alone a full moon.
Dameon began speaking again, this time about the sort of duties I might be given, and my mind drifted, until I sensed someone else enter the hut. It had grown darker, I noticed, so that there was no light visible through the uneven window slats.
‘Elspeth,’ Swallow said. ‘Tasha told me you are eager to try walking. It is very early but it will show the Committee that you are eager to become a good and useful Speci. Ana and Dragon will be along in a moment with clothes and sandals.’
When Analivia and Dragon entered moments later, Swallow and Dameon went outside to wait. I could not see their faces but Dragon embraced me fiercely, though she did not speak. When she released me, Ana squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek, but her words of greeting were very calm and almost indifferent, reminding me that we were being observed. Between them, they pulled and heaved me into a sitting position and wrestled my weak limbs into loose trews with a drawstring waist, a long sleeveless shift and flat sandals. They had not lit a lantern or candle in deference to my eyes, and the feeling of being tended by shadows was enhanced by the fact that they did not address me other than to utter vague encouraging noises. I might have resented being treated like a mindless doll, if I had not been assailed by violent nausea the moment they got me upright. This resolved into a clamminess that made me fear I would faint or vomit. It was will alone that enabled me to do neither, nevertheless my head was spinning by the time they got me to my feet. Ana and Dragon held me upright, supporting my weight between them. I was dismayed by the extent of my weakness as we moved across the chamber, but I drew a deep steadying breath and assured myself it was only to be expected, given how much time had passed since I had last used my legs.
I had expected to be led outside, but they brought me to a chair, sat me down and began dressing my hair in some elaborate way that kept it from my eyes but allowed a portion to hang down my back. From what I could make out, their hair was bound up, too. They took so long that I began to collect myself, and by the time they tried to fasten a blindfold on me, I felt less unsteady. I waved it away, saying I would close my eyes when the light was too bright. Even so I could not help them as they positioned themselves either side of me again, and manoeuvred me through a rattling curtain of what felt like hanging reeds fastened to the lintel above the entrance. Though I could see it was dark outside, I closed my eyes instinctively as I passed through them.
The first thing I was aware of, stepping down from the hut, was the indescribably lovely feel of a cool breeze against my bare skin. The second was the sweetness of the air, which carried the scent of growing things. I had longed for this when I woke to the blank darkness of the Galon Institute, and I felt an almost unbearable euphoria when I lifted my head and opened my eyes. The dark sky glittered with the pinprick brilliance of a million stars, visible only because there was no moon. Their distant sparkle did not hurt my eyes, so I dared to lower my gaze and look around.
It was very dark, and though I was frustrated not to be able to see Ana and Dragon clearly even now, I could make out the hut I had come from, which was white, as were those either side of it, and those lined up opposite. All were identical, each with a dark rectangle of an entrance and a single square window. No light showed in any of the huts, which ran away in two rows until the darkness swallowed them, but there were glowing transparent tubes protruding from the ground a little distance away, either side of a stony path of crushed white stone. Perhaps I flinched at the sight of them, for Ana squeezed my arm and said gently that I need not be afraid of the nightlights here for they were dim enough not to trouble my eyes. It was the far brighter lights around the common buildings and
Dameon began speaking again, this time about the sort of duties I might be given, and my mind drifted, until I sensed someone else enter the hut. It had grown darker, I noticed, so that there was no light visible through the uneven window slats.
‘Elspeth,’ Swallow said. ‘Tasha told me you are eager to try walking. It is very early but it will show the Committee that you are eager to become a good and useful Speci. Ana and Dragon will be along in a moment with clothes and sandals.’
When Analivia and Dragon entered moments later, Swallow and Dameon went outside to wait. I could not see their faces but Dragon embraced me fiercely, though she did not speak. When she released me, Ana squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek, but her words of greeting were very calm and almost indifferent, reminding me that we were being observed. Between them, they pulled and heaved me into a sitting position and wrestled my weak limbs into loose trews with a drawstring waist, a long sleeveless shift and flat sandals. They had not lit a lantern or candle in deference to my eyes, and the feeling of being tended by shadows was enhanced by the fact that they did not address me other than to utter vague encouraging noises. I might have resented being treated like a mindless doll, if I had not been assailed by violent nausea the moment they got me upright. This resolved into a clamminess that made me fear I would faint or vomit. It was will alone that enabled me to do neither, nevertheless my head was spinning by the time they got me to my feet. Ana and Dragon held me upright, supporting my weight between them. I was dismayed by the extent of my weakness as we moved across the chamber, but I drew a deep steadying breath and assured myself it was only to be expected, given how much time had passed since I had last used my legs.
I had expected to be led outside, but they brought me to a chair, sat me down and began dressing my hair in some elaborate way that kept it from my eyes but allowed a portion to hang down my back. From what I could make out, their hair was bound up, too. They took so long that I began to collect myself, and by the time they tried to fasten a blindfold on me, I felt less unsteady. I waved it away, saying I would close my eyes when the light was too bright. Even so I could not help them as they positioned themselves either side of me again, and manoeuvred me through a rattling curtain of what felt like hanging reeds fastened to the lintel above the entrance. Though I could see it was dark outside, I closed my eyes instinctively as I passed through them.
The first thing I was aware of, stepping down from the hut, was the indescribably lovely feel of a cool breeze against my bare skin. The second was the sweetness of the air, which carried the scent of growing things. I had longed for this when I woke to the blank darkness of the Galon Institute, and I felt an almost unbearable euphoria when I lifted my head and opened my eyes. The dark sky glittered with the pinprick brilliance of a million stars, visible only because there was no moon. Their distant sparkle did not hurt my eyes, so I dared to lower my gaze and look around.
It was very dark, and though I was frustrated not to be able to see Ana and Dragon clearly even now, I could make out the hut I had come from, which was white, as were those either side of it, and those lined up opposite. All were identical, each with a dark rectangle of an entrance and a single square window. No light showed in any of the huts, which ran away in two rows until the darkness swallowed them, but there were glowing transparent tubes protruding from the ground a little distance away, either side of a stony path of crushed white stone. Perhaps I flinched at the sight of them, for Ana squeezed my arm and said gently that I need not be afraid of the nightlights here for they were dim enough not to trouble my eyes. It was the far brighter lights around the common buildings and
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