Her oppressor merely laughed. “Is that as loud as you can scream? No one can hear you! Aha ha ha ha!”

The maiden screamed louder and more desperately for help, and still her attacker remained undaunted. “Still can’t hear you! Louder, Valii, louder; Telae’ah will soon face her doom!”

Doom. Doom was a very serious word, and upon hearing it, the maid at last realized the depth of her plight. She jumped up from the ground, cupped her hands around her mouth and shrieked one shrill, blood-curdling note right into the face of her adversary.

“Ow!” Thairyn cried. She pinned back her earfins and covered them with her hands.

“Oh no, I'm sorry! Are your own earfins okay?”

Thairyn glared at her little sister. But she regained both her composure and character in a moment and said, “Of course! A wee scream couldn’t stop the likes of Kahni! ...Although, you shall soon regret injuring his earfins.”

“Nay! That she shall not!” The sisters looked up at a low hanging Tree Kin branch, where stood a hooded figure.

Dramatically this character flung off her cape—sending, too, cascades of her silky blue hair to flow in the light breeze. She leapt down from her perch and landed almost soundlessly on the ground a few paces from Thairyn and Valii. She twirled towards them and struck a heroic pose.

Thairyn was not impressed. In fact, she was insulted. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Neyhira,” she said seriously, “You’re supposed to be Manairus. Manairus didn’t wear a gown.”

“Of course he didn’t,” Neyhira said, pinning back her earfins, “But I wasn’t about to put on that ratty old kyntin you wanted me to wear. And what does it matter, anyway? If we can pretend your stick is a sword, I think we can pretend my gown is a—”

Thairyn put up her hand and pointed her nose in the air. “You talk too much, and besides, you’re too late! My victim is already dead.”

“I am not!” said Valii, “That’s not fair Thairyn! That didn’t happen in the real story!”

“Well maybe you would have lived if Manairus had shown up.”

“I did!”

“You wasted precious time spinning your silly skirts around,” Thairyn said. “Manairus is my Star-guardian and I can tell you he wouldn’t have come to battle wearing a silly little gown, much less twirl in it!”

“He is your Star-guardian,” Neyhira said, “Therefore, you should play him. I want to be the bad guy this time!”

“Pfft. You’re too nice to play the bad guy. I’d arrive on the scene and cry let her go! ...and then you would—probably with an apology for tying her up in the first place.”

“She’s right, you would,” Valii said. “Do you want to be Telae’ah, Neyhira? I can be the bad guy.”

“You? The evil Kahni—you?” Thairyn laughed. “Let’s face it; I’m the only one scary enough to be Kahni.”

“Ha!” Valii said, “You don’t scare me!”

A light came to Thairyn’s eyes and she smiled unnervingly. “Oh... don’t I?”

Valii let out a shout and fled as her older sister lunged at her. Despite the points of their previous argument, this game found Thairyn once more the villain, Valii again the damsel, and Neyhira the hero.

They chased each other all the way to The Clearing, which was a wide green field that separated the Eastern Side of the forest from the Western Side. It was usually a quiet and peaceful glade, but its tranquillity was shattered when the three princesses came squealing and bounding through it. Several tiny brightly coloured biireos whom had been hitherto hiding in the grasses flew up at once in the girls’ wake, twittering and screeching their alarm at having been disturbed. Thairyn and her sisters took little notice of this however, and went on their way giggling and screaming.

“Ha! Ha! Take that, and that, Kahni! Die by my sword or else by my fire!” Neyhira cried, using a stick she had picked up as a weapon.

Skilfully Thairyn blocked her blows with her own “sword”.

“Ah ha ha ha! Manairus, you fool! You shall not save the maiden!”

Valii, meanwhile, slipped away from the two of them to find a place to hide. The grass was so tall that this was not a difficult feat; so she crouched down and hugged her knees. She giggled quietly to herself, waiting for the evil Kahni and her beloved Manairus to notice she was gone.

Their duel did not sound as though it would end soon. But Valii was a very patient child. She noticed there was a little hole in the ground under her feet. When she looked closer, she saw the glint of two eyes peering out at her. Valii put her forefinger to her lips. “Shh, we’ve got to be quiet or Kahni will find us!”

The only response the pair of eyes made was to disappear back down into the hole.

“Agh! ...Oh... Manairus... you got me. You got me good.”

“Oh! Oh no! Thairyn, I’m so sorry! Are you all right?”

“No, no, and no—I’m Kahni. Remember? You don’t care if I’m all right. Go find your princess and leave me to die already, will you?”

Valii peeked out of the grass to see what had happened. Thairyn had been clutching her stomach, and at that moment dramatically cried out, fell to her knees, and died.

Neyhira flattened her earfins against her head. She almost looked as though she would kneel down and beg her enemy’s corpse for forgiveness—that is, until said corpse peeked open an eye and mouthed, Go find your princess.

Neyhira stepped over Thairyn and half-heartedly looked around for Valii. “Telae’ah, my love, where are you? The enemy is slain, all is safe now!”

Valii squealed and jumped up from her hiding place. “Here I am, Manairus!” She bounded into Neyhira's arms and nearly knocked her over.

As rehearsed, Neyhira hugged Valii and gave her a dramatic prinnaging on her forehead. Valii giggled and hugged her arm. Both turned and looked to Kahni’s corpse. Valii was still grinning, but Neyhira frowned. “Okay, Thairyn,” she said, “Manairus rescued Telae’ah. You can stop being dead now.”

Thairyn did not stir.

“Thairyn?” Neyhira asked again, anxiety rising in her voice. Still, Thairyn did not respond. Neyhira gave Valii a worried look and pulled her arm from her hug. She went to Thairyn and shook her shoulder vigorously. “Thairyn, Thairyn? Are you okay?!”

Thairyn kept up the act until Neyhira rolled her over. Then she could contain herself no more and burst into laughter. Neyhira did not know whether she ought to feel annoyed or relieved.

“Did you think I was really dead?” Thairyn asked, grinning up at her like an imp.

