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-
- We awoke the next day and Dagmar insisted on feeding us breakfast.
- "You'll need your strength for the climb," she kept saying. She at
- least had the common sense to feed us light fruits and one egg apiece,
- staying away from greasy meats and breads that would just weigh us down
- on the trip up. I was grateful.
-
- We said our goodbyes, exchanged hugs and kisses. Being bisexual, I
- felt a touch of regret at not having gotten my hands on Rael when I had
- the chance, but maybe he would have disagreed. I'm definitely more
- preferential towards women, anyway.
-
- We walked the kilometer to the stairs and P'nyssa said, "Two and
- half klicks of stair, right?"
-
- "Something like that."
-
- "And that's... how many stairs?"
-
- "Rael said 14,263."
-
- "Piece of cake."
-
- We began the climb. It took most of the morning, and about an hour
- after we had the sandwiches Dagmar had made for us we arrived at the
- top. The Unczia ranch was about 100 meters away, and when we arrived we
- were greeted by a large female Unczia who had heard about us. She
- welcomed us in, and surprised us by having fresh fruit and clean water
- ready (Fruit? In a Unczia hold?). Dagmar had apparently radioed ahead.
- She also insisted we bunk for a few hours, and P'nyssa and I were so
- beat we agreed right off.
-
- We awoke just as the shadow was drawing across the sun, heading
- into dusk. Well, I did; I woke P'nyssa up getting out to the bathroom.
- She washed up with me, and we dressed and walked out. The Unczia
- matron, who's name tuned out to be V'lanj, insisted on feeding us. She
- was so much like Dagmar I would have accused her of being Dagmar, except
- I knew there were only eighteen triple-talents on the Ring, and Dagmar
- isn't one of them. We were thusly fed despite our weak protestations.
- V'lanj wisely fed us little and poured great gouts of fresh water down
- our throats. Her attitude was so characteristic of the rustic,
- 'domesticated,' Unczia, that I found myself chuckling at the havoc I had
- wrought. P'nyssa joined in me amusement, and our spirits thus lifted we
- headed out across the plain. It was only four hours or so before we
- reached the tree, and Dagmar had been right; it was far easier in the
- dark.
-
- There was a four-hour difference between Rael's home and the
- Castle, so when we arrived night had again just fallen. There was a
- drastic difference between where we had been and the Castle. After all,
- it was still winter at the Castle, and everything outside my window had
- turned white with snow. The storm had long blown off, and the Castle
- was once again airborne. I saw a Centaur, Rhys, I think, tromping
- through the snow being chased playfully by his youngest colt. It made
- me smile.
-
- P'nyssa joined me at the chilled window, placing her chin on my
- shoulder and leaning against me.
-
- "What was that you said in old tindal?" I asked her.
-
- "When?" she asked.
-
- "When Rael and I were both inside you."
-
- "Oh, that. I said 'It's nice to have the whole family together
- like this.'" She smiled.
-
- I returned the smile.
-
- "Ready for part two?" she asked.
-
- "Dunno," I said. "If that was part one, it was supposed to be the
- easy part."
-
- She laughed. "You just wait. The best is yet to come." We
- watched the ocean lap at the snowbound beach, the winter wonderland.
-
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