“So you understand my desperation?”

Lanet answered him with a strained smile. Lord Glove had learned this was how Lanet replied to most things.

“Lord Glove, I see you fear for your infrastructure, but she is my daughter. She is infinitely more valuable.”

“Please, Lanet. She has said she is willing. Î will be safe in my care.”

Î looked up at him and smiled, and then looked over at Lanet. Lord Glove wondered what she was thinking. He’d managed to clean her dress the same night he’d carried her out of the kineser’s workshop. The poor maiden child hadn’t even realized it was possible. She’d been smiling at him ever since. Lanet was right, however. A girl needed her father more than she needed pretty dresses. Lord Glove would never have considered hiring Î if his need wasn’t so great.

Lord Glove met Lanet’s gaze. The Peaceseeker was a mystery. He appeared weak, but there was some iron in the way he stared at Lord Glove, in the way he sometimes spoke. It entered his voice now.

“I have decided. Think on the meanings of what words you have uttered Lord Glove. Think on them well. I’ll leave her to you, but for a different cause. The life of a Peaceseeker is hard on a young girl. She hardly talks to anyone, but she talked to that wall,” Lanet’s watery eyes filled with pain, “She needs friends. It would do her good to settle. For a while at least.”

Lord Glove felt as if a great burden had settled on his shoulders, despite the boon Î would be to his dom. “Thank you. We’ll look after her.”

Lanet bent down and hugged his daughter.

“Î will miss you,” he said with a wink.

“Yep she will,” replied Î, “Bye Lanet!” Tears began to form in her eyes.

“Promise me you will obey Lord Glove.”

“I will!”

“And promise me you will never cut your hair,” Lanet smiled sadly, “you are too beautiful.”

Î nodded, lip quivering.

Lanet kissed his fingertips and then placed them on her forehead, “Farewell. I’ll see my peaceseeking takes me your way on occasion.”

Lanet walked down to the river, past Treacle and Treant at the border, and over to the empresses tree where Verse was already partially incased in bark. Lanet dropped his staff to the ground and bowed to her like a knight in court. Lord Glove could just make out his words and they gnawed at his heart.

“May my daughter honour you and your legacy.”

Lord Glove was terrified Î would do exactly that. He doubted anyone else heard Lanet, but he walked over to his guards to disguise his reaction nonetheless. It wouldn’t do for Î to see him looking so unsure moments after she entered his care.

His guards were unaware of his approach.

“Not much of a father, eh?” Treant muttered at Lanet’s receding back, “Abandoning his child…” he shook his head, “She must be half out of her mind from fright.”

Treacle clutched his spear, “She’s a braver one than I. Went into the kineser’s abode without Lord Glove. Little maiden child made it all the way down those step alone.”

Treant let out a low whistle, “Hope we don’t have to guard her. Maybe Grady’ll get the job.”

“Naw, saw him with Matt. The two have already drunk enough between them to tip a field of cows.”

Lord Glove coughed. The two men turned, startled.

“I’ll have none of that. Î needs every encouragement if she is to succeed,” he grinned to dull his words, “Go join Matt and Grady, I already assigned Gar to the shack.”

The two men stammered out a mix of thanks and self-admonishment then rushed off to join their fellows. Lord Glove shook his head. Everyone in his dom was as afraid of the workshop as he was. The thought made him smile, but he wasn’t sure why. Maybe because it was such a silly thing to be afraid of, or maybe because it meant he wasn’t alone. He walked back to Î, still smiling. He studied her as he walked. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the patterns on her dress were not random. In fact…

“Are you looking at the symbols of strength?” Î asked.

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Lord Glove raised his eyebrows, surprised, “Emet taught you the runes already?”

“No.”

His eyes twinkled, she didn’t even consider her extraordinary knowledge to be unusual, “Then how—”

“Lanet taught me some of the old symbols when I was little. I recognized the symbol for strength on the door, and then Emet pointed out it was also on my dress.”

She pointed to several of the strength runes on her dress. Lord Glove wondered if Emet had told her what the other symbols meant. Her dress was a work of kinesic art. If Lanet knew the symbols and hadn’t told Î about her dress… He was a far more dangerous man than he appeared. Lord Glove would have to investigate it later. He kept his thoughts from his face, instead squatting down to Î’s level.

His mouth became serious, though his eyes continued to twinkle, “We have but forty-four days left. What else has Emet taught you?”

