"Why sister?" She said, sniffling, and repeatedly wiping the stream of tears from her eyes. "Why … why would you do this …?"

"Does she … usually do things like this?" Aldrec said, feeling suddenly useless, regardless of his condolences.

"No!" Mericlou replied indignantly. "No, she doesn't! And that's what I don't understand! She's usually not this … this … cruel!"

"You know, she might not have thought that she was putting you in any danger," Aldrec suggested. "As a matter of fact, she might have done it in order to get back at me."

"She might have done that," Mericlou answered numbly. "She was always very jealous of you, you know."

"I figured as much," Aldrec said. "Did she know about us?"

"I thought she didn't," Mericlou said. "But now, after seeing what I saw, I can't help but wonder. She sounded almost certain when they interviewed her, but I don't know how long ago that was. We androids don't lie, so I guess that she might have thought in that direction."

"I think you were right," Aldrec said. "I don't believe she knew how much harm she was doing."

"What do you mean?"

"The social implications," Aldrec replied. "The media is right about the reactions of elves and humans. They will ostracize you and me; the bottles in the yard that you told me about … they're just the beginning."

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"What?"

Aldrec nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, Tulyr, but it's true. But I expected it. Think back to what happened to you in Skainhart. I cannot tell you how many elves I thought were my friends suddenly gave me the cold shoulder. I must admit, however, that I was also vain and naïve in this myself."

"Vain? You?" Mericlou asked, not believing what she was hearing. "What do you mean by that? Aldrec, there's not a vain bone in your body. And as for being naïve, you're smarter and wiser than I can ever imagine myself to be. How can you say this about yourself?"

"Age is supposed to beget wisdom," Aldrec explained, "but not always. I've lived a long time, and have acquired much knowledge, but we all make mistakes. My mistake was that I thought my love alone would be enough to shelter you. Since we shared our true feelings for each other … since that first kiss, I tried to shield you from the dangers that others, both human and elf, would have wished upon you. I turned their attentions elsewhere; I made them not believe what they saw; even your being an android afforded you some leeway in the way people treated you. But in the end, that little section in the news undid all my efforts and exposed us."




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