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CHAPTER TEN: COMMUNION

They whined and complained and threatened riot, yet when he offered them a solution they did not believe him. The City Council members laughed at what they said was an attempt to cover up his collusion with Mandughai to bring Lan-Sui under the rule of Meng-shi-jie, and threatened to override his hereditary rule if he did not withdraw his wild promises for the restoration of Lan-Sui.

Television commentaries dismissed his announcement outright, saying it was only a frantic effort by a weak Governor to quiet his many critics and restore the peoples' faith in his ability to look after their welfare.

All of this was difficult for him, but somehow the worst of it was now, as he faced the Empath's Guild in their great hall beneath the city. Of all people, he'd expected the Empaths would certainly believe him, for they knew of Mandughai's powers in traveling within the gong-shi-jie and revered her as an extension of their own genetic line, seeking to become like her. But Shanji was a distant planet of another star, and unknown to them. They saw themselves as unique in their relation to Mandughai, and when he told them about the Moshuguang and the bringing forth of first Kati, then Yesui, with their powers to move light and mass, they called him a heretic. Their angry shouts drowned him out, and he had to wait for minutes until the Bishop Robdan was able to silence them.

Antun Wizera grasped the edge of the podium so hard his knuckles turned white, his rage barely suppressed. Tsewang Robdan apparently could see it in his eyes, and now waved frantically to quiet the crowd of yellow-robed Empaths who stood below the platform on cold, polished stone. Their shouts echoed from the domed ceiling far above them, and the six great columns supporting it, all painted with stars and nebulae and swirling clouds of color representative of the gong-shi-jie. Here and there were the white robes of novices, and one of them was his own son, leaning against a column and looking up sorrowfully at him.

"You must stop this immediately, Robdan," he growled.

"SILENCE!" screamed Bishop Robdan. "You dishonor yourselves and your guild! This man is your Governor; he believes what he says and you do not listen to him. You do not think!"

Now there was silence.

"Not once have I heard a claim that either of these people, Kati, or Yesui, are indeed The Mother. I hear only that two special people are now among us, people who share our blood with Mandughai. These people have been given special powers by The Mother, and now you scream heresy. You question an action by The One who has created the universe, and all life within it. You do not believe! You strive to reach where Mandughai has gone, and would exceed her if you could. Do you think I don't feel your jealousy and frustration in learning that others from another world have been the first to do what you only dream of? Then look!"

Robdan touched a trickle of blood issuing from his nose, and held up his finger for all to see it.

"This is the blood of your wrath against The Mother. It is the blood of your jealousy and selfishness. Now listen to this man, and redeem yourselves by doing what he asks!"

Robdan turned, shaking all over, and nodded to his Governor. "They will listen to you, now," he whispered, and used a handkerchief to dab at an issue of new blood from his nose.

Wizera could only wonder what it was like to be an Empath, absorbing the wrath of a thousand like him, and so near. He looked down again at his son, but Nokai only leaned against a column, looking serious, and there was no blood on his face. Something the boy had once said came back to him as he leaned towards the microphone to speak again, but the words came hard, for he had no religious beliefs of any kind.

"The ways of The Mother are mysterious, and beyond my comprehension. I am only a servant of the people. But Kati, and now Yesui, have suddenly appeared with powers far beyond those of Mandughai. And it is Mandughai who has brought them here, as friends. She has known both of them since they were born, and trained them personally in the gong-shi-jie. You must first believe that Mandughai is our friend, and thinks only of our welfare. You've seen her ships; you know she could overwhelm us if she wished, but she has not done so. She only guards us against rebels who threaten our society and seek power for themselves. And she protects her vital interests in the products of our moons."

There were mumblings among the crowd when he said that, and again he had to wait for their silence.

"Mandughai has seen the plight of a planet that once gave us light and warmth, and has brought Kati and Yesui here to restore that to us. All she asks from you is a simple thing, and it is Yesui who has requested it. She is strongly empathic, and has felt your presence in her travels here. It has helped her in exactly locating the position of the city and has kept us safe during her first experiments in moving mass to the interior of Lan-Sui. She has been here several times. Perhaps some of you have felt her presence."

Again there were murmurings, people looking at each other and shrugging as if ignorant of such an event, but now Nokai was smiling, and his face seemed to glow amongst the others around him.

