The diamond walls spun in close, forming a tiny sphere around Felit?a. This close in, they cut off almost all sensations, both mental and physical: touch, hearing, smell. If she were to open her eyes right now, she doubted she would be able to see more than a blur, if that much. This technically left her physical body vulnerable, but unless Hedromornasta suddenly decided to turn murderous, or Lon or Nesh turned carnivorous, she doubted she was in much danger. Besides, she wasn’t intending to do this for long.

  There was a quietness that came with having the walls this close, beyond even the quietness her mind had experienced the last few weeks of having the shield around her. Without the shield, this level of quietness would probably be comforting or relaxing. The mental world could be a noisy place. But at the moment, with things being so quiet anyway, it felt like more of the same, only more intense.

  But she needed to know she could do this. If she was going to learn the secrets of her mind, she needed to be able to block out any distractions. And if she wanted to walk out in the world without the shield around her, she needed to learn the secrets of her mind. She had to control them.

  Mikranasta had been right. She wasn’t ready to go without the shield. She’d barely managed to maintain herself with just Meleng and Sinit?a nearby. With more people around, the results could be disastrous.

  But she needed to be rid of the shield. After nearly a month of it, she was sick of it. Everywhere she went, there was Hedromornasta or maybe Mikranasta. Sure, she’d gained a bit of privacy by learning to keep them out of her head—though in Mikranasta’s case, she suspected it was more the Isyar willingly not breaking through Felit?a’s defences—but it didn’t change the fact they were still nearby. They could still see and hear. In some cases, she could put a door between her and them, but it still meant being reserved in conversations if she didn’t want to be overheard.

  Annoyingly, most of the things she wanted to say to people weren’t particularly private, but when there was a possibility of someone literally hearing everything she said every day, the desire for privacy increased and increased. Gods, it was frustrating at times.

  So, she needed to learn to control her abilities fast, and to do that, she needed to improve her ability to concentrate without distraction.

  Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of time for that now. This was just a proof-of-concept exercise. She wasn’t sure how successful it had been, as she was just frustrating herself with her own faults.

  With a sigh, she relaxed the diamond walls, letting them spin away from her, and opened her eyes.

  Hedromornasta stood unmoving in his usual corner of the library and a palace servant stood by the doors farthest from Hedromornasta. It seemed even other people in the palace were learning to stay away from Hedromornasta. She understood why they did it, but she was beginning to feel a bit sorry for him. At least some of his grumpiness had to be from having to watch her for sixteen or more hours a day.

  Alas, he was not going to like what was about to happen.

  Even Jorvan didn’t like it much. She had spoken to him about it earlier today, and he had made that clear.

  “I understand your frustration,” he had said, “but I cannot support your actions. If Mikranasta says it is too dangerous, then it is too dangerous. I trust her in this.”

  “You and I might,” Felit?a said, “but Zandrue doesn’t. She’s suffering, Jorvan. You’ve seen it yourself. I can’t let her continue to go through this.”

  “Mikranasta could help her. Remember, she helped Meleng. She is powerful and wise. She could help Zandrue as well.”

  “Zandrue won’t allow that. You want to convince her?”

  He shook his head. “I would not be able, but perhaps you could.”

  Felit?a smiled sadly. “I’ve tried. Look, Jorvan, I understand that Mikranasta is family, and you don’t want to disagree with her, but Zandrue is my family. Wouldn’t you do the same for yours?”

  He nodded, but added, “But if Mikranasta told me it was dangerous, I would seriously consider that I might make things worse for my family.”

  It had been a fair comment, and Felit?a had been thinking on it for the past couple hours. Would she make things worse for Zandrue? Possibly. However, she had to take the risk. If she didn’t, the consequences could be worse.

  The doors nearest Hedromornasta opened and Nin-Akna entered, followed by Meleng, Corvinian, and Agernon.

  “Thank you for coming,” Felit?a said.

  With a groan, Agernon lowered himself slowly into a chair at the table across from Felit?a. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  Corvinian plunked down beside him. “I don’t know why. It sounds like it’s just going to be a bunch of arguing.”

  “Ah, but the right type of arguing, boy,” Agernon said with a laugh.

  “How come your neck’s glowing?” Corvinian said.

  Felit?a chuckled and put a hand to the necklace of prayer beads around her neck. “It’s not me. It’s the prayer beads. I’ve been charging them. I may need them later.”

  “They look pretty on you when they do that.”

  “Thank you.” Felit?a looked to Nin-Akna. “Zandrue?”

  “Anita’s with her,” Nin-Akna said. “They should be here soon.”

  “Good. You told her what’s going to happen?”

  Nin-Akna nodded. “Don’t worry. She’s eager to come.”

  Meleng sat beside Felit?a on her left. “Sinit?a wanted to come, but I told her she has to stay in bed a little longer, so she said to tell you she’s sorry.”

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  “That’s all right,” Felit?a said. “I understand.”

  “Feviona’s arguing with Jorvan about coming,” Meleng said.

  “I hope it’s not too big an argument. I didn’t mean to cause something like that.”

