Part 29 (2/2)
”Actually, a lot of them do. I think we've gravitated toward talented women.”
She pushed back her chair and got up, and for a heart-stopping moment, he thought she was going to leave the room. But she only walked to the sink and began playing with the lever that turned on the water, making it run, then stopping it again.
With her back to him, she said, ”A free man might take a slave as a concubine. But he would never marry one.”
”You were a slave?”
Her shoulders tensed. ”Yes.”
”And you think I care about that?”
”Don't you?”
”I don't give a d.a.m.n about where you came from. I care about who you are now and what you've made of yourself. I come from a society where everyone is free to live up to his or her full potential-if they have the drive and the know-how. You obviously did.”
”I was living in a cave!”
”Living free in a cave.”
She ignored that and went on, ”Falcone had no plans to marry me, but he wanted me to bear his children-children that would have powerful talents. He wants to found a dynasty that will rule Sun Acres for generations to come.”
”Why is he so sure his children would be talented enough to stay in power?”
”It's not just my psychic abilities that would make the difference. He has great talents-more than most men and women.”
He stared at her rigid back, grappling with his surprise. ”You're saying Falcone has psychic power?”
”Yes. That's how I met him. At school.” She turned back toward the table, leaning her hips against the sink cabinet. ”In Sun Acres and in the other cities, they test children for psychic abilities. If you have them, they take you away to a special school, even if you are a slave.”
”And when you graduate?”
”It depends. You could tell the future for a rich man. You could run the equipment in the kitchen, like what Haig did. Or you could be used for an a.s.sault on another city. It depends on your status and how gifted you are.”
”Both men and women go into battle?”
”Usually only the boys.”
”And not the highborn children?”
”They might be generals. And in school, they think they are better than the slaves, even when they have less talent. Or sometimes because they know they have less talent, so they do things to us when they think the teachers aren't looking. Probably the teachers know, but they don't interfere unless things get too bad, because they don't want to offend the highborn families.”
He tried to imagine it. ”Falcone was older than you?”
”Yes. He was a couple of years older.” She swallowed. ”I never knew how he was going to act. Sometimes he was the leader of the gang who teased me. And sometimes he made them let up on me.”
”It sounds like a miserable childhood.”
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