Neyhira's face was bright with colour. Her cheeks felt hot. But she maintained a look of indignation. “Of course not!” she said, “But you might have been hurt. It wasn’t nice to scare us like that!”

Valii, who had waited where Neyhira left her, hurried now to Thairyn’s side. As she sat up, Valii threw her arms around her neck and burst into tears. Thairyn hugged her back, but looked a little puzzled.

“You really worried her. That wasn’t nice.”

“Oh, Neyhira. It was all good fun.” Thairyn noticed some grass in her hair that was hanging in front of her face. Her attempt to blow it off failed. She managed to free an arm from Valii's embrace and picked it out. Wrinkling her nose a little in distate, she puffed it off her fingers. She glanced down at Valii. The hug was awfully uncomfortable and she could not really sit upright with her hanging on her like that. But for the sake of her sister's tears, she let her be, only trying a little to readjust her position. When it failed, she pulled an awkward face but sighed apathetically. “It was all good fun, wasn’t it Valii?”

Valii finally let her go. She sat up and sniffed. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she nodded.

“There, you see?” Thairyn said, but it was obvious Neyhira was not satisfied. “Come on now, I’m hungry. Wasn’t Mama going to be making some taste-goods today?”

“I thought you said you were hungry!” Neyhira said, throwing her hands in the air. “You don’t eat taste-goods when you’re hungry!”

“I’m not that kind of hungry—I’m hungry as in I want something sweet hungry. And Mama does eat taste-goods when she’s the first hungry,” Thairyn said, “So does Kaqurei. In any case, I think I can smell Mama’s treats now. Let’s go find her!”

So the three of them picked themselves up out of the grass and started across the Clearing towards the Eastern Side of the forest. Near the edge of The Clearing they had to cross a little brook, and decided they might as well wash up there too. As Neyhira sat down on the smooth stones to dip her feet in the cool clear water, she could not help but notice how pretty the brook looked. “Isn’t it nice when the Kiirlight reflects off the water like that? Almost looks like it’s dancing, doesn’t it?”

Thairyn had already dunked her feet into the gurgling water. She looked at the brook curiously. “Huh,” she said, “I didn’t notice. But yes, it is very pretty.”

“And cold!” Valii added, shivering. She pulled her feet out of the water and shook them. “Why is it so cold, when it is such a warm day?”

“I don’t know.” Neyhira shrugged.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Thairyn said, “The river is alive like us, but in a cold way. Like fish. In fact, the river is cold for them so that they can live in it.”

“...Oh. So, is a dead river warm?” Valii asked innocently.

“I—” Thairyn started with the intention of saying something very clever, but instead she paused and looked troubled. “You know, I don’t know. I don’t think rivers can die.”

“Of course they can,” Neyhira said. “They dry up when they’re dead.”

“Oh, that makes sense!” Thairyn said, “Yes, Valii—dead rivers get dry.”

Valii listened carefully to their every word, eating it up like true wisdom. But then, without much warning at all, Thairyn pushed Valii over into the brook!

“Thairyn!” Neyhira yelled.

A little shocked, but not hurt, Valii jumped up and splashed Thairyn in the face!

Thairyn squealed and jumped into the brook after her sister, splashing and laughing.

Neyhira eagerly watched, but did not join in the fun. “Oh, Thairyn, Valii, don’t do that! You’re getting

your clothes all wet! They’ll be ruined!”

Thairyn and Valii paused. They looked at each other, then at Neyhira. Then Thairyn smiled and said, “Come on, Val, get Neyhira!”

In spite of flinging up her wings in front of her to defend herself, Neyhira was promptly soaked. But rather than be put out on that account, she realized she had nothing left to protect and she was relieved. A smile spread across her face and with a cry she leapt into the stream to avenge her gown. “Avast ye!”

It was laughing, screaming, and splashing that led their older sister Kaqurei to them. When she spotted them, she smiled and shook her head. She watched them from under the shadows of the Eastern Side Tree Kin for a while, and they did not notice her. Only when it looked like they were getting a little too into their game and someone might get hurt did she at last call out, “Thair, Neyhira, Val! Come on! It's time for your lessons. Grandmama is waiting for you!”

Neyhira was still half-stooped over with her hands cupped in the water when she heard Kaqurei. Disappointed, she let the water slip out of her fingers and stood straight. “Right now?”

Thairyn glanced up and saw Kaqurei, but she splashed Neyhira again anyway.

Neyhira grinned. She was about to resume splashing when Kaqurei insisted, “Come on, now.”

They climbed out of the brook and lined up before her. Kaqurei put her hands on her hips and tried to look stern, but she could not help laughing at them.

Valii looked like the guiltiest of the trio, with her eyes cast down and her earfins pinned back. Her curly rust-red hair was soaked through and flopped comically in various directions over her face and little white horns.

Neyhira squeezed the tip of her tail and bit her lower lip. “Do you think Mama will be mad that we’ve made such a mess of our gowns?”

Thairyn, doubtlessly the actual guilty one, was just smiling as if nothing were wrong at all.

“I don’t know how Ma’a will feel about the state of your clothes, but come on now,” Kaqurei said.

When they arrived at the Cira-anu, Kaqurei and her sisters hurriedly fluttered up to their treetop home. “Come on, now. Let’s get you cleaned up!” Kaqurei said, “Thairyn, put that mud ball back outside!”

Thairyn hid it behind her back, but it was too late. She was sorely disappointed, but rather than argue (which was doomed to end in failure anyway) she quietly slipped outside. “I’ll not be leaving it,” she muttered to herself, looking around for a decent hiding place in the Tree Kin’s nooks, “I’ll just come back for it later and put it under my bed when nobody is looking.” When she returned indoors, she found that Kaqurei had already changed Valii out of her wet clothes and was in the midst of drying her hair. Neyhira was nowhere to be seen, but Thairyn guessed she was upstairs changing into an even more frilly and flamboyant gown than the one she had on before.

“Here, Thairyn, put this on,” Kaqurei said, handing her a little red kyntin.

Thairyn took it and hurried up the winding hallway to her room.