  Meleng shrugged. “Jorvan was talking in Isyarian and I couldn’t see Feviona’s signs well enough, but it didn’t look or sound that bad.”

  The other doors opened at that moment and a servant entered and bowed. Behind him stood Eti?nne and Miana. “Your Highness. Two people—”

  “Yes, I see them. Show them in.”

  The servant bowed again and stepped aside for Eti?nne and Miana to enter. Eti?nne’s dog—Jeanne?—bounded in after them and leapt into one of the plush chairs along the wall, curling up into a ball there.

  Felit?a smiled at Miana, who gave just the tiniest hint of a smile back, in that stoic way of theirs.

  “I think our friend in the corner’s getting suspicious,” Agernon said and laughed.

  Agernon wasn’t wrong. Hedromornasta was looking about the room, a definite hint of concern on his face.

  “It’s understandable,” Felit?a said. “Mikranasta is due soon for today’s lesson and there usually aren’t very many other people present for them.”

  Agernon nodded. “Nice to see him squirm, though.”

  Felit?a shrugged. “Not really. I’m not his greatest fan, but…”

  Agernon harrumphed. “Always the soft one, Felit?a. At any rate, how are you doing? After everything that happened yesterday, that is.”

  “As well as can be expected, I suppose,” Felit?a said. “Though what happened yesterday is a large part of why we’re doing this today.”

  The doors near Hedromornasta opened again and Feviona walked into the room. After a quick scan, she spotted Meleng and came over towards him, signing something.

  Felit?a really needed to learn her sign language. There was always so much more going on though.

  “She says Jorvan won’t come,” Meleng said.

  “He told me earlier, so I’m not surprised. Give her my thanks for coming.”

  Meleng nodded and signed back to Feviona.

  Time ticked slowly by. There was still no Mikranasta and no Zandrue, and it was kind of critical that they both be there.

  After a little while, a servant arrived with a message that he handed to Nin-Akna, who read it. “Anita’s having a little difficulty with Zandrue. I’ll go help.” Nin-Akna then followed the servant out of the library.

  They continued to wait.

  Agernon jabbed his cane in Hedromornasta’s direction. “He might have warned his mother, you know.”

  Felit?a looked over at Hedromornasta, who had regained his composure. “The thought had occurred to me.” She lowered her block on him. Hedromornasta, do you know where your diare is?

  No, he said with surprisingly little hesitation.

  Did you warn her I have all these extra people here?

  This time, he took a moment before answering. I tried. I don’t know if she received it as she hasn’t responded.

  Thank you for responding. I appreciate it. She looked back to Agernon. “He tried to warn Mikranasta, but he doesn’t actually know if she received it.”

  “Pheh. She got it. That’s why she’s not here. Too afraid to show her face.” He jumped a little and looked behind him and then all around.

  “You all right?”

  He settled back down again. “Just remembering the last time I said something like that in this room and she snuck up on me. I’m not getting caught unaware again.”

  With a chuckle, Felit?a went back to waiting.

  A few minutes later, Nin-Akna returned with Zandrue and Anita. Zandrue circled around the table and sat on Felit?a’s right side.

  Felit?a smiled at her. “Glad you could make it.”

  Zandrue bent over the table, head in her hands. “Yeah, whatever.”

  Felit?a leaned over her, placing a hand on her back. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to fix this.”

  “Are we? I nearly ran, Felit?a. This is exactly what I want, what I’ve begged you to do, and yet my first instinct when Anita told me it was happening was to run the fuck away. I still feel that instinct right now. Do we really need such a big audience?”

  “Yes. They’re our moral support. They’ll let her—and you—know just how much support you have.”

  “We’re really doing this? You better make her listen.”

  “I will. Or I’ll dismiss her. Her choice.”

  “Thank you.”

  Felit?a put her arm around her, leaned her head on Zandrue’s shoulder, and hugged her tight. “That’s what I’m here for.”

  After what seemed an eternity, the far doors finally opened, and Mikranasta walked slowly into the room, well over an hour past her scheduled arrival time. Hedromornasta started over to her, but she held up a hand to keep him back and turned her head slowly to look around the room. “A large number of people with you today, Will-Breaker.”

  Felit?a stood up. “Yes, I—”

  “I can guess what it’s for.” Mikranasta walked slowly towards Felit?a. “You think this will change my mind?”

  “You’re going to listen to us for a change!” Agernon said.

  Felit?a held up her hand. “Agernon, please. Let me speak.” She then held out her hand to Zandrue. “Mikranasta, I need you to look at her.”

  “I have already said I am willing to assist her if she will let me.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I mean, look at her, not examine her.” Felit?a nudged Zandrue, but Zandrue refused to stand up.

  Mikranasta came forward. “I can see she is in distress. I have never denied this. I am not heartless, Will-Breaker. My decision is for her benefit as much as it is for yours. You are not qualified to help her. You will likely make matters worse. The best thing you can do is convince her of that, and let me look at her. If not that, then convince her to wait until you are ready. But you cannot do this now.”

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