Free The Assassins of Altis by Jack Campbell Page B

managed. Even the Empire will descend into the same chaos as Tiae if the grip of the Great Guilds isn’t lifted from this world, and all cities will become like Marandur.
    Sometimes the whole prophecy and daughter thing feels overwhelming. Sometimes? Every time I think about it. But Alain is right. We can’t give up and we can’t afford to fail.
    Swallowing and then breathing deeply to regain her composure, Mari
    dove into the crowd of customers, trying to lose herself in her shopping tasks.
    She felt more secure in the crowded marketplace. Without her Mechanics jacket on she was just one more person in the mass of commoners. Surely her and Alain’s enemies would have an impossible problem trying to find one of them in such a place. Mari went from seller to seller, picking up some necessary travel supplies, lingering for while over a jewelry display. She found herself looking at pairs of matching rings. Promise rings. Do I want to marry him? That other vision said it will happen. Might happen. There are no certainties, as my Mage keeps telling me. The stars above know that I could do a lot worse. Did I ever think I’d be looking at promise rings and thinking of a Mage?
    What am I waiting for, anyway? He loves me. He’s risked his life for me so many times already that I can’t keep count. He trusts me. He respects me. He’s never failed me. And I love him. I have no trouble at all imagining myself with him. Mentally and physically. But he’s respecting my wishes to wait. What else do I want in a partner? What else could I possibly ask for? He’s already proposed to me. Why not say yes and promise myself to him?
    And then someday Alain and I can have a daughter, and she can grow up until she’s about eight years old and go off to the Mechanics Guild schools and we can cut her completely out of our lives without a single letter of explanation or a single word of goodbye or any sign at all that her mother and father knew they were ripping out a little girl’s heart
    Mari shuddered, biting her lip so hard she tasted blood, blinking away tears born of old anger and sorrow. You’re over that. Remember? So what if your mother and father cut all ties after you went to the Mechanics Guild schools? You’re grown up now. You’re too strong to let that get to you. They can’t hurt you any more.
    Why? Why couldn’t they have sent one letter?
    I won’t be like that. I could never do that to my child.
    I don’t care what my mother did. I’m not her.
    I could never hate her. Not even now. Doesn’t that mean I’m different?
    But Mother never showed any signs of being like that. None I can remember. How do I know I won’t turn into that?
    Face it, this isn’t about Alain. It’s about my worries about me. Until I resolve those fears, I’ll never know if I’m somebody who might be willing to cast her own daughter aside without a single look back.
    Shaking her head in anguish and confusion over her feelings, Mari composed herself, then went to the food stalls to buy some provisions for the night’s meal and the journey to Landfall. She had just paid for the last and bent down to pick up her bags of purchases when a soft, emotionless voice sounded next to her.
    “Mechanic Mari.”
    Mari froze, her heart hammering in her chest, then slowly looked up to meet the gaze of a pair of beautiful blue eyes. The eyes were set in an even more beautiful face framed by long blond hair, all it mostly hidden within the cowl of a Mage’s robes. “Asha.” Then her shock subsided enough for Mari’s manners to come back to her. “Mage Asha. Sorry, Lady Mage.”
    “I need to speak with Mage Alain.” Asha pulled her cowl a little higher to better hide her face and hair, but even with her Mage attempts to keep emotion from her voice, Mari could hear a faint note of urgency. Being around Alain had made her much more sensitive to subtle signs of emotion. “Is Mage Alain still safe?” Asha asked.
    “As safe as I am. Which is to say,