"We are finally home," Nal said as she felt the carriage settle on the ground.

Iysinfyr sighed, "Art really isn't... ah, is not my thing."

Nal nodded in agreement, but she was happy Iysinfyr was just as bad as her when they practice painting murals after their sculpture class.

"I thought you did well on your sculpture for your first time," Nal recalled the animal Iysinfyr had tried to make.

"I would not say that was good, I broke off the head and all the legs," Iysinfyr didn't look that sad at the fact.

Nal stood up and looked at the door of the carriage, "Do you think El will come?”

Syl opened the door of the carriage and held it open for the girls, “Her parents would be fools to miss the chance to befriend the daughter of a duke, especially since they are foreigners. They are probably already here.”

Both Nal and Iysinfyr nodded in understanding, then Nal practically dragged Iysinfyr off her feet as she rushed inside the villa in excitement.

Inside they found El sitting with a man and woman. Both looked to be in their late forties and well-dressed in the traditional Amirran clothes.

The woman was petite like El and had long black hair pulled up in a neat bun. Her face was definitely foreign with high cheekbones, smaller round dark eyes, thin lips, and a pointy chin. She wore her clothes in a way that a native would think she was trying too hard.

The man was on the shorter side and had long, greying hair in a ponytail. Like El’s mom, he had small eyes, but his lips were fuller and his eyes had some green to them.

Looking at them, El had inherited her mother’s cheekbones and eye shape, but had her father’s eye color, lips and chin.

All three stood up when Nal and Iysinfyr entered the room.

Upon seeing them, Nal calmed herself down and her etiquette training kicked in, “I am Nalulthyn Whitereed, thank you for bringing letting your daughter come and visit.”

El’s father stepped forward and bowed, “I am Hadra, Eldraearna’s father. It is our family’s honor that you have considered letting our daughter become your acquaintance.”

Iysinfyr stepped back as El’s father stepped forward and hid behind Deko.

Everyone noticed, but no one said anything.

El’s mother bowed and picked up a long, rectangular box that was sitting on the couch next to where she was sitting, “I am Katalin, Eldraearna’s mother. As a thank you, we brought you a gift that shows our appreciation.”

Before Nal could reach for the box, Syl stepped forward and took it.

El’s mother seemed surprised at first when Syl took the box, but nodded to herself as if understanding something.

Syl inspected the box and then peeked inside. Seeing nothing wrong with whatever was inside, she closed it and handed it to Nal.

Nal took the box from Syl and took the lid off to see a bolt of fine cloth of foreign make.

El’s mother lowered her head slightly, “I know it is not much to the daughter of a duke but this is some of our finest cloth imported from our home country. I would have liked to make an outfit from it, but we did not have time.”

Nal looked at El’s mother and gave her a bright smile, “Thank you, I will stop by your shop later and have something tailored with this.”

El’s parents both bowed, “It would honour us.”

El’s father turned from Nal to El, “I do not want to take too much of more of your time, but I would request that my daughter be ready to leave before nightfall. I have heard news recently of attacks at night that leave their victims marked of crimes and then mutilated.”

Syl stepped forward, “I will see to it we return her to your home before then.”

El’s father shook his head, “I could not ask that of you, I can pick her up in our carriage.”

Nal stepped forward, though there was some hesitation in her step, “I would like to see where your shop is so I can come by later. So… Maybe Eldraearna could show me.”

El’s father looked like he wanted to say something but El’s mom put her hand on his arm, “That would be fine.”

El’s father nodded, “Yes, that sounds fine.”

El’s mother shot her husband a sharp look, “We should get back to our shop. Our two eldest sons are capable merchants but still have much to learn and should not be left alone for long.”

El’s parents bowed, turned to look at El and even though they said nothing to her seemed to communicate something to her.

Syl motioned for El’s parents to follow her to the door, “I will escort you to your carriage.”

El’s parents thanked Syl and went to leave the room.

Iysinfyr backed away from them, keeping Deko between herself and El’s father.

El’s parents gave Iysinfyr a puzzled look but left the villa, saying nothing about it.

