Under Jorvanultumn’s control, the icy ground cracked and parted. Just a little. He needed to be careful not to destabilise the entire area. He traced a small wave with one arm and the cleft went deeper, down to the rock below. When he could feel the rock, he made a lifting motion with his other arm, breaking off a chunk of rock and raising it upwards. He widened the cleft just enough to let the rock through. As soon as the rock was in the open air, he resealed the ice and let the rock settle on the ground.

At his nod, Fevionawishtensen approached the rock and traced equations onto its surface. It will take a few minutes to heat up. She backed up.

As soon as she was out of the way, Jorvanultumn took control of the ice again. However, instead of splitting it, he stretched out sections of the surface to form a screen around three sides of the rock. With that done, Fevionawishtensen moved in again and traced more equations on the screen and the ground, reinforcing them so that they did not melt from the heat to come.

Jorvanultumn took a moment to observe the work while Fevionawishtensen came up beside him. She took his arm and smiled at him.

“It will be ready soon, Sinitïa,” he said.

Sinitïa clapped her hands. “I can feel some warmth already. Will I be able to do that someday?”

“Probably better,” Jorvanultumn said. A conjuror was much better suited to something like this, but this should work well enough. “There is still the wind to worry about. It will still be cold and if it is strong enough, it could counter the effects of the heating stone.”

“Can’t you control the wind?” Sinitïa asked.

“While I am here, yes.”

“Aren’t you staying?”

“I will check in on you frequently, but I need to do some other things as well.”

“What sort of things?”

“Investigations to find Meleng.” It was true, though he could not be more specific. They had run into Mikranasta on the way here, and she had told him she had some ideas to help find Meleng. He did not know what yet though.

Sinitïa turned to where her easel, canvas, and paints lay on the ground. “That makes sense. If the wind picks up, I’ll figure out something.” She removed her mittens and then began removing her scarves. “It’s a great place to paint.”

They were at the edge of the gardens in front of the Governance Building. It was a believable place that Sinitïa would want to paint, but more importantly, it saw a lot of traffic through it, giving Sinitïa the opportunity to observe the largest number of people. Jorvanultumn doubted this would achieve much, but at least it let Sinitïa feel like she was contributing to the search. And who knew? Maybe luck would be on their side, and she would notice something.

Sinitïa was just finishing setting up her easel and canvas when Jeanne ran up beside her. “Jeanne!” The dog sniffed at the brushes and paints. Sinitïa picked her up. “Nope, not yours.” She snuggled the dog against her chest.

Captain Gen strode up to her. “I came as quickly as I could.”

“I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?” Sinitïa asked.

Gen shook his head. “Nothing is more important than finding Meleng, my dear. But no, you didn’t interrupt anything. The negotiating’s mostly done. All that’s left is the transfer of goods, and Miana can handle that without me.”

Sinitïa held Jeanne out to Gen. “I want her in front of the purple tree over there. The one with the white flower.” She motioned with her chin.

Gen took the dog. He grunted at the weight and the dog squirmed in his arms. “One of the szadene plants?”

“Yeah, that one.” Sinitïa pointed with her hand this time.

Gen got a better hold on the dog. “You do realise she’s not trained to stay in one spot like that, right? She’s not likely to stay put, especially not if she sees or smells something interesting.”

“Then you sit with her and I’ll paint you too.”

“I…” Gen looked over at the spot Sinitïa had indicated. It was not far from the entrance to the Governance Building. Then he looked back at the heating stone. “I’d much rather stay right here, if that’s all right. It’s much warmer. You wouldn’t want to sit over there, would you?”

Sinitïa frowned and slumped her shoulders. Then her eyes widened and she straightened up and looked to Jorvanultumn and Fevionawishtensen.

I need to return to the search, Fevionawishtensen signed. She hurriedly touched her forehead to his and fumbled to touch her wing tips to his as well.

Sinitïa frowned a little as Fevionawishtensen placed her hand on her chest. Gen returned the gesture and then so did Sinitïa. Sinitïa waved as Fevionawishtensen left, then turned to face Jorvanultumn.

“I cannot sit with the dog, Sinitïa,” Jorvanultumn said. “I need to find Mikranasta.”

“Oh, it won’t take long. Please!”

Gen held the dog out to him. “Honestly, this makes the most sense. If you want this exercise to succeed, you need to draw attention to yourselves. Admittedly, Sinitïa just painting will draw attention, but if she’s painting you… Well, I dare say that will generate a lot of attention and a lot of people for her to observe.”

“It really won’t take long,” Sinitïa said.

Jorvanultumn groaned and reached for the dog. He had never handled an animal like this before, and she was half his size. Did he have the strength to hold her?

