Xenocide (Ender Wiggins Saga)

Wang-mu.
    Qing-jao studied her for a moment, judging her. Then, coldly, she answered. "Go if you must. I see that you are still a captive of our enemy. I have no need of you."
    "Of course not," said Wang-mu. "You have the gods." But in saying this, she could not keep the bitter irony out of her voice.
    "Gods that you don't believe in," said Qing-jao bitingly. "Of course, you have never been spoken to by the gods-- why should you believe? I dismiss you as my secret maid, since that is your desire. Go back to your family."
    "As the gods command," said Wang-mu. And this time she made no effort to conceal her bitterness at the mention of the gods.
    She was already out of the house, walking down the road, when Mu-pao came after her. Since Mu-pao was old and fat, she had no hope of catching up with Wang-mu on foot. So she came riding a donkey, looking ridiculous as she kicked the animal to hasten it. Donkeys, sedan chairs, all these trappings of ancient China-- do the godspoken really think that such affectations make them somehow holier? Why don't they simply ride on fliers and hovercars like honest people do on every other world? Then Mu-pao would not have to humiliate herself, bouncing and jouncing on an animal that is suffering under her weight. To spare her as much embarrassment as possible, Wang-mu returned and met Mu-pao partway.
    "Master Han Fei-tzu commands you to return," said Mu-pao.
    "Tell Master Han that he is kind and good, but my mistress has dismissed me.
    "Master Han says that Mistress Qing-jao has the authority to dismiss you as her secret maid, but not to dismiss you from his house. Your contract is with him, not with her."
    This was true. Wang-mu hadn't thought of that.
    "He begs you to return," said Mu-pao. "He told me to say it that way, so that you might come out of kindness, if you would not come out of obedience."
    "Tell him I will obey. He should not beg such a low person as myself."
    "He will be glad," said Mu-pao.
    Wang-mu walked beside Mu-pao's donkey. They went very slowly, which was more comfortable for Mu-pao and the donkey as well.
    "I have never seen him so upset," said Mu-pao. "Probably I shouldn't tell you that. But when I said that you were gone, he was almost frantic."
    "Were the gods speaking to him?" It was a bitter thing if Master Han called her back only because for some reason the slave driver within him had demanded it.
    "No," said Mu-pao. "It wasn't like that at all. Though of course I've never actually seen what it looks like when the gods speak to him."
    "Of course."
    "He simply didn't want you to go," said Mu-pao.
    "I will probably end up going, anyway," said Wang-mu. "But I'll gladly explain to him why I am now useless in the House of Han."
    "Oh, of course," said Mu-pao. "You have always been useless. But that doesn't mean you aren't necessary."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Happiness can depend as easily on useless things as on useful ones."
    "Is that a saying of an old master?"
    "It's a saying of an old fat woman on a donkey," said Mu-pao. "And don't you forget it."
    When Wang-mu was alone with Master Han in his private chamber, he showed no sign of the agitation Mu-pac, had spoken of.
    "I have spoken with Jane," he said. "She thinks that since you also know of her existence and believe her not to be the enemy of the gods, it will be better if you stay."
    "So I will serve Jane now?" asked Wang-mu. "Am I to be her secret maid?"
    Wang-mu did not mean her words to sound ironic; the idea of being servant to a nonhuman entity intrigued her. But Master Han reacted as if he were trying to smooth over an offense.
    "No," he said. "You shouldn't be anyone's servant. You have acted bravely and worthily."
    "And yet you called me back to fulfill my contract with you."
    Master Han bowed his head. "I called you back because you are the only one who knows the truth. If you go, then I'm alone in this house."
    Wang-mu almost said: How can you be alone, when your daughter is here? And until the last few days, it wouldn't have been a cruel thing to say, because Master Han and Mistress Qing-jao were friends as close as a father and daughter could ever be. But now, the barrier between them was insuperable. Qing-jao lived in a world where she was a triumphant servant of the gods, trying to be patient with the temporary madness of her father. Master Han lived in a world where his daughter and all of his society were slaves to an oppressive Congress, and only he knew the truth. How could they even speak