“-and then she went into the Luzhijia!” Kyla finished, looking from Lianhua to Yingtao. They were standing in the human hut, with no one else around, but as soon as Kyla started talking, both females became serious, and Lianhua used her sound suppression rune.

Yingtao’s calm mask was back in place, so she only gave a thoughtful frown, but Lianhua shook her head. “Luzhijia?” Lianhua’s fingers twitched as if she was holding a pen, and she said, “What are the runes for that? I’m beginning to think you kobolds actually pronounce ancient Diushi better than we do, but the differences make it difficult to know which rune to use for which sound, which also makes it hard to come to a logical conclusion about a word’s meaning. Is that ‘lu’, as in house, or ‘lou’ as in a girl’s bonnet? Or is it-?”

“It’s where the Master - Qiangde, I guess - and the Voice used to pass down commands that all the tribes had to follow. The Voice could speak to any of us at any time, but when the chiefs were called to the Luzhijia, the commands were to be obeyed instantly and without question, with no exceptions,” Kyla told her impatiently. “The great chiefs still go there to deliberate on issues that affect more than one great tribe.”

“Oh!” Lianhua said, eyes brightening. “So you do have some legislative process. Are all the chiefs equal, or do they have more say in final decisions depending on how large their tribe is, or maybe how much territory they control? Or perhaps how many subsidiary tribes they have?”

Kyla let Lianhua finish asking her questions and then ignored them all. Maybe she’d come back to them later, when they weren’t in the middle of an important conversation that had nothing to do with anything the other female had asked.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kyla said, “The only people allowed in the Luzhijia are the great chiefs and their heirs. Shom is the greatest living smith, but she’s not a chief. She’s barely even a member of a tribe.” As she said it, Kyla was startled to realize it was true. “She lives alone in a hut near the forges, which is Mithrilblade territory. She’s technically a Mithrilblade, I think, but she never goes to their den. When anyone wants to talk to her, they have to go to her.”

“Even the great chiefs?” Yingtao asked.

Kyla nodded. “The Magmablades are supposed to tend the forges, so we can handle the heat better than almost anyone else, but the Mithrilblades produce the actual smiths, so they’ve just been taking care of everything since we were reduced to being a normal tribe. At least for the most part,” she added, thinking of a few times Vega had taken the broken Magmablade and vanished, sometimes for a few days. Those had been good days for everyone, and even Kyla hadn’t really thought about where the chief had gone. They were simply glad Vega wasn’t there.

“Anyway,” Kyla hurried on, “sometimes when I- I would spend time near the forges, because the heat kept almost everyone else away. Eventually, I realized that Shom knew I was there, but she never spoke to me until I tried following her to the magma forge. Then she almost bit my ear off and told me never to go there again, because only the strongest Magmablades could handle the heat.”

“So you’re friends with this Shom?” Lianhua asked.

Kyla grimaced. “Not…exactly. I don’t think Shom has friends. But sometimes she would show me what she was working on. She’s usually making several things at once, and stops when she gets bored or stuck. It can take years for her to finish a project, but no one ever tries to force her to move faster. I once heard her tell Idla she wouldn’t make something, though I don’t know what it was. I thought she got away with it because she’s a Mithrilblade, not a Goldblade, but now I’m not so sure.”

Lianhua’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she flicked a glance at Yingtao before saying, “Would it be possible for us to meet Shom? I was thinking I might like to order a custom weapon before we leave, but at this point, I just want to speak with her.”

Kyla’s ears went flat, and her fingers rose to the necklace around her throat. Its weight still felt strange, and she was rapidly developing a habit of playing with the dangling coins. “I can ask, but if Shom doesn’t want to talk, she just won’t be there when we arrive.”

Pale brows lifted. “Even if she knows we’re coming? We could make an appointment.”

Snorting, Kyla said, “Maybe especially if she knows we’re coming. She talks to the chiefs, but whenever anyone else goes out there, she’s nowhere to be found.”

“She really doesn’t like visitors, does she?” Yingtao murmured.

“Then what if we don’t tell anyone?” Lianhua asked, and Kyla felt a little thrill, followed by worry that made her tail curl against her legs.

“I’m supposed to be an adult now,” Kyla said. “And soon the chiefs will select a liaison to the humans. The fact that you’ve said Holliander wants me will bear some weight, and I think Avli will choose me, as will Gram. That leaves Idla and Tisdi, but Idla hates Magmablades. Now I wish we’d waited until Reina and the others were ready to go. It would have taken longer, but with a princess here, not even Idla could easily reject her choice. I can’t do anything that would give Idla any more reason to refuse me.”

Lianhua’s expression softened, and she reached out as if to pat Kyla on the head, then drew her hand back. “It’s hard to be grown up, isn’t it? Well, can you tell us how to reach Shom’s home, then?”

