Free Keeping It Real by Justina Robson Page A

into his green eyes and seeing the sympathy she
    was looking for, bound inside a world of strict expectations; emerald in ice. T was ready for him to be
    like you. Not as kind. Even like the Daga agents maybe. Butlike you. And he isn't. And he is. Oh, hell. .
    . I'm getting this all wrong!'
    'Tell me the facts.'
    Thatwas more like it, Lila thought, wishing she'd done thatto begin
    with. She found coherence now she was on familiar ground . 'A lotof the hate mail the band receive is
    standard stuff, nasty butnotdanger-ous. The letters thatmade Incon decide to actare still coming - I
    brought them.' She took them outof the pocket of her armoured vest and the dagger with them and held
    them outto Sarasilien.
    He took them, careful not to touch the knife but balance iton the envelopes. He setthem on the book
    table and with one finger pushed them apart. As he inspected them and began to open the letters Lila
    continued.
    T can'tread magic, despite everything we've tried. I can't do thatand I don'tthink he tells me what
    they really say. And the knife . . .' She explained the whole story of that incident as Sarasilien read the
    letters, one after another. She could see him controlling his reactions carefully so that barely a twitch of
    one ear betrayed him. Nonetheless he sighed with relief when he was able to putthem down.
    She didn'ttell him all aboutthe knife. Notthe part aboutZal touching her or the remark he'd made. Or
    the Game they were playing. She willed Sarasilien to guess it, so thatshe didn'thave to admitmaking
    such a stupid move, so he'd take her off the assignmentand she could avoid the shame. But her will had
    all the effect of her efforts atsorcery .
    Sarasilien examined the dagger very closely indeed . He spoke to it and Lila saw words deep within the
    metal rise to the surface at his command. Wisps of black and silver ran along the edges of the blade and
    dripped into the air atits tip only to swirl and vanish quickly. As he went to put it down, the knife twisted
    somehow in his fingers and she heard him take a sharp, short breath.
    Blood ran down the knife together with the white and black, the orange-hued scarletof elf blood
    quickly deepening to crimson as itfell and bore magic with it onto the letter paper underneath .
    Immediately all the pages burst into flame,
    Sarasilien spoke a single word and the burning pages and the bloodied knife became frozen in space
    and time, as though in a photograph . He muttered over his finger and went into the bathroom suite that
    led off his rooms to tend it . When he came back he sat down beside Lila on the other guest chair and
    looked into her eyes, He seemed very sad and she braced herself, for she'd never seen him make a
    mistake before, and although the cut was small and the sleep charm already used up, she was afraid.
    'You did well to getthem here. The blade was spelled to wantto cutelf flesh. Itwas a magic of higher
    than the Seventh Level. I don'tdoubtthat if it had found its way close to Zal it would have done more
    than make him sleep. But you say an elf carried it and used it against you?'
    "That's what Poppy - that's whatthe faery said. Butthey were in league. She may have lied.'
    "There's more than elvish magic in it,' Sarasilien said, pressing his cut finger gently with his thumb, a
    rueful expression on his face.
    Lila sensed he was calculating what to say so thathe didn't upset her, or perhaps for political reasons .
    Silences within Incon were even more obscure than ordinary elven silences.
    'I cannot tell you any more until all of this has been discussed with my masters,' he said. 'Only thatthis
    is not about race hate, or anything to do with the purity of the musical industry. Itwears those faces,
    even through the Daga, butthey are only servants of another intent.'
    T thoughtthe Daga served Alfheim and its goals,' Lila said with disappointment, ignoring the flash of
    fear that had streaked through her like lightning when he spoke.
    'So they would have