Usruldes, tent city at Black Falls

I watched the huge feet of Sassoo stop in front of me as I cowered in abject helplessness, I was so frightened. An errant thought flew through the back of my mind that I was glad my bladder was empty.

I heard Sassoo argue with Galt though I was so disconcerted that words held no meaning for me. Then everything in the world felt stretched out of shape followed by the sickening feeling of reality snapping back in place.

The two gods were gone and I realized I could breathe normally again. I got to my feet. Garki was in a daze with a smile on his face. So was Emily. Emily took priority. I shook her shoulder gently. "Emily? Emily!"

"Eh? Huh?" Her eyes opened. She looked around and intelligence filled her eyes, "oh, I'm back here now." Her face bore disappointment. "Well, phooey. Time to get back to work." She looked up at me in concern and reached out to touch my hand. Her fingers were warm and her touch was soft. "Usruldes, you're shaking. The gods disturb Cosm, don't they?"

"I have no idea why they don't affect you," I said, glad that she appeared fine.

"Did Aylem wake up?"

"Let me check," I peeked inside to the Queen's still slumbering form on the camp bed. "No, she slept through all that. Thank the Gods."

"Alright, before setting me up in ambush next to her bed, I want to see your...I want to see Great One Lisaykos."

"Your wish has been granted," I watched as my mother came running out of the royal pavilion toward us.

She stopped by my side and felt my cheek. "That's a relief. You'll be fine." She cradled the back of Emily's head in her hand: "A god touched you again. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine though I still feel tired," Emily smiled as if to reassure my mother. "Has my level of fatigue changed at all, out of curiosity?"

"No, you're just as underslept as you were before you left the royal pavilion," my mother frowned in concern. "I can't help but see some of the residuals in your head right now. Where is that place and what is that wonderful music? Did the gods...?"

"Well, it started as an argument between Galt and Sassoo because Galt had the bad manners not to tell Sassoo he would be trespassing at this poor ruined shrine. Then they started a contest of one-upmanship with each other, with the added benefit that Sassoo took me to one of the most famous opera performances of the twentieth century as part of it: Maria Callas singing the part of Carmen at the Paris Opera House. Giltak even crashed the event. Then we went out for amaretto and tiramisu at ZUM Roma." A look of satisfaction mixed with longing crossed Emily's face. "Dang, I miss coffee." She closed her eyes as if to catch and seal a memory from escaping.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and studied Garki. "Galt placed his paws on Garki so he could be off in la-la land for a while. He should probably be put to bed and watched to make sure he doesn't do something like walk into the river and accidentally drown in a happy daze. Where's Kamagishi? I need to chat with her before I take my nap."

"Coming!" I heard Kamagishi call out from the royal pavilion. She came at a run and arrived slightly out of breath.

"Were you listening?" Emily gave her a sharp look.

"Well, yes," Kamagishi flashed a knowing smile. "I was putting Imstay back to sleep. What just happened, Emily? All sorts of things happened on different time paths and I can see all sorts of futures spreading back out in front of me as if everything were almost back to normal. Except for you-know-who and the other you-know-who will still meet. That seems to be immutable."

"Amazing," Emily had a wondering look on her face. "It really worked. We managed to reduce all the noise around the constant immutable event to where we can now see it. Now we can manipulate it." A brilliant smile broke out, "I love being right!" She pumped her fists in exaltation.

"You need to explain this to me at some point," Kamagishi told her and left no room to argue otherwise by her tone of voice, "in very small words of short duration so I understand what it is you just did." Kamagishi studied Emily with speculation, "are you sure you have no magic?"

"Trust me," Lisaykos said, "she is an undersized, underfed Coyn of approximately fifteen years of age and she doesn't have a drop of magic in her." My mother shook her head, "I'm still trying to understand what just happened over the last bell because I too can not make sense of any of it. How can something which is fated to happen be changed?"

Ud suddenly broke into all of our thoughts. * I can try to explain it to anyone who wants though I don't know if any of you will understand. Emily fulfilled Galt's command to her to discover the nature of Magic and she did. You must make her write it down so Cosm can learn from her understanding of Magic in the fullness of time. *

"Oh, thank you, Ud," Emily grumbled with buckets of sarcasm. "Just what I always wanted to do: write more stuff for Cosm that they can't comprehend."

* Aylem will comprehend. It will start there. Little Garki will understand it when he is older, after you teach him, Emily, so the understanding will continue. *

"Oh." Emily blinked and then shook her head. "I need my nap. Kamagishi, can you make sure Opa doesn't get anywhere near the royal encampment or the Queen until half past the fifth bell?"

"You want to push it back?" Kamagishi asked.

"Yes, I want to confirm we can pick when we want the immutable event to happen. It's really important to have that confirmation."

"Mekaners," my mother muttered and shook her head. "I'm going to get some sleep. Will you walk with me at least as far as the area where the rest of the healers have set up sleeping quarters, Sister Kamagishi?"

"Certainly, Sister Lisaykos."

