Magda said wearily, “I was born in Caer Donn. My true name-the name my parents gave me-is Magdalen Lome, but the Darkover children with whom I played could not say that name; they called me Margali, and that is my name as much as the other.”
“The-the Darkovan children?” Jaelle whispered, and her eyes were wide, almost with fear. “What are you, then?”
“I am … I am…” Magda struggled, the words sticking in her throat. This was basic. You never tell any outsider who you are. Never.
Jaelle is not an outsider. She is my sworn sister. Suddenly all conflict was gone. The lump in Magda’s throat dissolved, and it seemed that she drew the first free breath she had drawn since she first entered this shelter several nights ago. She said, and her voice did not falter, “My mother and father were Terrans, subjects of the Empire; I am Darkovan, born in Caer Donn, but I am an Intelligence agent and linguistics expert for the Empire, and I work from Thendara.”
Slowly, Jaelle nodded. “So that is it,” she said at last. “I have heard something of the Terrans. One of ours in Thendara Guild-house-an emmasca who can pass herself off as a man: they all can, but many of them will not-hired herself out with the workmen among those building the spaceport, and she told us something of your people. But I did not know the Terrans were human, except in form.”
Magda smiled at that way of putting it. She said, “The records of the Empire say that Darkovan and Terran are one stock from the far past.”
“Does Lady Rohana know you are Terranan?”
“Yes; she saw me first there.”
“This explains why you had to appeal to her,” said Jaelle; she was just thinking out loud. “Your kinsman, is he Terran, too?”
“Yes; but taken prisoner by Rumal di Scarp because of a chance likeness to Lady Rohana’s son.”
“He is like Kyril? That will not endear him to me,” Jaelle said. “I love Rohana well; Kyril is another matter entirely. But that does not matter now. You love this man so very much? Is he your lover, then?”
Magda said slowly, “No; although for a time we were”-she hesitated, used the Darkovan word- “freemates. But it is more than that. We were children together, and he has no one else. To my superiors in Thendara, he is-expendable; so I took this duty upon myself to save him from death and torture.”
Jaelle bit her lip, frowning, idly fingering the bandage on her cheek. She said, “I must think. Perhaps- you are in the employ of your service, under bond for a legitimate service? A Free Amazon is bound by law to fulfill any work she hires herself of her free will to do, and it could be legally said you must complete this pledge and honor your conditions of employment.” Again, she was thinking out loud. “You say you do not love him. How do you feel about him, then?”
“I don’t know.” Magda searched her mind; surprised herself by saying, “Protective.”
Jaelle looked at Magda with that intense, frowning stare which made Magda wonder if the girl was really reading her thoughts. She said, “Yes; I think no man has ever meant more to you than that, not yet. You have, I think, the true spirit of an Amazon, and if you had been born among us, I think you would have come to us in the end. This must have been what Rohana saw in you.”
She was silent for some time, thinking; suddenly she laughed.
“There is only one man living whom I love less than Rumal di Scarp,” she said. “I would love to cheat Rumal of his prey! And you are oath-bound to obey all lawful commands of your employer. And there is a life between us; and it is required of me that I give my oath-daughter a gift. I will come with you, Margali, to Sain Scarp!”
Magda said, again with that sense of conflicting loyalties, “Jaelle, I can never thank you for this, but first you should know: it will cause much trouble for you in Thendara. Lorill Hastur has forbidden anyone in the Domains to take part in this affair.”