El sighed but immediately looked to Nal and Iysinfyr out of embarrassment, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Nal giggled, “I know how you feel. Parents are so awkward.”

El smiled, “Mmhm.”

Iysinfyr stepped away from Deko, “Th… thanks for coming.”

Nal nodded in agreement, “Yes, El, thank you for coming.”

El bowed, “Are you sure someone like me is okay being here?”

Nal grabbed El’s hands, “What a silly question! I would not have invited you if I did not want you here!”

El smiled, “Yeah, I guess not.”

Nal turned to Iysinfyr, “What do we do now? Syl or someone else always prepared everything.”

El and Iysinfyr at Nal dumbfounded.

Iysinfyr sighed and slouched her shoulders in disbelief, “We get to know each other.”

El nodded, “Mmhm.”

Nal laughed at herself and rubbed the back of her head, “Yes, that makes sense.” She then grabbed El’s hand, pulled her to Iysinfyr, grabbed Iysinfyr’s hand and began pulling them, “Let us talk in my room.”

El nearly tripped, “Lady Nal’s room!?”

Nal stopped and glared at her, “No lady, just Nal is fine.”

El took a step back at first thanks to Nal’s glare but then smiled, “Okay, Nal.”

Nal smiled and nodded, “Good.”

El looked confused but happy as Nal pulled her with a bemused Iysinfyr to Nal’s bedroom.

“Wow!” El said as she surveyed Nal’s room as Nal closed the door, “Your room is so pretty.”

Nal looked around at her room. There were simple murals on the wall depicting landscapes from around Amirr. Her bed was on the larger side and her bedding was of fine cloth, the same colors as her family’s colors of blue and black. A fine net hung above her bed that she could use to keep the insects away from her while she slept. Next to the left of her bed sat a decorated table that held a bust of her parents and a vase with a variety of local flowers. To the right of her bed, against the far wall, was a large wardrobe decorated with carvings of flowers and small animals. A large rug of foreign make lay under her bed and another at its foot.

Deko rushed ahead and grabbed three large down pillows from Nal’s bed and placed them on the rug at the foot of Nal’s bed and then stood in the corner where she could watch the girls.

Nal and Iysinfyr both sat on a cushion, Nal on one farthest from the door and Iysinfyr the one directly next to the bed.

El stood silently as she waited for the other two girls to sit.

Nal looked at El and waited for her to sit.

El shifted back and forth on her feet but didn’t move.

Iysinfyr looked back and forth between the two and got an amused look on her face.

El and Nal both looked like they were waiting for the other to say something before Nal finally patted on the empty cushion, “Sit!”

El smiled sheepishly and sat down, “Ah, yes.”

Iysinfyr turned to El and leaned back on the bed, “We’re friends now, you don’t need to wait for permission to sit.”

El nodded but still looked like she was unsure, “O… ok…”

Nal looked between Iysinfyr and El excitedly, “So, what are we going to talk about?”

El didn’t look like she was going to say anything so Iysinfyr spoke, “I guess basic introductions? We got interrupted during sculpture, so let’s start over there.”

Nal nodded in agreement, but El still seemed like she was over her head.

“I will start,” Nal said with a smile, “My name in Nalulthyn Whitereed, birth deity Attish. I am fourteen years old. My birthday is Candrar 5th. My favorite food is honey cake and I dislike art.”

Nal sat down and looked at El.

El looked scared about being chosen to be next but stood up, “M… my name is Eldraearna, birth deity Candrar. I am sixteen years old. My birthday is on Sorris 17th. My favorite food is the lamb they serve at the spring festival. I don’t like art.”

El sat down, and both she and Nal looked to Iysinfyr. Both looked extremely interested.

Iysinfyr sighed at their looks, but stood up, “My name is Iysinfyr Tallhill, no birth deity. I am uh… um… I’ve been on Calorin for… eight years?”

“Eight years? How old were you on Terra before you came to Calorin?” Nal jumped off her cushion and put her face right in front of Iysinfyr.

Iysinfyr tried to back away, but her head hit the bed so she couldn’t move far, “That’s hard to say. Terran years and Calorin years are different.”

