Page 213 of Seven Oars
“Oh, no. And by the way, there’s a catch, and I want you to think about it very carefully before we land.”
Rosamma frowned.“What is it?”
“Those who come to Megroyara can’t leave. That’s what makes it a haven. Lifetime commitment.”
Rosamma’s frown dissolved.“Oh. Is that all?”
“It’s a helluva important detail, Rosamma.”
Itwasan important detail. But not important enough for her to say Turn around, I’m going back!
She’d already said her goodbye to Priss. Everything else would work itself out.
“Is that why you don’t live on Megroyara?” she asked Eze.
“That and the weather. Too cold.”
Rosamma smiled.“Gro complains about the same thing on Priss.”
“Priss is worse, in my opinion.”
“Wait, how do you know?”
“I’ve been to Priss before.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“What? And you didn’t come to say hello to Gro and me?”
Eze shifted on her bunk.“I did see Gro. We keep in touch. She has all those plans for me to ferry her mushrooms to the far-flung corners of the Universe. Total cringe.”
“Eze!” Rosamma wailed, flabbergasted.
“I’m sorry! There were reasons. Fincros didn’t want you to know. He had to have his time on Megroyara first. Things needed to get done.”
“What things?”
“Something to do with the locals. There were frictions. He didn’t want you there before he got it under control.”
Knowing Fincros,“got it under control” likely meant a small civil war.
Her heart ached.
His biggest desire had been to be left alone. He had been so tired. Even before getting blinded, he had wanted peace, and he had needed rest.
“Hey,” Eze shook her out of her contemplation.“It was good for him.”
“The frictions?”
“To finally fight for a purpose. You are his purpose.”
*****
The journey turned out to be arduously long. The transport made many stops along the way—a sort of interspace delivery van. At one stop, it had required maintenance, and they were forced to spend several weeks twiddling their thumbs in a fenced-off reception center because the planet had a quarantine for new arrivals.
Rosamma had been content to work on her translations, but Eze had nearly gone crazy from boredom.