"Her travels here have been recent, and there have been signs of her work. The new storms in the northern latitudes have been Yesui's doing, and they were far from us only because she knew our exact location at all times. Now it's even more vital she know our position, for she has found a better way to enhance Lan-Sui's mass, and it will involve the entire planet, not just a small part of it. She asks that you think of her when she's here, even if it is only the calling out of her name. Your thoughts must be continuous, for we can never be sure when she'll be here. But one thing I can tell you with certainty; she will be here before the next pass of Gutien overhead, and that is less than a standard day. Mandughai informed me of this shortly before I came to this meeting."

The silence was sudden, as if all sound had been sucked into the cold, stone floor. A thousand faces looked up at him, scowling.

"I'm not asking for prayers," Wizera said quickly. "Yesui is not a Goddess, but a young woman with special gifts from The Mother, and she is here to bring life back to Lan-Sui. Please, if you will, use part of your daily meditations to think about this, and call out her name. This is all I ask you to do. I ask it for our people in the city, and on our moons. I ask it for a planet that was once wonderfully warm for us, and can be so again."

The crowd still regarded Wizera silently and sullenly as Bishop Robdan stepped up to the microphone, putting a hand over it and whispering, "There is still disbelief in what you say, but there's enough belief for them to be frightened by it." He cleared his throat, took his hand away from the microphone and spoke with a strong voice.

"The request is a simple one, and requires little of you. There is no risk or harm in doing it, if only for a little while. If Yesui is truly here, and can do what it's said she can do, there will soon be signs of it. What is required of you now is an act of faith; I want you to return to your cells, and meditate on what you've just heard. I ask you to suspend your disbelief for just a moment, and consider the possibility of truth. Ask yourself why, after three thousand years of a genetic line that began with the ancestors of our own guild, two people should suddenly appear with the powers to warm Lan-Sui again at the very time it has grown cold. Coincidence? Perhaps.

"Or has The Mother brought these people to us in answer to our prayers? As Bishop, I ask you to first ponder these things in your hearts, then exercise your faith in The Mother by doing what has been requested of you. You will use powers The Mother has given you to hold a vision of our city in your minds, and call out the name Yesui as strongly as you can, and as often as you can."

Wizera looked down at Nokai, and saw that the boy had closed his eyes, his lips moving slightly with unspoken words. Others around him were doing likewise.

"You are one voice, for one planet. Let me feel the strength of it," said Robdan, also closing his eyes.

Wizera felt nothing. Below him was a sea of faces, all eyes now closed.

Robdan inhaled deeply, tilting his chin upwards and sighing, "Ahhh. Yes, that's it. Now, once again. To Yesui."

Again he sighed. For an instant, Wizera felt blank, as if his conscious mind had turned off to explore something deeper, but then the Empath Bishop was speaking again.

"One voice—one planet. Now go, and think, and do what we have just done together. And ask The Mother for strength. We are finished here."

The crowd dispersed, filing out several exits to long corridors leading to living quarters, libraries and meditative cells, the white-robed novices, including Nokai, forming a line to return to their classes after the others had left. Wizera turned to the Bishop and shook his hand.

"You've been very supportive. Thank you."

Robdan smiled weakly, but his handshake was limp and cold. "Do not thank me, Governor. My disbelief in what you say is as strong as those who have just left us. If The Mother had wished Lan-Sui to remain warm, She would have made it so. She makes our lives harder in order to strengthen our faith. But as you say, also in disbelief, perhaps she has sent these people to us for that very reason. We will honor your request, but only for a little while. The citizens of our city will hear of our support, and that will dilute the ravings that are sure to come from the rebel camps. We do not trust a rule by former members of your police force. We do not want to see them come to power here."

"I understand," said Wizera, "and I'll keep you informed about anything observable that happens in the near future. I've always held your Guild in high esteem, Bishop Robdan. Now I'm relying on it."

Robdan nodded. "Let us then hope for a positive outcome from our mutual efforts, Governor. This way, please."

Robdan led him from the platform and along a featureless corridor to the doors of the lift, where Dorvod Tolui awaited him. Robdan took the lift down without another word, and they waited for its return to take them up to the Governor's mansion.

"It seemed to go well enough," said Tolui. "At least the Bishop was supportive."

"He makes a show of it," said Wizera. "What he really fears is a takeover by the rebels. Kuril has no use for the Empath's Guild. He considers them worthless, and spent half his police career trying to dig up dirt about them. If he comes to power, the guild will be dissolved immediately. There are too many thinkers there to threaten him. Robdan supports my rule, but didn't believe a single thing I said."