After the girls were all dressed and clean, Kaqurei herded them across the Way towards their Grandmama’s teiami. Up they went, one by one, scrambling to the higher branches of the Tree Kin in which the dwelling was situated. Well, almost. Kaqurei caught Valii mid-leap and said, “Wait!”

“Huh?” Valii asked, confused.

“You’re coming with me to learn your letters. Ma’a is waiting for us.”

Thairyn and Neyhira, meanwhile hurried inside Grandmama’s teiami. The main room was large and round; Thairyn figured that possibly a hundred people could gather together there at once. In the centre of the room was a great braided pillar, under which was the bole of the Tree Kin. The braided material that covered it was the same as that which formed the floors, walls, and ceiling--all of one, seamless piece. Grandmama was standing its base, with a handful of cousins gathered at her feet. Behind her was hanging a tapestry that the girls had never seen before, but they did not think that strange. She often changed the tapestries in the room so that they would be relevant to the story she was going to tell them. Neyhira noted that most of the tapestries in the room today depicted plants and animals. Then Grandmama looked up at the twins, and every head was turned to see what she was looking at. Thairyn and Neyhira felt very foolish indeed for having been late. But Grandmama smiled and beckoned them to her.

“Come now, my little ones,” she said, inviting them to sit with the others.

As they approached her, Thairyn looked up at the dangling ornaments hanging from the ceiling of the teiami. She had always been fond of them. All of them were attached to a sort of spiraling mechanism at the ceiling. Grandmama told her once that each ornament represented a star in the sky, and the spiral of the mechanism would make them rotate so that the Gem Elder could track their movements. They did not much look like stars; more like little moons, others still like animals or leaves. Some were fashioned of silver, others wood, and others still of rocks or crystal. Thairyn only wished that she were a little taller so that she could drag her hand through them and listen to that tinkling sound they made sometimes when the wind blew through them.

The girls nestled in with some favourite cousins sitting upon pillows. Once they were situated, they looked expectantly at the Gem Matron to begin.

“Now, then, since Thairyn and Neyhira were not with us when we began,” the Gem Matron said, “Who would like to tell them what we are learning about today?”

“I can, Grandmama,” said a young girl sitting next to Thairyn, Keikii. Grandmama nodded and motioned for her to proceed. She looked at Thairyn and Neyhira and pointed to the tapestry behind the Gem Matron. “That’s the Order of Life. It’s shaped like an egg because we enter life through eggs, and also because the line that makes the egg shape goes around and around, never ending.”

Thairyn looked at the tapestry. It looked like a lot of eggs all inside each other. The biggest egg was stitched in glittering silver threads, depicting strange creatures that Thairyn had never seen before. The next egg had red and yellow, depicting flames of fire and wind. Inside that was an egg that had twelve gemstones, one of every colour, each with a star inside them. Inside the smallest egg at the centre were several symbols divided into parts: at the top in the narrow portion of the egg was a symbol of the Kiir, its light reaching down and through all the other sections. Below that was a part depicting trees, flowers, and leaves. At the bottom was a section that was cut in half; one side showed pictures of animals that ate plants, the other side were animals that ate meat. She furrowed her brow. “But, Grandmama,” she said, “There are symbols outside of the eggs too. Are those the things that have died?”

Grandmama smiled. “We will speak of the symbols outside of the eggs at another time, my child. Today, we will speak of the Kiir and the plants, for all life begins with them. The Kiir gives the light of life to the plants, who in turn give it to all other living things.”

“How?” Neyhira asked.

“The plants take the light of life into their bodies through their leaves, Neyhira. They put it down into the earth with their roots. The animals that eat them, the Receivers Which Give, also receive the light of life into their bodies. The animals which eat other animals, the Receivers Which Take, receive it from them through the meat.”

“But we don’t eat plants or animals,” Neyhira said. “How do we get the light of life?”

Grandmama smiled. “Part of your question is answered by the second egg, which we will speak of another day. But part of your question is also answered by the plants. We call them the Deliverers. They take the light of life that the Kiir gives them and, through their roots, put it into the ground, where our food, chelladu and chellidasa, the gemstones, may be found. This makes it possible for our bodies to absorb, or to take in, the food we need from them. But you get the light of life from your Birthstone, my child, for Gonsoris the Great One filled it with the light of the stars to sustain you. In that way, we are more than the Receivers Who Give or the Receivers Who Take. We do not have to learn the same lessons as they do. Instead, we must learn from the plants, for as they are Deliverers of the light of life, we are to be Nurturers and Protectors of that light. Thairyn,”

And she started at the sound of her name, for her mind had wandered and she was not really paying attention to what was being said. Content had she been enough to listen to the rumbling, beautiful sound of her grandmother’s ancient voice and admire her graceful motions. All the stuff about plants and animals eating each other did not strike her as very interesting or important. Not like stories about her Star-guardian, anyway. “Yes, Grandmama?” she asked.

“When you see a mimbeetle struggling to get up a blade of grass, how does that make you feel?”

“Sad,” Thairyn said, not quite sure where Grandmama was going with this. What did that have to do with animals eating each other? “I feel sad, so I help him up.”

Grandmama nodded. “Compassion does sort of feel like sadness sometimes. But it is a good sadness, because it motivates you to do something good. We were given compassion by The One Who Is Endless so that we would be good guardians of the light of life.”

“Grandmama,” Neyhira said again, “My Mama eats plants. Does that mean she is a Receiver That Gives?” She sounded worried. “Don’t Receivers Who Give get eaten by Receivers Who Take?”

The Gem Matron looked as though she did not know whether she should laugh or not. Ultimately she did not. “No, Neyhira,” she said. “When it comes to the Receivers, you must know that, though the lessons animal Receivers must learn are the same as the lessons people must learn, it is not for the animal Receivers to eat people at all.”

“But some do!” exclaimed a young boy, Jakori. He was not a cousin, and Thairyn did not like him very much. “My brother told me there are animals in the Moon Clan Lands that love to eat Dracoens for their ciraanc--even warriors!”

