Jorvanultumn landed in the gathering room. Hedromornasta was there, seated on the floor at the low-table, meditating. A single dim flame-globe was the only light apart from the stars and a hint of moonlight. Jorvanultumn did his best not to disturb him.

Hedromornasta noticed anyway and spoke without looking down. “You and Diare used all the hpaks yesterday. It will be days before there’s more.”

“Yes,” Jorvanultumn said. “Sorry. Though Mikranasta drank most. Is she here?”

Hedromornasta still did not look up, though he took a deep breath. “She left papers for you in your room.”

“Thank you.” Presumably, those were the meditations Mikranasta had promised to write. It was more important he speak to her. He could pick up the papers later if he needed to. He spread his wings.

“Where are you going?” Hedromornasta asked.

Jorvanultumn hesitated.

“To find Mikranasta?”

Jorvanultumn folded his wings. “Yes, I need to speak to her again.”

Hedromornasta looked down finally, but did not turn to face Jorvanultumn. “She was summoned to a meeting with the Lamdritta. You can’t see her right now.”

“I see. Thank you. What of my diare?”

“At the same meeting.”

Jorvanultumn sighed.

Hedromornasta turned to face him. “Don’t you see, Jorvanultumn? It’s because of you.”

Jorvanultumn nodded. It was not surprising, though he had hoped it would take longer to happen. That was clearly naïve of him.

“You are eliïspt now, Jorvanultumn. Talking with your diare or mine will not change that. Take the papers Mikranasta wrote for you. They are more than you deserve.”

“That doesn’t seem to be Mikranasta’s opinion,” Jorvanultumn said.

Hedromornasta shrugged. “I am capable of having opinions different from my diare’s. She gives you too much. She always has. You are not her siare.”

“No one’s disputing that. But—”

There was a knock at the front door.

Jorvanultumn started towards it, but Hedromornasta leapt to his feet and rushed to the door ahead of him. “An eliïspt should not be answering the door.”

Jorvanultumn nodded and stood back where whoever was at the door would not see him. In this case, Hedromornasta was probably correct, despite his continued use of that slur.

When he opened the door, Hedromornasta groaned.

Meleng’s voice came from outside. “Hi, we’re...um...we’re looking for Jorvanultumn. Jorvanultumn?”

Hedromornasta stepped away from the door and motioned for them to enter. “Your human friends are here. They apparently expect me to understand their language.”

Meleng and Sinitïa walked into the gathering room. Sinitïa unwrapped her scarves and ran over to Jorvanultumn. “Jorvan!” She threw her arms around him.

“Why does she butcher your name?” Hedromornasta said.

“Among friends, humans tend to use only a portion of their names,” Jorvanultumn said as Sinitïa stepped aside to allow Meleng to come up and hug him. “I allow them.”

Hedromornasta scowled. “Allow it in Arnor, not here. It’s barbaric.”

“If you wish.”

Sinitïa bounced up and down, and nodded towards Hedromornasta. “Jorvan, are you going to introduce us?”

“Of course,” Jorvanultumn said, “but first, my name. You should—”

Sinitïa gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my! I’m sorry. I keep forgetting. Chiansamorkin explained why, too, and I’m not sure I really understand, but I’m really sorry. Oh, she says hi by the way and looks forward to seeing you again.”

“You met Chiansamorkin?”

Sinitïa nodded vigorously. “She showed me all around Chithishtheny. We went to…” Meleng nudged her. “Oh right, sorry about your name.”

“It is all right.” He would have to find time to see Chiansamorkin, though what would that reunion be like? He turned to Hedromornasta. “She apologises for misspeaking my name.”

“Good.”

“I’m surprised you care.”

Hedromornasta frowned. “You may be eliïspt but I am not a monster.”

Sinitïa nudged Jorvanultumn, and indicated Hedromornasta again.

“Yes, yes, of course. This is Hedromornasta, my…” For some reason, he had always found Arnorgue difficult to speak even though it was much less complex than Isyarian. Now, after speaking Isyarian for the last day, switching back was proving awkward. The problem was the translation for his and Hedromornasta’s relationship. He would just have to use the word Arnorins would assume. “He is what you would call my brother.”

Sinitïa scrunched her nose. “And you wouldn’t?”

Jorvanultumn shook his head. “Not exactly, but it is accurate.” He switched languages again as he turned to address Hedromornasta. “Hedromornasta, these are my friends, Meleng an—” He cleared his throat to cover the fact he had almost left off Meleng’s second name. Many Arnorin customs had become habit over the past two years. He needed to watch that so as not to cause more offence. “Meleng Drago and Princess Sinitïa Alessia Deanna Folith.”

Sinitïa smiled and curtsied. She held up her left hand.

Hedromornasta recoiled. “What is that...bounce? And she is using the wrong hand.”

“It’s an Arnorin greeting custom,” Jorvanultumn said. “She is just a little confused.” Switching to Arnorgue again, he said, “The initiator uses the right hand, Sinitïa Alessia Deanna Folith, the responder the left.”

Sinitïa lowered her hand. “Oops.” She started to raise her left.

