Azosta and Limist returned from Shibanyet wearing proper vrash armour again, and jewellery besides. "Well, we couldn't carry a chest of coin," Limist said when Aleicree asked about it, "So we converted the surplus from selling the catch into something easier to carry."

Contrary to Aleicree's expectation that the first settlers in Nidrio would live in summoned homes, the two of them were to be living out of one of Taisach's guest rooms for a while.

They set about busily planning a pumphouse by the lake and a series of underground tunnels. If they could build underground without cutting swathes through the trees above, that made Aleicree wonder how much of the theome's development would end up underground. "Building underground might help Praoziu spare the surface more effectively," zie said that evening at dinner, setting off a round of interested agreement.

Building underground had risks and difficulties, but nothing that couldn't be overcome with a land god's support.

The last days dragged. Aleicree hadn't brought another book with zir. Zie spent more time ranging the forest with Taisach, and he seemed glad enough to show zir things, though zie was no use to him. Zie also spent more time catching up on letter-writing. There was actually quite a lot of it to do, because zie was serious about giving up being a seagon, and needed to update everyone who might want to send zir a letter that the post-box in Griolor would now be the sole and correct address. There was no postal service to Nidrio itself yet; a day-flight to and from Griolor to pick up mail was fine, though eventually zie might move to a closer post-box in Zyrine or Denxalue. All these minor letters taxed Aleicree's memory of who zie'd corresponded with over the years, and zie couldn't actually complete the task. Zie just couldn't remember everyone. Zie'd need to go back to the Serene Chordalite and re-read zir chest of stashed letters to pick up on all the old correspondences and update everyone about zir change of address.

Zie owed Captain Kagnir a few more circuits to reward him for the generosity of letting zir go on vacation at all, but zie would warn him as soon as zie got back that zie didn't want to stay a seagon. Each circuit of Tachamund was a little less than two months... maybe three more circuits? That'd be an additional six months of service to Kagnir as a windmage.

Zie wrote to Vrekant as well. Zie told him to stop tracking the voyages of the Serene Chordalite and just send his post to the post-box in Griolor. And then... "Last month was life-changing. A few of the farmergons who live and work near you are very intelligent dragons. I had thought in the Griolor Wind Magic Academy that I would want to be a-sailing forever, but then I had been studying wind magic surrounded by brilliant peers. The seagons weren't up to that mark! Even a few contacts with dragons who could share my love of books has ruined me for returning to Captain Kagnir. I think you made the better career decision for happiness' sake, even though I believe I've earned more in coin since we parted ways after academy."

A brief letter was authored to Rhis as well. This was zir first-ever letter to Rhis, and zie was excited to write one! "I miss you already," Aleicree wrote. "Send me lots of letters, if a planter's pay permits the postage. I hope you aren't suffering too much from the backlash from the wolejerrup's spells. I believe Praoziu likes you and you're welcome in Nidrio any time."

Fiata and Ardent both got brief letters, though zie wasn't sure they would want to correspond going forward. Zie wanted to open the door to such correspondence by telling them about zir post-box in Griolor. Likely neither of them would want to pay postage fees, but zie also extended the offer to visit any time, and said this wasn't the last time zie would go to Sorjek zirself.

On the evening of the 51st day since Aleicree had asked for a vacation, when on the next day zie would have to fly back to Griolor to resume service with the Serene Chordalite, Taisach knocked on the door of the guest room zie was staying in. "H'lo Allay," he said when zie opened the door for him. "You've been spending so much time in your room. I feel we've been failing as hosts."

"You've shown me all over Nidrio in the day," Aleicree reassured him with a nuzzle.

"And you've hardly taken an interest," said Taisach with his head low.

Aleicree wrapped zir wings about him. "I'm not the most nature-seeking dragon, I'm sorry..." zie murmured.

"Haaah... Neither was Denziu, and Taltios moved away," said Taisach, but he smiled at the hug. The two stepped back, and he kept talking. "Poor Praoziu. I think she would have rather had a family of forest rangers living in these hills. Now she's going to have to build a city just to lure back her children."

"Oh? Is she trying to lure us back?" asked Aleicree.

Taisach nodded. "That and keep you happy. I don't think your return will stop the city, because she knows you won't love the forest without a library in it. She needs to bring in enough dragons to support a scribegon... and no matter what Azosta says, I think she'll supply another lev-i-quill. Or you will."

