Free Breath of Life (The Gaian Consortium Series) by Christine Pope Page B

her.”
    He said nothing at first, but only set down the plastic container and pair of long-nosed tweezers he’d been holding…the delivery method for feeding the orchids, which did have a tendency to nip. When he spoke at last, his voice sounded oddly strained. “For how long?”
    I lifted my shoulders. “I’m not sure. A week or so. She’s supposed to arrive the day after tomorrow.”
    “I can’t let you go for that long.”
    The comment was delivered in such a matter-of-fact way that it took me a few seconds to fully digest it. “You can’t—why not? I’ve been here for over three months, and you won’t let me go for even a week?”
    “A week is…impossible.” He turned toward me, gloved hands knotted into the folds of his robe.  
    “Impossible?” I repeated. Anger flared in me then, for his flat refusal, for the hours and minutes he’d taken of my own life with no apologies, no explanations. It wasn’t as if I’d announced that I was leaving, never to return. I didn’t bother to moderate my tone as I continued, “You want to know what’s impossible? Forcing someone to come live with you for no reason, resorting to blackmail, asking—” And I broke off then, because somehow I knew bringing up the marriage proposals was a line I didn’t want to cross.  
    He held up a hand. “Enough, Anika. I did not say you could not go. I only said you could not go for a full week.”
    “Why not?”
    “It is not enough that I said it was impossible?”
    “Not if you won’t tell me why.”
    “I cannot do that.”
    I crossed my arms and glared at him. By that time I had already begun to be quite tired of the mysteries and the unanswered questions. His refusal to grant what seemed to me a very simple request only infuriated me that much more.  
    He took a step toward me and then paused. Somehow I knew he wanted to reach out to me, but had stopped himself at the last minute. “You will see your family,” he said quietly. “For three days. On the morning of the third day, you must return here to me.”
    “And if I don’t?”
    “If you don’t—well, let us just say the outcome will be something neither one of us desires.”
    Which I guessed was code for him reporting my father to the magistrate, although one would think there had to be some sort of statute of limitations on petty thefts such as my father’s appropriation of Sarzhin’s moonflowers.  
    Three days. I had no idea how I could explain myself to my parents, or worse, Libba and her fiancé, but I supposed I could come up with something. My father’s message had said the pair planned to remain on Lathvin for some two weeks; any shorter a stay, and the trip here wouldn’t have been worth the effort. Three days seemed like a pitifully short time, considering that I hadn’t seen my sister in more than five years. Still, it was better than nothing.
    “Fine,” I said. “If you want to be unreasonable, I guess there isn’t much I can do about it. I’ll let my father know I’ll be there two days from now. That’ll give Libba and her fiancé time to arrive on-planet and get settled in.”
    Sarzhin replied, “I am sorry you think I am being unreasonable. If you only knew—”
    “Yes, if I only knew,” I cut in. “Unfortunately, as you don’t seem inclined to tell me anything, it’s sort of hard for me to know what the hell you’re talking about!”
    With that I stormed out of the greenhouse, a little astonished at myself for confronting him in such a way. He made no move to stop me, but only watched in silence as I left. And later that evening as we sat down to dinner, he said nothing of our earlier scene.
    Perhaps it was spiteful of me, but that night I almost wished he would ask me to marry him again, just so I would have the opportunity to turn him down.

    Although Sarzhin might have been parsimonious in the time he had allotted me to visit my family, otherwise he took every care to ensure I would go there and come back safely. My