"Will they do it?"

"Yes, for now. But we must have a sign of progress soon. When we go up, I suppose I'll find more rioting at my gates."

"No," said Tolui. "Not a single demonstrator is there. The people are strangely silent, despite all the television commentaries. I think they're waiting to see what will happen."

"So am I, Dorvod," said Wizera. "And it must happen soon."

 

Following the Bishop's orders, Nokai found an unoccupied isolation cell and went inside for meditation. The room was square, three meters on a side, with bare white walls and only a table with chair for furnishings. The door was solid, and there were no windows, soft light coming from a panel in the ceiling. As usual, it was hot and stuffy in the room.

Nokai sat down at the table and placed the palms of his hands over his face. He sighed.

Yesui. You are a gift from The Mother. We are here, awaiting your help. Yesui. 

Nokai mouthed his thoughts silently, over and over again. Sweat broke out on his forehead, his breath hot and moist in his hands as the minutes passed by.

His reverie was soon broken by a soft knocking at his door.

"Yes?" he said loudly, irritated by the interruption.

The door opened, and Bishop Robdan was standing there, looking surprised. "Nokai!" he said.

Nokai stood up quickly and bowed. "Yes sir. I was in meditation, as you requested."

Robdan smiled, but remained at the doorway. "Indeed you were. I was passing by, and felt drawn to this door. You are a beacon, young novice."

"I try very hard, sir," said Nokai, bowing again.

Focus, and power, and something more. Do you search my mind, young man? 

Nokai kept his gaze steady and forced himself not to blink. "Is there something else you want me to do?" he asked politely.

"No, no, continue with what you were doing," said Robdan, stepping back and beginning to close the door. "You do it well, Nokai. There is a future for you in the Brotherhood."

"Thank you, sir," said Nokai as the door closed. Robdan was gone, but not his parting thoughts.

Possible, but not likely. It has been hundreds of years since a Watcher was in our midst. The lineage should be easy enough to check. 

Nokai sat down hard on the chair. A Watcher? Am I different from the others? What is a Watcher? 

Nokai's stomach churned from a rush of fear for himself, and his meditation was ruined for the rest of the afternoon.

 

They ate silently, after his father had shown no interest in carrying on a conversation. Nokai sensed a deep sadness there, and a feeling bordering on hopelessness that deeply disturbed him.

"This has been a difficult day for you, Father. I'm sorry for you," he finally said.

His father looked fondly at him, and smiled wanly. "Dare I think my son believes what I said today?"

"Of course I do. You know I've felt Yesui's presence several times. Surely many of the others have also felt it; they just didn't know what it was. Yesui is very real to me, Father, and I'm only a novice."

"I hope you're right. Mandughai says that Yesui's work now begins in earnest, and at least there will be one of you to call out to her. Has she ever answered you?"

"No," said Nokai. "There are only the wonderful feelings when she's here, and a terrible emptiness inside me when she's gone. My heart is already beating hard with the thought she'll be here again soon."

Nokai's face flushed when he said that, and his father smiled again. Mother was looking sidelong at him with a little smile of her own, and now he felt embarassed.

"Mandughai has told me some things about her," said Father. "She's near twenty, quite beautiful, but fragile in appearance. Her whole life has been exercises of the mind, not the body. She's unlike her mother in that respect. Her mother, Kati, was a warrior, and is now a powerful Empress on Shanji. She fought with sword among the foremost of her troops, and suffered a deep wound in her thigh. She used the light of the gong-shi-jie to destroy her enemies. Yesui's powers are even greater than her mother's, Nokai, and she comes from warrior stock. This young woman is not someone to be trifled with."

"This older woman," said Mother, still smiling at him, seeming to read his mind.

Yet she's so full of life, excitement, and joy. When I feel her in my heart, I'm in agony, he thought.

"She also has a brother," said Father. "Sometimes they work together in the gong-shi-jie, so he might be a part of the presence you feel. Otherwise, I know nothing about him, even his name, but he seems to be involved with our problem. You should focus yourself on Yesui, when she arrives."

It was as if the words were a signal, for at that instant, something passed through Nokai like a sweet scent, and his hands clutched at the table, his body suddenly rigid.

