Free Fighting Gravity by Leah Petersen Page A

expect the same courtesy in return.”
    My heart dropped. “Please,” I begged.
    “Good evening, Mr. Dawes,” he said. I watched in despair, crawling with powerless desperation as he walked away.
    -
    Lord Sifer had almost disappeared down the long hall when a hand clamped around my upper arm and I was hauled into motion. It was Dr. Okoro. He didn’t look at me, his gaze fixed on something ahead as he dragged me down the hallway, fury chiseled into his profile. I wanted to say something, but I was too afraid to make a sound. It took all my attention to keep up with his angry steps without tripping.
    When we got to his study, he thrust me, stumbling, into the room. He walked past me to his desk without a word, digging through the top drawer in search of something. When he didn’t find it there, he moved on to the cabinets on the left wall, then the ones on the right. He grunted in discovery and emerged from one of the cabinets with a cane in hand, which he leveled at me.
    “I’ve never whipped you, boy. The thought never even crossed my mind. You’ve never given me the first reason to consider punishing you. But tonight—do you realize what you just did? What your spiteful, vengeful little speech there has just done to that man’s life!”
    I forced words past the lump in my throat.
    “Yes, sir. But I swear I didn’t mean it like that! I didn’t think…I was just…I just didn’t want him to come with me. You understand that, don’t you? I didn’t mean for anything else to happen! I swear it!”
    “That’s why you think about what you’re going to say before you open your mouth, Jacob! That man is going to lose his assignment, or be Resettled, because you vented your petty childhood resentments in front of the wrong person.”
    “I know!” I wailed. “I’m so sorry. If I could do anything to fix it I would. I tried to talk to Lord Sifer but he wouldn’t listen. I’m sorry!”
    “I doubt that will bring Director Kagawa any comfort.”
    I stared at the floor, wishing desperately to be anywhere else.
    “Get over the desk,” he said, his voice hard.
    I approached his desk and cleared a space on the surface. Without being told, I dropped my pants and undershorts before I bent over. It wasn’t the worst beating I’d ever taken, but I sobbed all the way through it.
    -
    When it was over, the cane clattered to the desk beside me. The door opened and closed and there was silence. I pushed myself up, scrubbing the tears from my face, and eased my pants back up with a wince. I hadn’t been caned in several years and had forgotten how much it hurt.
    I looked around, but I didn’t need the confirmation that I was alone in the room. I stood there for a long time, contemplating my miseries and trying to decide what to do. The one thing I was sure I did not want to do was walk out that door. It wasn’t a well-traveled hallway but there was no way back to my room that didn’t involve walking through one or two of the high traffic areas, and facing anyone else at that moment was about the worst thing I could think of. I grabbed the blanket and curled up on the couch to meditate on my sorrows.
    I woke several hours later and decided it was late enough to risk the halls. The few people I came across were servants who only glared at me as I passed, and two junior history fellows who were a little worse for the drink. I entered my room with relief.
    There in my room, Kirti was asleep on my bed. I was so shocked to see her that I stumbled backward against the closing door. She opened her eyes and sat up. With all that happened that evening, I hadn’t even considered that I was leaving for a least a year. More? What if I had to stay for good? It was only then that I realized I might be leaving Kirti behind forever. I saw in her face that she had already reached that conclusion.
    She stood and buried her head in my shoulder. I held her, laying my cheek against the top of her head. She looked up at me. Our faces were