"And if I had done that, just where do you think you would be right now?"
The anger vanished from Oberon's face, yet he held her gaze steadily, then:
"I don't know," he replied.
"Well neither do I," said Lorkyn. "Do you think they would have believed you were innocent? Do you think they would have believed the story of the Secret People? Do you think they would have locked you up as a material witness? Do you think Rodrigo's enemies couldn't have gotten to you before there was a
trial?"
"I see your point," he said with an air of boredom.
"Do you really see it!" she demanded. She was at her most dramatic, though still relatively low-key. "Rowan Mayfair knows what the Taltos are. "
"So what were you looking for?" Mona asked.
"I was looking for a haven," said Lorkyn. "Possibly the only haven that exists. And only after I arrived here, after I spent eight solid hours talking to Rowan, did the last of my suspicions drop away. "
"Probably a little too soon," said Mona.
Lorkyn looked at Mona. Lorkyn raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"
Mona didn't respond.
Rowan said nothing. She didn't even look at Mona.
"Please excuse Mona," said Quinn quietly.
"Go on, Lorkyn," I said. "You spent eight hours straight talking to Rowan. So what gives?"
"This is a place where the Taltos can stay," said Lorkyn.
"What, to be studied?" said Mona. "You're going to be put in cages in a lab. You call that a haven? The woman knocks you out with a syringe on the tarmac next to her jet plane and you place all your trust in her?"
Lorkyn stared at Mona. It was a curious moment, the tall long-necked Taltos completely bewildered by Mona's behavior. Then she drew back and went on:
"You're misunderstanding me, Mona," said Lorkyn with soft confidence. "I'm talking of this place as an environment, a community, a world in which we can live and function and be protected and thrive. I myself have studied a great deal in medicine. You knew this when you went into my computer on the island. You brought the hard drive to Rowan. You gave it to her. You gave her proof of my studies. I've given her oral proof of my studies. I want to continue my studies. I want to become a doctor. That's my wish and Rowan has accepted me as a pupil here. I've found favor with Rowan. And there are opportunities for fruitful work here for Oberon and for Miravelle, and this is a self-contained universe in which the Taltos can be supervised without conspicuous constraints and be protected effortlessly and be
at peace. "
"Ah, wondrously clever," said Stirling. "I never thought of it. "
"Oh, I think it's a lovely idea!" said Miravelle. "And we can wear nightgowns all the time, or at least I can. I love nightgowns. "
"There are, as you may know," Lorkyn continued, her eyes fixed hard on Mona, "many apartments connected to this hospital, which are provided for the visiting families of the sick, and we can live in those apartments as we study here and as we work. We need never leave this compound, except when we have a preordained goal. "
Lorkyn turned her focus from Mona. She looked at Oberon.
"My progress was slow," she said, "and my success incomplete. But Rowan has the evidence of my efforts. And Mona, you saw them. And you, Lestat, you saw them as well. Oberon, do you accept what I'm saying?"
Oberon was trying. I couldn't penetrate his thoughts. But I could tell by his expression.
"Why did you never during the entire two years come to me?" he asked.
"You were Lucia's lover," Lorkyn said. "I heard you howling with pleasure in the night. What was I to say to you? How did I know what you might say to her?"
"You could have let me know you were alive. "
"You knew I was alive. You saw me. Besides, my movements were circumscribed. My real freedom was on the computer. I studied. I had to find a safe place not only for us to go, but for us to stay. "