Birthmarked Read Online Free PDF Page B

herbs, and loaves of flat, dark bread.
    Gaia heard the chink of coins and saw the smithy exchange a bright blade for several Tvaltar passes. Above, a brace of pigeons flew by on their heavy, loud wings and vanished in a messy nest at the apex of the Tvaltar roof Several dirty, bare-foot children ran through the quadrangle, laughing as they kicked a soccer ball. One ancient mesquite tree cast a pool of shade where several old people had gathered to rest on the rickety stools that always waited there.
    “Coming to the Tvaltar later, Gaia?” Perry called, waving himself with a paddle fan.
    “Not tonight.”
    “Suit yourself, then.”
    Gaia glanced back at the facade of the Tvaltar, and the doors that were closed to keep the interior cool. In the weeks since her parents had been arrested, Gaia had avoided the Tvaltar and its palliative escapism, but now as she saw a pair of young girls head inside, she remembered how the Tvaltar had been a magical place to her when she was little.
    Until recently, she’d liked the colorful costumes, the music, and the dancing that splashed across the gigantic screen. She’d liked the short specials about life inside the Enclave, with its fashion and parties and glamour. There were specials about the Protectorate family, with his advanced son and his own son and his two twin daughters, just a little younger than she. She’d enjoyed the archive reels from the cool age, with all its strange technology, and the nature ones about horses and elephants and other extinct species.
    But most of all, when she was very young, shed loved the fairytale stories that took her into a different life. These would stay with her for weeks afterward. She had only to close her eyes on her own back porch, and she would be carried away again to a world under the sea where mermaids sang, or to a land where dwarves lived in a wooded glade, or to a castle tower where a princess under a magic spell slept for years while the dust gathered around her and generations beyond the enchanted forest grew up and had children of their own.
    She remembered in particular how on the night of her friend Emily Rupp’s fifth birthday, Emily s parents promised to take Emily, Gaia, and their friend Sasha to the Tvaltar to see Rapunzel. To add to the excitement, Sasha had never been to the Tvaltar before because her family couldn’t afford passes, so Gaia and Emily had the pleasure of anticipating their friend’s delight.
    “It’s huge,” Emily explained. “As tall as the Enclave wall, with moving pictures.”
    They were holding hands, with Emily in the middle, skip’ ping ahead of Emilys parents toward the quadrangle.
    “It gets dark before the show,” Gaia said. “There are twinkling lights in the ceiling like stars, and on the side walls, other lights go down on a horizon, like sunset. That’s how you know it’s about to start.”
    “And people go every night?” Sasha asked.
    “No. Well, maybe some grown-ups do. But only if they have Tvaltar passes,” Emily said. When Emily leaned close to them, Gaia could smell the cake still on her breath. “My mom got them special. For my birthday.”
    Gaia just hoped Rapunzel was as good as the other shows she’d seen. Her mother had told her that the story had a tower in it, like the tower of the Bastion, and a princess with a very long braid. She, Emily, and Sasha had braided their hair on purpose for the show, and Gaia’s brown braids were the longest. Sasha’s blond braids were the shortest. Emilys red hair was so thin, they put it into one braid.
    Soon they passed through the tall doors. Gaia looked back at Sasha, who was gazing up at the stars in the ceiling with suitable awe.
    “What did we tell you!” Gaia said.
    Sasha simply closed her lips, speechless.
    Emily poked her. “I knew you’d like it. The show hasn’t even started yet.”
    “Come on,” Gaia said, pulling at Emily again, trying to lead her down the long aisle that sloped toward the huge screen. People