Etion sat down slowly, as if he were afraid to move too quickly for fear of breaking some portion of his anatomy. He stared at her shoulder. "I see. Something is wrong, I gather? More trouble with the wild Avylyns?"
"More trouble than I could ever have imagined," Sariana said bitterly. "Etion, I need help and advice and I need both quickly."
"Of course. But Sariana, what have you got on your shoulder? It looks like a lizard." Sariana glanced at the scarlet-toe. "It is. I forgot all about Lucky. Poor thing. It's a wonder it didn't fall
off my shoulder while I was running through the streets. Never mind the lizard, Etion. It's just a pet. Believe me, it's the least of my problems."
Etion smiled gamely as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "Calm down. I don't think I've ever seen you look so agitated, Sariana."
She flushed with embarrassment and made another bid for self-possession. "Please forgive me. I've just been through a very harrowing experience."
"Obviously. Suppose you tell me everything in slow, graphic sentences."
"It's not funny, Etion. In fact, it could be a major disaster for me. It could ruin everything, including my future." Unable to sit still, Sariana jumped to her feet and paced to the window. She stared unseeingly at the street outside. "Tell me something, Etion."
"Anything."
"What do you know about the Shield class?"
He was silent for so long that Sariana finally glanced over her shoulder. Etion was staring at her in astonishment.
"Well?" she prompted uneasily.
He drew a breath and shrugged. "Not much, I'm afraid. It's my understanding that there aren't many Shields and that most of them live in the frontier provinces."
"What else do you know?"
"I told you. Not much. The locals seem somewhat in awe of them. Very respectful. But they don't discuss them very much. And Shields tend to keep to themselves for the most part. They're not what you'd call gossipy. All I know is that they form a unique social class. One that operates under its own rules in certain regards. The other social classes appear willing to respect those rules. Something to do with a pact made during the First Generation. It's all mixed up with a crazy western legend, I believe."
Sariana realized she was chewing on her lower lip, ready to burst into tears. Stay in control, she admonished herself. If she wasn't very careful she would humiliate herself in front of Etion. She paced across the room and stared out the other window.
"What do you know about this pact?"
Etion sighed. "Again, not much. The locals don't talk about it very much, but they seem to take it for granted. For a long time after I first heard about it I thought it was probably just another of their precious First Generation legends. You know how fond they are of them."
"I know," Sariana said tightly. "Go on, Etion. Do you still think this business with thp First Generation Pact is only a legend?"
"If it is, it has the weight of law," he said simply.
"Law." Sariana closed her eyes, fighting back panic. All her life she had been a law abiding citizen. "Sariana," Etion said gently, "what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?" "The Avylyns tell me I have gotten myself married to a Shield," she admitted starkly. "Married." Etion snapped to his feet behind the desk. He winced and massaged his head. "Married?
To a Shield?"
Sariana couldn't bring herself to turn around and meet his gaze. Humiliation warred with desperation. "Etion, I am so horribly embarrassed. I should never have come here, but I didn't know where else to go."
"Calm yourself, my dear." He came up behind her and started to put his hands on her shoulders in a comforting grip. There was a small hiss and a rather nasty display of teeth from the scarlet-toe. Etion dropped his hands quickly. "Tell me exactly what has happened."
Sariana curled her fingers into small fists at her sides. She was on the verge of blurting out every last detail - including how and why she had hired a Shield for the Avylyns - but at the last instant she changed her mind. Etion didn't need to know all the facts, only the most crucial ones.
"It is all terribly simple. I… I had a little too much punch to drink at the Avylyns' party last night and I wound up in bed with a Shield. This morning in front of the Prime Family of the Avylyn Clan he claimed I was his wife. They believed him."
"Prisma and light," Etion swore heavily, his voice hoarse and startled.
"I know." She spun around, searching his face wildly for some sign of hope. "Is that really the way the law works here, Etion? Have I actually married the man?"
Etion stared at her for a long moment. Then he moved away. He sank down onto the edge of his desk and picked up the beautifully chased little arithmograph he used for making calculations. His fingers absently played with the keys.
"It's possible," Etion said at last.
Sariana felt her last hope dissolving. She clung to her composure with all her waning strength. "Tell me what you know about this stupid pact."
"I've told you, I know very little about it. It's unusual to run afoul of it. The Shields keep to themselves for the most part, but they apparently have a few unquestioned privileges. One of them is the right to seek a wife when and where they choose. They are not bound by traditional social class customs or laws when it comes to selecting their mates. The only rule I've ever heard, and that one's rather fuzzy, is that the woman in question must be willing."
"But I am not willing."
Etion hesitated and then asked bluntly, "Not this morning, perhaps, but what about last night?" Sariana felt the jaws of a huge trap closing on her. "I didn't realize what I was getting into. I thought I
was getting involved in an affair, not marriage."
Etion was silent for another long moment. "It seems to me that there is something about the Shield having to provide proof of the marriage. Something to do with opening his weapon kit in front of witnesses."
Sariana winced. A stinging sensation in her palm made her realize she was digging her nails into her hand. "Yes."
"You did that, Sariana? You opened a Shield's kit in front of witnesses?" "The entire assembled multitude of the Avylyn Prime Family."
"You have a problem, Sariana."
She whirled around to confront him. "I know that. The question is, how serious is it and how do I solve it?"
Etion looked at her helplessly. He rubbed his temples again. "I don't know. I just don't know. As long as you are living in the west, you must abide by local law. You know that as well as I do."
