Emily, Healing Shrine, 8th rot., 1st day

I hid in my bedroom after dinner, not wanting to look at too many oversized people for my taste. Now that I was no longer perpetually exhausted, I found I had less patience to tolerate large numbers of Cosm near me.

I wanted to craft a few more musical weapons of propaganda for Coyn with divines, to spread my folk music messages throughout the kingdom. Sooner or later, those messages would make their way to the breeding camps, the more repressive holdings and the fabric sweatshops that didn't treat their Coyn well.

I was working on filking The Sound of Silence. It was so easy to make it a song about the quiet suffering of the enslaved. All I had to do was translate it into Fosk and change a handful of Paul Simon's lyrics: "The words of the prophet are written in the factory halls and bunkhouse walls, and whispered in the sound of silence." Street lamp became charm gem lamp. Neon became magic. It really was an easy song to adapt.

I was just finishing a paper copy to take to the Sassoo Shrine Coyn when I heard Lisaykos' knock pattern on my door.

"Come," I looked up from the lap desk Wolkayrs made me.

Lisaykos sat down. "You received a letter while you were gone," she handed me a rolled parchment letter. "It got to the shrine two days after the Impotuan attack. A Coyn gave it to one of the local Surd Shrine Coyn at the social hall, who gave it to one of the Sassoo Shrine Coyn, who asked a guard at the garrison to have it delivered here."

"It doesn't have a seal," I took it.

"It doesn't need one," she said with a strange look on her face.

I looked at the inscription, which read: "For Emily." Below, the writing continued in English in the Latin alphabet: "Wherever I may find her."

I almost dropped the letter. I don't know how long I stared at it. What Galt had implied was true. It was his handwriting, and the inscription was the title of our song. Tom was alive. Tom knew I was here.

I unrolled it as fast as I could and saw the entirety of the Simon and Garfunkle words. Then at the bottom, he wrote: "By this Paul Simon piece, you will know that it is me if you are my Emily. I come to Aybhas from time to time on business for the holding where I live. I have obtained my own guitar. A Coyn can't climb the steps to the main shrine or I would visit the garden under your window on the south wing and play the songs that I know you love, including our song. So if your captors ever let you out, come to the social hall for Coyn by the Chapel Shrine of Surd in the northeast quarter. I will play there when I come to town. I do not know if you still love me but I believe I still love the lover you once were. Even if you do not love me anymore, we should talk."

He signed it with a drawing of a tom tom drum with old-fashioned rope tensioners. It was the same stupid drawing he always used to sign his letters.

"Where is the social hall for Coyn in the northeast quarter?" I looked up and realized tears were falling unbidden from my eyes.

Lisaykos was ready. She handed me a kerchief, "I've been doing some landscaping down in the gardens. The east side of the garden is now reserved for Coyn only, from dawn until the first quarter night bell, on days two through four and days six through nine every rotation. I had a smooth pathway built up to the garden level with no steps. It starts at the alley on the east of the north market. The garrison enforces who can enter so no Cosm can disturb the smaller visitors. I opened it up three rotations ago. It's very popular. I made sure there's a Coyn-height bench seat within earshot of your bedroom window.

"If you want to go to the social hall, I suggest you go with someone like Oytwee or one of your other acquaintances from the Shrine of Sassoo," Lisaykos said gently. "It can be a little rough down there at times. The Sassoo Coyn often play there too, so you could just attach yourself to one of their playing ensembles."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I nodded my head yes, a little too overwhelmed to speak.

"So, should I leave you be, or do you want company, or are you too flustered to know what you want at the moment?"

I nodded my head.

"Well, which is it?" she asked gently.

I nodded my head.

She laughed, moved my lap desk out of the way, and picked me up without asking. I ended up in the blanket in Lisaykos' lap on her armchair. That damn oversized floof monster Eskurt ended up draped across my lap, so I was sandwiched in place between the two of them. I had to admit it was warm and comfortable, not that I would ever admit that out loud to anyone. I was embarrassed that at my relative age, I enjoyed some lap time like any little kid. Nobody here but us prickly, self-sufficient, grumpy, wild Coyn.

Lisaykos prodded me into telling her about dinner at Spenger's with Galt and how it recalled my last night with Tom and living in New York with him, and watching him create his beautiful urbanscape paintings. I eventually talked myself out and fell asleep.

- - -

Usruldes, Lord Kas' attic , 8th rot., 3rd day

According to Wraith Frog, Priestess Healer Kayseo let herself into Emily's room in riding clothes and a cloak. She woke Emily an eighth before the first-day bell. Emily got into riding clothes and a cloak. The two carried a packed saddle bag to the balcony. Kayseo gave the visible wraith on balcony duty a note to put on Lisaylos' work table. Asgotl appeared with other saddle bags already packed and attached. Kayseo and Emily got on and the three flew off to the northwest.

I learned a lesson from this episode. I need someone with superior mindcasting on an eagle to shadow Emily when she takes off with Asgotl. That girl is a headache and a handful. I just hope she doesn't decide to follow through on her talk about world travel.

When my mother contacted me, I was in the crawl space above Lord Us'sayyos haup Kas' study, reading his correspondence by clairvoyance. He and Lord Yutsayyax haup Yuxvos were the two lord holders left who were the most invested in the Coyn slavery system. Imstay wanted as much intelligence as I could gather about, well, everything concerning them and their affairs. Imstay needed to know what could coerce them into freeing their slaves without rebelling; or if they did rebel, what their connections and assets were for fielding a military force.

At the same time, I was working on developing new assets in the Coyn community, such as it was. I already had some of the Coyn of the Queen's Villa working for me. The Queen's Coyn were already liberated from control gems. We had known that for years. The Villa Coyn had simple charms gems of identity which mimicked the appearance of control gems. Imstay had never tried to prevent the Queen from removing the control gems from her Coyn. He knew he couldn't force her to do that or anything else she disagreed with.

But I digress. My mother contacted me as I was trying to puzzle out where Lord Kas had his breeding farm. It was obvious from his ledgers that he was feeding more Coyn than he had on his property rolls. I dropped that fruitful pursuit to hear what my mother had to say since she would never contact me for anything trivial.

Once again, I was left in awe of my mother's power as a mage. Now that she had learned the feel of my adult aura, she could find me within 25 wagon-days despite my charms of shadows and misdirection.

*Irhessa?*

*I am here, Mother.*

*Your wraiths just interrupted my shower to tell me Emily, Asgotl and Kayseo have just snuck out of the shrine and they don't have an eagle assigned to chase after them. I offered Hekees but they asked me to contact you instead since I can find you faster than they can. The three of them went northwest toward the Great Cracks. Your wraiths thought you might know where they're going.*

*Northwest? Emily has Kayseo with her. They will be going to the hot springs.*

*Is it possible for you to check up on them? You know where they are going. Your staff has now lost track of them.*

*Mother, dear, please consider what you are asking. A married man in his thirties should not be checking up on two post-puberty girls who will not be wearing anything while soaking in those hot springs. I just can't do that. Please don't ask me to.*

* … * Mother paused. I could feel her thoughts churning from the other side of the kingdom.

*Mother, Emily's got Asgotl and Kayseo with her. Nothing is going to happen to them. They will cross the Great Cracks and Emily knows all the safe routes. They will have a soak, maybe poke around the mines or the cave, and then they fly home for dinner. What could possibly happen?*

- - -