the flagstones of the ground floor gallery. She leaned back against a wooden pillar.
“Mama,” the child mumbled at last. “Aunt Yali. When do they come home?”
Tris drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She knew she wasn’t good with children, though her heart went out to this one. What could she say? What did people say?
She could only know what she would say. She hated people who tried to evade the truth. “They died, Glaki. Mama and Aunt Yali died. They won’t be coming home.”
Fresh tears welled in the girl’s eyes. They spilled over her stained cheeks. “No,” Glaki replied, shaking her head. “No.”
“I’m sorry,” Tris said gently. “Yes.”
Glaki began to sob again, then to wail. Tris bit her lip, trying to decide what was right. In the end it was her knowledge of Sandry, her good-hearted sister, that guided her. Tris sat beside Little Bear and pulled Glaki on to her lap. The little girl fought, straining to get back to the dog. “Doggie!” she screamed, her face turning beet red.
“It’s Little Bear. That’s his name,” Tris explained, panting as she hauled on the struggling child. “He’s not going anywhere. If you sit with me, he’ll be here, and so will Chime. We must talk, Glaki. You have to learn some hard new lessons. I wish I had someone nice to teach them to you, but you’re stuck with just me.” She finally got the little girl on to her lap. Glaki howled, battered Tris’s chest with her fists, and drummed her heels on the ground. Tris held on grimly, still talking softly. “It isn’t right, what’s happened to your mother and Yali. I hope you grow to be someone incredible, to repay you for all this misery. Why is it, do you suppose, the gods are said to be favouring you when they dump awful things into your lap? Is it because the other explanation, that sorrow comes from accidents and there are no gods doing it to help you be a strong person, is just too horrible to think of? Let’s stick with the gods. Let’s stick with someone being in charge.”
As she continued to speak, rattling along about any topic that came to mind, whether Glaki could understand or not, she held the girl close. Tris was so used to the child’s struggles that she didn’t notice at first when Glaki’s screams began to grow softer, her small body relaxing into Tris’s hold. It was only when Glaki was quietly sucking her thumb, whimpering against Tris’s chest, that the older girl realized she could loosen her grip. Her hands and arms stung from being locked in the same position for so long. She smoothed damp, tumbled curls away from the child’s face. “That’s very good.” She hesitated, then awkwardly kissed Glaki on the forehead. “We can’t let you make yourself sick on top of everything else.”
It was some time before Glaki would let Tris get up without hysterics. Each time the child’s voice rose, Tris would settle back into place. Finally Glaki herself climbed off Tris’s lap. ‘“Pot,” she whispered, not meeting Tris’s eyes.
“Chamberpot?” Tris asked. Glaki nodded. With a groan Tris struggled to her numb feet. “You don’t have a real privy here?” Glaki shook her head. “Wonderful,” Tris said, easing the kinks in her spine. She held out a hand. “Show me where,” she said.
Glaki took her hand and led her up the stairs. Little Bear, with Chime on his back, followed them.
“Let’s go to where you sleep,” Tris suggested.
From the neatness of the room and the absence of dust, Tris guessed that this was Yali’s room, not Iralima’s. As Glaki used the chamberpot, Tris opened the shutters to let some air in. She leaned outside for a moment, calling her favourite breeze to her. It had come all the way from Winding Circle and was Tris’s most faithful attendant in the hot south. When she held out her hand, the breeze wound around it. “Find Niko,” she instructed it. “Tell him I’m all right, and that I don’t know when I’ll be home.” It sped off on its way.
It had been frustrating to send her winds out before in search of a woman being killed, but what else could she do to help right now? Keth was torn up in spirit, too much so to attempt to make another globe. No one had mentioned it, but it was plain to Tris that they couldn’t rely on the