Dreamsnake

“That’s an excellent question, healer,” the mayor said. “Why do you want this child? People might be all too willing to say we’ve gone from selling our beautiful children to disposing of our disfigured ones.”

“She can’t spend her whole life hiding,” Snake said. “She’s a talented child, she’s smart and she’s brave. I can do more for her than anyone can here. I can help her have a profession. I can help her be someone who won’t be judged on her scars.”

“A healer?”

“It’s possible, if that’s what she wants.”

“What you’re saying is, you’d adopt her.”

“Yes, of course. What else?”

The mayor turned to Ras. “It would be quite a coup for Mountainside if one of our people became a healer.”

“She wouldn’t be happy away from here,” Ras said.

“Don’t you want to do what’s best for the child?” The mayor’s voice had softened, taking on a cajoling tone.

“Is sending her away from her home what’s best? Would you send your—” Ras cut himself off, paling.

The mayor lay back against his pillows. “No, I wouldn’t send my own child away. But if he chose to go, I’d let him.” He smiled at Ras sadly. “You and I have similar problems, my friend. Thank you for reminding me.” He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling for long moments.

“You can’t send her away,” Ras said. “It’s just the same as selling her as a bondservant.”

“Ras, my friend,” the mayor said gently.

“Don’t try to tell me any different. I know better and so will everyone else.”

“But the benefits—”

“Do you really believe anyone would offer this poor little thing the chance to be a healer? The idea’s crazy.”

Melissa glanced quickly, surreptitiously, at Snake, her emotions as always masked, then lowered her gaze again.

“I don’t like being called a liar,” Snake said.

“Healer, Ras didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Let’s all be calm. We aren’t talking so much about reality as appearances. Appearances are very important and they’re what people believe. I have to take that into account. Don’t think it’s easy keeping this office. More than one young firebrand—and some who aren’t so young—would move me out of my home if I gave them a chance. No matter that I’ve been here twenty years. A charge of bonding—” He shook his head.

Snake watched him talk himself back toward refusal, helpless to turn him toward acceptance. Ras had known exactly what arguments would affect him most, while Snake had assumed that she would be trusted, or at the very least be given her own way. But the possible healer’s interdict against Mountainside was a future problem, made even more serious by how rare healers’ visits to the town had become in recent years.

If the mayor could risk accepting her ultimatum, Snake could not risk bringing it into force. She could not chance leaving Melissa with Ras another day, another hour; Snake had put her in too much danger. What was more, she had shown her dislike of the stablemaster, so the mayor might not believe what she said about him. Even if Melissa accused him, there was no proof. Snake searched desperately for another way to win Melissa’s freedom; she hoped she had not already ruined any chance of gaining it directly.

She spoke as calmly as she could. “I withdraw my request.”

Melissa caught her breath but did not look up again. The mayor’s expression turned to one of relief, and Ras sat back in his chair.

“On one condition,” Snake said. She paused to choose her words well, to say only what could be proven. “On one condition. When Gabriel leaves, he’s going north. Let Melissa go with him, as far as Middlepath.” Snake said nothing about Gabriel’s plans; they were his business and no one else’s. “A fine women’s teacher lives there, and she wouldn’t turn down anyone who needed her guidance.”

A small damp patch widened on the front of Melissa’s shirt, as tears fell silently on the rough material. Snake hurried on.

“Let Melissa go with Gabriel. Her training might take longer than usual because she’s so old to start. But it’s for her health and her safety. Even if Ras loves—” she almost choked on the word—“loves her too much to give her up to the healers, he won’t keep her from this.”

Ras’s ruddy complexion paled.

“Middlepath?” The mayor scowled. “We have perfectly good teachers here. Why does she need to go to Middlepath?”

“I know you value beauty,” Snake said, “but I think you also value self-control. Let Melissa learn the skills, even if she has to go elsewhere to find a teacher.“

“Do you mean to tell me this child has never been to one?”

“Of course she has!” Ras cried. “It’s a trick to get the girl out of our protection! You think you can come to a place and change everybody around to suit yourself!” Ras yelled at Snake. “Now you think people will believe anything you and that ungrateful little brat can make up about me. Everybody else is afraid of you and your slimy reptiles, but I’m not. Set one on me, go ahead, and I’ll mash it flat!” He stopped abruptly and glanced right and left as if he had forgotten where he was. He had no way to make a dramatic exit.