The late morning air of the Crown Isles chills the travelers as they leave the carriage. The long trip back from Sc?dstan had taken nearly a whole day; having left at 13:00 the previous day, they arrived back at Herst Castle around 11:00. Nearly a third of their twenty-two-hour journey was spent ascending back up the crown.

  After exiting the carriage, Dyder shuts the door behind him and stretches. “I should have gone for a walk in Beorgrud.” His back sore and his knees stiff from the journey.

  “Why do men do this? the moment you get engaged, you all age fifteen years?” Asks ?l?, not really expecting an answer.

  “Because the women they are engaged to decide to stretch out on the entire seat, confining him to just a corner.” Dyder retorts. “I’ve decided I am going to get larger bedsheets made as well.”

  One of the large double doors creaks open before ?l? has a chance to respond—even though she knows Dyder is right. A dozen servants quickly flood out and begin removing luggage from the carriage.

  “Der’Dornytter, dera’Humel, and dera’Humel. Did you all sleep well on your trip back?” Asks Ferran, as he steps outside.

  “She certainly did.” Dyder gestures to ?l?. “I did not, but thank you for asking.”

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  Ferran chuckles. “Dera’Heren, where would you like your bags brought?”

  ?l? and Ede begin speaking over each other; pausing, they turn and look at each other and then start speaking over each other once again.

  Ferran sighs. “Mina dera’Heren, your bags will be brought to your room. Ilsenila dera’Heren, where would you like your bags brought? I can have them brought to an empty room or to der’Dornytter’s?

  “Please, just have it brought to Dyder’s.” Says ?l?. “Where is Gekaryna vela’Herst? I would like to speak with her.”

  Ferran nods. “Certainly, I would imagine she would like to speak with you too, seeing as how we were not informed that you would be coming back with der’Dornytter and your sister.” He quickly tells the servants where to bring the luggage and turns around, leading the group into Herst Castle.

  “Ferran, where is Gekaryna?” Ede asks as she looks into the main hall of the castle, directly at the pass-through window.

  “Where she usually is when she’s not meeting with people: in the queen’s library, dera’Heren. Why do you ask?” He responds.

  “I’m just going to get something to eat—see if there are any leftovers or snacks.” Ede begins to head into the kitchen.

  “It might be good for you to wait another hour or two until lunch.” ?l? pokes her sister in the stomach. She does not think Ede is fat by any means—like her, their weight tended to go to places other than their bellies—her sister has always had a habit of eating when bored, and she intended to break it.

  Ede shoos her sister’s hand away. “Enough of that, please. I see you all in the library shortly.” She turns and leaves, heading to the kitchen to find Ladech. For her entire life, ?l? had been nagging her about what and how much she eats; Gods forbid someone just enjoys food. If she was going to get fat, she would be already.

  Ferran ushers the young couple forward, wishing to get them to ?nnywella at a reasonable time.