The Secrets of a Fire King: Stories by Kim Edwards

Author:Kim Edwards [Edwards, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 0143112309
Amazon: B0014E92M8
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 1997-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Aristotle’s Lantern

129

“I know how you feel,” I said, trying to stay calm.

“You can’t possibly,” he snapped, and something in me broke loose.

“You’re right,” I said, preparing to be cruel and taking pleasure in it, too. “I’ll never know what you’re going through. After all, I passed the test.”

I slammed the door and walked to the atrium, where a group was already drinking on the balcony. Gunnar was there, on his second beer, and I found myself watching him, remembering our time below the water, what Yukiko had said. There was a bright sheen of red on the water, phosphorescent algae that traced the waves. Someone suggested a night dive. I was a little drunk already, and I ran to collect the waterproof flashlights and our gear, then joined the others on the beach, where Pragna and Gunnar were arguing. Pragna was holding Analia, her voice rising above the waves.

“Gunnar,” she said. “This is madness.”

“It’s perfectly safe,” he insisted, and I remembered the play of skeletal light on his skin as we stood together in the silent dome, his fingers on my leg as he made his clumsy sutures. The others had already gone as he stepped into the waves, and when Pragna called to him again he did not stop. After a moment I followed him, swimming to the beam of light he held. The waves crashed hard against the rocks and the currents pulled at us. I touched his arm.

“It’s Anna,” I said.

“Anna.”

“Gunnar!” Pragna’s voice came to us, broken by the waves, edged with anguish. “Gunnar! Please, Gunnar. You are frighten-ing me. Come back this instant! Gunnar! Do you hear me?”

“Ah, she is ruining it all,” he said, and there was anguish in his voice, too. “She wants to leave. She wants us all to leave.”

“No,” I said, trying to imagine staying here without him. “No, don’t, Gunnar. You can’t.”

Our hands brushed one another in the water and he reached for me. I couldn’t seem to help myself. I ran my hand along Gunnar’s leg. He did not speak, but faced me as he had on that other day, that last and first day, when we passed the regulator back and forth and each one, each time, saved the other’s life.

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