Beginning There, We Comprehend Six Boats Within Sight Of One Another May Navigate Effectively Four Separate Rivers

  “It is a lonelier feeling than I expected to part at this hour with no particular destination,” Medant remarked after a few minutes of that process to the people who had not yet left.

  Dirant had felt something of the sort on his first day in Todelk, but never since. Perhaps the military life was different. Regardless, he assayed some consoling words. “Here is a divination, and based on personalities rather than birds and organs as it is, you may find it accurate. You will repair to Ividottlof, run across some discontented fellows who are too responsible for mid-week carousing but too lax to spend the rest of the day oiling hinges, and cajole them into some sport or other. Later you will inform me of the result provided the authorities do post an announcement about the aftermath.”

  “Ah, you have encountered mercenaries before. But surely they were not under contract at the time.”

  “They had just completed it.”

  “There it is. And now I will likely fulfill the more reputable parts of your prediction.” Medant waved and walked off.

  “Is Mr. Medant sportingly inclined, Ressi? I couldn't decide if I thought he was the type or not. He's athletic enough, but there's something incongruous about his attitude. That isn't a criticism.” Takki had also lingered, allowing the others to pick their routes first.

  “In a way he is, in that he is ready for any competition so long as it is the next one. That is how I remember him. He plays trophy heist as heartily as anyone for two periods, and in the intermission he asks whether anyone has the latest emmalkstafa problems, forgetting the match is undecided. He devotes himself to no activity in particular and belongs to the type which visits an Ertith ruin merely because he has not before done so.”

  “And makes his family worry.”

  “They are prone to it.”

  “Oh, then that's all right.” Takki looked to the side but continued speaking. “I don't think this is a commendable trait, but I tend to dismiss people after their primary problem is solved as if they stop existing, and because of that it irritates me when they have other problems. Thank you for reminding me Mr. Medant and his family are more like the house under the glacier. What's emmalkstafa?”

  “Thank you for telling me so. It is a puzzle wherein the player fills up a given space with figurines.”

  “Teach me later. Ressi, are you sure you'll be all right alone? I suppose fairies aren't very threatening to you.”

  “Yes, and disappointment in my ancestors over the matter is difficult to resist. Perhaps the proportion of Jiojjils to Erjjubs was skewed for the worse then. Have bandits returned here amid all this disruption of order?”

  “Not yet, so far as I've heard.”

  “That leaves me insufficient excuse to violate Medant's orders. Thank you for your concern even so.”

  Takki was the last to achieve a separation between elements of the secret expedition, though an impartial judge might have given the credit to Dirant for his accomplished dawdling. Not only did he walk slower than Takki, something out of his control, but also he took a less direct route back to camp which led him away from the hills before he reentered them. While inferior physical condition explained the former, the latter could be ascribed to his above-average Discernment which informed him there was no reason to go tripping across rocky slopes that close to night.

  His stroll had such tranquility about it that he almost forgot to ponder whether he ought to be panicking to the extent of attempting flight. He was against the idea on account of his temperament, but often the best dish smelled the worst, or so culinary enthusiasts claimed. He had just begun to address the deficiency when he heard a voice and out of idle curiosity headed toward it. He would not have been surprised to learn if people that close to the Point were engaged in conversation on the very topic which interested him then, and presumably evacuation plans benefited as much from communal discussion as did letters home.

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  After less than a minute of that, he surrendered the idea. The voice was Wiuyo's. Disappointing as that was, he continued to approach, still curious and no less confident with regard to his safety. He trusted Wiuyo to an extent, perhaps three-quarters of the way to Ividottlof, and he had ready a dance ritual which far surpassed in effectiveness anything he ever did to a human. “And again I remind myself to ask Medant if he knows a ritual more conducive to defensive endeavors. It is surpassingly unlikely that he does, whereas the Ritualists I have consulted in person or in print certainly do not. They always suggest the Lightning Ritual. I am certain they have never tried it themselves.”

  The voice ceased. Reasoning that Wiuyo had been carrying on a private conversation now ended, Dirant redirected his steps only to hear her again, this time calling out, “Here, here, look here,” after the insistent fashion of a stall owner a quarter of an hour before the town regulations demand closure of the market. They did that because it worked, and Dirant changed his course again.

  He saw a glance of a figure he presumed to be Wiuyo pointing down before dashing across the not entirely level landscape away from him in the manner of the owner of an unlicensed stall when the authorities come by to ask a few questions. If dealing with either Grenlofers or fairies as depicted in the stories, he would have suspected a trap at that point, but an Ividottlof fairy who prepared a pit would surely stand next to it trying not to laugh.

  Upon reaching the vicinity of the “here” earlier specified, Dirant saw no signs of ambush, no goods available at a special price for the lucky gentleman who came at just the right time, and an envelope stuck in a cracked stump, the remnant of the sole tree in the area worth chopping down. Unsure how to respond to such an unorthodox method of mail delivery, he examined the envelope for an address as thoroughly as he was able without touching it. He discovered none and consequently presumed one of three things to be true: It had been left there for him to find, for anyone to find, or from such carelessness as would be discourteous to impute to a lady. The person who raised the issue of whether fairies ought to be included in that category committed an even more heinous indiscretion.

  He plucked the envelope and began to open it, normally a deed performed without any especial deliberation but in this instance delayed when Dirant smelled something odd. After some sniffing, he determined perfume had been applied to the envelope, whereupon he held it up for reexamination, puzzled.

  “That is no proper behavior, Mr. Dirant.”

  Every single organ in Dirant's body jumped straight up, flipped about, and settled back in place. A perfect performance, but sadly, only he noticed it, and more urgent concerns diverted even that exclusive audience from proper appreciation. One problem he apprehended right away was how tricky a matter it would be to reproach Takki for her sloppiness in keeping up with the local brigand situation, provided he had a chance to do that or anything else. He quickly rejected the premise after realizing he knew the names of no brigands barring a strange career choice on the part of a colleague at Todelk, an ignorance he supposed to be mutual. Once released from fear, Dirant was able to recognize the voice.

  Mr. Nalfenk Migolkir strolled up and hailed Dirant with a smile that made its message clear: “We share knowledge to which not all are privy, do we not? What camaraderie there is between us on this basis.” Dirant had seen the sophisticated reporter look and behave in a genial fashion before, but for him to be downright chummy was a novelty.

  Nalfenk did not leave everything to his smile but instead spoke. “You must, even when unobserved, treat a lady's message with as much impatience or one may say fervor as you doubtless feel in her presence. Ah, Mr. Dirant, unanticipated perils have thrown me into confusion. While thinking of my responsibilities to the gentleman scholar, I neglected to assign to each of life's elements its proper proportion. All those theories I concocted about what interested an overly inquisitive Ritualist, but I forgot to include the trait of 'young gentleman,' a phrase which explains as much as it describes. Please accept my apology as well as my congratulations on your successes thus far.”

  Nalfenk bowed. Dirant returned the gesture as naturally as a tree bends in response to the more insistent type of wind. “It is all nothing but my own fault in prompting suspicion,” he said while wondering if he ought to correct the misunderstanding. What made him hesitate was the possibility that said misunderstanding did not lie on Nalfenk's side.

  He therefore complied and opened the envelope viciously to determine if the contents would clarify the situation, which they did not. They perplexed him all the more. It purported to be from GE, to DR, requesting a rendezvous for the purpose of discussing DY. The DR was apparent enough. So was GE, though he knew no one who spoke for Greater Enloffenkir as a whole or what the confederation wanted with him. Perhaps DY referred to a fee he had forgotten to pay.