“That is true,” Grandmama said. “Like little children, animals do not know all things, and must be taught. The Moon Dracoens do not teach the animals that live around them as we do here in The Forest, however.”

“Why not?”

“I fear that is another lesson for another time, my children. For now, it is time for many of you to study the lives of your Star-guardians with your fathers. Come along now, let us put the pillows away. Then we will go and greet them outside.”

Thairyn and Neyhira exchanged dubious glances. For one, they wanted to know more about why Moon Dracoens liked to have animals around that would eat them. And, for another, they were not quite sure what they would do. Papa was away, and had been for several weeks on errand. The duties of a Gem Chief were very taxing on his time with his family, but could not be done without. However, to their surprise, their Papa did indeed meet them outside.

“Papa!” they exclaimed at once, running to hug him.

“What are you doing here?” Thairyn asked, “I thought you were... you know, busy with the folk on the West Side.”

Papa smiled. “I am pleased to inform both of you that the trouble in the West has been remedied. I am yours until later this evening, dear ones.”

“Oh, Mama will be so happy!” Neyhira said.

“We have to celebrate!” added Thairyn.

Papa laughed and nodded. “For now, though, we have your lessons to attend to. Come, we’ll meet your mother and the others at the Lake.”

When they arrived at the lake, the Kiir was high in the sky. Mama, Kaqurei, and Valii were already there. Mama was showing Valii what certain characters of the written alphabet “said”, and how to write her name.

“There, like that,” Mama said.

Valii beamed with pride as she looked at her little name on the tablet. When she looked up and saw Papa and her sisters approaching, she squealed with delight and jumped out of Mama’s lap. “Papa! Papa!” she said, “Look! It’s my own name! It says Valii, Valii, just like me!”

“Amazing,” Papa said in an awed voice, but Thairyn would not believe that he was actually amazed. He saw Valii’s name and everyone else’s names written all the time.

It worked a charm on her little sister though, for she glowed with pride all the more.

Papa set Thairyn down on the ground and grabbed Valii. “How are you, princess?” he asked, and prinnaged her muzzle.

“I’m wonderful, Papa!”

“Yes you are,” Papa said, hugging her.

Kaqurei went to get hugs from Papa as well. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too, and I fear I’m distracting from your lesson.”

“Oh, that’s all right!” Neyhira said cheerfully, to the amusement of her parents and older sister.

“Is that all right with you, love?” Papa asked. He helped Mama to her feet and gave her a gentle embrace and prinnaging.

“Of course it’s all right. They’ve missed you,” she said. “We all have.”

Though Mama did suggest they all forget about the lessons and have a party instead, they did eventually get around to the lesson at the lake. The field lesson had to do with talgonfrees; what they ate, where they lived, and how they grew. Thairyn found herself actually interested by this; she was amazed when Mama showed her a baby talgonfree—it was smooth with little prickly hairs on its back. It did not have any legs, wings, or even eyes! All it had was this round mouth, which Mama showed them had one weird, but sharp, looking tooth inside.

“It doesn’t much look like a talgonfree at all, does it?” Mama asked.

“No,” the girls said.

“How does it grow up to be a pretty talgonfree, Mama?” Valii asked.

“Well, Valii, talgonfrees have four life stages—in each stage they look very different. During the rainy season, a mother talgonfree lays her eggs in a pool of water—like The Glassmere.”

Valii squeaked. “Oh no! Why does she do that? Her own eggs need to be kept warm and dry!”

“Talgonfree eggs are not like our eggs, Valii,” Mama said, “They do not have a hard shell, and so they can dry out easily. But their mother puts them some place very safe, coiled in the underwater tendrils of dahls. This will protect them from creatures that may want to eat them: that’s also where the dahl’s seeds are. Talgonfree eggs look a lot like dahl seeds, which are poisonous and will make anything that eats them feel very sick.”

Thairyn scrunched up her nose. “I’ve never seen dahl seeds either, Mama. What do they look like?”

“They look like tiny, pale translucent yellow balls, about the size of the claw on your littlest finger,” Mama said.

“What does trans-shwoo-lent mean?” Valii asked.

“It means that you can see through the egg—it would look like a little shadow in the middle until it gets big enough to fill up the egg,” Mama said. “When they’re bigger, the egg develops a black spot on each side to compensate. These both sort of mimic the dark little seed capsule inside a dahl pod. It takes three weeks before the eggs are ready to hatch—then they enter the next stage of life for the talgonfree. This stage is called the lavaal stage. Can everyone say that?”

“Lavaal stage,” the girls said.

“Good.”

“Lava is the Münshirling word for spirit,” Kaqurei said.

“Yes, and I’ll tell you why we call them that in a moment. For now, remember that this little fellow is what the talgonfree look like in the lavaal stage, and he is called a talgonfree lava,” Mama went on, “See his mouth and that sharp slicing tooth there? Adult talgonfree eat only nectar from the dahl flower, but the lavae are carnivorous. That means they eat meat. They will attach themselves to fish that swim by them and take little circular bites.”

The twins squeaked and winced.

“Come look,” Papa said. He beckoned them towards the edge of the lake.

The three little girls hurried to their father’s side and peered into the water to see what he was pointing at. There, in the shallow clear water, was a beautiful, deep blue fish with shimmering scales that reminded Thairyn of Kyrziams.

“Oooh!”

“Look on its side there,” Papa instructed.

It was hard to get a good look, as the fish never seemed to want to show them the right side, but eventually they caught a glimpse of several round red spots near the base of its fin.

“Those are talgonfree bites.”

“Oh, the poor thing!” Neyhira said.

“It’s almost the end of the season for bites though,” Mama said, “You see how large our talgonfree is? He is almost ready for the third stage of life. This is when he crawls out of the water onto a blade of grass or maybe the bark of a Tree Kin and becomes very still. He will shed his skin and become a peupa, which

is the Münshirling word for ‘doll’. Peupae are hard and motionless. Inside of it, the body is changing. In two weeks, he will break out of his peupa shell and enter the emago stage—Emago means ‘image’, as he has reached his final adult image.”