This time it was El that lept forward, “They’re different? How? How old am I in Terran years?”

Iysinfyr scooted to the side to get away from the two girls, “Uh, Calorin years are two hundred and ninety-three days, and Terran years are three hundred and sixty-five days long with an extra day every four years.”

Nal stood up and rushed to the side of her bed and began looking for something.

El scooted back next to Iysinfyr, “Why do you have an extra day every four years?”

Iysinfyr looked to Nal, who was digging under her bed, then to El, and laughed softly, “Because our years are actually three hundred sixty-five point two four days long, so the calender gets messed up if you don’t add an extra day.”

El nodded happily, “That sounds annoying.”

Iysinfyr nodded, “Just ask the people born on the extra day.”

El laughed, “They would only have a birthday every four years!”

Just then El seemed to notice how close she was to Iysinfyr, and moved back to her cushion, a blush of embarrassment on her face, “Forgive me.”

Just then Nal came back with a slate and a piece of chalk, “Finally found this.” She turned to Iysinfyr, “How many days are in a Terran year?”

El looked like she wanted to answer, but merely looked at the other two as if it wasn’t her place to interrupt.

Iysinfyr nodded to her, “We’re friends.”

El smiled, “Three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter.”

Nal looked at El and smiled, then looked back to the slate, “Hmm, two hundred and ninety-three times fourteen…”

Nal tried her best and got close to solving it, but became increasingly frustrated.

El leaned over and watched her until she noticed Nal was having a hard time, “Let me try. I’m a Candrar so I’m good with stuff like this.”

Nal looked relieved and handed the slate and chalk to El, “Thank you, I never liked math.”

This time Nal watched El as she crunched numbers and converted their ages from Calorin years to Terran years, “I’m almost thirteen Terran years old, Lady Nalulthyn is a little over eleven years old, and Lady Iysinfyr is at least six and a half Terran years old.”

El and Nal both looked at Iysinfyr.

El leaned forward and studied Iysinfyr, “I think she is older than we are. Maybe twelve Terran years and eight Calorin years old.”

Iysinfyr stood up, “Oh, I didn’t finish my introduction. My birthday is April 4th and my favorite food is pineapple. Art is okay.”

El stood up excitedly, “April? Is that a Terran month?”

Iysinfyr nodded, “It’s the name of the fourth month of the year in my native language.”

El nodded, “Can you tell me the rest later?”

Iysinfyr shrugged, “I don’t see why it matters, but sure.”

Iysinfyr sat on the edge of Nal’s bed and El sat next to her.

Nal stood up, “Syl will get angry if she sees us sitting on the bed.”

El looked at Nal apologetically, “Oh, sorry,” and then moved back to the cushion.

Iysinfyr lay on her stomach with her head just over the end of the bed, swinging her feet in the air behind her, and looked at the door, “Syl can fight me if she wants me to get off.”

Just as Iysinfyr finished saying this the door swung open, “A lady of your status shouldn’t be challenging personal maids to a fight. A lady also maintains etiquette at all times, even with friends. Laying on beds and swinging your feet in the air…”

Syl stopped when Iysinfyr began making faces at her, “And a personal maid shouldn’t steal pineapple from a lady’s hands just as she’s about to eat it. Nor does she eavesdrop outside the door like a spy.”

Syl crossed her arms, “A personal maid and the daughter of a duke are two entirely different things. A maid can be fired, but you will always be the daughter of a duke. Whatever you do reflects on your whole family.”

El looked between Syl and Iysinfyr and looked like she had several questions but said nothing.

Iysinfyr smiled and got off the bed, “Buy me more pineapple and I’ll try harder next time.”

Syl looked at Deko, who was watching the whole scene with zero expression, “Please keep a better eye on the girls next time.”

Deko looked to Syl, “I’m my master’s bodyguard, not a personal maid. As long as she is safe she can do what she wants.”

Syl furrowed her brow but straightened her posture, stood next to the door, and then looked at El, “We can talk about this more after our guest has left.”

