Daisy was shocked to learn that an entire network of Wran burrows ran beneath Luxan, and had for generations untold. For her entire life, they had been so close.

-But why does no one know? How could no one know?

-We Wran are very careful as a rule. My own adventures from last night notwithstanding. That was a necessary risk.

-But isn’t it...well

-Lonely? Isolating?

-Something like that.

Fen scratched in his empty eye socket and sat down across from Daisy in a comfortable looking chair with a tattered throw hanging from the edges. It was the first time Daisy had seen him look unsettled.

-There were folk in Luxan, in fact all over The Mainland who used to interact with Wran, and there were Wran who spent much more time above ground than we know choose to. I’d wager, as many generations have gone by, there’s still a fair bit of Wran blood in Luxan.

His bald head was leaned forward towards Daisy, his one eye trained on the floor as he spoke.

-But things always had a way of going sour for my people above ground. A girl goes missing. There’s a drought. There’s a flood. Anything will do. Somehow the Wran always end up being blamed for it one way or another. That is, until we made a decision to stay underground except when it is absolutely necessary not to.

-What you’re saying, that’s terrible. Surely it’s not everyone who thinks that way. My mother for instance doesn’t…

-It only takes a few, my young friend. Your heart is in the right place, but my people have made their choice many times over.

-Why it’s just like the Isl…

Fen stood up to his full height and the suddenness with which he did so knocked his chair over backwards, tumbling into a bookshelf and sending reams of precious tomes to the floor.

-The Islanders forced their own separation on the people of the Mainland, he said, nostrils flared. We Wran were not given so many good options to choose from, Daisy Heartfand. You are right about one thing. The Islanders were not original in their ideas. Perfecters maybe, but not originals. The distinction they draw between themselves and those of the Mainland is no different, and has no more basis in reality than that which separates Wran from those above ground.

-Fen, I...of course. I’m sorry.

-No, I apologize, Daisy. You did not ask for this, but I’m afraid it is yours now whether you would have it or not. Do you know what I mean?

-I think so.

-Tell me then.

-Island Guards must be all over Luxan looking for you, if they were after you last night.

-Yes. Go on.

-It won’t take long for them to realize that I’m gone. My mother…

-Is in danger, but we are watching over her as best we can.

-What...what do I do now?

-You come with me.

-To find Torv? To rescue him?

-No, Fen said wryly, meeting Daisy’s sad eyes with his own unwavering one. That duty is not up to us. Our fate is intertwined with his, but not in the way you imagine. The Islanders imagine Torv to be the instigator of an ongoing rebellion against Island rule and for that reason he is in danger.

-But there’s no rebellion.

At this, Fen cracked a smile for the first time.

-News of the rebellion will reach Luxan in time. But there is very much a rebellion. I know because I am a part of it. And so are you now, Daisy Heartfand. So are you.

-I suppose, Daisy began. Then I suppose you better tell me why you were in Torv’s house last night if it was not to look for him.

-I will tell you all that and more on the road, Daisy. We must be going, and quickly, or we will miss our appointment at the first crossing.

-We have an appointment?

-You have much to learn, my young friend. All in due time.

The first bit of explanation that Daisy got happened as she was led by the hand through a series of well-made, and well-fortified tunnels. There were gas lamps all throughout and it was never difficult to see where she was walking, though she had no idea what their destination was. Fen muttered greetings to various other Wran as they came in and out of tunnels through doors like the one Daisy and Fen had come from. Other doors they passed were dark through their iron-barred windows, leaving Daisy to think that they went into a source of water, or a tunnel that had not been built yet, a window into solid earth. The logistics of the tunnels were far beyond her, and in fact were far beyond any technological marvels she had seen above ground. The sheer number of Wran that bustled in and out of tunnels into small rooms, large rooms, well-lit palatial ballrooms, and tiny anterooms was astonishing even as she passed them by in a whir with Fen out in front. The only thing tying the whole thing together seemed to be books. Shelves appeared out of nowhere in the tunnel walls and more than once Daisy saw a Wran pick one up and continue on their way.

She was obviously a surprising sight, as more than a few passersby did astonished double takes, no doubt at the sight of Fen with an above grounder. Her guide spoke to her over his shoulder as they hustled, explaining that to travel underground was an entirely different thing than to use the roads above ground. It was a narrower thing, requiring an efficiency not necessary to paths, carts, and horses. At every major tunnel crossing, a traveler was required to have a pre-approved time of crossing and destination. It was all timed down to the second so there was minimal traffic and accidents. If one was to miss their scheduled crossing, it could be a tricky thing to wait for an opening in the schedule. It was possible, Fen explained, to go off grid if it was necessary, into unauthorized tunnels and byways, but they were far from the outskirts of Wran society just yet and they would not need to do so just yet.

When they reached their first crossing, Fen took an iron bolt from his pocket and thrust it into a hole in the tunnel wall. Daisy felt Fen’s grip tighten around her own.

-Hold on tight now, he said.