she said worriedly.
Van doubted that the dragon would be worse than the dog. But the boy was bad enough.
Suppose the dragon rejected Van, and Violet was stuck with the boy?
"Let me love you tonight," Violet said. "For I fear for tomorrow."
Nothing jumped out of his bunk across the room and came over. "I'll watch!"
"You'll do nothing of the kind," Violet said severely. "You need your sleep."
"Awww." Nothing looked rebellious.
"Return to bed," V called from the hearth. Van relaxed, relieved. He trusted V.
Nothing began to walk away. "What about when you do it in daytime?"
"Then you may watch," Violet agreed.
Oops. Van waited until the boy went back to bed and the light was out. Then he inquired.
"Children watch?"
"Of course. Oh, I see your problem. In the world you came from, where everything is so physical, children don't watch. But here sex is just for fun and commitment and family unity. When we want children, we adopt them from the forest. We teach them what they need to know, and part of that is love. How could they understand it, if they did not see it?"
Van thought about it, as she kissed him and hugged him, and after a while it began to make sense. He cast off another aspect of his former life-style. This was not the world he had known. It was a better world.
In the morning they went to see the dragon. The other villagers merely nodded as the three of them passed, and Tara emerged to wish him well. Then they took the path up the mountain.
Van remembered how the Colonel had said that the dragon had killed Victor. The dragon was a mock-up, but it had done the job. Now Van believed that he would encounter a real dragon, and it could indeed kill him. If it didn't like him. Because it would know his heart.
And would his heart be good enough? How could he know? But he could doubt! Because he was a spy for the science world. He had told V, and V had not been surprised, but V
knew only his mind, not his heart. Where was his heart?
He glanced at Violet, beside him, so lovely. She turned her face to him and smiled.
"Oh, Violet," he said. "I am afraid."
"But why should you be, Van?" she asked. "The dragon is our lord; he knows the truth.
There will be no pretense before him."
"That's why I am afraid." He kissed her, holding her as close as he could without hurting her.
"Hey!" Nothing said. "Do it now, so I can watch."
Van wished he hadn't had to adopt the boy. He could see that any life he had with Violet was going to be seriously compromised. Even if it was acceptable for a child to watch, he didn't care to have an obnoxious child kibitzing.
"Why do you think the dragon will not like you?" Violet asked.
"Because I am a spy for the outsiders. They sent me in to find out what is going on here, because their instruments aren't picking it up."
"But we know that, Van! We were all brought here from outside. The outsiders don't believe any of this."
"But I have to report to them."
She shook her head. "They won't believe you, Van."
He considered it, and was relieved. All he had to do was tell the truth: that there really was magic here, and that it governed the lives of all the colonists. They would think him to be lying or crazy. Except—
"Suppose they shut down the project?"
"The dragon wouldn't let them do that," she said reassuringly.