Iysinfyr sat back on her cushion, “So, El. What do you like to do for fun?”

El looked taken aback, but looked from Syl to Iysinfyr, “Oh? I like making things, but my mom says that is for boys and makes me help her sew, which I like a little so it's not that bad even though I’m not very good at sewing. ”

Iysinfyr stood up excitedly, “I’ll be back,” and ran out of the room.

El and Nal looked at each other.

Nal remembered something, “Oh! She must be going to get that light stick she is making.”

El looked curious, “Light stick?”

Nal crossed her arms and thought for a second, “She was putting a storage crystal and a light crystal in a tube.”

El was about to say something when Iysinfyr came back in.

Iysinfyr sat on her cushion a placed a metal tube in front of El and a communication crystal on the floor to the right of her pillow, “It’s called a flashlight. I finished it last night after Deko brought me the rest of the stuff I needed.”

El picked up the flashlight and looked it over, “A flashlight? What does it do?”

Iysinfyr pointed to a loose latch on the bottom, “Tighten that latch to turn it on.”

El found the latch and shut it. As soon as she did, light shown from the opposite end.

“Ooh!” El looked impressed, “It makes it so the light only shines in one direction!”

El began shining the beam of light around the room.

Nal reached for the flashlight, “May I see it too?”

El turned to Nal and handed it to her, “Oh, yes, Lady Nal.”

Nal took the flashlight, “Just Nal.”

As Nal and El were playing with the flashlight Iysinfyr picked up the communication crystal but put it back down and joined the other two, “Want me to show you something fun?”

El and Nal both turned to Iysinfyr and expressed their agreement.

“Hold the light still on the wall,” Iysinfyr pointed to a blank spot on a wall.

El held the light as best she could towards the spot Iysinfyr had pointed to. Iysinfyr moved in from of the light and began making shadow puppets. First a birth, then a dog.

This seemed to be a big hit, and the three girls began taking turns holding the flashlight while the other two tried making different shadow puppets.

“Can you make me one?” El asked as they returned to their cushions.

Iysinfyr handed the flashlight to El, “You can have this one. They’re easy to make. Just don’t let anyone know there are magic crystals inside.”

El took the flashlight and held it to her chest, “Thank you Iysinfyr. You barely know me and you’re being so nice.”

Iysinfyr’s face went somber for a second then smiled, “I promised myself I would do better with people. I… wasn’t the best with people before, but I met some people that made me realize it’s good to have friends.”

“Where were you before the duke adopted you?” El said, not knowing it was a touchy subject.

Nal looked at Iysinfyr with interest and worry.

“Flaern. I lived in a mining village in the mountains until I went to a school there,” Iysinfyr smiled a smile that showed both pain and nostalgia.

“I’m sorry,” El’s countenance fell, “you must be worried after hearing about Toa Mirr going to war with Flaern a few days ago.”

Iysinfyr and Nal both looked surprised at the news and turned to Syl.

“I didn’t think it was important,” Syl looked at Iysinfyr sadly, “You never told us you lived in Flaern before or I would have said something.”

Iysinfyr looked at the floor then back to Syl, “It’s all right, it’s my fault for not telling you.”

El looked uncomfortable, but gave a weak smile, “I heard Flaern easily held their border castles.”

Iysinfyr smiled, “Yeah, Flaern soldiers seem a lot better trained than Toa Mirran soldiers.”

El looked surprised, “You’ve met Toa Mirran soldiers?”

Iysinfyr nodded, and her face turned sour, “I never want to again.”

El began to look uncomfortable, “Did… did they do anything bad to you?”

Iysinfyr smirked, “They tried, but…” Iysinfyr looked like she was debating with herself on what to say next. “Well, let’s just say that Flaern schools can train girls my size to be better fighters than a Toa Mirran soldier. I bet they just toss them a sword and tell them to go fight something.”

“You can fight!?” Nal became weirdly excited.

El didn’t seem like she knew what to say.

Iysinfyr nodded, “I think they teach most children in Flaern to fight, except maybe the poorest villages. I mean, Toa Mirr is right there.”

