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"King of the elves," said Ender "I wonder what eet for that one [email protected]" He turned to Valentine "Or is that the title Peter aspires to?"

Valentine semon and God," she said

Dorabella didn't understand the reference to Peter She returned to her dancing, and this ti tune with it And Alessandra shook her head but still joined in the song, har with it So she had heard it before and knew it and had sung with her mother Their voices blended sweetly

Valentine watched Dorabella's dance, fascinated At first it had seeh, she could see that Dorabella knew she was being silly, but still ave the movement, and her facial expression, a sort of irony that ive the silliness and affectation of it, while the sincerity turned it into so

The wo and quite good looking Beautiful, even, especially now, especially in this strange fairyish dance

The song ended Dorabella kept dancing in the silence

"Mother, you can stop flying now," said Alessandra gently

"But I can't," said Dorabella, and now she was openly teasing "In this starship we fly for fifty years!"

"Forty years," said Ender

"Two years," said Alessandra

Apparently Ender liked the idea of doing a play, because he brought them all back to the topic "Not Roedy"

"The Merry Wives of Windsor," said Valentine "Lots of women's parts"

"The Ta of the Shrew!" cried Alessandra, and Dorabella alhter Another reference, apparently, to Isabella And when they stopped laughing, they insisted that Shreas the perfect play "I will read the part of the madwoman," said Dorabella Valentine noticed that Alessandra see back some kind of comment

So it was that the plan was conceived for a play reading in the theater three days later--days by ship's tih the whole concept of tie where forty years would pass in less than two What would her birthday be now? Would she count her age by ship's time or the elapsed calendar when she arrived? And what did Earth's calendar mean on Shakespeare?

Naturally, Dorabella and Alessandra ca hih he made it clear that all the decisions were up to thee of the event, he was never ih Valentine suspected that it was not for the reason Dorabella had hoped Ender wasn't falling in love with Alessandra--if he was infatuated with anyone, it was likely to be thein love as the family-ness of them They were close in a way that Ender and Valentine had once been close And they were including Ender in that closeness