Î took a deep breath, “I am to be kineser so I can restore the runes, but I don’t know how to do that. Emet said she would show me when my training began. Um… we don’t have enough time for Emet to teach me everything, so I’m going to have to figure a lot out on my own after she is gone. She didn’t say where she is going. Emet said she’ll only talk to me or you. And she said there is a list of important things which will break unless I fix them in time. The bridge, the keep, the road, ummm, the sewer, and… I can’t remember if there was more.”

Lord Glove smiled, “You’re a wonder. Glovedom may have a chance.”

“Chance of what?”

He wasn’t sure how to explain it to her, “Surviving economic collapse. Our…infrastructure—the places you named—they require constant maintenance. Without a kineser’s touch they will all fail.”

Î nodded, but Lord Glove didn’t think she understood. He tried again.

“You see that watchtower over there?”

Î nodded.

“Have you ever seen other watchtowers?” he asked.

“Yeah. They looked different though.”

“How so?”

Î pressed her palm against her forehead. Lord Glove took this to mean she was thinking. “Um… They were wider.”

Lord Glove nodded to encourage her, “Were they wider all over?”

Î shook her head, “No. Just the ladder.”

“Exactly, well done,” Lord Glove said. Î smiled at him.

“The Glovedom Watchtower is different from every other watchtower in Ganter,” he said, “for it is supported entirely by its ladder. It looks rather precarious doesn’t it?”

“What’s precarious?”

Lord Glove had to remind himself that, for all Î’s similarities to Rebeka, he was still dealing with a girl. Rebeka had been ten years older when she had first come to him, and more set in her ways. Î’s youth was an impediment, but it could also be his salvation. He could steer her, shape her, make sure she never followed in Rebeka’s footsteps.

“It means it looks dangerous. Like it could fall over at any second.”

“Oh.” Î nodded again.

“Well, it’s your job to make sure that never happens. Come, I’ll show you how it works.”

Lord Glove led her to the ladder and knelt at its base. The spring rains had covered it in dust. He blew it away. A small cloud of dust rose up and tickled his nose, making him sneeze. This resulted in a larger cloud, which caused him to sneeze again. Î laughed at him. Lord Glove couldn’t help but join in. Once he started he found he couldn’t stop. His chuckle deepened to a great booming laugh, which set Î off further. Lord Glove enjoyed the sound of his own laughter so much he wondered why he didn’t laugh more often. He knew there was something which usually held him back, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember what.

Eventually, their laughter subsided. Lord Glove shook his head in wonder. There weren’t enough girls in his life. He was going to enjoy having Î around.

“Ready to continue?” he asked her. He pointed to the base of the ladder. The dust had concealed a large block of stone, set in the earth. A continuous band of runes had been carved into its surface.

Î nodded. Lord Glove wondered if she’d learned to be quiet from Lanet. Peaceseeking tended to be an introspect affair.

“You see these runes? Good. If you look closely at the pole you’ll see an identical band of runes etched into the wood above the stone. Do you recognize them?”

Î studied the runes. “It says ‘bind’, right? You can’t write it one paper because it’s a circle. Lanet had to show me it on his arm,” Î giggled, “and then he couldn’t get the ink off!”

Lord Glove grinned at her, “There is a similar pair of runes atop the ladder. When Bind is matched with its mirror by a kineser the two objects bearing the runes may be linked. They become nearly impossible to separate.” Lord Glove patted the runes, “This ladder is more secure than if we had found a way to sink it into the stone itself.

“However, that doesn’t mean we use them everywhere. Bindings allow us to cut corners, but, unlike nails and glue, they wear off. A kineser must refresh the binding every forty-nine months or the magic will stop working. That’s seven times seven months in kineser speak,” he bit his lip ruefully, “You’ll be sick of the number seven before you’re done training.”

Lord Glove stood and dusted off his knees.

“So that’s what you’ll be doing. Refreshing these runes and others.”

“Like the one on your door?” Î asked.

Lord Glove nodded, “That one is going to be low priority. The light is convenient, but I’d rather not have this,” he pointed to the watchtower, “come falling down on our heads.”

“W-what’s priority?” Î yawned.

It was getting late, at least for a little maiden child.

“We can talk about all this tomorrow,” Lord Glove said, “Better yet, Emet can tell you. Let’s get you to bed.”

“Where am I staying?”

Lord Glove thought about it.

“Verse’s will is for the new kineser to inherit all she owned. You could have her entire house to yourself if you wanted,” at the stricken look on Î’s face, Lord Glove added, “But you could stay with me in the keep. I’m often gone, but there’s people around and I’ll stop by to chat. How’s that sound for now?”

“Good.”

“It’s settled. Come with me. We’ll find you a room.