"Father," he gasped, "she is here!" He stood up so quickly his chair toppled over, and his parents were gaping at him as he rushed from the room and down the short hallway to his own quarters.

"Yesui," he whispered. Yesui. YESUI! Don't leave me yet! 

His room was in darkness, but he left the lights off, hurrying to his bed, and sitting on the edge of it, hands clutched together in his lap. "Yesui," he said out loud, "I'm here to guide you, and I know why you've come. I want to help in any way I can. YESUI!"

The feeling was gone, a transient thing, so brief, and he was on the edge of panic, trying hard to bring it back. Nokai closed his eyes tightly, forming each word consciously in his mind before saying it.

"Come back! How can I talk to you? I'm only an Empath, not a telepath. I can only sit here, and speak to a dark room, while you're out there somewhere, traveling in a place I can only imagine. Yesui, I'm here!"

He felt a touch, then, a soft thing like a breeze blowing across his forehead. There was a dull buzz in his ears, as if they were clogged, and his skin was suddenly cold and clammy. When he heard her voice, it was inside his head, yet it seemed she sat right next to him.

Who are you? she asked. The words were drawn out, and seemed to echo back and forth inside his head. His heart was pounding so hard he could barely breathe. Should he think the words, or just say them? He took a deep breath, and whispered.

"I am Nokai, a novice Empath. My father is Antun Wizera, and he is Governor of Lan-Sui. I've waited a long time to feel your presence again."

Feel? Don't you see me? 

She sounded disappointed. "No, not in my mind, and I'm sitting in darkness with my eyes closed," he said.

Well, open them, then. I've taken the time to make an apparition for you. 

Nokai opened his eyes, and recoiled from what he saw, nearly falling backwards onto the bed, but catching himself on his elbows. Floating before him, in the center of the room, like a projected hologram, was a pair of giant, blazing, emerald-green eyes.

"Oh," he said.

Do you like it? It's my first try, though. Abagai says I need to work on apparitions of myself when I deal with people this way. 

"They—they're the eyes of a giant," he said. "The whole room is glowing green with their brilliance."

You're impressed, then. Good. Can you think of an image of yourself? I want to see you, but my eyes are two light years from here. 

Nokai sat up again and tried to relax, but now his heart was full with feelings of excitement, childish joy, and more than a hint of mischievousness. There was an image from a mirror in the morning, a photograph of himself with his parents, a reflection in his window as he stood on the balcony—

Don't jump around so much. It's confusing. Settle on something, please. 

He picked the image on his balcony, and focused on it, showing himself gazing up at the darkness of shutters closed around the city.

You are very young, she said.

"I'm eighteen."

Liar. You're less than that. 

"All right, seventeen, but I'll be eighteen soon."

Yesui laughed, and now his whole body was aching. "You have such a joy of life in you," he murmured. "Will you show me what you look like?"

I am a hag, with warts. You don't want to see me. 

"I'm told you're twenty, and beautiful, and yes, I want to see you. I want to see the face of the Mei-lai-gong."

Oh, well, let me see— Oh, shut up, Mengjai! I'll take as long as I like with this. Go play with your threads, or something. 

"Someone's with you. Your brother?"

You've heard about him? You have fame, brother. Say hello to Nokai. 

Hello, Nokai. This is all very nice, but we have work to do. 

Nokai felt no hostility, only impatience and indifference to him within the new presence, but then it was quickly gone.

Find something to do, Mengjai. I mean it, and I'll leave when I'm ready to. You're only delaying things. 

Very well. Be careful with her, Nokai. She is devious, and selfish, as well as stubborn. I only put up with her because she's my sister. All other men avoid her. 

MENGJAI! 

He was gone, and Nokai felt her hot anger within himself, fading quickly.

Do you have a brother? 

"No."

Consider yourself lucky. Now, where were we? Oh yes, a vision of myself. This is good practice, Nokai. Abagai has been after me to do this for years. 

"Abagai?"

You know her as Mandughai, I suppose. Everyone calls her that, except Mother and I. Here, see what you think of this. 

The giant eyes floating before him disappeared in a blink. In their place, a fan of shimmering green appeared, starting at the floor, and reaching up towards the ceiling.

It is my manifestation in the gong-shi-jie, she said, now quite excited, but he also felt an anxiety that made his heartbeat quicken. Here I am, Nokai, rising from the depths of my flame. 

