General Bobbo, at the palace in Is’syal

The Queen and I flew back to Is'syal and landed at the House of Mounts together. Niefl'flaf and Asgotl got along reasonably well, which wasn't always the case between griffins and winged horses. The grooms came to take care of the mounts and the two of them fell to gossiping about mutual acquaintances. As we walked through the covered walkway leading into the palace, we both had sheets of paper with us, rolled up tightly around wood dowels and covered with canvas for protection in transit.

I realized I enjoyed the Queen's company on this trip even though traveling together was coincidental. We met at the House of Mounts two days prior and discovered we were going to the same place. I had never spent time with her before, other than the obligatory court event or ceremony. Watching her enjoy herself while making paper showed me a side to her I had never seen before.

People call her the Ice Queen. Her demeanor at the palace is always so dignified and utterly unapproachable. Before the last two days, I never knew that the queen could be full of energy and fun. She was willing to share tasks in a mutual endeavor and she didn't mind getting tired or dirty if that's what it took to get something done.

The banter she had with the high priestess was another surprise. Those two traded barbs like siblings. They trusted one another without exception, which is rare for people at the highest political levels. I had forgotten that the Queen had trained as a healer at the Shrine of Mugash and that Lisaykos had been her personal teacher. It was easy to forget the Queen's healer background since she was also an adept of Landa with complete mastery of all charms and mind magic.

The exchanges she had with the Coyn, Emily, were also unexpected. It was like they were communicating on a different level than the rest of us like they had known each other for years. It was like the conversation of old friends who only had to say a few words to reference a shared experience from long ago, which was strange for two people who knew each other for less than a year.

Emily was amazing, and in her own way, frightening. Her eyes still burned but she was less hostile this time around. It was interesting that she had no concept of what those crystals were worth.

What I would like to know is where her ideas come from. As far as I can tell, other than the revelation from Tiki, she has given the shrine recipes for two other medicines. She can cast metals, including something equivalent to sky metal, but she also came up with this paper stuff and a new writing tool called a pencil. Then there's that whole thing about making a weak form of lightning and using it to make potions to turn white cloth whiter and soap stronger. That's just plain scary. What must go on inside that little head of hers?

I can tell she's not really at ease at the shrine. That much was obvious when that young healer picked up the work table with everything on it and carried it over to the Coyn. The look on Emily's face told all I needed to know about how she felt about Cosm. The Holy Lisaykos was accurate to describe Emily as a feral Coyn since there is nothing about her that is tame.

There's one thing I do know: we can not afford to make an enemy out of her. That little throwing weapon shows she could be dangerous if she turned her mind to war. Someone who can do her own hunting of beasts like bears is capable of violent force artfully applied.

I wish I knew more about the rapport she has with the Queen. I also would love to know why the Queen is not surprised like the rest of us at the things that Emily makes. Would it be a good move to establish a closer relationship with the Queen?

"Great One," I addressed the Queen as we were walking.

"General?"

"I had a thought that it might not be a bad idea if we both presented the paper to Imstay King."

She let out a sigh and shook her head, "General, the King probably blames me for the arrest of his uncle. I doubt it will be possible to have a civil conversation with him right now and for several seasons to come. He can not be objective on anything that concerns his family."

"Hmm," there was not much I could say in reply. She was right. Maybe I needed to rethink my efforts towards improving the relationship between them. It was possible my wishful thinking was getting in the way of my objectivity.

"By the way, General," she ventured, "how did you convince Imstay to return Emily's possessions from the cave? He could have kept those crystals and made a nice profit, and no one would have known."

"That surprised me too," I admitted. "I relayed Emily's conditions to him, and I did not edit what she said to make it pretty for him. He told me to return the stuff and to get an estimate of what it would cost to compensate her losses. I didn't even know what was in the bags at first, other than the broken sky metal ring. My opinion is that his gesture is a measure of how badly he wants instant fire for his soldiers. It would be a great boon for those who have little magic. He really does care about the morale of Foskos' soldiers and guards, especially since he doesn't allow them to loot."

"Speaking of that," the Queen inquired. "When was the soldier executed that stole the crystals?"

"About three days after the theft was discovered. Discipline is usually faster than that, but because of the distance from Vanishing River, it took longer than usual to get the necessary three officers to sit a tribunal and render a verdict."

"That's good to know," she shook her head. "I confess to suspecting it was done after Emily made her demands. What a pitiful state of affairs that I even had that thought. I know Imstay better than that. I should have known better."

I ran ahead a few steps to hold the door open into the south side of the palace for her. She smiled at the gesture, a real smile that reached her eyes. "Well, General, here is where we part. May the gods be with you until we meet again."

"And with you, Great One."

Then she was gone and I was left to make my report to the King. I found him in his workroom, fretting about finding enough wagons for hauling grain from our newest possessions. Even with a new road, it was a trip that had three mountain passes, The round trip would take two rotations using wagons with oxmules to deliver the grain to the royal granary just north of Is'syal. The wagons had to leave now before the passes snowed in for the return trip.

"Ah, Bobbo, thank the eleven gods you are here," he greeted me as I made my obeisance at the doorway. "Get up and help me figure this out. Have you eaten or did you come straight here, as is your habit?"

"The latter, Mighty One," I was relieved to find him in a better mood than when I left. "I am too old to change my ways."