Aleicree's eyes widened just a hair, and zir head lifted. "You think I'll start enchanting items?"

"We don't know," Taisach said. "Praoziu is still healing invisible injuries on you from the time you spent meditating with Rhis. That was your first-ever excursion off the Fated path. If you pursue this, we don't know what will become of you."

Zie thought of Denziu, who had come back from zir journey on the Tachanigh-Kelkaith with reports of having experienced a necromantic vigour spell near-daily on the journey out, and said, "Denziu has been toying with necromancy, too. Is Nidrio going to become a necromantic theome?"

Taisach said, "We're not going that far, but I know Denziu's looking into the trade in necromantic enchantments. Praoziu's excited. Nidrio didn't have much of a Fate to any augury, but now that you two are experimenting with fate-breaking spells, those auguries are turning into rubbish. Something better than was Fated may arise here."

"Hey, Dad?" asked Aleicree, pitching zir voice down. "Why did Nidrio have a bad Fate?"

Taisach was quiet for a moment, then turned away. "Because Praoziu agreed to a bad role. Theoma needs a lot of wild theomes. I don't understand why, but it's very important to the land gods. Building here breaks a lot of agreements that were written into Fate a thousand years ago." He started walking down the hall.

Aleicree hurried after. "Are the other land gods going to be against us?"

"It's complicated, but... not necessarily. I think they like Denziu. You might be a little less popular. You've already set in motion some challenges." They came out into the open room near the garden, with its big glass walls looking out. "You should talk about that with Rhis. He'll know more than I do about what challenges necromancers face from their activity."

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"Am I really... just going to be a necromancer?" Aleicree dropped to all fours in shyness.

Taisach paused a moment and nudged at Aleicree, trying to lift zir stance. "I think you're Praoziu's first court necromancer, the very dragon she needs to break Nidrio's bad Fate. Isn't that exciting?"

"I just wanna read books," mumbled Aleicree, blushing.

Taisach said, "Well, you'll have an excuse to read a lot of them. Now let's go have dinner, Praoziu sent me to fetch you. Not that I mind talking."

Aleicree stood sharply upright, mortified. "You mean we kept everyone waiting around the dinner table?"

Taisach laughed and led on.

The next morning, Aleicree woke to an irresistible compulsion to go directly to the dining room, and zie smelled cooked liver and heartmeats as zie approached. Foregoing anything otherworldly, but still using her food-summoning talents, Praoziu had filled every place at the table with a rich breakfast of meat fried in butter with onions.

The compulsion had clearly been a summoning via Fate. Aleicree could have resisted had zie any reason to do so, but it was just the same as the pressure in Shibanyet to wake up at the same time as everyone else. Indeed, that applied here as well, for within a three minute span there arrived Limist, Azosta, and Taisach.

Oddly, there were six places prepared. If one place was for Praoziu, who was their sixth visitor? Then, to Aleicree's shock, two more dragons appeared. Taltios with zir spouse, Grazil. They approached the table together. None of the places were for Praoziu; they had unexpected guests.

"Taltios!" Aleicree said, rushing over to the great brute of a vashael. Red-scaled Taltios fairly loomed with zir muscular build and zir vrash-like coat of armour. Zir curling horns and large fins contributed to the look, but Aleicree had grown up with Taltios and was used to this sight. The two embraced by the table, and Aleicree took the place next to Taltios.

"It's good to see you again," said Taltios, zir voice deep. "We couldn't leave our dear beasts to suffer alone, but fortunately they've recovered this week! And it looks like we've arrived in time for an excellent breakfast." Taltios speared a piece of heart and ate it.

Zie looked across the table at Grazil. Grazil was a stout grey vrash who wore black iron armour that looked excessively weighty. She looked back at Aleicree with violet eyes. The blacksmith's daughter, Aleicree thought, remembering letters with Taltios.

Grazil broke their gaze to focus on the meal in front of her. She ate heartily, befitting her build and the richness of the food. Right, thought Aleicree. Taltios said she doesn't talk much... Aleicree wondered at the relationship between the boisterous Taltios and the quiet Grazil.

Aleicree picked at the meat in front of zir. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, zie said to Praoziu, "This is a good send-off meal. Thank you for this."

"Someday, you will learn to summon food as well," said Praoziu. "It has a price, but the price is paid in regenerative resources."

"Oho!" said Taltios, nudging Aleicree. "Back to studying magic again, are you? Who's gonna keep the ships swift?"

