Tother Hand, Chapter 8, part 4

And she laughed again. As 8999 laughed, she seemed to catch her right side as if she were hurt there.

She composed herself and turned serious. She said: Your father was 2711? Did you know my father?

9001 shook her head in the negative.

8999 said: He was 2713, his twin.

9001 mouthed the words in her head: Ordered heaven with emptiness imbalanced. Out loud, she said: My father was ordered heaven with balanced emptiness.

8999 nodded. She said clearly, slowly, as if giving bad news: Your father died because my father died. This is why twins are separated. They cannot survive together, because when they are close they collapse in on each other. Separated, they can continue to live normal lives. The left-handed twins are shunned because they are sinister, outcasts. They teach each other the dark arts of Healing.

She continued, and here the bad news struck: The right handed children are given masks so that they are never discovered to be the twin. The Masked Ones are given the secrets of identity so that they can avoid death and disorder. _Druj_, as you say. Your father died when you struck my father. I watched the whole thing but was too late to respond. Your training has equipped you with skills that I only find by accident. Your father made two mistakes. The first mistake was taking you with him instead of me. The second was using his skills to track down his twin and destroy him.

9001 wept openly. Her sister stepped close to offer comfort. She said: O sister! Older sister! I address you with respect. You are the one who should be the Masked One. I have always wanted to break free from this mask and get out of the palace. I have long wished to practice the arts of Healing and frozen time. I never knew my place until recently when my father revealed your father’s mistake. I had always assumed I was unfit or that God had not smiled on me.

9001 corrected her: His name is Ahura. Saying “God” is like calling someone without using their name. Like, Hey you! What’s your name?!

8999 bowed her head in contrition. She said: Everyone learns only what they are taught.

9001 said: My father made a mistake? He said the Elders separated us and that you were 9003, the eldest.

8999 shook her head in the negative. She said: No. The Elders had warned my father that your father had sought out the powers in the Perfect Sight. None of us know what that is. However, the Elders warned my father that he would try to come to meet his brother. Your father came to Kabul and he wisely disguised himself with a Mask. Everyone assumed he was my father.

She dropped her voice, but continued: Even our mother. The Elders told me that our fathers never met, but they must have crossed paths without knowing it. Our uncle thought that they were the same person. He never understood why a Masked One wanted to learn the ways of the Healers. The Elders kept it hidden and had your uncle working to keep records on both of them.

She said: When we were born, our mother died and my father was still away, hiding from your father. Your father heard of the children and came back. He stole you while one of the wet nurses was feeding me. He never knew which child was which. He merely stole in, took you and assumed I was the one sacrificed.

9001 grabbed her sister by the shoulders and hugged her close. She wept.

8999 returned the hug and sighed heavily. They separated and stared at each other.

9001 broke the silence. She said: What can we do now?

8999 was silent for a long time. She said, finally: Take me with you, sister. Train me as a Healer. We will go together and wander the earth side by side as we were meant to.

9001 shook her head. She said: I am weary of it. I want to rest in one place. I do not like the life of a nomad. I cannot stand the sight of blood. I am clumsy and bad at the spells. Father trained me my whole life and I am not half of the Healer you seem to be without any training. I am a failure.

8999 said: No! No, older sister! You carry yourself so bravely. You issue orders and speak about strategy and plans. You are a natural leader. You are not a failure, just in the wrong station in life.

9001 said: So we are only slaves to our profession?

8999 said: We are what we become.

9001 said: We become what we are.

8999 seized on it. She said: Yes! Yes! That is it exactly. So what will you do?

9001 drew herself up to her full height. She seemed a bit taller than her sister. She pull out her triangular blade and offered it hilt first to her sister. She unhooked her sister’s headgear and replaced her father’s _lungee_ with it. She covered her face and felt powerful, strong, and important.

She said: I am you. You are me. Leave me here to rule.

Her sister held the blade over her head and put it in her waist cloth. She left.

9001’s father seemed to smile and disappeared. She knew he would not speak to her again.