Page 89 of Diamond

The rain begins to fall as we run back, laughing as we each clutch armfuls of grass against our chests. We lay it out thickly to form our own surprisingly comfortable sleeping area in another section of the relatively shallow cave and then lay down, Kuret pulling me against his chest and stroking his hands down my side.

"Is it really possible for your people to stop pregnancy?" he asks me after the argila all fall asleep.

"Yes. On Earth, it's called birth control, and there are several forms of it. Not many people get access to it, though. Not where I live."

He doesn't seem to hear the last part of my sentence. "The women on my home planet would benefit greatly from something like that. They would not have to live in fear. It would change everything for them."

I try to imagine what life on Earth would be without any form of birth control, but the thought feels too distant, too impossible to grasp.

There is a dreamy look in his eyes when I tilt my head back to look at him, and I cannot help the smile that dances on the edge of my lips. He reaches his hands down and grabs both my hands in his.

"I enjoy learning from you, Nasrin," he says softly as he brings up a pair of our hands to rub at the side of my face.

I start to look away, but he stops me, his smile growing to match mine. "I am being serious."

There is an intensity in his gaze that I can't deny. It makes me shift my body so I can plant a kiss on his lips.

I think I might have convinced him of something, but I don't want to scare him away.

"I know, Kuret. We are friends and friends enjoy learning from each other."

He opens his mouth to speak, but I go first.

"And as friends, you should call me Rin instead of Nasrin."

He mulls over my name, the sweet whistling sound he makes now shorter. I don't know which I like better. "I never thought I would be friends with a female. Can your friends still call you Nasrin? Because I enjoy how it sounds when I say it."

My face splits into a smile. "I really like how you say my name."

He chuckles. "I can say it all day, if you'll let me."

45

Kuret

"It is still strange to me that you do not give your lives to have children," I tell her.

Her eyebrows furrow but I catch the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She looks away and then back at me, an amused glint in her eyes.

"Well, some women might argue that it is a type of death, though that's mostly when you speak to those with very young ones and not a lot of support from others. The children grow up eventually and then we have our freedom, though we miss them. Most of them go on to have their owncareersandfamilies, leaving their mothers to do whatever they wish."

"You know your children?"

My voice comes out lower than I expect, and I clear my throat. I mean, it's logical based on what she's said, but it still feels so foreign.

This is unheard of amongst my people. I have no memory of my mother, and I know she never knew hers. They were dead. I try not to let my shock show on my face, but I know I am failing horribly.

Nasrin absently twirls a blade of grass, twisting it around her fingers and staring at it like it is the most interesting thing on earth. "Of course. We get to raise them until they are independent enough to socialize with the rest of the world.

She looks like she wants to say more but decides against it.

I am unsteady from all the information and have nothing but more questions for her. "You're saying your children never kill you?"

She cocks her head to the side. "Sometimes they do, when there are complications, but it happens very rarely."

It's still hard to comprehend, even though I believe her.

While relief washes over me knowing I'll never lose Nasrin to the dangers of childbirth, I can't help but marvel at how different things are here. Before I was taken, I had thought my world was all that there was, my way of life being the most honorable, but I am evidently wrong.

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