'And you think they ought to be free—like we are?' The question sounded casual, but was it?
'Well… yes,' Kellen said stubbornly.
'Do you think that's what they want?' Idalia asked.
I don't care what they want —I want what's best for them! Kellen was about to say, when it occurred to him that the Mage Council probably would use the very same argument in its own defense. He grimaced.
'I don't know what they want. But I do know that they haven't got any idea of what the Council does, or how, and if they did know, a lot of them probably wouldn't like it very much. I think they ought to be able to choose. I think they ought to be able to buy anything they like in the markets, or read any books they like. And I think that if they want to leave the City, they ought to be able to.'
'All you want is to change the whole world, eh, younger brother?' Idalia smiled, and reached out to tug at his damp curls. 'Mind you, I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm just reminding you that things need to be thought through before you do them. And if you're going to change something that has been going on for as long as the way they do things in Armethalieh has, you'd better have something ready to put in its place that is something everyone can agree is an improvement. Remember what it says in The Book of Stars: 'If you would change a thing, first understand why it exists.' '
She rolled onto her knees and pulled the pack over to her, lifting the flap and beginning to remove their lunch. 'Come on, let's eat. I'm starved.'
AFTER they'd eaten, they were both dry enough to dress, though neither of them bothered with their shirts. They went back to check on the progress of the pond, which Idalia judged to be refilling nicely. The last of the muck had settled on the bottom, and the water was a little murky, but not so much that Kellen didn't think it would clear.
Some of the fish they'd tossed out on the ground were already gone, and a lot of the stink had blown away. Idalia sniffed the air experimentally, and then suggested a walk through the woods.
'I want to introduce you to some of the neighbors, and see where I can find some water plants to transplant to the pond,' she told him.
'I've never planted a pond,' he offered. 'What are we looking for?'
'Sedges, reeds, catkins, marginal plants—and water lilies. If we put in just a few clumps, the marginals will spread by themselves, but the lilies all died, and since the pond's in direct sunlight, the fish will need something for shade, and to give them protection from predators. We'll have to get some help to find and plant lily bulbs. In the meantime, maybe we can find some floating plants to shade the fish. The frogs and turtles can find their own way back,' she added darkly. 'I'm not catching frogs, even with selkie help. You can spend days chasing frogs,' she said, in a voice that seemed to come out of hard-won experience.
'Selkies?' Kellen asked, fascinated. That was a new name—he wondered just what kind of creature belonged to it.
'Selkies,' Idalia confirmed. 'Selkies and undines live in the stream— and otters, too, of course, though they're not Otherfolk. In the woods you'll find dryads of various species, not just the apple-dryads you found the other day.'
She gave him a sidelong glance, and he felt his cheeks growing warm.
'That's what Shalkan said,' he replied, hoping she hadn't noticed his blushes.
'Well, they're by no means the only thing that lives in the forest. Pixies, fairies, brownies, and fauns—they're very shy, so I'm hoping they'll come out when they see I'm with you. It can take a long time to meet everything that lives here—some folk only come out at night, some sleep through the summer. Some you wouldn't want to meet, like duergar and goblins and trolls, though I don't think any of them have stayed around here. They were pushed out of the settled lands by the Great War, and even after all this time, I don't think they'd be foolish enough to come back.'
'What was the Great War?' Kellen asked, at the same time Idalia said:
'Oh—look!'
Kellen looked where she was pointing. A butterfly—no, a hummingbird. But it glowed, with a light softer than a firefly, though still bright enough to be visible even at midday, as it hovered among a bank of wild-flowers.
'A pixie,' Idalia said in a quiet voice. 'Some people think they're fairies, but they're not.'
As Kellen watched, the first tiny glowing figure was joined by three more. He blinked. Was that a—a humanlike body attached to those rainbow wings? They hovered among the flowers for a moment, then darted off. Idalia sighed happily. 'I'm glad they're still here. There was a bad storm earlier this year, before you came, and I was afraid their nest had been destroyed. They make a kind of honey that I use in some of my medicines—it puts the patient right to sleep. I wouldn't want to use it in my breakfast tea, though.'
