Free Keeping It Real by Justina Robson

funnelled I-space contingencies
    outof the room and out of the universe . Sarasilien's tall, blue-and-grey-clad figure stood at one of these.
    To Lila, even though they bore no physical resemblance, the elf's tall, elegantly spare form and long,
    silvering chestnut and gold hair immediately reminded her of her father. When he turned to greet her the
    strong slanting of his features on their angular bones and the sudden small movements of his long ears -
    their attenuated tips were as high as the crown of his head - should have put paid to that impression, but
    they didn't . She couldn't even detect a trace of warmth in him as he came towards her, silver stitches in
    his clothing glinting, his face as stern as a patrician statue, manner as composed as a king's.
    Sarasilien's andalune body had always been tightly controlled - he kept it completely subdermal for
    most of his time in Otopia, she understood - but, since encountering Zal, Lila was suddenly much more
    aware of the possibility of its presence, and curious, since she had never witnessed Sarasilien displaying
    it. His control of it was, she knew, a sign of extreme self-mastery, a thing as rare in elves as any race. Its
    absence had been a key factor in the comfort she felt with him before. Now, thatcomfort seemed to be
    gone.
    Her awkwardness with him made her self-conscious, and that made her more awkward . She was
    suddenly ill at ease before his calm, and cast her eyes towards his boots rather than his face . She thought
    suddenly of Zal, though Zal had never once made her think of Sarasilien. Her reasons for being here, at
    all, were suddenly unclear to her. Now that she saw him she became more sure that the need she had to
    talk to him was nothing to do with the case, but entirely personal, and that seemed like a weak and
    insubstantial reason to be here.
    'Lila,' Sarasilien said and lifted her chin with his hand, so she must look at him. 'Are you well?'
    His concern manifested as a much slighter expression than it would
    have merited on a human face. Even when moved deeply his face showed only hints of whathe felt. But
    Lila was tugged by the care, mote than she wanted. 'I'm fine. Sorry. It's been tougher than I thought'
    Sarasilien looked down into her eyes and the ghost of a smile made his lips turn atthe corners . His
    cheek dimpled very faintly and she saw the tips of his long ears turn more closely towards his head . He
    was really very glad to see her. 'You look well, although your presentation has more of the urchin than
    the goddess aboutit. Town mustbe busy.'
    'Itwas,' she agreed and then she stepped forward impulsively and hugged him. She had missed him.
    She'd had no idea how much until that second. Perhaps itwas to be expected, after they'd worked so
    closely for so long to get her fit again, mentally and physically at least. Emotionally she clearly had a way
    to go.
    She felt his andalune body very briefly on the exposed skin of her hands and face, like a breath of air
    thathad come off the tops of a cold and lonely mountain. After a second of his normal reticence he
    embraced her back, and then he sether from him, notunkindly. 'Whatbrings you here?'
    She satdown on one of the guest chairs, looking around the familiar room with its oak-panelled walls,
    library bookshelves, and the largest of all the Berries, showing the white-capped mountains that
    Sarasilien called his home, very far from Otopia. 'Isn't seeing you enough?' she asked, not certain she
    could tell him everything on her mind.
    'Yes, butthat's not the matter.' He was standing close by a book table suitable for viewing very large
    volumes. He closed the one thatlay open there and folded his hands in front of him.
    Lila was sure she had his full attention and it daunted her. 'I don't think I can carry through this job,'
    she confessed.
    'Why not?'
    T don't know. It's too much like facing everything too fast.'
    'Because Zal is an elf?'
    'Because Zal is no tan elf,' Lila countered, glancing