A figure in green emerged from the shimmering fan, as if pushed up through it from the other side. The head appeared first, hair pulled up into a billowing mass at its crown, then a long, slender face with a small, delicate nose and mouth, eyes closed. Her neck was long, her body slender at the shoulders, but curving wonderfully beneath a robe tied at the waist. When she had fully emerged from the glowing fan, she opened her almond-shaped eyes, which blazed like green stars, and smiled.

Well? 

Nokai could not speak. He could not breathe. His eyes stung, and his forehead felt cold from the perspiration that had suddenly formed there. All of it was wonderful, and then the apparition's lips moved, synchronous with the voice that was only in his mind, soft, and sensual. The light of her eyes penetrated to his soul.

You drown me with emotions, Nokai. I've never before felt such intense feelings from another human being. Now I know why I had to come back to find you. 

Nokai discovered his voice again. "You—you are perfection. The Mother has created the Mei-lai-gong with perfection. I've never seen a person more beautiful than you. I—I cannot describe what I'm feeling right now. You came back to find me? Many Empaths now call out your name, by my father's orders."

I hear them, but they are mumblings compared to what I feel from you. You are a gifted person, Nokai, and so gentle. I don't detect a hard thing about you, and when I was here before, it was you I sensed, not the others. Such wonderful feelings, and I couldn't forget them. I had to know their origin, and now I've found it. 

Now he was embarrassed, and apprehensive. "You are the Mei-lai-gong. You see into my soul, and I cannot hide anything from you. What I feel is not right, or proper, and now that I've seen you it's even worse. I'm sorry, Yesui. I dishonor you."

The apparition's smile grew broader, and the eyes seemed to sparkle. You do no such thing, Nokai. You make me feel wonderful, and about myself, not just the things I can do. You are more than my beacon to the city. I want to know you. I want to know you well. You say you're an Empath. I say you're much more than that, or else this touching between us would not be happening. I will often be here, now, and I'll find you, awake or asleep, for there is only one like you. If I call you, will you talk to me? Will you speak everything that's in your heart? 

So she saw even that, yet he could not say it, not now. "I'll try," he whispered, burning the apparition's image into his mind. "And you are always in my thoughts."

The apparition was fading before his eyes. As you are now in mine. But Mengjai is back again, nagging at me. We do have work to do, and he was born impatient. I think I'll leave him behind next time, if he's going to be such a nag. 

I warned you, Nokai, said Mengjai. She can be difficult when she doesn't get her way. The apparition had faded to nothingness, and there was only a dark, silent room.

Think of me. I will return soon, said Yesui, still there for an instant, and then she was gone, and Nokai gasped at the sting of tears flooding his eyes, a horrible, empty feeling engulfing him. He sat on the edge of the bed for many minutes, ignoring a soft rap on his door, knowing his father was there with a mind filled with questions. Somehow, he knew the questions, and he thought about answers he would give when morning came.

He went to bed early, slipping naked between the sheets, and relishing their coolness. And when he was near sleep, he pressed his face against his pillow, and murmured into it the thing he had not been able to say to her.

"Oh, Yesui—Yesui—I love you. I love you so much."

Nokai slept well, but towards morning he neared a waking state with a vision of swirling, colorful clouds surrounding him, and ahead, close, was a magnificent fan of green.

 

Kati sat up with a start, and rubbed her eyes. Before her, the desk was heaped with files and the screen of the computer was dark. All this work, and she had slipped away again, rushing to the gong-shi-jie to talk with her husband and son. Even with the work, she felt increasingly lonely, especially for Huomeng, for their times apart were growing longer and longer, and now Mengjai was with him. They were orbiting Ta-sui after a four month journey, and had dropped a probe into Tengri-Khan's largest gaseous giant to analyze its atmosphere. They'd been analyzing the data when Kati had contacted them, and her only comfort had been the excitement of her son.

It's all hydrogen and helium, Mother, an unlimited source of fuel to reach Tengri-Nayon. 

I don't want to think about it. That trip will take years, and I miss both of you right now. 

If we can get far out, Yesui will fold space for us, and the trip will be much faster. We can be there in less than a year. 

That's still conjecture, Mengjai, and Yesui is busy with other things. Are you having a good time? 

Oh, yes. This is what I want to do. 

He's progressing well, dear, said Huomeng. Working with his sister, he'll be a navigator beyond imagination when we begin jumping in space. 