“Let Hedromornasta initiate,” Jorvanultumn said, and Sinitïa lowered her hand, blushing.

Hedromornasta frowned. “You should have taught them our customs. No wonder she offended Griholbovroh.” He stepped towards Sinitïa and held up his right hand.

Sinitïa straightened herself and stepped up to Hedromornasta. She was nearly a foot taller than he was. “Jorvanultumn, tell Hedromornasta I’m sorry I got the greeting wrong.” She placed her left palm against Hedromornasta’s.

After Jorvanultumn translated Sinitïa’s words, Hedromornasta sighed, but nodded. “Tell her I accept her apology.” Hedromornasta withdrew his hand as Jorvanultumn translated. He then held up his hand to Meleng, who responded appropriately. After they parted, Hedromornasta said, “If you don’t mind, I need to meditate.”

“Of course.” Jorvanultumn placed his left hand to his chest.

Hedromornasta returned the gesture.

Sinitïa placed her hand to her chest, and Jorvanultumn quickly shook his head. She dropped her hand to her side and blushed again.

There was a hint of a smile on Hedromornasta’s face.

“Pleasant thoughts,” Jorvanultumn said.

“And to you,” Hedromornasta said.

Jorvanultumn guided Meleng and Sinitïa from the room, stumbling over his words as he changed languages yet again. “We will go to my...my room.”

“I keep getting everything wrong,” Sinitïa said as he led them through the back corridors of the house. “I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” Meleng said. “There are just things you don’t know. You’ll learn.”

Jorvanultumn led them into his personal room. “It is normal for visitors to make mistakes.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Sinitïa pouted. “I suppose. Your bed’s really big.”

Jorvanultumn opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated. He had not expected the abrupt change of subject. “Yes, it...is.” He had never thought of it as big before, but it was bigger than typical human beds, though without all the added extras that human beds tended to have. Was it an inability to fly that caused humans to feel the need to elevate their beds?

He had not been in this room since leaving Chithishtheny two years ago. It looked unchanged, without even a hint of snow build-up. Someone must have been maintaining it. He suspected Mikranasta’s involvement in that. Davorultumn was unlikely to bother and Hedromornasta was even less likely—unless Mikranasta instructed him to, in which case, she was still involved. She did dote on Jorvanultumn more than was proper. Hedromornasta was not wrong there.

The papers Mikranasta had left for him sat on the high-table beside his element decahedra.

Sinitïa wandered about the room, her head turning every which way. “Your brother seems nice.”

“Nice is not a word I would use for Hedromornasta,” Jorvanultumn said. “However, he is...proper.”

Sinitïa frowned. “Oh. We keep meeting not nice Isyar.”

“What do you mean?” Jorvanultumn asked.

Sinitïa’s eyes widened and she scurried over to the high-table and stared at the fire decahedron. “Is that real fire in there?”

“Yes,” Jorvanultumn said.

“But there’s nothing to burn.”

Jorvanultumn walked up to her. “It is magic. It is called an element decahedron. These decahedra are what I practised with when I was young.” He picked up the fire decahedron. Its small flame flickered as the clear ice container moved. “They provide samples of each element in a contained space for young elementalists to manipulate.” He handed her the decahedron. “Be careful with it.”

Sinitïa tenderly took the decahedron in her mitten-covered hands and gazed at the tiny flame. “Is this ice? Why isn’t it melting?”

“Magic.” He doubted she would understand the technical explanation.

She smiled and held out the decahedron in Meleng’s direction. “Look!”

Meleng came over and took the decahedron from her. “It’s remarkable.”

Sinitïa pointed at the air decahedron. “Why’s that one empty?”

“It is not empty.” Jorvanultumn picked up the papers Mikranasta had left. “It contains air.”

“Oh.” Sinitïa frowned. “But there’s air all around us. Why do you need a decawhatchamacallit?”

Jorvanultumn smiled. “For safety. If the young Isyar makes a mistake and destroys the air, it is contained within the decahedron and does not destroy all the air in the area.”

Sinitïa gulped.

Meleng put the fire decahedron down and ran a hand along the wall.

“Can I paint them?” Sinitïa asked, picking up the water decahedron.

“If you wish,” Jorvanultumn said. While Sinitïa examined the decahedra, he approached Meleng.

Meleng retracted his hand from the wall. “Sorry. I’m just really fascinated by the idea of walls made of ice. And doors made of ice. And everything made of ice.”

“Ice is a readily available resource. And you do not need to apologise. Inquisitiveness is a positive trait.”

Meleng shrugged. “Yeah, but...you know me. We need to talk to you about a couple things.”

“Not nice Isyar?” Jorvanultumn suggested.

Meleng nodded.

“I heard about your encounter with Griholbovroh. It was not your fault, Sinitïa.”

Sinitïa was twirling the water decahedron around in her hands, watching the water inside swirl. “I know. Etiënne tried to explain it to me, then Chiansamorkin did. It’s a stupid rule.”

Jorvanultumn nodded. “It is, and you cannot be held accountable for not knowing it.”

“That’s good. I think.” Sinitïa put the water decahedron down and tugged on Meleng’s sleeve. Under her breath, she said, “What does accountable mean?”