“Now, be careful,” Gen said. “Yes, like—no, no. Put one hand there.”

Jeanne squirmed and yelped as Jorvanultumn tried to handle her. On the ship, he had been content to ignore the dog. He sniffed. “She smells strange.”

“That’s just dog smell, Jorvanultumn. You’ll get used to it.” Gen helped him get his arms around the dog.

“Scratch her behind the ears,” Sinitïa said. “She likes that.”

Jorvanultumn tentatively did just that. The dog looked up at him and licked his chin. He grimaced and nearly dropped the animal.

“Careful!” Gen leapt forward, ready to catch the dog, but relaxed when Jorvanultumn kept hold of her.

“Now, go sit over there.” Sinitïa pointed.

Trying his best to hold onto the dog, who had started squirming again, Jorvanultumn walked over to the spot Sinitïa had indicated. When he got there, he turned to face her.

There was already an audience growing. Other Isyar in the gardens were watching the goings-on and several had turned their attention to him. Perhaps this could work out after all.

“Sit down,” Sinitïa called to him, “and put Jeanne in your lap. Don’t let her run away!”

He did as she asked, almost losing his hold on the dog again. Jeanne did not want to sit, so he just let her stand there while he held on to her. She kept looking about, and barked at a nearby Isyar, who turned and walked the other way.

“Get her to lie down!” Sinitïa called.

“She refuses!”

A few moments later, a grumbling Gen came over, coaxed the dog into lying in Jorvanultumn’s lap, and then returned to the warmth by the heating stone.

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With things in place, Sinitïa began painting, and Jorvanultumn waited… And waited. At first, he frequently needed to coax Jeanne into staying put. He tried using the same tactics Gen had used: a gentle touch and soft words of praise. Apparently, dogs—or Jeanne, at any rate—reacted well to being told how good they were. After a while, the dog stopped trying to escape, and Jorvanultumn soon realised she had fallen asleep—just as he realised her weight was also numbing his legs.

Numerous passersby stopped to ask what was happening. Others noticeably made a point of avoiding the strange set-up, while a few passed by as if nothing unusual was happening at all. All the while, Jorvanultumn kept careful watch, but noticed nothing of note. From time to time, he also adjusted the wind.

After what seemed an eternity, but was probably closer to half an hour at most, Lammdir Griholbovroh approached Jorvanultumn. His staff smacked against the ice path. “What are you doing, Jorvanultumn, and what is that?” He pointed to the heating stone and screen.

“Princess Sinitïa Alessia Deanna Folith is painting. I am her subject.”

Griholbovroh squinted in Sinitïa’s direction. “Why? What does she think she is, a light wizard?”

“She enjoys it. Humans do not use magic for painting.”

“A pointless exercise. There is nothing to be gained from it.”

“There is art to be gained from it. The only other choice humans have is to be like us and not paint.”

Griholbovroh scowled. “Then they should be like us. Lost disciplines should not be mocked and disgraced so.” He lifted his staff and pointed it towards Jeanne. “What is that?”

“A dog, Lammdir. An animal from Arnor. She belongs to Captain Etiënne Gen.”

Jeanne opened her eyes, lifted her head, and growled.

Griholbovroh took several steps back. “Keep it under control.”

“Apologies, Lammdir.” Jorvanultumn stroked Jeanne’s head. “There there. Be a good girl and go back to sleep.”

The dog put her head back down as Griholbovroh harrumphed and stomped away.

Sometime later, Jorvanultumn found that he had lost almost all feeling in his legs and called out to Sinitïa that he needed to move.

Sinitïa took several seconds to reply. “Okay.” There was disappointment in her voice.

Jorvanultumn nudged Jeanne. The dog’s head shot up and she growled. “Please, I need to get up.” He nudged her again, trying to be as gentle as he could. She shot to her feet and leapt off him, running to Gen.

Jorvanultumn’s legs protested as he stood up, pins and needles shooting through them. But at least he was able to move again. He hobbled over to Sinitïa.

She raised her arms and positioned herself in front of her canvas, trying to block what was there. “Don’t look! It’s not finished yet!”

Jorvanultumn held up his hands. “Do not worry. I will not look.”

“It’s hard to paint in the cold, even with the heating stone. The paint doesn’t like it very much.” She frowned.

“Have you noticed anything?” Jorvanultumn asked.

She shrugged and grabbed a bag lying at her feet. She pulled out several sheets. “I made a bunch of sketches to help me remember the details of everything I saw.” She held them out to him. “I didn’t notice anything unusual though. None of the symbols, and I looked carefully for them. But a lot of people were far away and if the symbols were really small…”

“I understand,” Jorvanultumn said.

