"I understand."

The medic frowned. "Are you certain you don't want me to give you something that your male friend can use also? It would provide an extra margin of safety."

Sariana tried to imagine the reaction she would get from Gryph if she presented him with a package of male contraceptives. "I don't think he would use anything."

The medic eyed her patient disapprovingly. "A woman should think twice about getting involved with a man who refuses to assume his share of the responsibility."

Sariana sighed. "I know. The problem is, he's a Shield and I don't think he would - " "A Shield!" The woman stared at her in astonishment. "Then why are you worrying about

contraceptives? There's no danger of him getting you pregnant."

"Is that really true?" Sariana asked urgently. It was the first reliable confirmation she'd had of what she had been told. Surely a medic would not give credence to a legend unless there was some genuine fact at the base of it.

"Of course it's true." The medic shook her head. "I keep forgetting you easterners know very little about our ways and you probably know nothing about Shields. To be honest, most of us don't talk about them too much to outsiders. I suppose we're a little in awe of them, even after all these years of coexisting with them. But since you're involved with one, you should know some facts. He can't get you pregnant unless you're his Shieldmate, and if that's the case, you can forget the contraceptives. He'll go through prisma fire to get you pregnant. The last thing he would do is allow you to use anything. Not unless the pregnancy would endanger your life. And even in that rare situation I've heard of Shields and their mates taking a chance."

"Having children is so important to a Shield?"

The medic shrugged. "It's a matter of survival. As a class they are hanging on by their fingernails, one notch above extinction. Their birthrate is extremely low, even when the men manage to find mates. And they produce no female children. Without females of their own, Shields have a very shaky hold on reproduction. Each new generation of men must search for a mate among the other social classes, and' the odds of finding a woman who can be a Shieldmate are not good. There's no way to test for the potential in a woman. Even if it were possible, I doubt that many respectable families would want their daughters tested."

"I think I can guess why," Sariana said dryly.

The medic shrugged. "A woman who marries a Shield leaves her clan and social class to join the Shield class. Practically speaking, that means she winds up living in some far-off mountain fortress town. Not too many women are anxious to give up their friends, family and the comforts of city life to keep house out on the frontier."

"I think I get the picture," Sariana said quietly. So part of what Gryph had told her was true. "After all these years of marrying non-Shield women, though, haven't their bloodlines become diluted?"

"They only care about the talent for working prisma. And that appears to be a dominant trait that is passed along by the males through certain receptive females. Just like their odd eye color. Neither eye color nor the skill with prisma shows any sign of weakening in successive generations. No medic pretends to understand the whole biological process, and Shields don't talk about it much to outsiders, but facts are facts. As long as a Shield can find a true mate, he can reproduce his own kind."

"But what kind is that?" Sariana asked in confusion. "What is this talk of working prisma?" "You said you were involved in an affair with a Shield," the medic observed slowly. "He tells me that under the law we're married," Sariana said ruefully.

The medic was startled. "You're his wife? A Shield-mate? Then I definitely think you should put your questions to him. I don't know enough to answer them completely for you, anyway. Furthermore, he probably would not take kindly to my attempting to educate you. Shields can be very difficult about matters they consider Shield business."

Sariana nodded in resignation. "Thank you. Medic Vallon."

"You're welcome." The medic eyed Sariana closely. "Are you really some Shield's mate?" she asked thoughtfully.

Sariana's hand closed around the package the medic had just given her. "He seems to think I am." "And you intend to avoid getting pregnant?"

"It would ruin my whole future," Sariana whispered. "I'm not staying here, you see. Eventually I'll be going home to the eastern provinces. I was born and raised in Rendezvous. I'm only here for a year or two."

The medic shook her head uneasily. "This is the first time I have ever heard of a Shield finding a mate from the eastern provinces. Now that there is growing contact between us, this sort of situation may become more common. Unfortunately, no provision was made for it in the First Generation Pact the colonists made with the Shields."

Sariana didn't like the somber tone in the other woman's voice. "Why is it so unfortunate?" Medic Vallon looked at her. "You can trust a Shield with your life. Everyone in the west knows that to

a Shield, his word is his bond. They adhere rigidly to the terms of the Pact. But they are a desperate class who face extinction with each new generation. If they discover that they can find mates in the eastern provinces, you can be certain they will start searching for them there as well as here. But the people of the eastern continent have no pact with which to control them."

Sariana's mouth went dry. "Are they so very dangerous? It sounds like there are only a few of them." "Any intelligent being facing extinction would probably become dangerous out of desperation. But in

the case of the Shields, the business of being dangerous takes on new meaning. The luck of the day to you, Sariana Dayne. I'm beginning to think you will need it. A word of warning. If I were you, I would not let your Shield know about that little sponge I just gave you. If he does find out, I would consider it a great favor if you would avoid telling him who prescribed it for you."

There was a light, misty rain falling by the time Sariana reached the street. A disgusted hiss from Lucky made Sariana pause long enough to reach up and remove the lizard from her shoulder.

"So you don't like getting wet, hmm? Here you go. I hope that suits you." She popped the scarlet-toe into a pocket of her cloak and then pulled up the hood to cover her hair. The hissing stopped as the lizard settled down into the comfortable pocket. Sariana put the package she had gotten from the medic into another pocket.

If she hadn't gotten lost on the way back to the docks, she would never have stumbled onto the fair. It was being held at the edge of town and the array of brightly colored tents, awnings and flags stretched as far as Sariana could see. The misting rain did not seem to affect the enthusiasm of the crowds. The fairgrounds were thronged with brilliantly garbed people.