“Ova, lava, peupa, emago,” Papa said. “These words were adopted into our language to describe the growing talgonfree, because they tell a symbolic story that we may apply to our own lives. Translated literally, the four words mean egg, spirit, doll, image. From ova, or birth, we become lava, The Spirits That Must Eat—which is to say learn, for we feed our spirits with knowledge—escape enemies that would destroy our potential, overcome hardships, and grow from our experiences. At the end of that stage comes peupa—when we die, our bodies become hard and motionless. But neither death nor peupa is the last stage, is it? For we will emerge from it as emago—our full potential realized if we have played each role well. We can learn much from the little talgonfree, my daughters. Just as a talgonfree peupa will emerge a dull and ugly adult if it has not lived each stage as it ought, we too may have our potential dimmed if we do not play each role well.”

Mama nodded and smiled. Kaqurei smiled too. But Thairyn, Neyhira, and Valii did not really understand what he was talking about. Since he was looking mostly at Kaqurei, though, they decided it

must be more of a grown-up part of the lesson.

“So, after he comes out of the peupa stage, he’ll look like a real talgonfree?” Thairyn asked.

“That’s right,” Mama said. “We are going to put him back into the water now. In two weeks we can come back and look for him when he is a peupa so you three can see what they look like.” She put the baby talgonfree back in the water... it just wiggled a little and sank. Only when it landed on the silt did it disappear; a little puff of mud went up and it vanished.

“Did you see that?” Mama asked, pointing to where the little thing had disappeared. “It wiggled really fast to cover itself with a layer of sand. Can you see it there still? Look very close!”

Thairyn looked and looked, but not until the little creature wiggled slightly again did she see it.

“That’s called camouflage,” Mama explained. “That is also why you’ve never seen a talgonfree peupa before. Talgonfree peupae become the same colour as whatever they crawled up onto in the lava stage, to hide from things that would want to eat them. Speaking of, surely you are all hungry by now, my little ones?”

“Yes Mama,” the girls said.

“But not for talgonfrees,” Valii said seriously.

Mama laughed. “Of course not!” she said. “I meant by way of it being about time for your meal. I shall go to prepare it for you—in the meantime, Kaqurei, why don’t you take the girls to visit with Sister Shemsi? See what you can do to help her with some errands. She has an egg to look after now, and she would be appreciative of some help, I am sure.”

So the girls started off on their way. It did not take them long to find the path to Brother Torran and Sister Shemsi’s teiami. It was well-trod and familiar. Purple flowers adorned the wayside, filling the air with a sweet fragrance. Attracted by the scent, many metallic forms of blue and green talgonfrees darted here and there between flowers to drink the nectar. As they did so, their lacy wings and fur would glint in the Kiirlight, so that they looked like little jewels.

The three little girls tried to catch talgonfrees from time to time as they went down the path, but the erepods were too fast for them. The air was soon filled again with laughter and squeals from their efforts though.

It was not long after they had passed the great Tree Kin that was covered in a quilt of purple-flowered vines, having stopped there to make bracelets and crowns of them, that the girls met their Brother Torran.

Kaqurei was in the lead, so she saw him first. She waved. “Hello, Brother!”

“Hello, Kaqu!”

Valii’s wee figure rounded the bend next. Her face lit up when she saw her favourite kaocoa and she let out a squeal. “Brother Torran!” she said, and ran to hug his leg. She was unable to though, for he caught her off the ground when she was near enough and twirled her in the air! Amid the flurry of her giggles, he drew her close and prinnaged her little nose. “How are you doing, Val?”

Valii could only giggle some more and hugged his neck shyly.

Neyhira and Thairyn appeared from around the bend about then. “Where is Sister?” Thairyn asked. “Mama told us she might could use some help this evening.”

“She’s right about that,” Torran said. He set Valii on his shoulders. “We were just talking about that a moment ago.”

“I wanna show her my own pretty flowers,” Valii said. “Do you like them, Brother?” She showed him the vines wrapped about her wrists and tail.

“They’re beautiful, squeaker.”

Valii bashfully hid her smiling face from her sisters by hugging his head.

Torran grinned. He looked at Kaqurei. “She mentioned that she would be making her rounds to neighbouring teiamisu and check in on folks soon, though.”

“We’d better hurry or we’ll miss her,” Kaqurei said. “Thank you for letting us know, Brother.”

Torran nodded and set little Valii on the ground.

“Where are you headed, Brother Torran?” Neyhira asked.

“I’m going to meet your father on the Eastern Side. We just got word that there have been some sick Tree Kin who need some attention there.”

“Aww, again? Could I come with you?” Thairyn asked, “I’m really good with Tree Kin!”

Torran laughed. “I’m sure you are, Thair. I don’t think your Papa would like it if I brought you though—these Tree Kin are knocking down teiamisu, way I hear it.”

“Ma’a will be expecting us back for mealtime soon too,” Kaqurei added.

Thairyn looked down and kicked the dirt, pouting.

“Speaking of your father, I’d better be off now, or he’ll not soon forgive me. I’ll see you again later, little sisters.”

“Farewell!” the girls said, waving after him as he left.

The girls were practically breathless as they hurried Torran’s teiami. One by one they bounded off the ground and flapped their wings to reach the lower branches so that they could scramble for the top. Valii, whose small, developing wings were still unsuitable for flying, was carried by Kaqurei.

“Oh, thank goodness we caught you in time!” Kaqurei said when they met Shemsi inside. “Ma’a sent us by to help you run some errands. We have a few minutes and idle children are naught but trouble, you see.”

Shemsi smiled. Though she was barely a scant fourteen years of age, Kaqurei did so enjoy to pretend she was a hundred. “Well, would you like to help me make some timkaisu?”

“Oh yes!” Neyhira and Thairyn said at once.

“Can we, Kaqurei, please?” Valii asked.

“May we, Valii. And, well, I suppose that’s all right. Sister Shemsi, I’m going to go help Ma’a prepare for mealtime. You won’t mind watching out for them until I return, will you?”

