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I would have lived in peace.
But I am no Gold. I am a Red. He thinks men like me weak. He thinks me dumb, feeble, subhuman. I
I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love. He is wrong. None of them will survive.
He is wrong. None of them will survive.
On Mars there is not much gravity. So you have to pull the feet to break the neck. They let the loved ones do it.
“Idiot,” is his kindest comment. “Manic! Bloodydamn manic!” Loran whoops. “Minimal gas,” I say. “Drilling now, Uncle.”
“Don’t know,” he drawls. “Come on!” “Don’t care. Raw count never matters, Lambda.”
The people of Lykos did the Fading Dirge for them—a tragic thumping of fists against chests, fading slowly, slowly, till the fists, like her heart, beat no more and all dispersed.
Without me, she would not eat. Without her, I would not live. She may tease me for saying so, but she is the spirit of our people.
Mu and Chi lost a dozen men in a gas explosion like the one Uncle Narol feared. They did not dally. They died.
Soon, there is no sound, not even the creaking of the rope. My wife is too light. She was only just a girl.
Only five souls have been buried in three generations—someone always hangs for it. This is the ultimate act of love. Eo’s silent requiem.
With a wink, he touches my feet and pulls. I hope they do not bury me.
The faces sparkle with fool’s gold.
The earth hugs me till finally I claw my way free, feel air, gasp oxygen, pant and spit dirt.
I’m not dead.
Narol did this. He drugged me. He buried me. But why?
I promise not to choke her and she promises not to stab me.
It sounds so cold, so distant and sad, as though my girl of smiles and laughter was meant for nothing but death.
He frowns at my impatient expression. “You
“Now you understand,” Dancer says. “We are deceived.” Beyond the glass sprawls a city.
I can see, Mars’s red and barren surface is scarred with the green of grass and struggling woods. The sky above is blue, stained with stars. The terraforming is complete. This is the future. It should not be this way for generations. My life is a lie.
My dreams are cruel things to wake from. In them, Eo comforts me, but when I wake, she is nothing but a fleeting memory.
I do not want to make you a man. Men are so very frail. Men break. Men die. No, I’ve always wished to make a god.”
He spins it around and shows me the killer I will become.
None of the billion lowReds beneath Mars would be happy if they knew what the highReds knew—that they are slaves. So is it not better to lie?”
Red is rising, Mickey.”
“Matteo …,” I say, rubbing my throat. “Yes?” he sighs. “What is shampoo?”
“You have made me give up the hair Father gave me, the eyes Mother left me, the Color I was born to, so I will keep the name they granted me, and you can make it work.” “I liked it better when you didn’t act like a Gold,” Dancer grumbles.
It’s like they suddenly don’t understand what it is they have created. I touch the haemanthus blossom in my pocket and feel the wedding band around my neck. They didn’t create me. She did.
The Rage Knight, the third-greatest man on Mars, who chose to serve the Society by safeguarding the Society’s Compact, instead of reaching for crowns in politics. When he points to me, Fitchner grins. I am chosen tenth. Tenth out of one thousand.
She left me tears and pain and longing. She left me to give me anger, and I cannot help but hate her for a moment even though beyond that moment there is only love. “Eo,” I whisper, and the locket closes.
I am bigger than he. Not quite as tall. But that doesn’t matter. He doesn’t stand a chance.
I don’t want to do this. I can’t explain how badly I don’t want to hurt Julian.
I hate myself for it. I think I’m crying, because my vision is unclear.
They want me to kill him because he didn’t do well on their tests. This is a mismatch.
I mutter my wife’s name as I fall to cradle his head. His face has become like a blood blossom.
it will save your life for the price of a limb.” So said my uncle.
I want only to live with my family. We were happy enough. Freedom costs too much. But Eo disagreed. Damn her.
I hate them, but I hear them. Win. Bear the guilt. Reign.
I must not become like them. I’ll remember that every sin, every death, every sacrifice, is for freedom.
I didn’t like my first encounter with horses. They still scare the piss out of me.
me too!
More blood will stain these hands, because Titus is a mad dog and must be put down.
“Did you notice how her hair clattered?” he asks. His face is white. “Her braids were laced with teeth.”
There are times when I wonder what I did to earn such loyalty, then others when I try not to press my luck by looking the gift horse in the mouth.
for the poison is wicked. When I was bitten, Uncle Narol left some in on purpose.
I was the best Helldiver; I’m nothing here. The world is too big and cold. I am too small. The world has forgotten Eo. It has already forgotten her sacrifice. There’s nothing left.
“And what was that about blood brothers? That means absolutely nothing. You might as well have said you were pinecone cousins.”
I miss the small cot I used to share with Eo. She’s been dead now longer than we were married. I’m surprised how much it hurts to realize that. I think I’m eighteen now, Earth metric. Not rightly sure.
My own chest tightens and I fall to a knee sobbing. He had no last words. He had no goodbye.
