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Chapter Seven
The Vapor of Nuance
1+1=3


"Anyway, my grandmother came to visit. ...I avoided her until we all sat down for dinner. And then she figured out the whole situation [I was pregnant] in, maybe, ten minutes, just by watching my face across the dinner table. I didn't say more than ten words--'Pass the tortillas.' I don't know how my face conveyed that information, or what kind of internal wiring in my grandmother's mind enabled her to accomplish this incredible feat. To condense fact from the vapor of nuance."

~Snowcrash

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What could be better than finishing up a successful duel with another Caeli knight and then seeing one's girlfriend waving at you....er, friend.....er, yeah, whatever. I do sorta like the sound of girlfriend, although it's vaguely terrifying to say such a thing about a princess... but she sure can kiss. I think I'll try to get her alone again tonight. Yeah, good plan!

Eries and her little sister waved to me from the far side of the arena by the locker rooms. I walked over. "Hi! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Millerna is looking for some kid she was playing with some time ago. She's been dragging me around with her for hours and I decided since we were passing through that it would be fun stop by and see you. Oh, stop pouting, Millerna; just give me five minutes!" Eries sighed and looked back up at me. "It's hopeless; there's gotta be five hundred little brown-haired boys in this palace," she said.

"Oh. ....Well, I hope you find him."

"Yeah. What time will you be by tonight?" she asked.

Woohoo! "Seven?" I suggested.

"Great!" said Eries. She checked that no one, including her sister, was looking and then she quickly kissed me on the cheek.

Millerna seemed to be a rather distractable little girl; she had stopped whining and was raptly watching some of the other Caeli knights spar. "Come on, sis," said Eries and she dragged Millerna away.

I walked into the locker room then. Dryden was sitting on a bench poring over a sheet of paper. "How is it?" I asked.

"Your content is somewhat insightful. Your spelling is getting better. Your punctuation still stinks. Your penmanship is better than mine, which isn't much of a compliment actually. Rewrite with corrections and you'll get a B." He handed me back my essay, now covered with little red marks.

"Thanks," I said. "You got a date for the dance tonight?"

"Nope."

"You going to come anyway?" I asked.

"No, I think I'll just study tonight. Seeya later." He walked off, a contented little half-smile on his face, and I could tell his thoughts were with his future fiancee. Again. Eeew.



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I smoothed my skirts and stared at myself in the mirror. Hmm. Not the kind of dress I usually wear. It was a hand-me-down from Marlene. It was short-sleeved, low-necked and a really, really girly pale lettuce green colour. It wasn't pink and what little lace it bore was not itchy, so I rather liked it.

I was going to twirl around again when someone out in the hall called, "Mail!" and slid an envelope under the door to our suite. I swooped on it, hoping it was from Marlene. It was! Marlene and I wrote to each other every week but she'd missed a week since she'd been too busy giving birth! I'd heard through the official channels that she and the child were fine, but she'd promised to send me a letter as soon as possible afterwards and with pictures, too! I tore it open excitedly and read through it. I looked at the pictures she had enclosed. I bit my lip and read through the letter again.

We three sisters have shared this suite of rooms for all our lives. When you've spent so much time with someone, they can't keep secrets even when they try. The odd phrase, the accumulation of snippets...

Marlene hadn't seemed to like Mahad very much at first although she sounded quite sweet on him now. It was odd that she'd gotten pregnant so quickly. I looked at the picture. It was odd that Chid was pale and blonde. It was odd how she asked after all my friends.... except Allen.

The big empty space in this letter has an Allen-shaped outline.

No. It couldn't be.

It's almost seven o'clock. Those will be his footsteps I hear coming up the hall. I'm sure I'm imagining things. I'll clear things up; I'll ask him just how well he knew her...



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