“Of course not, Kaqurei.”

“Thank you, Sister, I won’t be gone long!”

Shemsi watched Kaqurei to the door. With a click of her tongue and a wink she said, “Help mother with mealtime, indeed. She’ll be visiting with Faeralie, I’ll wager the world.” She turned to Thairyn, Neyhira, and Valii. “Now, who said they wanted to help me make timkaisu?”

“Me! Me! Me!” cheered Valii, bouncing up and down.

Neyhira and Thairyn just smiled at each other knowingly. How childish Valii was.

“All right then,” Shemsi said with a smile. “Come on to the alaanc chamber.” Her teiami was different from their own in that they had to go down a winding hallway to reach the alaanc chamber; this being the special room where families gathered together to make and eat food. It was a cheery place, smelling of fresh straw and various treats already. Three large windows let in lovely streams of Kiirlight and warmed the pink-stained fibres of the wall. In the centre of the room, a small table was set already with the ingredients needed to make timkaisu, or the friendship food.

“Did you know we were coming?” Valii innocently looked at Shemsi in wonder.

Shemsi laughed. “No, I didn’t. But all is just as well, aye?”

“Aye, I guess.”

“What do we do first?” Neyhira asked, eagerly examining the collection of ingredients.

“The first thing we need is four kisu fiez seeds. That means that each of us can put one ki of fiez into this big bowl here. Who would like to go first?”

“Can I go first?” Valii asked.

“May I go first, Valii,” Neyhira corrected.

“May I, then?”

Shemsi laughed. “Yes you may, Valii. Here’s your ki. Fill it with the fiez seeds from this container, and be careful not to spill now.” She helped Valii figure out how to fill the large ki to just the right measure. A few seeds fell out of the ki and bounced a little on the wickerwork table. Thairyn quickly snatched them up. She dropped most of them back into the bowl, but two she kept and popped into her mouth while Valii dumped the rest into the bowl. Their flavour was nutty and plain, but it was their texture that she liked best—squeaky and soft between her teeth.

Neyhira, Thairyn, and Shemsi each put a ki of fiez seeds into the bowl. Next were four kisu of gemfruit powder, which was ground from the hard rock-like fruits of the Tree Kin.

“I like gemfruits better than ordinary old gems,” Neyhira said as she tasted a pinch of the powder from her ki

“Why is that, Neyhira?” Shemsi asked, helping Valii to pour her ki into the bowl without spilling.

“They’ve got more of a green taste,” Thairyn answered for her sister and nodding in agreement.

“Aye, like the way grass smells. Ordinary gems just taste grainy and plain, same as any old rock,” Neyhira said.

“Oh, now that’s not true. You’ve never eaten an ordinary old rock before,” Shemsi said knowingly.

Neyhira poured her ki of powder into the bowl. “All the same, I like gemfruits better.”

“That’s because you’re still little. Gemfruits are softer and better for you than a real gemstone at your age,” Shemsi said.

After Shemsi and Thairyn poured their kisu into the bowl, it was time for the next ingredient; vrec juice.

“Auch!,” Thairyn squeaked as Shemsi poured a little of the pungent dark green liquid. “That smells awful!”

“Aye,” Shemsi said, “But it adds a nice kick to the timkai flavour. Do you want to put in the next drop?”

“But what about me?” Valii asked.

“Vrec is very messy, Valii. If you spill, it’ll stain my table blue!”

Valii stuck out her lower lip in disappointment.

“But you can help me stir, if you want.”

“Okay,” Valii said, smiling.

Neyhira and Thairyn put in their smesu of vrec juice after Shemsi finished pouring and measuring them. Then Shemsi handed Valii a thick rod fashioned of stone and decorated with floral carvings to mash the mixture with. It was a little heavy, so Shemsi helped until the fiez seeds, gemfruit powder, and dark green vrec juice had all mixed into an even light blue crumbly mixture. Next, Shemsi filled two lisu with measurements of a pale orange sap. The girls each wanted a taste of the sap—its sharp, strange, and sweet flavour had them dipping their fingers into the lisu repeatedly for more and more “tastes”, until at last their laughing nanani had to remind them to leave some for the timkaisu. Reluctantly, they obeyed.

Valii was allowed to pour one li into the bowl, while Thairyn and Neyhira were made to share pouring the other. Shemsi mixed this into the crumbly fiez seed mixture until it was all gooey. She let each of the girls have a little taste of this too—but this time only permitted one finger per child.

“Starting to taste like a timkai yet?” she asked.

“Mmmmmmm!” was the unanimous reply.

Neyhira’s favourite ingredient had yet to be added. She remembered this as she was sceptically considering Shemsi’s question. “What about the clai berries?” she asked, noting that there were not any on the table.

“Hold on,” Shemsi said. “Brother Torran was supposed to get me some. Let me see if he left them outside. Wait here, girls.” She had only been gone a minute or two before she returned to the alaanc

chamber with a large basket of small purple berries and a beaming expression on her face. “Here they are!” she said. “I need to make sure that they’re ripe though. Now, I wonder who would want to test them for me?”

“Me! Me! Me!” the girls exclaimed.

“All right,” Shemsi laughed, giving each of the girls a handful.

Neyhira popped two of them into her mouth at once. The instant her teeth broke the rubbery-skin of the berries, her mouth was filled with spicy-sweet pleasure.

“Mmm, these are good!” Valii said, though her cheeks were full with berries. Dark red juice ran down her chin and stained her fur.

Shemsi laughed and produced a cloth to wipe little one's face. “They are ripe then? Brother Torran didn’t let me down?”

“Aye!” Thairyn said.

“Good, then let’s put some into our timkaisu,” Shemsi went on. She filled two ki with the coveted berries and put them into the bowl. Neyhira volunteered to stir this time, but Shemsi said she would do it instead. “We can’t mash the berries or they will overpower the other flavours.” She used a thinner stone rod with frisks at the end to stir the berries into the mixture.

