THEY BURIED ZONTE Freebrood and Oracle Maia del Seta in a high, green meadow with a view of the sea. Emissaries Gabriel and Persia had placed three polished stone monuments to mark their graves. The third was for Rain Freebrood, whose body had been lost with the Zol-Ori. All of the Freebrood, the two Emissaries, and Orion-lem in a body of pure white gathered for the funeral. Lead Shastri Jiddu Raj and Aquila North, along with Commander Tauro Arkrider and Lieutenant Tavia Djeli also attended. Grandfather Spear, who everyone agreed was complicit in Zonte’s death, and directly responsible for Maia’s, stayed behind. During the funeral, sea winds brought scatterings of light, warm rain. No one seemed to mind.
When the ceremony finished, they left the gravesite to return to the newly formed smart-matter village near the center of the island to eat, drink, and tell stories. The little village sat nestled in a clearing of tall reeds that forested the island. Sabira recognized them as the same reeds that lined the corridors of the Shishiguchi. Persia called them bamboo. As with Maia and Rain’s ceremony on the Shishiguchi, Gabriel uncorked several bottles of Babylonia West Valley wines and poured generously for all.
When the sun began to set, Edlashuul and the eeshl sang the dusk song—something they had never done with the artificial nightfall on the Safehold. Sabira hadn’t realized how much she missed their singing down the sun until she heard it again. The drone of their voices faded behind her as Sabira slipped away from the village. The scents of rich soil and perfuming flowers filled her every breath.
The gravesite was on the eastern side of the island, and the sky darkened from turquoise to bluish-black as she approached. The meadow ended in a sheer, rocky cliff. A never-ending crash and whisper of waves breaking on stone rolled up from below. She walked to the farthest point of the cliffs, and a wide horizon opened before her. She gazed at the sea and sky together, letting the winds glide over her scalp and pleasantly chill her skin. Sabira had seen planetary oceans from orbit before. Had even walked beside the wide river bordering the City of Glish on Dlamakuuz. But this was an entirely different experience. The ambient drone of the waves, the chill mist, the scent of foliage and flowers, and the sun disappearing into the horizon stirred feelings she didn’t know how to name. Standing before the broad undulating expanse was almost like stargazing. But not really. Yes, she had the feeling of beholding the infinite. Yet this had the grounded sense of the finite, as well. She hadn’t realized before how sterile and lifeless the sea of stars could seem until she had stood on the edge of the sea of water, breathing an actual planetary atmosphere, surrounded by all the teeming life that soil, water, and sky could hold.
The smell was going to take some getting used to. “Briny,” Gabriel had called it. The scent of salt water and all the living and the dead hidden within its depths. She hadn’t decided yet if she loved this smell, was repulsed by it, or a bit of both.
The wine-dark sea lapped at the shores of several nearby islands. Eleusis Neos, the New Temple of Mysteries, stood on the largest, most distant island, Delphi—a bright beacon in the darkening horizon. Beyond the tall pillared dome of the temple, swarmed by white stars, a bloody red smear ascended slowly into the night. Maia had told her once that Eleusis Neos had been founded beneath the light of the Shattered Gates.
Persia and Gabriel had made some kind of agreement with the Oracles of the New Temple. They would allow the Freebrood to live on this island in peace and solitude, offer assistance if needed, and keep their presence a secret for as long as necessary. What the Oracles got in return, she didn’t know.
Sabira had never finished her eon ritual. Three nights, three ceremonies was the tradition. Her third night had ended in terror and blood. Maybe she should finish what she started. Take a boat over to Delphi and request permission to complete her initiation into the mysteries. The thought filled her with both hope and dread. Could she face them again, all those whose lives she had taken, reaching out to her in the dark? Their numbers had only increased since her last ceremony. Would all the dead of the Zol-Ori be waiting for her in that underworld—servant, warseer, and godseer alike? Would Bolta’s blue-gray eyes peer into her heart from the pool of blood where she had left them?
Footsteps behind her pulled Sabira from her reverie. She turned to see Playa approaching.
“I’m sorry. You probably want to be alone.” Sabira started on the gravelly path headed down to their village.
“That’s right. I do.” Playa pulled the heavy black shawl draped over her shoulders a little tighter against the cool breeze. “But I want to know something first.”
Sabira stopped, chest tightening as she held her breath.
“You never told us. Did you do it? Did you avenge his death?”
“No. No, I didn’t.”
“After all that . . . After leaving us again . . . We thought you were our brood. But the sad truth is that we’re nothing to you.” Playa turned her back to Sabira and faced the dark sea. “I know it’s not my choice, but for my part, I won’t fight against your blood-grandfather staying with us. That’s for Maia. And for our brood to find some peace here, in our new home.”
Playa turned back around and stared unflinchingly at her. “But not you. You need to go. Since we’re nothing to you, you’re nothing to us. Nothing at all.”
Leaving Playa and the graves behind, starlight and Nu’esef’s two moons guided Sabira’s path down the slope and through the bamboo forest to her little cottage. She lay in the dark for a long time, hearing the muffled sounds of nearby drinking and storytelling, before she could sleep. Playa’s words kept ringing through her mind. Like the High Godseer, she had looked into Sabira’s eyes and said she was nothing.
Maybe it was true. Even when she was nameless, she had strived to think of herself as something, if not someone—a mine rat, a brood-sister, a pit fighter. After that, a servant, an enforcer of Divine Will. When she left that life behind, she had hoped to be the protector of her new brood, her family, and the one to avenge their wrongs. Throughout all those changes, she had always remained the descendant of Grandfather Spear, blood-daughter of Handmaiden Gunna. But were any of those identities truly her? Or just mask after mask covering the truth of her nothingness? Masks she had thought would provide some meaning to all the pain and loss, the same way Daggeira had used bravado and competition.