Sinitïa’s eyes widened. “Itra! Over here!”

Jorvanultumn turned. Itra stood near the edge of the gardens, looking in their direction. Sinitïa continued to call to him.

“Sinitïa,” Jorvanultumn said, “you should be careful. You were only just excused from this action. If you—”

“I don’t care.”

People were already starting to move away, many leaving the gardens entirely.

Itra had started towards Sinitïa. As he got closer, Sinitïa pointed to the wing dragging behind him. “What happened to his wings?”

“He broke them trying to fly when he was a child,” Jorvanultumn said. “Isyar without magic cannot fly. His wings never healed properly, especially that one. Over the years, the muscles have...I am not sure of the word.”

“Atrophied,” Gen said.

Sinitïa scrunched her nose. “What does that mean?”

“That he can’t use his wings,” Gen said.

Sinitïa frowned. “That’s so sad.”

Itra reached them. He eyed the heating stone and recoiled a bit from the warmth radiating from it.

Sinitïa held up her right hand, palm out. “Hi, Itra. I’m Sinitïa.”

Itra bowed his head to her.

“Jorvan, translate for me.”

Jorvanultumn looked around at the garden. There were several Isyar watching them, and he doubted they were approving.

“Jorvan!” Sinitïa snapped.

He turned to face her again. She was right. Perhaps it was time to break another tradition. He nodded to Sinitïa, who grinned and held up her hand again.

Jorvanultumn turned to Itra. “Itra, this is Princess Sinitïa Alessia Deanna Folith. She would like to greet you.”

Itra held up his left hand and touched his palm to hers. “Itra.”

“Why is his name so short?” Sinitïa asked.

“Because he has no family,” Jorvanultumn said. “He was communally raised.”

Gen edged up beside Jorvanultumn. “Couldn’t this get us in a lot of trouble?”

“I will handle it if anyone interferes,” Jorvanultumn replied.

Sinitïa lowered her hand. “That’s really sad. Tell him I think it’s really unfair the way you all treat him and ask him if he wants to be my friend.”

Jorvanultumn translated her words, and Itra’s eyes widened. He shook his head. “Tell her I’m honoured, but I cannot be her friend. I cannot be anyone’s friend. I’d be punished. I’m just a ptip. I do chores. That’s it.”

After Jorvanultumn told her, she looked about to burst into tears. She glared at him. “Your rules are stupid! They’re like rules for servants in the Palace. I never realised before how bad they are. Ask him if he wants to be in one of my paintings.”

“I...don’t understand,” Itra said after Jorvanultumn translated.

Jorvanultumn indicated the easel and jars of paint. “She makes art using brushes and coloured paints. All without magic. She would like to paint a picture of you.”

He shook his head again. “I can’t. Just like I can’t be her friend, it…” He stopped and stared forward, past Jorvanultumn and Sinitïa both. “On second thought, tell her I’d like that very much.”

“Are you sure?” Jorvanultumn said, glancing where Itra seemed to be staring. It was only the mountainside.

Itra continued to stare at the mountainside. “I am sure. Ask her where she wants me to be.”

Jorvanultumn nodded. “As you wish.” On the one hand, it was like Itra to try to socialise with humans. On the other, it really was something he could be punished for, just like he had started to say.

“Is everything okay?” Sinitïa asked.

“Sorry,” Jorvanultumn said. “Everything is fine. Itra would like to to be in your painting now. Where do you want him to go?”

Sinitïa beamed and clapped her hands. She looked about, her gaze circling over the gardens and back again. “Oh, oh! Over there. Standing in front of that statue.”

“Very well.” Jorvanultumn led Itra to the spot Sinitïa indicated, Itra walking just beside him, head held high, back straight. “Stand here. Do not move until Sinitïa tells you it is okay.”

Itra moved into position and looked straight out, again not meeting Jorvanultumn’s gaze. “As she wishes.”

Jorvanultumn nodded and started back to Sinitïa and Gen, but after a few steps, he stopped and looked back. “Itra, is everything all right?”

“Yes, thank you.” Itra still did not turn his head to look at Jorvanultumn, but just stared straight ahead.

Jorvanultumn nodded and returned to Sinitïa and Gen. Sinitïa was already getting her paints and brushes ready.

“He started walking different,” Sinitïa said.

“Yes, I know.” Jorvanultumn motioned Gen closer to him and Sinitïa. “Watch Itra carefully, both of you. There is something strange going on. I really must go to Mikranasta. She is probably already annoyed with me. If anything happens, call for me. I will not be very far away.”

Gen nodded. “Trust me, I’ll yell loud enough that you could hear me on the other side of the mountain.”

“I will return as soon as I can.” He hurried off.