waited, his own thoughts fixed on a simpler time when he and Balor had been friends and there had been no trials, no stonings, no angry mobs for them to worry about.
"I'm not sure," Caer finally answered. "I think she knew something."
"Knew something?"
"About our world. Maybe about both of our worlds. Didn't you hear strange stories from the other kids when your nanny was away?"
"Yeah. Stuff about Dark World being a land of evil, bloodthirsty monsters."
Caer gave a half-hearted laugh before her tone went back to its sad gravity. "Well, in the Gestator we told each other stories about people who could escape Dark World."
"Escape? They came to Light World?"
"Not to Light World," she said. "They went somewhere else. We didn't really know. It was an old legend the kids passed down. Some said it was where you went when you died. Others thought it was probably a cave off in the far corner of Dark World." Caer paused. "Nobody told stories like that in your nursery?"
Eref thought back. "I remember something one of the kids said at the Learning one day. After we had left the Raising. Balor and I were about eleven."
"What was it?"
"It was during Lessons of the Past. The instructor was going over Light World history - telling us how our light has always shone and kept the people safe - and one of the kids in class...." Eref rubbed his forehead. "What was his name? I think it was Rinelest. He said something really strange."
"What did he say?"
"I remember it because of what happened to him later. After that, everyone wanted to analyze what he'd been doing, so we talked about it for days and days. Right when the instructor mentioned keeping the people safe, Rinelest raised his hand and said, 'Safe, instructor? Safe in Light World, or safe in the Safety?'"
Caer stiffened next to him. "He said the Safety?"
"Yeah, and when the teacher ignored him, Rinelest said, 'I've heard about the Safety, instructor. Why won't you teach us that? Why can't we know how to escape Light World?'"
"He knew about the Safety!"
"No," Eref said. "Rinelest was just crazy. They found him hanging from a tree the next day, wearing a blindfold."
Caer gasped. "Someone killed him?"
"He killed himself. He'd always been a weird kid. After that, all the instructors told us we should look forward to the Eighteener Entrance, when we could finally be rid of dangerous dreams and ambitions like the ones that got to Rinelest."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Caer said.
"Of what?"
"I wouldn't be so sure your friend killed himself."
"He wasn't my friend. Just a kid at the Learning."
"Either way," Caer said. "I think someone may have wanted to shut him up and make an example of him."
Eref thought about this for a moment. "I can see that. Light People can get pretty intense. But why would that story upset them in particular?"
She paused. "I think because the Safety is real."
He had to be sure he'd heard her properly. "Real? What do you mean?"
"Listen," Caer said earnestly. "Our nanny at the Gestator used to catch us telling stories. We weren't supposed to, but she'd let us do it anyway. She was the nicest person - very young and pretty. Everyone adored her.
"One day, Vul and I were arguing about the Eighteener Entrance. Vul was upset because she would have to go before me, and she didn't want us to do anything apart. I kept insisting it wasn't a big deal and they'd probably just let me do mine early with her."
Caer took a deep, forlorn breath. "We didn't know much back then. We were only eight."
Eref thought back to the day Balor had cried about nearly the same thing. His stomach twisted at the memory.
"Our nanny overheard us as we started to yell at each other. Vul - you know how she can be - well, said she didn't want me to come with her to the Eighteener Entrance anyway. She said I was too stupid to know what was going to happen. She said we'd forget each other after that and never be friends again. Of course, that made me cry. So the nanny came to calm us down.
"But instead of telling us not to fight, she pulled up a chair and put us in her lap for a story.
"'Let me tell you two about the Safety,' she said. I can't remember her exact words, but when she told us the story, it was so mysterious and exciting."
"What did she say?"
"It was