Garen headed into Auntie’s office, probably to speak about Anne’s application to that doomed Climber’s School, and Anne herself loitered outside, leaning against the railing and looking down on Lisa. She was good at that. But then again, so was Lisa. It was one of the few reasons they got along so well.

“Hey Lisa,” she said cheerfully, then nodded at Micah and asked, “Who’s that?”

Lisa glanced at Micah. The kid looked surprisingly docile for once. There was little to no expression on his face. For a second, Lisa assumed he might be forgetting to make his body move. But then she saw the way he was looking at Anne and had another thought on why he might be frozen.

Cute.

“He’s just this kid who’s smooching off of Garen’s good graces,” Lisa said to tease him. She expected a scowl, or a flustered blush, maybe some sputtering, or rebuttal. But there was nothing. Huh. He must have calmed down after his earlier outburst. No fun in that.

“I’m supposed to teach him the basics of climbing.”

“You want to become a climber?” Anne asked him with a smile. “Me, too! I’m Anne, by the way. It’s nice to meet you ...”

Lisa almost rolled her eyes at the pleasantries. She could imagine the two talking all about their dreams and smiling. But then no answer came, and Lisa made herself frown. The kid was still staring in the direction of Annebeth and doing nothing else.

Lisa and Anne both frowned at him together.

“Is he … meditating?” Anne asked.

Lisa leaned forward to wave in front of his face from behind him. She also snapped her fingers in front of his face. Nothing. No response.

She groaned.

Great. Now he didn’t even know how to meditate. She was probably going to have to teach him that, too, right?

Ugh. Her Sundays were about to suck.

“Uhm, why is he following me?” Anne called down from above.

Lisa looked up to where Anne was moving a few steps to the left, then a few to the right on the balcony. She leaned forward again to see, and Micah’s eyes were following her all the while. When she moved too far away, his head even turned to accommodate.

A shiver went down Lisa’s spine.

“Creepy,” she said.

“Tell me about it,” Anne added.

Then Lisa saw something unfurling behind Anne, and suddenly, she knew what was going on.

“Anne?” she asked. “Can you step inside for a moment?”

“Why?”

“I want to see if he stops.”

“Oh. Good idea.”

Anne went into Auntie’s office, but Micah didn’t wake up. A second later, her head poked back out again.

“And?” she called down.

“Nothing.”

“Aw.”

“Can you tell him a lie?” Lisa asked.

“What? No!” Anne immediately said. “I’m a [Paladin] of Truth. We don’t tell lies.”

“Yeah, see. He’s an [Idiot] of Arrogance, and right now, he’s trying to wrap his head around the concept that’s unfurling so prettily behind you.”

Anne did a quick check over her shoulder, apparently spotted nothing, then spun around in circles trying to look at her own back.

Lisa knew she was just diverting.

“Anne. Please?” she interrupted her. The only way to get anything from a Heswaren was with the word please. “Just one small lie?”

Anne stopped spinning halfway through and sighed. She waddled up to the railing, clearly sulking. “But I don’t want to lie. It feels horrible. He’ll have to give up eventually, right?”

Lisa stared at the boy.

No, she didn’t think he did.

“Yeah, maybe when he stops breathing,” she told Anne. “And I don’t want him falling unconscious. I’d have to carry his body to the sitting room, and who knows when he’ll wake up? Plus, I like to sulk around in there myself. It gets on Garen’s— ” Lisa almost smacked herself in the forehead when she mentioned Garen. Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of that?

She made herself look at Anne sternly, and said, “Don’t make me call Garen.”

Anne looked shocked and mad, but then she said, “Fine!”, threw her hands up and jumped over the railing to the ground below.

Micah’s eyes followed her as she walked up, and Lisa quickly scooted a little bit back in case he turned and she was in his field of view. Who knows what he would see, then?

Anne crouched in front of him with an uneasy look on her face. In one quick go, like putting alcohol on the wound, she said, “I think you look stupid.”

Micah snapped out of it immediately.

Lisa was glad that his mouth was closed. Or else he would have started drooling and Anne wouldn’t have been able to say that.

What happened to small lie? she thought. She was never going to let the girl live this down.

“I’m so sorry,” she was telling Micah then. “I’m a [Paladin] of Truth. I’ve been told that my essence can be annoying to be around, but I never imagined what it would be like to try and comprehend.”

“It’s fine,” Micah said. He seemed a little bewildered. He was breathing unevenly. “I’m the one who looked.”

Anne smiled at him. “I’m Anne,” she introduced herself.

“I know,” Micah said.

Yeah, totally creepy.

“I mean,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to know! I only saw superficial stuff. I promise. They were mostly just things I knew already. About myself, I mean. Like my favorite foods and colors.”

No wonder he didn’t give up.

“It’s alright,” Anne said. “Really. I’m a Heswaren. I’m used to it.”

“Oh,” Micah said as if he understood what that meant. Even though he so clearly didn’t. Which rock did Garen pull him out from under?

“I’m Micah,” he said then. “Micah Stranya. It’s nice to meet you, Anne.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

"Uhm, I don't know how to ask this, but your hair is glowing?"

"Oh, that? It's something I got from a Cosmeticist. They're [Alchemists] who make cosmetics."

"I know. I've met one. She had glowing skin ..."

They smiled at each other and made Smalltalk. Lisa tried not to admit that it was kind of cute. Like two cats playing nice for a while. It made her want to burn something, or maybe hug something really tight until it popped.

Still … she couldn’t help but be a little impressed by the kid. Any old fool could get the [Essence Path]. But to try and comprehend a concept like Truth by translating it into a visual medium … That took true arrogance. Only someone like that would be able to advance the Path at all.

Maybe Micah wasn’t so much of an annoying kid after all.