Children of the Eternal

III

"No."

"Why not?" Kate whined.

A sigh escaped her older sister, Vanessa. "Isn't it bad enough you were almost purified? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Kate scowled. "You make it sound as if I'm planning to spit in the Eternal Light."

Vanessa's face darkened. "That might be safer than trying to corrupt the son of George Morris."

"You make it sound like Katie's planning to seduce the boy," Vanessa's boyfriend, Isaac, teased.

Kate's seven-year-old brother, Josiah, giggled. "Is she gonna kiss him?"

Kate slumped in her chair, glaring in disdain. Sometimes she really hated her family. It didn't help that they were always there. The whole family—and Isaac—lived in a narrow two-room apartment. The dark dankness of the apartment probably couldn't be illuminated by the Eternal Light. It was all they could afford on Vanessa's salary as a proofreader and the money Isaac made at the factory. Vanessa and Isaac shared the bedroom—little more than a closet—while Kate and Josiah slept in the main room. The cramped nature of the living arrangements made Kate prefer to spend as much time as possible away from home.

"Will helped me," Kate said. "Isn't it fair that I help him?"

Vanessa shifted, readjusting her modest dress. Only twenty-one, she looked vastly different from the rebellious older sister that Kate always remembered. Shadows hung under her eyes, and her posture always remained tense. The only hint of the old Vanessa was the way she allowed Isaac to stroke her hand.

Of course, Kate would be perfectly happy not to see that part.

"How is this helping him?" Vanessa absently linked her fingers through Isaac's. "You are just going to fill his head with rebellious ideas. Do you think his father will stand for it? Don't you think such an important man might retaliate against our family?"

"Will wants to know," Kate said.

Vanessa hadn't arrived until after Will's ceremony. Kate had stayed within Will's line of vision as he refused to go through with the ceremony unless he knew Kate was all right. His eyes kept darting back to her, as he promised himself to the false Light. She couldn't watch when he was briefly submerged in a shallow pool of golden water. It had been hard enough going through that experience during her own ceremony. But when he finished, he passed Kate, looking at her intensely with his gray eyes.

"I want to know everything," he whispered.

She had given him a method to contact her if he wanted to talk. It hadn't taken long at all to get a message from the curious boy.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Then he can find out on his own. You don't have to endanger yourself."

"Isn't it my job to advertise the paper?" Kate folded her arms. "You're worrying over nothing."

Vanessa slammed her glass down. "I am not worrying over nothing!" she snapped. "Our family doesn't need more attention. First Mama, then Papa, and after what happened last year..."

Silence fell over the table. No one ever spoke of the incident. Josiah—too young really to understand—stared at his plate of rice. Kate's stomach burned as she pushed down the dark memories.

Isaac smiled at Kate, patience in his hazel eyes. "I understand this young fellow helped you out a bit. But your sister has reasons to be careful. She just wants to protect you two. If anyone suspected her work, both of you would end up in a state orphanage."

Kate wanted to retort that if the Sacred State knew Vanessa was living with her unmarried lover, the same thing would happen. But Vanessa's lower lip trembled and Kate swallowed her words.