The two high priestesses went out the back gate of the royal encampment and strolled arm-in-arm down the lane. I called for one of my wraiths to put Garki to bed and keep a watch on the boy. I set two more to keep an eye on my mother and Kamagishi. I already had a watch set on Kayseo and the Princess Opo'aba.

I took Emily and installed her on cushions and a bed mat next to the camp bed where the Queen was deep in the recuperating slumber of a fatigued healer. Then I set myself up in the inner chamber of the royal pavilion to make a kite.

Why did Emily want a kite?

---

Opo’aba, tent city at Black Falls

"Why do I have to get stuck with running errands for a crippled healer?" trainee Moyuxkol haup Ixism'os screamed in my face. I had just finished helping carry casks of grain into the army's kitchen area from the stores compound but had tripped and dropped the two I had in my arms. The wood is not thick on the casks and they broke. Moyuxkol and her two sidekicks, who were also on stores duty, ridiculed me and made up a fake law on the spot about being liable for the loss during a calamity. I told her so but she didn't believe I knew anything about the law of the kingdom. What a joke. I had the law memorized, all of it, and the legal scholar attendants of the Shrine of Galt had been my teachers.

"I tell you what," Moyuxkol simpered. "You can take my shift with the crippled healer and I won't tell Voice Druyudros that you're liable for two dropped casks of grain."

"No, that is neither acceptable nor right," I folded my arms and looked down at her. I knew that that infuriated her since I was the tallest in our class and had a lot more white in my hair. "I don't know how you think you can get away with what you are always trying to pull on others. If you are the shining example of what a noble is supposed to be, I worry for this kingdom. You lie, you cheat and you bully. I don't know what you did to intimidate or bribe Voice Druyudros to always back you up, but I assure you, someday your misdeeds will come back to haunt you."

"Surd save us, listen to the street trash speak like she's some high-bred toff," Eyos, sidekick number one, said. "Who taught the street trash to talk like the lady she'll never be?"

Moyuxkol, the spoiled brat had the gumption to laugh. I had to work hard, almost daily, not to ever lose my temper at her. I was determined not to be my mother. It was easier at times like this when Moyuxkol picked on just me, but some kids in our class were not noble and came from families which didn't even have a flying mount. She tortured a couple of gals who were the first to walk down the aisle at the enrollment ceremony. They had no confidence or social standing to dodge the deadly trio's bullying. I tried to protect those girls as much as possible, to the point where I allowed myself to be blamed or framed falsely in their place at least three times since we enrolled. I found I couldn't stand bullies like her.

Moyuxkol and her sidekicks made everyone they considered beneath them miserable since our complaints went unheard. We initially made our complaints to Priestess Voice Druyudros, the Voice in charge of all 12 girls in our first-year class of 18 enrollees. I had been the first to complain and got extra cleaning duty for my efforts to do the right thing.

Upsupkot, sidekick number two, pointed across the tent city to the east side of the ruined Black Falls walls: "Look, it's the spider monster that showed up last night. Want to take a closer look?"

"Yeah, I do," Moyuxkol. "Hey, street rat, have fun with the crippled healer today. See 'ya!" The three of them ran off, without even telling our supervisor. We still had until the third bell for this particular duty.

Before the attack, I had started to float some feelers about what the connection was between Moyexkol and Druyudros. When the current crisis is over and done with, I will finish my efforts and take my results to Senlyosart, assuming she recovered. My gut told me that something was off here in ways deeper than just petty tyrants bullying commoners.

When my duty was over, I checked in for an early midday repast, which was sandwiches. I grabbed mine and turned to run down to where the healers were camped when a long arm latched onto my shoulder and stopped me.

"So where are you running off to in a hurry, Trainee Opa?" High Priestess Kamagishi said in a gloomy disapproving voice. She looked really tired and was wearing rumpled flying clothes, which surprised me since she's usually such a sharp dresser. Before I made a big goof, I remembered to do all the correct etiquette things toward a high priestess Kamagishi, like any other person of the merchant class. Holding my wrapped sandwich in my left hand behind my back, I made a full kneeling obeisance, "May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Holy One."

"And upon you too, Opa," she finally smiled. "Now do I get a hug, you scamp who didn't enroll in my shrine? I just found out this morning. I will have words with your guardians and Lord Bobbo over this, you know."

"Aunt Kami, I missed you," I gave her a big hug. By the time I let go, I noticed that the rest of the people in the dining tent for trainees, guards, and soldiers were on their knees in proper obeisance to the Holy One.

"Please, will you rise and go about your business," Aunt Kami said to the tent as soon as she noticed. "I'm just here to give a wayward child a piece of my mind," she smiled sweetly at her audience and turned an evil conniving smile on me. Everyone laughed. Aunt Kami could always work a crowd. She was a real pro. Of course, I was taking mental notes, just like I took mental notes when watching my dad work a crowd.

"What do I need to do to get my own sandwich?" Aunt Kami asked me.

"That line there," I pointed to the people waiting for sandwiches. We didn't get as far as the line before the person at the head of the line was given an extra sandwich wrapped in cloth and brought it to us.

"Thank you," Aunt Kami said in a voice that wasn't loud but was heard by everyone. How did Kamagishi do that?

(Continued in installment 98)