"You'll be all right, Cadmus," she said as her hands caressed his face. "As long as it didn't get your heart."
Cadmus looked at her hungrily.
"I managed to hide for a while," she said, "when we fled from Consar's palace. I heard that terrible explosion. Later I heard Johlan's voice from the Tower and I came here. I didn't know, until I overheard him talking to you, what had really happened." Her voice broke. "How could he have been—so fiendish—so—"
"Forget it," he murmured. "Or try to anyway. We did it. The Machine's gone."
"Yes." A glitter of faith shone in her eyes. "The System's free again. Free to evolve and grow, and reach greatness or ruin. But at least to be free."
"Zaleel—Where do we go—from here?"
"We're going again, and that's what really matters," she said. "It's us now, Cadmus. It'll be just you and me now for a while. Remember?"
Cadmus remembered.