Anki returned fast, confirming that the group headed to the junkyard. There were no others, though, and these ones were not in a hurry. The mage-engineer started with the interrogation of the guards. Anki could not get close enough to figure out what they were speaking about, but it was obvious that the mage would not enter unprepared. Nua hoped to spy on them later, although she had a bad feeling about this. She never saw Hala that anxious.

Back at home, the meal was over. Each kid finished their duty of wiping their bowl with a cloth. Hala was hunched over an old clay tub, scrubbing the cooking pot with vinegar and ash from the stove. For a single, horrible moment Nua thought that those little locusts, her siblings, devoured all the gruel for today. Then, Hala nodded at her, opened a storage chest, and passed her the dish.

The porridge was already cold, but Nua didn’t care. She dug in, never mind the spoon – it was thick enough, made of lentils and barley, with dried homegrown thyme and rosemary mixed in. Since the business was worse recently, and a new kid had arrived, it was mostly barley. She could tell that Anki was watching and judging, and that made her a bit apprehensive.

“it is not all that bad”, he concluded. “It’s just there’s not a lot of it, and not varied enough. It does not provide all that you need.”

“Figures it’s not like in your palace. You probably ate butter with butter.”, muttered Nua. While he was probably right, she did not like him criticize Hala’s cooking.

“I need to speak with you, Nua.”, auntie said meanwhile. “Honey. I know that you meant well. These copper spools – they’re a real treasure and I appreciate it. However… I don’t like that you put yourself in danger.”

“It’s danger all day every day.”, Nua replied. “And I’m an adult. I should be making money. I should be helping if I can.”

Hala sighed.

“Where did you really get it?”

“Rat nest…”

“Nua, please. I can recognize a lie when I hear it.”

Nua fiddled with her fingers. On her way back from the pump, she thought about other explanations, ones that were closer to the truth.

“There was an explorer.”, she finally replied. “A giant spider and an explorer. The spider ate the scrap collectors, the guy killed the spider, then he died. They were all dead when I saw them. I took the copper that he had. Figured he doesn’t need it anymore.”

Hala blinked.

“That, too, seems like a wild story.”

“It’s true! The bodies are still there, near the Lonely Guy. The scrapped goliath. The explorer had weapons, too, but I couldn’t carry all that. Also, that would be a very bad idea.”

Auntie was scratching her head.

“Right. You couldn’t probably invent that one. I’m not sure if I should be happy that you haven’t stolen from anyone to earn their wrath, or scared out of my mind because you don’t even realize how much danger you were in.”

“Oh, if I got there earlier, I’d be dead, sure thing. But I’m not.”

Auntie Hala exuded a very long and exasperated sigh.

“All right. Do you really want to help?”

Nua did not like where it was going.

“Thanks to the copper that you brought, I will go to the market to get us lentils. However, you stay here. Keep an eye on the little ones. And – “ Hala pointed to a bulging linen sack in the corner. “While I’m gone, peel the tubers.”

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Nua groaned.

“Hala, I can’t peel tubers very nicely.”

“Oh, rubbish. You can do it nicely enough. You will peel the tubers for dinner every day until the end of the week.”

“Aw, Hala! We don’t even have that many tubers!”

“I’ll find something else for you later, don’t you worry. And don’t even think of sneaking out. I won’t save a bowl for you the next time.”

“Auntie, would you really starve me? This is cruel.”

“Don’t you dare make puppy eyes at me.” Hala glared. “You need to realize that if you’re reckless, there are consequences. Stay in and peel the damned tubers.”

Nua watched her leave the house, then entertained the thought of getting out as well. After all, the kids could take care of themselves just as Nua did, and surely there was still time to peel tubers. Anki was silent. Whether he was idling, napping (were ghosts ever tired?) or whatever – in this case, she could do without his opinion.

“Peeling duty?”

Nua instinctively looked to her right, then turned around. A young man was standing at the entrance, leaning nonchalantly on his crutches. With his messy reddish hair, a teenage excuse for a beard, and a drooping left corner of his lips, at the first glance Ursan did not seem very bright. In fact, he was Hala’s most skilled helper and everyone expected him to take over the workshop one day. He was suited to the tinker’s job like no one else, better perhaps than Auntie herself. Struck with paralysis sickness in childhood, he could not walk unsupported, so he resolved to put his mind and hands to the best use.

“Oh. Hi. You’ve heard?”

“You could drop the poor child act with her, you know. She doesn’t really buy it.”

Nua glowered at him. Of course.

“She left me to do things because she knew you’ll be watching, you snitch.”

“Me? I’m honestly interested in your well-being. She’s right, you know. You shouldn’t be scavenging.”

“I’m not a scavenger. I’m an explorer.”

“It’s not a job for you. One day you’ll meet a real one, and believe me, they are greedy, murderous bastards, each one of them. You can’t trust people that make their living by slaughtering and taking stuff that does not belong to them. They only claim it’s monsters they kill.”

Nua sighed. She was past that lesson already, but she hated to agree with him.

“I don’t have much choice, you know.”, she said. “I won’t hold a decent job and they won’t take me into the gang. I don’t want to do that other thing either. Instead of money, I’d bring another baby. I can…”

She wanted to say, “I can only run”, but she stopped in time. Ursan couldn’t. No reason to rub it in.

“You have a choice.”, pointed out Ursan. “You can stay in and peel tubers.”

“Argh.”

“You can be helpful, too, you know. Hala will not make you leave. Me neither. You can stay here until you’re old and wrinkled, and you will always get your bowl.”

“I’ll be the laziest helper ever.”, she grumbled.

“I’ll cope.”, he smiled. Nua eyed him suspiciously. Was that a marriage proposal?

He continued. “I’ll make sure to marry a woman that accepts you as a sister, too.”

She didn’t expect to be that disappointed. After all, she never fancied her adopted brother, and it would be pretty awkward to reject him.

“Thanks, Ursan. You’re the best.”

“Happy to hear it. I’m going back to the workshop. And you - peel the tubers.”

“All right, all right.” Nua found a knife, then settled herself on a stool with a wastebasket nearby and a sack full of tubers.

Before she had the chance of nicking the dark bulb, Anki popped out.

“That is a fine young man.”

Nua cut into the hardened peel as if she wanted to murder the innocent tuber. The flesh was violet, and it stained her fingers. She continued to remove the thin, woody exterior with precision, just like Hala did.

“You can jump over to him, you know. He does not need special healing to be smart. Just for his legs. He would be healthy, and you would not get bored with me.”

“I’m not bored. I am watching and learning.”

“You’ll be soon enough”, she muttered. She was tapping her foot on the floor. Her fingers were starting to hurt. She did not have to be as precise as Hala, right? There was plenty of tuber left.

“I have given the oath to bestow power upon you. It is preposterous to doubt the word of an Autarch.”

Nua’s knife stuck on a tuber’s eye. After an unsuccessful attempt to gently remove the woody point, she resolved to cut it out with a generous margin.

“You know, things keep happening and I still don’t feel it’s all real. What if I was crazy and made it all up?”

“There is an easy remedy for self-doubt, which is training. Can you peel tubers and listen at the same time?”

The bulb was slowly turning square.

“You know I can’t.”

“Then finish this one and I’ll tell you the first secret of sorcery.”

Nua perked up.

“You can tell me now, and then I’ll finish.”

“Another purpose of this training is learning patience.”

“Oh, crap.”

“And the purpose of mindspeak with an Autarch such as myself”, Anki was clearly trying to set his own important limits, “Is not swearing.”