But if all those roles and identities were just a series of masks, if she was truly nothing, then maybe she could become anything.
In the morning, everyone in the village gathered to eat breakfast and drink strong coffee from the sembler kiosks. The meal was quiet. They knew it would soon be time for farewells. After breakfast, Emissary Persia Moradi and Commander Tauro Arkrider stood to make an announcement. Persia spoke first.
“Commander Arkrider and I have been in ongoing talks with the Emissaries, the Constellation General Council, and the CDF.”
“—Talks are putting it generously,” Tauro added.
“Dealing with the General Council will make me grow bald,” Persia said. “Even though an argument could be made—has been made—that our decisions directly led to the end of the Godsfall incursion, the commander and I both disobeyed the General Council’s orders. That is not without its repercussions.”
“—Seeing you safely to this new home is my last act as a commander in the Constellation Defense Forces. On our return, I’ll be relieved of duty. Our own Lieutenant Tavia Djeli will be promoted to commander. And well deserving, she is.”
Tavia nodded somberly.
“I’ve been summoned back to the First Embassy on Babylonia,” Persia said. “I’ll no longer have oversight of your transition. However, full asylum and refugee status have been granted. Any and all of you are welcome to remain here on this island in peace and seclusion for as long as you like.”
Grandfather Spear grunted. He was seated as far from Playa and Ed as could be accommodated.
“—You’re also welcome to leave,” Arkrider said, “under certain conditions.”
“After the Old Portal breach and the Godsfall incursion, the Constellation of Aligned Star Systems and the Legacatic Republic are on high alert,” Persia continued. “Tensions between the two governments were already high. What effect the incursion will have on diplomatic relations is hard to say. On top of that, Godsfall’s singularity weapon has destroyed the nearby planet of Little Tiger. Hundreds of millions have lost their lives. Millions more are homeless, planetless, and in need of sanctuary.”
“—In short, now is not the time for the worlds to find out the first diaspora exists and is here among us,” Arkrider said. “Should you choose to leave this island, the Embassy will provide a cover story for you. A new identity. Not only for the sake of peace and stability, but for your own safety and well-being. You can’t even begin to imagine the costs that kind of celebrity would bring.”
“What’s ‘celebrity’?” Coraz asked.
“—Exactly my point,” Arkrider answered.
Gabriel stood. “There’s no need to make any decision now. You can stay for as long as you prefer, or leave as soon as you like. If you want to give your children a chance to be born and raised in tranquil protection, you’ll have it. I’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future, to help you acclimate to this new world as best I can. Should you choose to leave, let me know, and we’ll begin the process.”
“I’m staying,” Dawn said. “This place is exactly what I want for my babies.”
“I stay where you stay.” Derev gently embraced her shoulders in his big arm and pulled her close.
“I’ll stay here—we’ll stay here.” Playa patted the little belly bulging from her cloak. “For now. Zonte and I had wanted to go to Eleusis Neos together, someday. At least one of us still can.”
Coraz said, “I’ll stay as well, help out with these girls and all the little ones on the way. I do have to admit, I’d also like to spend some time at the New Temple, once we get settled.”
“I want to go to Arjuna,” Cal said. “I want to go to a university.”
Jiddu clapped Cal on the back. “—I’ll take you there myself. We’ll need the brightest minds we can get if we’re to rebuild Krishnamurti Tower.”
Ed walked over to Cal, the eeshl trotting beside. He wore a bright yellow flower pinned to his cloak. “—I’m going with Orion. This planet is too heavy for me. And there’s no way I’m going to human school.”
“If Adept Orion doesn’t mind, I would just love to come along.” The morning light turned Aquila’s cheeks especially rosy. “There’s so much to learn and to see, and frankly, I’ve got nowhere better to go.”
“Crunchy. I’d love to have you aboard. Welcome to the crew.”
“I’m going on the Shishiguchi, too.” Torque swayed back and forth in her seat, looking down at her lap. “Ship’s engineer. That’s what I have to say about me.”
Two shuttles waited, prepped for takeoff, on a wide landing at the western end of the island. Playa, Dawn, and Coraz chose to stay in the village while the rest trekked over to the landing platform. The breeze was warm and moist. Thin clouds raced overhead, offering little shade from the warm sun steadily rising in the turquoise sky. All the Freebrood wore thin, hooded cloaks that covered them head to toe to protect their alabaster skin from instantly burning. Once they reached the shuttles, hugs and a few tears spread generously among them all.
Sabira felt Derev’s thick hand rest on her shoulder. “What about you? Heading off with Orion for more adventures? I know how much you love the stars.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Orion said.
“The Shishiguchi isn’t your only chance for adventure, you know,” Lieutenant Djeli said. “The CDF took heavy losses during the Godsfall incursion. Too heavy. We could use the best and bravest.”
“—The Legacatic Republic has been eyeing Constellation territory for years,” Commander Arkrider added. “And they didn’t suffer nearly the same level of casualties as we did. If the Republic decides to strike now while we’re still licking our wounds, the Constellation is going to need all the help it can get. Won’t lie, it’d be a tough life, but you’d make a fine marine.”
“I’d be proud to have you.” No question about Tavia’s smile this time.
Sabira looked to Orion and Arkrider, to Derev and Torque and Ed. She started to say something before her throat squeezed tight. Gabriel gazed patiently at her, as proud and handsome as ever. But it was Grandfather Spear who spoke.
“This is it. This is what you fought so hard for, Granddaughter. Freedom. Freedom to choose your life, your destiny, to be the person you want to be. Who you decide to be. So. Now that you have your freedom, what are you going to do with it?”