You, too? The idea terrifies me, Huomeng. You know that. 

Anything to shorten my absences from you, darling. I miss you, too. I suppose you're buried in work. 

I am, but I wanted you with me. Are you on schedule? 

Yes. We should be back in four months. No files on your desk the night of my return. 

I will arrange that. Mengjai, are you still working with Yesui on Lan-Sui? 

The last time was a month ago. It's routine now, Mother, a little mass at a time, and mostly she's alone, at her own request. She wanted some help in gauging the mass, but her estimates were quite close and we're seeing effects now. The helium rain alone has increased the temperature by sixty degrees so far, and the contraction effects should show up soon. She still comes by to chat on her way back from Lan-Sui, and gives me up-dates. 

She seems all right, then? I hardly see her, and she's become moody, spending all her time in her rooms. 

Mengjai laughed, his humor a tickle in her mind. I will not tell her little secret, Mother. You'll have to dig that out of her. 

Mengjai! Are you trying to frighten me? 

Not at all. I'm happy for her. For once, she's acting normal. If you want a reason, just ask her. 

I most certainly will! 

Now she thought of that, glaring at the mountain of files before her and knowing they would have to wait longer for her attention. She left her desk, and went to Yesui's suite of rooms which had once been her own when she'd first come to the Emperor's City. She knocked softly on the door, but did not feel her daughter's presence, surprised when there was an answer.

"Come in, Mother."

The door was unlocked. She entered, looked towards the right, and saw Yesui standing before the mirror in her bedroom, putting a comb in her hair. The sight of her daughter was striking, for she usually cared little about her appearance, lounging about in a simple, black robe of the Moshuguang, her hair a tousled mass constantly spilling down over her eyes. Now her black hair was carefully combed up onto the crown of her head, a long tail hanging to her shoulder-blades and secured with a band of gold. She wore a sleeveless, green dress that showed every curve in her slender figure, and her skin glowed like fine porcelain. When she drew near, Kati saw rouge on her daughter's lips, a blush on her cheekbones, an outline of green around her emerald eyes. She came up behind Yesui, and put her arms around her, looking at their reflected images in the mirror.

"Oh, Yesui, just look at you. You're lovely."

Yesui leaned back against her. "Do you really think so? It's not too much?"

"No. You're beautiful, darling. I wish your father could see this."

Yesui sighed. "Hmmm," then, "Mother—when you first met Father, did you love him immediately?"

Kati laughed, and nuzzled Yesui's long neck. "Absolutely not! I despised him. I thought he was an arrogant, self-centered boy. But we were very young, and I hadn't discovered boys yet."

"But you discovered them," Yesui said dreamily, her hands carressing Kati's.

"Oh yes. I had a lover when I was even younger than you, but it ended badly. He could not accept me as a Changeling, and thought what we did together was unclean. I was devastated, and it was your father who came to comfort me. When I think back on it, it was that moment when I began to have feelings of love for him. It was a gradual thing, dear, not love at first sight. That's possible, of course, but rare."

Yesui sighed again, and Kati squeezed her. "I will tell you a little secret, daughter of mine. Your father and I were not married when you were conceived. That happened the night before the war with Abagai's forces. Your father came to me, and we made love on the bed you now sleep in. How fierce it was, too, with both of us thinking the other might be dead the following day, and the fact I was a Changeling was irrelevant to his love for me."

The memory was sweet, and Yesui smiled. "He was there for you, and you could touch him, hold him. He accepted you as you are. I'm not a Changeling, Mother. I'm not like you."

"So it seems, Yesui, but it's not important. It's the least of our differences. You are the Mei-lai-gong, dear."

Yesui stiffened. "I'm a person, not a God."

"Of course, but you're very special, and I know that feeling of wondering why. You are what you are. There doesn't have to be a reason for it. Your father helped me to understand that."

"But he didn't pray to you like you were a God," said Yesui.

Kati paused, squeezed her daughter gently, and kissed the nape of her neck. Their eyes locked together in the mirror.

"Oh, my sweet, you mask yourself so well, but I know the signs. You have found someone. You are in love."

Yesui's eyes filled with tears. "Yes," she sobbed.

"Then you must tell me all about him," said Kati.

They sat down on the bed to talk, and three hours had passed when Kati finally got back to her desk again, revived from her loneliness, and feeling wonderful.

 

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