Marie Brennan - Doppelganger

“We’ve been trying to think of a solution,” Miryo said. “Obviously. We had thought that what we maybe needed to do was divide ourselves completely. Find a way to cut the connection that remains between us.”

Ashin looked dubious.

“You don’t think it will work?”

“It might work,” the Key said. “But so would killing Mirage—if your only goal is functional magic.”

“It’s one up on the old system; it leaves us both alive.”

“But it doesn’t really gain you anything.”

Mirage raised one eyebrow at her. “And what do you think there is to gain?”

Ashin got up and began to pace, hands clasped neatly behind her back. “I don’t know. Not specifically. But think about it—the priests and priestesses all turn their noses up at us and call us unbalanced. Why? What’s lacking in us? I’d bet anything it has to do with the doppelgangers. We’re losing whatever’s in you. It might be the physical attributes. You have speed, and strength—you’re born fighters.”

“So I’m the brawn, and Miryo’s the brain?”

“You’re not stupid; don’t act like you are. You know as well as I do that idiots don’t make good Hunters. You’re fighting, and she’s magic, but you’re both intelligent.”

Mirage conceded that with a nod. She had made the comment deliberately, intending to provoke Ashin.

“What about putting us back together, like we used to be?” Miryo asked. “That doesn’t lose anything.”

“Been tried. It didn’t work. The Path of the Head’s of the opinion it can’t work—the magic won’t flow in that direction, if that makes any sense. It’s like canceling a spell outright, instead of counteracting it. Just can’t be done.”

Mirage’s spirits sank at the witch’s words; for just an instant, she’d hoped that Miryo had hit on the solution. Her double seemed equally depressed. The room was momentarily silent. Then Miryo roused herself again. “Another question. Has anyone ever figured out why we only have daughters?”

Ashin nodded approvingly at her. “Not that I’m aware of, but it’s a good question, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a part of this same issue. Lack of sons would definitely qualify as an imbalance, at least in my book.”

“How are we supposed to fix it, though? Are all you people crazy enough to risk your lives for a heresy you don’t even fully understand?”

The Key shrugged. “We haven’t thought of anything. But we’ve been trying. And we may not have an answer, but we do have faith in the Goddess.”

Mirage smiled sourly. Her own arguments sounded flimsier, coming out of someone else’s mouth. “You don’t think separation is the answer, though.”

“I don’t see how it would right the balance. It seems that separation loses you just as death does.”

Now it was Mirage’s turn to stand and pace. “But it’s the only answer we’ve found .”

Ashin looked at her directly. In her eyes Mirage saw conviction, and determination, and a blindly trusting faith that frightened her with its unquestioning intensity. “But it’s not the only answer out there. I’m sure it’s not. You’ll just have to find the right one.”

Uh-huh. And it’s going to be that easy, I’m sure .

“What do you have planned?” Mirage asked her bluntly.

“ ‘You’ meaning ‘you and your friends,’ I assume.” She hardly waited for Mirage’s nod. “We’re not certain. We’d like to go on as we have, and save more doppelgangers, but it’s much more dangerous than it used to be.”

Not surprising . Mirage glanced over to Miryo and raised an eyebrow.

“Our best bet is to hole up, I think,” her double said. “To get off the road and really work this through. We’d have to find a place we’re not likely to be tracked down. Does Silverfire have anything like that we could use?”

“Yes, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Mirage sat down and twiddled her mask between her fingers. “Hunter security is good, but it can be broken, especially by magic. And they’ll be expecting something like that.” She realized that she had wrapped her entire head covering around her left fist. She pulled it off and folded it neatly. “Our best bet would be somewhere else, somewhere remote.”

“The mountains?”

“Maybe. I’d favor the ones here in Abern. I know a few folk who live there; they might be able to set us up.” The itinerary from Tari’s study was in her saddlebags, so hopefully no one would be able to make the connection to her earlier jobs. Mirage wondered briefly if she should demand protection from Ashin as one of the three boons she and Eclipse were now due. No, no sense in it; they want us alive anyway. Save the boons for later. And hope there will be a later .

“Hiding is a good idea,” Ashin said, nodding. “We can get in touch with you through the paper you have.”

“And if we think up anything that requires your help, we’ll contact you.”

The Hand Key nodded again. “May the Goddess be with you. I’m sure she’ll give you an answer.”

“Does Ashin frighten you as much as she does me?”

Miryo had to laugh, despite the tension weighing on her. “Yes. She’s so single-minded it’s unbelievable. There’s the problem, which she knows; there’s the solution, which she’s looking for, and there’s the Goddess, who will make it all okay.”

“When you put it that way, she doesn’t sound all that different from us. But somehow… I don’t know. I think it’s the way she’s willing to gamble so many lives, including her own daughter’s, on this.”

“Yes.” Miryo fingered the tail of her braid, twisting it around her finger. “Maybe that’s the only way to do it, though. There really is a problem. The clergy have been saying so forever, and we’ve been ignoring them. I think that ‘unbalanced’ thing must have something to do with this. Which is encouraging, in a way; it means that we are right, at least in thinking that the current situation is wrong.”

“Whether any of our hypothetical solutions are right is another story.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” She glanced up sharply as a rumble of thunder reached her ears.

Mirage also looked up and made a sour face. They were in a large, open field probably intended for grazing, though at the moment no livestock were in it. There was no shelter to be had, other than the low stone wall at then-side. Miryo, considering the incoming weather, wished they had gone ahead and pushed to reach the next town, but Mirage had advised keeping as low a profile as possible.

Eclipse approached their campsite as a second roll of thunder began. He had been some distance away, bathing in the stream; he ran a hand through his wet hair and gave the sky an irritated look. “I might have saved myself the walk, and just waited for the rain to wash me off.”

“Two baths won’t kill you,” Mirage said.

Ill weather might make them all sick, though. Miryo glanced at the wall. “Could we rig up cloaks over this? That might give us at least a little bit of shelter.” If there was a more exposed place to camp within a hundred miles, she’d be surprised.

“We can try,” Mirage said. And, as Miryo had hoped, the Hunters were able to set something up. They weighted one edge of their cloaks onto the wall with loose stones, and set their saddles on the inside of the other edge, forming a sloping roof. It would hold for at least a while, provided the winds didn’t become too strong.

“I refuse to do this again,” Miryo said when they were finished. “Dye my hair; Void it, cut off my nose and I won’t complain. I just want to sleep in a building.”