The final step was to gather the mix into balls, sprinkle them with ground Kiiaradi, and lay them out on the black metal sere to dry. The girls were each allowed to decorate them with more clai berries, and then they needed only to wait.

“We should play a game while we’re waiting for the timkaisu to dry,” Shemsi said. “What do you girls think we should play?”

Thairyn and Neyhira exchanged glances. Did Shemsi mean a baby game for Valii, or a real game, like a re-enactment of a dramatic historical event—complete with death, love, and war?

Valii figured that Shemsi must mean a fun game, and cried out excitedly, “I know! I’ll pretend to be a minimush, and you all can be talgonfrees, and I’m gonna get you!” She knelt down and spread out her wings, wiggling her wingfingers to imitate the “crawling” motion of the jointed legs of a minimush, and put on a “scary face” that made her look so adorable that Shemsi nearly burst into laughter for the sight of it. She did not, of course, as Valii seemed to be taking herself very seriously and she did not want to hurt her feelings.

“No, Val,” Thairyn said, shaking her head. “I mean, if Sister wants to play that game, then sure—but I really want to see your egg, Sister Shemsi.”

Neyhira gasped (and because she did, Valii did too). “Oh, me too! Can we see it, please, please, please?”

Shemsi’s face glowed with pride, but then flashed a little anxiety. “Oh, I don’t know Thairyn. It’s very delicate and little.”

“I know,” Thairyn said, “Valii was delicate and little when she was an egg too. Neyhira and I didn’t hurt her.”

“We won’t even touch,” Neyhira said excitedly, “Just a little look. Please?”

“I wanna see your own egg,” Valii added. “Please?”

Shemsi smiled. “All right. Follow me. But be very quiet and slow, okay little ones?”

“Okay!”

Up the winding hallway they went, back into the main chamber of Torran and Shemsi’s teiami. Shemsi told them to wait there while she disappeared behind a tapestry on the far side of the room. “I’ll be right back,” she said.

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Neyhira said to Thairyn. “What colour do you think it is?”

“I don’t know,” Thairyn said. “You and Valii wait here. I’m going to go check on the timkaisu and see if they’re done.”

“Oh, Thairyn, we just left them! They’re not done,” Neyhira said sensibly. “Shemsi said we have to

wait a little while.”

“One oor,” Valii added. She folded her arms and pointed her nose into the air.

“One hour,” Neyhira corrected.

“How long is an oor?” Valii asked, opening her eyes and looking confused.

“A very, very, very long time,” Thairyn said, grumbling. “Besides, the Kiir is very hot today. Maybe they’re dry already. I just want to see.” Without waiting for further objection, she turned and slipped back down the winding hallway. Valii almost followed her, but Neyhira informed her little sister that Thairyn was being bad. A stickler for rules, Valii remained on baited breath—should Thairyn return and say that the timkaisu were ready.

But Thairyn would not, and she knew that even as she quietly sneaked into Shemsi’s alaanc chamber. She quickly found a wicker basket, which she pushed up against the wall near the shelves. Her heart was beating quickly as she crawled up to inspect the timkaisu. She glanced behind her at the tapestry-door of the kitchen and focused her earfins in that direction, listening to hear if anyone was coming. Content that they were not, Thairyn returned her attention to the treats. Her eyes got wider and wider until she could stand looking at them no more—she snatched one and popped it into her mouth as quick as a wink! She chewed it up quickly and swallowed with a loud gulp. Then, her entire countenance relaxed. Casually she climbed down from the basket and put it back in its place. Then she walked back up the hallway to her sisters. “They’re not done yet,” she said, with a sigh, for good measure.

“I told you they wouldn’t be,” Neyhira said.

“Awww.”

Shemsi returned and distracted all three of the girls from the very thought of timkaisu. Cradled carefully in her arms was a small white egg.

“Oooohhh, it’s so pretty!” Neyhira said. “Is it going to be a girl or a boy?”

“We’re not sure yet,” said Shemsi. “It smells like a boy, but we won’t know for certain until it hatches.”

“What’s his Birthstone?” Thairyn asked.

“Here, look,” Shemsi said, turning the egg just a little bit to reveal a glimmering transparent circle. Little veins of light glinted in the pure Mikakiwa gently as the awed girls looked on.

“What are you going to name him?” Valii asked.

“Brother Torran and I haven’t quite decided yet.”

“When is he going to hatch?” Thairyn asked.

“Oh, any day now.”

“Are you very excited?” asked Valii.

Shemsi laughed. “Yes, very, very excited!”

“Me too!” Valii said.

A few more minutes passed of oohhhs and awwws, before Shemsi said that it was time for the little egg to be put back in his bedding. Then there were more awws, and a “right now?” here and there, before Shemsi disappeared once more behind the tapestry-door to an upper level of the teiami.

“I can’t wait until he hatches!” Neyhira said, “Then we’ll have a little cousin all our own!”

“We have lots of cousins,” Valii said.

“Yes, Val, but don’t you see? He’ll be a little cousin!” Thairyn said excitedly.

Neyhira clapped and jumped up and down. “Our first, very little, very ours, little cousin!”

Valii cooed, enlightened.

It took Shemsi a little while to come back, and in that time Valii found some plush playthings to entertain herself with. Thairyn’s mind wandered back to the timkaisu. She felt a little guilty about the one she had snatched... but worse than guilt, she was worried that someone would find out! Then, of course, she would probably be punished. That’s not really fair, she thought as she fidgeted with her Birthstone, how is it my fault I can’t wait the full hour to eat? It really isn’t. She looked at Neyhira and, having caught her twin’s eye, smiled to put her off any sort of suspicion.

Neyhira returned the smile innocently, so Thairyn got back to her fretting.

She decided that her folly was, in fact, the timkai’s fault for looking so tasty—worse still, it was Sister Shemsi’s fault for making it look so tasty. So the grown-ups really don’t have any grounds to punish me, Thairyn reasoned. There was not a whole lot of insurance in that excuse. She knitted her brows and glared down at her toes. Oh, they’ll punish me anyway—grown-ups were always doing that sort of thing. Unless... A light came to the girl’s eye and she looked at her sister again. “Neyhira,” she said, “Want to come with me to check on the timkaisu, again?”