Imstay laughed and rang a bell for the servant on duty, who appeared in seconds. "Fetch the General something to eat and whatever beer is the most recent one tapped. Bobbo, please take a seat. I'm not sure my numbers are correct. If I did this right, we look to be about twenty wagons short. Can you look this over and tell me if I've made any mistakes?"

"Certainly," I started untying the rolled-up paper. "First, I'd like to show you this."

"Oh?" The King reached out and felt one of the sheets. "That doesn't feel right. What's wrong with this parchment?"

"It's not parchment. It's called paper. The Coyn Emily came up with it. You can write on it. I was invited to help make this paper stuff at the Healing Shrine of Mugash over the last two days. We made over two hundred sheets in two days."

"Two hundred," Imstay's eyes grew wide as the implications sunk in. "How many people?"

"Three on the first day, including me. Five on the second. But that's not everything. Emily gave me this." I pulled half of a pencil out of my pouch and I wrote on a corner of one sheet, "this is a pencil," and then handed it to my king. He immediately wrote his name with it.

“It’s a bit small,” he frowned at the pencil stub.

“The Coyn made the pencils to fit her hands, not ours. Scaling up would be easy.”

"The maker of fire couldn't have organized the equipment and people to do this. Who organized this?"

"Emily told the high priestess about paper on Midday Eve," I explained. "The high priestess decided to try to make some and fronted the money to make the equipment which the maker of fire designed. Emily also made two of these pencil things. This is half of one. She gave it to me when I told her I wanted to show you the paper. She was less hostile on this visit."

"So this is all the Coyn's invention?"

"Yes. She is rather unusual. Your description of a crazy genius artificer turns out to be correct. Since the Revelation from Tiki, she's given the shrine two more medicine recipes along with inventing paper and pencil. She has all the makings of a frenzied mekaner."

"You have an inventory from her then?"

"I confess I do not. The high priestess asked me not to ask about it until the Coyn's head is completely healed. That won't happen until the end of next rotation."

"She's still in head bandages? How did her head get injured? The shrine let her be injured?"

"It's an old injury," I explained. "Her skull was caved in next to where the brain manages speech. The healers at the shrine undid the injury. The bandages keep a protective covering in place over the injury site while the bone gets stronger, with some healing magic of course. When the bandages come off, the shrine will work on restoring her speech. Neither the high priestess nor the Queen have impeded my access to Emily. By the way, the Queen was also at the paper making. She helped out on the second day."

"That sounds just like her in one of her impulsive moods," the King shook his head. "Now tell me how this paper stuff is made."

"Certainly, Mighty One; but first I'd like to show you this," I took a paper airplane from the inside of my wax tablet and sailed it across the room before it hit the wall and fell. "It turns out that paper has more uses than just writing."

Imstay surprised me by jumping out of his chair and retrieving the paper airplane. He turned it over in his hands and then made the same mistake I made yesterday. His too-forceful throw sent it on a curve straight into the carpet.

"Mighty One, a lot less might and a lot less wrist, almost as if you are pushing it forward," I advised.

Imstay's second attempt was much more successful. He started grinning like a little boy with a new toy. "I need to show this to the children." He ran and picked the paper airplane off the floor and threw it again.

"Can you make more of these?" Imstay asked.

"It's easy and I know two different ways to fold the paper," I replied. "You know, the children are at their lessons right now."

"That's right. I know exactly where to find them. Grab as much paper as we will need and let's go." Right then, my empty stomach growled and Imstay blinked. "Alright, you eat first then we'll go. Where is that food?"

Right on cue, the servant on duty walked briskly through the door with a mug and a plate of bread, cheese, and fruit. He put them on the table in front of me and then bowed himself out of the room. He was a little fellow with copper hair and green eyes who couldn't be more than 14 or 15 but he was quiet and efficient.

"I've not seen that one before," I remarked. I made it a point to know the face of everyone who worked in the palace.

"He lost his family in the siege of Capani last year," Imstay sat back down. "His name is Garki. He says he doesn't have a family name, but I think he's hiding one. He's literate and knows etiquette, which certainly suggests he came from a higher caste background. And he has numbers too."

"How did you find him?" I managed to ask around a mouth full of bread and cheese. So much for my manners.

"He showed up in the camp selling his labor for food. He was even thinner than he is now. I noticed him after I sent you back to find the maker of fire. Uncle Nirirgi felt sorry for the kid and hired him for all those jobs his attendant didn't like to do, like cleaning the tent and fetching firewood. I saw him serving Nirirgi a meal with all the proper moves one expects from a palace attendant, so I stole him. When I found he could read, write and do numbers, I offered him a job. He has hardly any magic. He can make a light but that's about it; however, I didn't hire him for magic."

"How did your uncle cope with losing his errand boy?"

"Nirirgi wasn't too happy but I granted him some salt pans outside of the Pink Lake to smooth things over."

"Aren't you worried the boy might stab you in your sleep? Since he lost his family in the siege, he might want revenge."

"I'm not worried," Imstay surveyed that state of my plate. "He's had ample opportunity already and hasn't once shown any hostility. You made short work of that cheese. Has your stomach been sufficiently bribed yet?"

"I believe I can last until the fourth bell now, thank you."

"Let's go then," he got up and started walking out the door without waiting for me. The Queen isn't the only royal who's impulsive.