Kyla tugged harder at her necklace, grateful that Ija had made it from a strong chain, rather than the usual leather cord. Leather snapped easily, which could keep a kobold alive in a claw-to-claw fight, but it wasn’t strong enough for all the metal objects Kyla had brought back. Fortunately, Kyla didn’t plan to get in any fights where someone could strangle her with her own necklace, because this one looked so much prettier than a strip of leather, no matter what color you dyed it.

“I’ll take you,” she said finally. “But I’ll have to stay hidden, and you can’t tell anyone I guided you there without getting permission first. Idla’s very particular about things like that, and she’ll say I can’t be trusted to get approval before making decisions.”

One corner of Yingtao’s mouth twitched. “Can you be trusted to get approval first?”

“Of course not,” Kyla said, “but Idla doesn’t need to know that. At least not yet.”

Both humans laughed softly, and Lianhua said, “Now is as good a time as any.” She brushed her hands together, wiping away the rune keeping their words unintelligible to outside ears, then said, “Chi?”

The dark warrior dropped from the air right next to the entrance to Mei’s nest. He instantly fell to one knee, resting one fist on the ground. “My lady?”

To Kyla’s absolute shock, Lianhua marched forward and flicked Chi Yincang between the eyes. He reared back, black eyes going wide, and then something that could only be called a grin flickered across his face. He stood, towering over the smaller human, and gave a short bow. “Li-xiao?”

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“That’s better,” Lianhua said. “You’ve known me half my life. Don’t ‘my lady’ me, at least in private. Especially not now that Grandfather has accepted my relationship with your sister.”

Chi Yincang’s eyes went to Kyla, and Lianhua sighed, though her cheeks were a bit pink. “Kyla’s not going to use your affection for me as a weapon. In fact, no one will, now that I’m not the Flower of the Long Clan and the Fairy of the Zhe Sect anymore.”

Kyla didn’t understand what the two were talking about, but she nodded. She had no interest in using any kind of weapon against Chi Yincang, ever. He was even more frightening than Yingtao and Elder Long, at least now that Baihe was there to keep Elder Long from using his ki to squash her flat. She still remembered being inside the tent when the old male had tried to overwhelm Kaz with his ki, and Kyla had struggled to simply draw breath. If Lianhua and Yingtao hadn’t been there to reassure her, she might have run off that night and tried to make her way back into the mountain alone.

Chi Yincang showed no visible reaction to Lianhua’s words, but he said, “What do you need? And don’t ask me to stay here while you wander off to see this smith.”

Lianhua grimaced, and Kyla guessed that was exactly what she was about to tell him to do, but it also could have been a reaction to Chi Yincang’s tacit acknowledgement that he had a way to listen past Lianhua’s runes. “Someone has to watch the house to make sure no one comes in to ambush us. And we can’t leave Mei and the babies alone.”

Now there was a definite shift in Chi Yincang’s expression, but Kyla had no idea what it meant. He half-turned, glancing back as if to make sure Mei and her pups were still in their nest. They were - Kyla could hear the greedy pups squeaking as they rooted for milk - and Chi Yincang murmured something even Kyla couldn’t hear before turning back to Lianhua.

“Take Yingtao and Raff,” he said, “and wear your amulet,” he said, as if he was the female, and Lianhua the guard.

Lianhua smiled and bowed slightly. “As you say.” Chi Yincang sighed, then jumped up, vanishing as soon as both feet left the floor. Turning back to Kyla, Lianhua said, “How do we do this?”

Kyla blinked, then tugged at her necklace again. “You always know where Chi Yincang is, don’t you?”

Lianhua hesitated, then said, “I do.”

“Can you sense me as well? Even when I’m hidden?” Kyla knew Kaz could actually see ki, but she’d long suspected Lianhua could do something similar. The other female was never properly surprised when Kyla appeared and disappeared, and it wasn’t just that she was good at controlling her reactions, like Yingtao.

“I…can,” Lianhua said, and Kyla’s tail wagged.

“This will be easy, then. We’ll get Raff, and then you’ll go look around the city. Follow the road between the Mithrilblade section and the old Magmablade section until you come to the gate. You’ll have to figure out how to get out without anyone seeing you. I’ll make sure I’m seen somewhere else, but I’ll meet you there and guide you the rest of the way,” Kyla said, already getting the thrill that came only from creeping around somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be, knowing that if she got caught she would be in trouble.

Lianhua nodded, and Kyla recognized a bit of that same excitement in the amethyst eyes. Well, Lianhua mostly kept her explorations to old books and forgotten places, but she had to have some of the same curiosity and spirit of exploration as Kyla in order to have tracked down a race everyone else believed was lost, and then actually come here to find them.

“All right,” Kyla said, but instead of turning to open the door that was right behind her, she instead headed straight for Mei’s room. And did she only imagine it, or did she brush against something invisible as she leaned in to look at the fuergar?