Nal looked like she wasn’t sure, but El nodded in agreement.

“What are you going to do?” El looked at Iysinfyr with concern. “I hope Flaern wins the war. If they lose, then Toa Mirr will be to the north and east of us.”

Iysinfyr shook her head, “Can we talk about something else?”

El thought, then looked at the flashlight, “Did you ever consider selling these. I think you would make a lot of money. Though you are the daughter of a duke, so you might not need to.”

Iysinfyr smiled and seemed to remember something, “I sold other things in Flaern.” She looked at El, “How about your family? If you need money, maybe you can help me sell things?”

El backed away and waved her hands in front of her frantically, “Oh no no no. I couldn’t take advantage of you like that.”

Iysinfyr leaned forward, “I make the things, and your family sells them. Then we split the money.”

El still seemed unconvinced, “I guess, but people will steal the ideas as soon as we start selling them.”

Iysinfyr shrugged, “That’s true. You don’t have patents on Calorin.”

“Patents?”

“Oh, on Terra you give your plans to the government and make sure no one else steals your idea for a certain amount of time.”

Nal leaned forward, “I can talk to my papa and you can talk to your papa. Maybe they can make this patent thing.”

Iysinfyr shook her head, “I think the nobility will be the first ones to steal ideas.”

Nal leaned back, “Yes, I can see it.”

“I guess that means we can’t do anything,” El leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

Iysinfyr smiled, “There is one way. We just do something hard to steal.”

Nal and El looked at Iysinfyr with interest.

Iysinfyr thought for a while and then noticed the communication crystal. She then picked it up and began thinking.

El looked at the communication crystal, “Oh, is that a communication crystal? I’ve always wanted to try using one.”

Iysinfyr held it out to show El, “My father has the one connected to this. He gave it to me so he could still talk to me after I left. I saw it when I went to get the flashlight and brought it with me so I wouldn’t forget to talk to him after dinner.”

El reached out her hand, “Can I look at it? I promise I won’t turn it on.”

Iysinfyr handed the crystal to El, “I just wish these didn’t have to be paired. On Terra we had something similar, but you could talk to anyone if you knew their information.”

El looked up from the crystal, “I think I heard you can change the pairings?”

Iysinfyr looked at Deko.

Deko’s easily knew what Iysinfyr wanted, “You can change pairings and pair one to several, but pairing too many to the one makes it so you the one can’t see or hear those using the others.”

Iysinfyr nodded and smiled, “I think I know what we can do.”

Nal and El leaned forward in anticipation.

“TV! We pair several communication crystals together and use the one to transmit things to the others,” Iysinfyr crossed her arms and looked excited.

Nal and El both looked at each other, unconvinced.

“We can already do that,” Nal said as she seemed to lose interest in the idea.

El nodded in agreement.

Iysinfyr sat straight, “Yes, but we’re in Amirr, a country full of artists. I think I know how we can take advantage of this.”

Nal still seemed skeptical but said nothing.

El thought for a moment, “But how? The communication crystals are so small. Only one person can use each at a time.”

“That part shouldn’t be too hard to fix if I can find the right things,” Iysinfyr said before turning to Nal, “But the other part is the worst part. We need someone good with people and art.”

Nal looked confused, “Ok? I can ask my father?”

Iysinfyr shook her head, “Your father is probably too busy, but I can think of someone else both of us know.”

Nal thought for a moment, “Hmm, someone we both know that’s good at art and with people…” A lightbulb turned on in Nal’s head and she recoiled at the thought, “No! Not Davanvia!”

***

Syl entered her room after Nal retired for the night and felt tired herself. The three girls had talked for a while about Iysinfyr’s plan, and while Syl found the idea to be ingenious, she had hoped they would talk about cute girly stuff instead.

At least El was cute, and it made her happy that Iysinfyr had found someone that had similar interests as her, even if those interests weren’t cute at all. Well, it was cute watching them play with the flashlight. And it was cute whenever El got excited over Iysinfyr’s ideas. How she wiggled her butt in excitement. The way she clutched things against her small breasts when she wasn’t looking at them…