“You just looked, not fifteen minutes ago!” Neyhira cried in exasperation.

“I know,” Thairyn mumbled, almost put off. Then she looked up and grabbed Neyhira’s arm. “But when I looked last time,” she said excitably, “They were pretty close to being dry. Just a little look?”

Neyhira looked at the tapestry door for Sister Shemsi. She sure was taking her time... “Well,” she said slowly. She looked at Thairyn. “All right, I guess.”

“Great!”

The twins turned were about to go back the way they had come when Valii stopped them. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“We’re going to check on the timkaisu again,” Thairyn said.

“Oh! Can I come too?” Valii asked.

“No, Thairyn and I can do it. You stay here and wait for Sister Shemsi.”

Before Valii could wail and ruin the whole thing, Thairyn said quickly, “Aw, that’s all right, Neyhira. She can come with us.” That sentence alone should have been enough to put Neyhira on guard, but being secretly eager to see the timkaisu herself, she barely noticed how uncharacteristically thoughtful Thairyn was being.

Thus it was that the three of them slipped down the passage to the kitchen. Thairyn quickly picked out her stool and pushed it to the shelf again, but this time instead of climbing up herself she invited her two sisters onto it.

“Don’t they look yummy?” Thairyn asked as her sisters gazed upon the treats.

Valii took a deep whiff of them and let out a happy sigh. “Oh, they smell so good!”

Neyhira agreed, but added with some disappointment in her voice, “They’re not done. They’re still squishy and sticky.”

“I can’t wait!” Valii squeaked. Then her eyes fell. “Oh no! Look at my own timkai! One of my own berries fell off!”

“That's okay, you can just eat that one,” Thairyn said.

Valii looked hopeful, before Neyhira said, “No, that wouldn’t be right. She should just put it back.”

Foiled. But wait! When Valii put the clai berry back on the timkai, her clumsy little fingers got some of the batter on them! Snatching the opportunity, Thairyn encouraged her to lick her fingers. “Just one tiny taste,” she said. “It’s already on your fingers.”

There, Neyhira looked just the tiniest bit envious. Thairyn quickly scanned the sere for some stray drop of batter—thanks to Valii, these were not in short supply. She licked one herself and then pointed another out to her twin.

Of course, one tiny taste became another tiny taste, which became a bite, until eight of the treats were gone. It was only when a single timkai remained that the girls realized their mistake—actually, they might not have noticed even then had not Shemsi come in behind them; “Girls? Girls, where ar—girls!”

The last part of her tone was less than pleased, and the three guilty parties before her shrunk. While Shemsi tried not to be harsh, her disappointment was clear and she might have mentioned something about having meant most of those treats for someone else... but mostly the girls only heard “How could you? Why did you? Of all the naughty things to do!” and the like.

Crestfallen and sullen with guilt, they were sent home to find their mother.

Valii felt so ashamed of herself she was practically on the verge of tears. Neyhira kept her eyes glued to the path as they slowly walked home. “I didn’t mean to eat all the timkaisu,” she mumbled. “They were just so yummy I couldn’t stop myself.”

“I don’t think Sister will ever love us again!” Valii said, sniffing.

Thairyn looked from one sister to the other as she walked. They were so dreadfully unhappy, and right after a treat too! How could Sister be so mean? “Oh, we’ll show her.”

“Show her?” Neyhira asked, “Thairyn, we're the ones who did wrong!”

“She should have been more understanding! Well. We’ll show her. We’ll go tell Papa,” Thairyn said confidently, starting at a march to find him.

“But what if he sides with Sister?” Neyhira asked as she and Valii followed, “Grown-ups always side with grown-ups.”

“They do.” Thairyn sighed. “Alas, the adult race. But really, we’re their runts, yes? The rising generation, yes? If they want us to carry on their legacy, they’ll be nice to us... yeeees?”

“Aye,” Neyhira said, “But who’s going to tell Mama and Papa that? Remember the last time you tried to blackmail them.”

“That was not blackmailing them. It was blacktailing them, as I have one to spare,” Thairyn said, wagging her tail for emphasis, “And Valii will.”

“I-I-I will?” Valii asked in horror, “I could never blacktail my own Mama!”

“Not Mama, Papa. And anyways, you’re not blacktailing him—because you don’t have one; yours is grey, you see—you’re blackmailing him,” Thairyn said. Then, after a moment’s thought, she added, “And you’re not blackmailing him!”

“Then what am I doing?”

“Explaining to the Gem Chief what happened, and reminding him of his duty to keep his three little gems happy lest they shatter with upset,” Thairyn said.

“Well, why aren’t you doing it, Thairyn? You’re the one who’s good at this sort of stuff,” Neyhira asked.

“Too true. But like anything else, practice comes with problems.” Thairyn looked at Valii and explained with an air of true wisdom, “If you get too good at something, Valii, pretty soon people will suspect what you’re up to before you even do it. Therefore, we need an innocent cit-ee-zen, like you.”

“What’s a cit-ee-zen?” Valii asked.

“Actually,” Neyhira said, “I think she meant—”

“No Neyhira! Let the child keep her innocence, else she be useless to us!” Thairyn drew her hand dramatically to her forehead as though she might faint.

“How does her knowing the correct pronunciation of citizen make her useless to us?” Neyhira asked.

Valii put her hands on her hips and asked accusingly, “Is innocence the same thing as when you don’t know something you should?”

“No, that’s ignorance, Valii,” Neyhira said.

“It’s the same difference, Neyhira.”

“But there must be more to it. Because you’re supposed to ‘protect a person’s innocence’, and ‘save them from ignorance’... so I’ve heard, anyway.”

That was a very good point. But Thairyn shrugged. “Well, I don’t know.”

Neyhira pondered the conundrum as she followed her sister, officially converted to an accomplice. Valii, however, had resigned in her heart to tell Mama how dreadfully wicked she had been, in hopes that proper punishment would ease her woeful conscience.