Aleicree blushed. "There are other vashael... Windmage is not too hard a job."

Azosta looked away at the discussion of magic. He ate with reluctant hunger. The platter of meat before him was too good to be disgusted at.

Limist nudged at Azosta and gestured across the table at Taltios and Grazil. He said, "So who's this? We haven't been introduced."

Taisach gestured with a wing towards the two. "This is Taltios, the bulkiest of my children, and his spouse Grazil." He looked towards Grazil and said, "Grazil, we don't see you much! Welcome to my house."

"You'll forgive me, I hope. I don't know what to say with a land god at the table," said Grazil.

Praoziu's ears twitched. "Baggil watches over you, you know."

Grazil dipped her head. "It's not the same."

Taisach looked between Grazil and Limist, then said to Grazil, "I used to be the same way, then I met Praoziu. If we hadn't struck up a relationship before I knew she was a land god, it never would've worked."

Praoziu said, "Sometimes I wonder if I should hide that I'm a land god to make guests more comfortable. But then, I'd be stuck serving far worse meals to my family." She tapped a cloven hoof upon the table.

That inspired another round of praise from the dragons at the table, but Aleicree thought instead, There were some memorably bad pastries... Guiltily, Aleicree tried to shut the thought down, but it had its own momentum and finished, the morning we discussed precognition. Zie knew that Praoziu would overhear the thought, but there was no sign of acknowledgement from Praoziu this time.

Grazil and Taltios cleared their plates first. Taltios sat tall, looking across the table to Praoziu as zie asked, "Would it be too rude to ask for seconds?"

"Of course not," Praoziu said, and more meat appeared in front of the two.

"Free is a great price point," said Taltios as he dug in.

Azosta sighed. "Be glad summoned meat isn't more common. Livestock farming wouldn't be worth much," he said.

"Nonsense!" said Taltios. "Summoned meats will never be common enough to swamp the meat market!"

"They probably won't be," agreed Praoziu.

"Only probably?" wondered Aleicree, and then zie started. "Flesh work is necromancy. You can't augur the summoned meat market."

"By Fate!" burst Limist. "This place will make a mage of me too, won't it? I don't want to hear it."

Azosta perked all the way up. "Hah!" he crowed. "If you don't want to hear it, I'll make an anti-mage out of you yet."

"You're still a mage in my book, Azosta," warned Limist. "Going on about the dissolving tendency of magic is magery to me."

"I ought to write a book," Azosta said. "I'll either get it out of my system, or else I'll get a lot more consistent in how I present the information."

Around the table, first plates were being finished and pushed away without other requests for seconds. It was a fair amount of meat, and Aleicree didn't want to fly while overfed.

They sipped water from an endless jug on the table, and everyone but Aleicree and Grazil was involved in conversation that went on past the clearing of the plates. For Aleicree, there was one enigma at the table. Taltios. Should I really try to stay apart from Taltios? Aleicree wondered. I want to give zir life-extending items now, just so I don't have to abide by prophecy. That's how necromancers do it. They take risks with mortality, but they insulate with things like catches. But I've no idea how to do a fitting service for a land god. Maybe I should keep my distance for now.

At length, Aleicree stood from the table. "The Serene Chordalite should be at market in Griolor by now," zie said. "I need to go to it today. I think I'll be back again in six months to stay, but I shouldn't leave Captain Kagnir's service immediately after taking my first vacation."

"Hah! Even at six months' warning, he'll wish he'd argued more," said Taltios, standing up and giving Aleicree such a heavy pat to the shoulder that zie staggered. "I'll visit often once you're here, you'll see. Even if you won't go to Tekagol, I've nothing against a flight to Nidrio now and then!"

Aleicree shouldered off Taltios' hand and stood taller. "I'll look forward to it, Tios," zie said, which wasn't quite true. "Don't stop writing me letters. I keep them forever. I have a whole chest of letters that I'm not sure how I'll get home!" And another one with my life's savings in it, Aleicree thought. The solution to one would be the solution to the other.

Praoziu stepped in with a smile. "By six months from now, Denziu will be home again, and we'll coordinate then. A quick trip with a flying wagon will get that chest home."

Aleicree hugged Praoziu, then Taltios, then Taisach when he stood to hold his arms open for a hug. The whole group stood and walked with Aleicree out to the platform atop the spire, and waved as zie took to the skies and flew southwest to Griolor.