“Mei,” Kyla said softly, “I’m going to be gone for a while. I promise to bring you back some good ore and meat.”

Mei opened one eye, and she already had the slightly overwhelmed look Kyla had seen on the faces of other first-time parents. She squeaked, using a paw to shift one of her pups back into place after it managed to wiggle itself onto its back, crying pitifully.

“I know, but I think this is important. There’s something going on that we need to figure out. It may even help-” Kyla didn’t want to say Kaz’s name, so she changed it to, “It may help my cousin.” Whenever he shows up, she thought, not willing to admit even to herself that she was beginning to worry about him. He had a whole mountain to travel through, and even if he’d said he would reach the Deep before her, she’d always known he wouldn’t succeed, so it wasn’t like she was surprised.

Mei stared up at her, then closed her eye and laid her head back down with a tiny sigh. Kyla took that as understanding and backed up, turning to look at Lianhua and Yingtao, who were watching her with matching expressions of startled amusement.

Kyla didn’t even bother to try explaining her need to talk to Mei, and just headed for the exit, only to stop again when a hard knock rattled the yumi-reed door in its frame. She took a deep sniff, identifying the scent of the visitor just before he spoke.

“Oi, Lianhua,” Raff said. “You an’ Yingtao in there?”

Kyla gave the human a welcoming yip, then opened the door, staring up and up and up. Somehow Raff looked even taller now that they were back in the mountain and he was so over-sized for everything around them. Even the human hut seemed to have been built for people Lianhua’s size, and Yingtao could barely stand upright in it. It probably would have burst if Raff tried to shove his body into it along with everyone else.

“Hey, kid,” the huge male said, reaching down to ruffle the fur on top of Kyla’s head. “Is Lian- Oh, there you are.” He grinned at Lianhua, nodded to Yingtao, and then turned back to Kyla. “I’m glad you’re here, actually. I was wonderin’ if Mei had her babies yet.”

Kyla quickly filled him in on the size, number, and adorability of the pups, after which Raff ran his hand over his rapidly regrowing hair and eyed the door. “I don’t often wish I was smaller,” he said, “but I’d like to see ‘em. Still, I reckon they’ll be up and runnin’ soon, being rodents and all. Plus, I’m always afraid I’ll accidentally squish newborns.”

“You give yourself too little credit,” Yingtao said, stepping forward so both Raff and Kyla had to move out of the doorway. This left space for Lianhua, who exited the hut and closed the door firmly behind her. Tracing a rune in the air, she tapped the door, which jumped slightly beneath her touch, making Kyla’s eyes widen. Had Lianhua used power on the door? Was it a trap, or just a lock? How would Chi Yincang get out if he needed to? Turning back to the others, Lianhua closed one eye at Kyla in what she now knew was a wink.

“Yingtao and I just decided to go for a walk around the city,” Lianhua said a little too loudly. “Would you care to join us, Raff?”

Raff nodded instantly. “Gotta say I thought comin’ back here would be a lot more exciting. I mean, there was Kyla’s party, but otherwise it’s just a lot of waiting. That was the other reason I came over. I figured I should check with Kyla and make sure it was okay to wander around a bit, since she’s the liaison an’ all.” This time it was his turn to speak louder than necessary, and then he winked at her, too.

Certain now that there was something going on with the humans, but unable to ask them what now that they were outside, Kyla just said, “It should be fine as long as you remain in the city.” She pointed. “The chaoxue is that way. It’s in the middle of the city, and from there you can go anywhere. Just don’t enter the large building. That’s the Luzhijia, and no one is allowed in there.”

“Oh, aren’t you going to guide us?” Lianhua asked, looking almost surprised, but not quite. Fortunately, Kyla didn’t think any other kobolds could read human faces as well as she could, so if anyone was actually listening to them - which was entirely possible, even if it was just one of Idla’s people - they wouldn’t know how bad Lianhua was at pretending.

“I’m going to go visit Aunt Sika,” Kyla said, quickly trying to think of someone besides Ija or Rudu. Those two would be all too pleased to see her, but Kyla wouldn’t be able to slip away again without being noticed. Aunt Sika, on the other paw, was always distracted by one puppy or another, so Kyla could make sure she was seen there, then vanish while Sika nipped Shoc’s ear or made Vrak share the toys. “You’ll be fine without me.”

Raff opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped as Yingtao’s elbow somehow ended up in his ribs. He rubbed the spot with a grimace and shrugged. “Have fun then, kiddo.” He offered his latest yip, which sounded more like he was calling for help than saying goodbye, and Kyla carefully repeated it back to him, only correctly. She appreciated that he was trying, but he was really terrible at hearing the subtle differences in yips and yelps.

She exchanged one more look with Lianhua, who gave a little wave, and then Kyla was off, ready to make sure she was very obviously elsewhere while the humans were potentially getting into trouble.