“It means you can’t get in trouble for it,” Meleng said.

Sinitïa smiled. “Good!” She picked up the earth decahedron.

“Is that really true though?” Meleng asked. “Gen seemed to think Griholbovroh might try to make an issue out of it.”

Jorvanultumn groaned. “He might, but I cannot see others on the Council taking him seriously, especially not Paydamat. She has interacted with many visitors. She—”

“Ugh, I don’t like Paydamat.” Sinitïa slammed the earth decahedron onto the high-table, strong enough to make Jorvanultumn’s heart skip a beat. Thankfully, it held together.

“I do not understand,” Jorvanultumn said. “Why would you not like her?”

“That’s...uh...that’s the other thing we wanted to talk to you about,” Meleng said.

Sinitïa hugged Meleng. “She threatened Meleng. Meleng didn’t want to tell me at first, but I knew something was wrong, and he told me later. So I don’t like her.”

Paydamat threatened Meleng? “I do not understand,” Jorvanultumn said. “Why?” Paydamat could be stern, but she did not threaten people without reason.

“It was about Sinitïa and her lack of training,” Meleng said.

“She thinks I’m a terrible person because I don’t know how to use magic.”

Meleng shook his head. “No, she thinks I’m the terrible person for not making sure you were trained. She believes we’ve put Chithishtheny in danger bringing Sinitïa here.”

Jorvanultumn sighed. “I see.” He had not expected Paydamat to react so strongly to Sinitïa, but if she was concerned about the safety of people in Chithishtheny, her actions made sense. It was still unlikely she would support Griholbovroh against Sinitïa.

Sinitïa let go of Meleng and turned back to the high-table. She picked up the air decahedron and twirled it around. “Why won’t you train me?”

Meleng put a hand on her arm. “I’ve tried to explain that. I’m an enchanter and I just don’t think enchantment would be a good choice for you.”

“You think I’m stupid.”

Meleng shook his head. “No, you know I don’t. Just enchantment uses a lot of equations. You have to make a lot of calculations in your head. Do you want to do that?”

“I don’t even know what means, so how can I know if I want to do it?”

“It’s like math, only a lot more complicated.”

“Like adding and subtracting?”

“Kind of,” Meleng said.

That was an understatement. Jorvanultumn had seen some of the “adding and subtracting” Fevionawishtensen had to do. He was glad he was not an enchanter.

“I might like that,” Sinitïa said. “I don’t know.”

“You need something more instinctive, Sinitïa,” Jorvanultumn said. “Perhaps conjuration.”

Sinitïa’s eyes brightened. “Chiansamorkin said she’s a conjurer. Is that the same thing?”

“Yes,” Jorvanultumn said.

“Could she teach me? I really, really like her. She’s really friendly, and her eyes are so beautiful.”

Jorvanultumn lowered his head. “I am sorry, Sinitïa. Isyar are forbidden from teaching magic to non-Isyar.”

Sinitïa put the decahedron down and turned away from both him and Meleng. “That figures. Stupid Isyar rules.”

“Even amongst Isyar, we are limited in what we can do,” Jorvanultumn said. “We can work and study together, but we can only truly teach our siaree.”

“I don’t know what the means either. See, I’m just stupid.”

Meleng went up to her and put an arm around her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out. I promise.”

Sinitïa leaned her head on Meleng’s shoulder. “I know. I just don’t want to be the reason Paydamat and other Isyar hate you.”

“I don’t think Paydamat hates me. She just...well…”

“She scared you.”

“Well…”

“Don’t try to say she didn’t. I saw you. I’ve never seen you so scared.”

Meleng nodded. “Yeah, she scared me. She took control of my whole body and I didn’t even see it coming.”

Jorvanultumn closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. This was not right. His friends should not be treated so. “I will take care of this.”

“What are you going to do?” Meleng asked.

“The Lamdritta is currently in session. I am going to speak to them.” If he could get in, but he did not add that. He spread his wings and a twinge of pain spread through the injured one. He winced.

“Are you okay to fly?” Meleng asked.

“I will be fine.” His time with Fevionawishtensen last night had aggravated the injury a little. He probably should not fly right now, but speed was of the essence. He did not know how long the Council had already been in session or when they would be finished.

Meleng frowned.

“I will go easy on it. I promise.”

Meleng sighed, but nodded.

“Say hi to Chiansamorkin for me,” Sinitïa said.

Jorvanultumn hesitated. “Why would she be there?”

“She’s a Lamdir,” Sinitïa said.

“Chiansamorkin is Lamdhir?”

Sinitïa nodded. “That’s what I said. She just became one. The old one died and she won the spot. She says she’s way more powerful than any of the others except maybe Paydamat.”

Jorvanultumn lowered his wings. He supposed he should not be too surprised. Chiansamorkin had phenomenal talent, even amongst Isyar. But to have learned to utilise it fully at so young an age? He could not think of anyone else rising to such a position so young. Still, having her on the Lamdritta could be beneficial—assuming she did not still hate him.

“I will say hi for you if I get the chance, Sinitïa,” he said. “I will see you both again soon.” He raised his wings again and flew threw the open roof.