both, as only Balkaene peasants could mix tales. But he did remember the path the little boy in the tale had walked so that the Master or samodivi would heal his sister. The path that little Dominick had not found, no matter how many tears he had shed or how desperately he had hoped.
    "It won't work, friend." He looked at Gerard and then at Calia beside him. "Masters, samodivi, mothers—none of them will take care of her for you, none of them will save her life for you. A useless bunch of supposedly benevolent, omnipotent frauds, all of them. She deserves to live. " He stared at Gerard's eyes. "So find a way to care for her yourself."
    "I am not entirely useless, you know." Calia, her green eyes narrowed in a way that looked strange on her sweet face. A smile would have suited her better. Gerard looked at her in surprise, and so did others. "I can take some care of myself. And of Gerard, too. Why are you making conclusions only because I am a concubine? And how do you know what I deserve or do not deserve, anyway? Do you know me? I already asked, but you did not answer. I don't know you. I have only known one Mentor in my life, and he is not with us any longer. Perhaps you will tell me what happened to him."
    She had stepped towards Dominick now, and Gerard let her, perhaps because she was so angry; at that moment Dominick would not have been surprised if she attacked him herself. She did not. She stood still, glaring at him, her shoulders trembling, and suddenly he wanted to embrace her, to comfort her—not as a woman, he did not want her as a woman—as a sister. Damn her for poking into old, bitter memories.
    "Tell me"— her voice was higher now, and bitter. "What happened to old Maxim? What happened to Lind? What did you and your kind do to my friend? She disappeared together with him. She had never done anything bad to anyone, do you understand? Do you!? She might have been opinionated, rebellious, standing up to Bers, strange, difficult to know, but I knew her! She helped me! She truly, genuinely cared! She was like a sister to me. What did you do to her, Mentor—you who have the audacity to announce who deserves to live or who does not? I want her back, do you hear me? I want her back!"
    There were tears on her face now, and Dominick watched Gerard put his arms around her.
    "Ger has this strange old Science book that his granddad brought from Srednaber." Her words came out muffled now, and slurred. "We have no use for it, but it would have made her happy if I could give it to her. But I can't ..."
    She broke down just as Hannelore reached her with a cup full of some concoction, and once again Dominick ignored the others' hostile looks. Oh yes, they remembered him again, now that the girl had ceased providing entertainment; they remembered that he had insulted their lauded Mother and, more than that, told them that she would not run their lives for them.
    "Calia." He ignored them one more time, turning to her who was most important, her who both looked like his sister and had right now given him vital information without him even asking.
    Silly girl, she had not heeded Hannelore's warning to him; she had shared the name of a friend as easily as he had. The name of his samodiva, the woman he sought. He knew she was the one. He would check to make sure, of course, but he knew it. He could give Calia a small consolation as thanks.
    "Calia, what is your friend's full name? Mentors keep records about everyone accountable to them. I am no longer a Mentor, but I still have a way to check. Then, if I can find the way to this place again,