The artist's letter was meant to go farther south, to Riz down in Liiros. Vonn wanted to head there right away, But the Boulder Fair was just days away and he wanted to be home for that.

The village was filling up. The inns and every spare room had tourists and merchants showing up. Boats crowded the docks from up and down the Starry River and west from the area now ruled by Baron Urika. The difference this year was that a few of these had motors, stamped with Rising World Company, Shieldpoint.

Vonn wished Urika and Kotta were here to enjoy it.

As usual, the main purpose of the fair was trade. Vendors of cloth had swarmed into town along with merchants seeking the silver coins made in Silvermire and iron from just westward. The great white rock on the village's east shore made an obvious landmark and flat surface for market tents and stalls.

One of these was a dealer in tough canvas-like fabric that he'd ordered in large amounts last year, for drive belts. So the shop was preoccupied with taking in several crates of material and paying for it. The puzzled trader wanted to see what the stuff was being used for, so he got a tour. "So as much magicite as you can get, you can turn into these spinning machines?"

"That's right," said Ashfall, patting an engine proudly. She'd done little of this batch, since lately she'd been focused on selling locks to nervous townsfolk.

"Like a portable version of that waterwheel you've got. I'd like to use one with a spinning wheel."

Vonn said, "We probably should've tried that sooner. We have some for sale for whatever purpose you want."

Tazo explained its capabilities. The trader had to think about it, so that left everybody free to get back to work and play. Some of both, really, since they were focused on serving the festival guests but participating in the fun themselves.

Some of that entertainment was grim. Though it was a long hike or a boat ride away, people wanted to go visit the site of Kolm's Fell. They peeked into the pits and tunnels and carried away chips of black stone. An enterprising businesslady had pre-cut some rocks into scary shapes. But most tourists stayed in town. There was a fair of sizzling meat and fruit, a gentle warm wind blowing from the south, and money jingling on people's belts.

Vonn and company got Liberty Bell up and running. People began gathering as they realized what it was. And as planned, he got to charge admission for the ride. Just going up for a few minutes was a novelty. He took turns with his friends and employees, keeping one Engineer aboard for every flight and having someone working on the ground. That meant one or two passengers at a time. He and the other crew got to watch frightened, sometimes delighted people ride a hundred feet into the sky and try to figure out how the rope or some kind of spell might be holding them up. For Vonn the main challenge was keeping everybody wearing a safety harness and slowfall bracelet.

When he and Tazo had time off together, with Tazo playing sky captain, they went to watch the ridiculous fashion show. The new style this year seemed to be shimmering sky blue with ribbons.

Vonn had taken to wearing a vest and white shirt when he wasn't in his tie-dye stuff, so he felt fashionable enough. The stuff that the clothing sellers were parading for sale here made him snicker; these floofy dresses and shirts and capes weren't fit for village life. "At least some of these pants have pockets, these days!"

Tazo frowned. "But not the women's outfits. I don't get it."

He and Tazo wandered off from there to explore the shops. And soon they found the two men they'd expected to see at some point.

"Come and see the dangling boy!" said a slender Elf in a jester outfit, next to a pudgy Human man with a fiddle. "Who wants to see a boy get zapped with lightning?"

Vonn rushed forward to see just what was going on. A Kobold kid with yellow scales dangled by a rope tied around his waist and legs, from a wooden frame. He didn't seem to be in distress. The fiddle man was wrapping up a lively tune and switching over to a wand tipped with shimmering yellow crystal.

"As you can see," shouted the Elf, "my handsome assistant is armed with a wand of lightning. In fact this very weapon was used to vanquish the monsters of yonder dungeon! But we've learned it has a mysterious power beyond the realms of wizardry."

The Human guy saw Vonn and grinned. "Oh hey! Where's your Kobold friend? He was a good customer last year."

Vonn said something more vulgar than he'd meant to.

"I thought you knew all about machines and magic, young man! So pay attention and learn."

Vonn tried to ignore him. "Uh, kid, are you all right?"

The dangling boy waved. "Watch this!"

The con artist duo kept up their patter about "lightning virtue" and "energy attraction" until they sensed the crowd was getting antsy. Then they touched the crackling electrified wand to the silken ropes. Vonn winced. Instead of getting visibly shocked, the kid just made buzzing noises.

The Elf slid a bucket of feathers toward him. The boy reached out and feathers began flying up to stick to his claws.

"A force spell?" asked one traveler.

"No, sir! The lightning virtue has its own unique force that can turn a Kobold feathery."

The boy got feathers stuck to both arms and flapped them, making chirping noises.

Tazo whispered to Vonn, "Okay, how?"

"That's an actual science demo. Did... did these guys just do something honest?"

The duo made the kid do more tricks, half acrobatics and half electricity. Between those and some jokes and music, the performers were making money without ripping people off for once. Vonn didn't know what to make of it. He started to walk away.

"What's this?" said the Human, grinning directly at him. "Sir, didn't our attraction force any coins out of you? Sorry to say, we didn't bring any miracle medicine with us this time."

Vonn growled and tossed a silver coin into their cash bucket. Even when they weren't cheating people they still got the better of him somehow!

The guy bowed theatrically and laughed. "A man of learning and wealth!"