It was near midnight, and they still had nowhere to sleep; they were circling the corridors, lost. Faredhiel had brought them to the dormers' wings and just left them there.

“You’ll find some empty room around, surely!” he had said.

But that surely was unlikely now. Every door they had opened showed occupied beds. Some rooms had one or two free beds, right, but they didn’t want to break apart. And the main problem was that they yearned for a decent room, and all the spaces they had examined had a foul odor. They stank of cigarettes long forgotten in the ash-tray, of old food, sour beer, vomit, unwashed socks, perspiration, in short: the stench of students who haven’t received any visit from the Hygiene Fairy lately.

Their nerves were already on breaking point when they saw light under a door.

Istaìnn opened it. Inside, a group of revelers, the cigarette smoke was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but the overall smell was slightly better in general.

“We’ll have to settle with this…” sighed the spy.

“Are you joining the party?” asked an elf. Seeing him wobble made the spy wonder what those elves were smoking.

“No, young learner, we need a place to sleep. Your Dean told us to pick a room. We picked this one, sorry. Please evacuate. Go sleep in one of the other pig stalls nearby.”

All the six elves inside laughed.

“Mate, we’re in the senior year; you cannot speak to us like this.”

A snap of the spy’s fingers was enough.

Slaps, boots in behinds, taking them by the collars and shoving them outside, it all took a minute. Istaìnn, Lau, and Diago worked together like a well-oiled machine.

“You can come tomorrow to take your stuff,” said the spy. “But not too early, or else I’ll cut your ears!”

He closed the door with the key and opened the windows. Lau gathered everything he could: sheets, clothes, old bottles, blankets, and threw them all out. They jumped on the beds as they were, without any sheet, pillow, or blanket, and fell asleep immediately.

Heyra made an effort to whisper some words to her sister, though.

“This means war, you know! You’ve petted my adorer and let him kiss your hand! Tomorrow, I’ll pull your eyes out with my fingernails, now I’m too…” and she fell asleep before saying tired.

###

Two hours after the sun had risen, someone knocked at the door. The duelist was the first able to get down from the bed and open it. In front of the door were the expelled elves and Faredhiel.

“Hi,” said Faredhiel. “I came to invite you to breakfast, but I’ve met these young comrades students on my way. It seems you had a little misunderstanding.”

“No, no misunderstanding,” replied Diago, sending a backhand slap in the nose of the closest elf. “They voluntarily left us the room. Isn’t it so?”

“Yes,… sir…” wailed the one with the bloodied nose. He and the rest of the students disappeared in a second.

“See? Everything is perfect! I’ll tell the others; we’ll be with you shortly.”

They woke up with a lot of hunger and discomfort. They searched the wardrobes and threw everything they’d miss before out the windows again. To wash in the bathroom was a bridge too far. The water was not running, to their disappointment, and the sink was filled with layers of dirty clothes and dishes, one upon another. Out of the window, for the third time. Lau found a lavatory in the next corridor and managed to bring a bucket of water, then another, and another. After they were ready to get back to Faredhiel, Istaìnn issued a warning.

“Let’s be careful what we say. Don’t disclose important things. Let him speak. We can ask questions; the one who asks questions controls the discussion. He’ll feel important answering. We need more info.”

“This is quite a negative mentality!” attacked Feyra. “He’s an elf and a Dean; how can you not trust him? Do you not know how much the elves influenced our art, our civilization? Compared to the elves, the humans are brutes. You included!”

“Hey, at least I’m a brute who washes!” he replied.

“Boss is no brute; he’s prince Smartass!” said Lau.

“Well, that’s what I call a good friend, thank you, Lau,” replied the spy. “I must insist on keeping our mouths shut. This cousin of mine gives me a shady feeling. I hate shabby-chic dressed guys; they always have secrets. He’s hiding something; I feel it in my bones. Call it my spy sense.”

“Hey, elves cannot lie!” protested Feyra.

“What elves cannot lie, sis, those from the fairy tales?” objected Heyra. “Lying is a normal protection reaction for a sentient. They are supposed to be calm, no? Do you remember how that Rheldoriel guy reacted when Istaìnn forced him to take Pumpkin on the dirigible?”

“He, he, I enjoyed that!” confessed the spy.

“Yes, because you got people out of their minds, even elves!” attacked back Feyra. “You’re the… the… the most stubborn person I’ve ever met!”

She was like a fury, her fists were clenched, and her cheeks were red, and if they had been alone, he would have taken her face into his hands and kissed her, he was sure. He was saved by Lau.

“Your highness, Lau asks you to consider this. The Autarchy has more than two million people, in four tribes: Han, Goryu, Nihon, and Viet. To the north, we have Allamain and Schiavone, two hundred thousand or more, and the steppe tribes as much. In Ohst, you are well over a million, yes? Correct. Plus the hinterlands, plus the Archipelago. Maybe Ohst has more than ten million citizens, all colonies included. The Coast, Media, Balirbar, d’Ornia, another ten million together. How can so many people come from one lousy ship of slaves, so stupid that elves taught them to tie the shoelaces? The birth rate over one millennium and a half is not consistent with a ship. It is consistent with mass migration. And if we were so backward, how did we manage to cross the Ocean, twenty thousand miles of sea? You need navigation; you need engineering. Why didn’t the elves crossed it? This elf either lies, either is delusional.”

Feyra remained silent for a while. The logic was on Lau’s side. However, if a scientist can concede defeat, a woman rarely. She found a middle ground.

“Yes, Lau, but maybe the legends are just a metaphor. Maybe it was a mass migration and lots of ships. But still, the elves are an evolved race; they never had a war, except those in which they helped us. Their strength is that they found greatness in peace.”

Lau bowed.

“You are very generous, princess; I hope they will live up to your expectations. Lau will remain here, I have something to do. Please bring me some food if possible.”

“I’ll go check on Pumpkin to see if he had eaten some elf or not. So the same for me, bring me something to eat, please,” asked Diago.

“So be it!” said Heyra. “Let’s go; I’m hungry.”