“Good morning, Iolana,” said Radley Staff as he entered the library.

“Good morning, Father,” replied Iolana, turning to the next page of The Girl from Beneath the Earth.

“Still working your way through Inspector Colbshallow’s books?”

“Yes, Father,” she said, turning the page.

“I wouldn’t think you would find them all that interesting.  They’re written for young men.”

“They just speak to me,” she said, turning the page.

“Are you actually reading that?”

“Yes, Father,” she said, turning the page.

“How can you read that fast?  Do you skim through the words?”

Iolana stopped and took the sterling silver bookmark embossed with the Dechantagne family crest from the lamp table, placing it between pages 44-45 of the tattered paperback, which she set next to the unlit lamp.

“No, I don’t skim.  It’s all about training one’s mind to recognize an entire sentence at a time instead of only a single word.  People do it occasionally without even realizing it.  It comes naturally.  For instance, you may read the letters B A S S, but how do you know if that word rhymes with ace or ass?  Your brain tells you because it sees ahead to the rest of the sentence.  So you read ‘the bass is the largest instrument in the orchestra,” or “the bass fishing is best in the lakes of Booth.”

“I see.”  He sat down in the other chair.  “So what is this book about?”

“They’re all essentially the same.  A plucky Brech hero must make his way through dangerous terrain, fight hordes of frightening monsters, and defeat evil masterminds in order to rescue an exotic princess.  This particular princess comes from a hidden world beneath the surface where humans are enslaved by a race of intelligent but evil burrowing insects.”

Mr. Staff laughed.  “And this speaks to you?  Do you identify with the princess or the hero?”

Iolana shrugged.  “All I can say is that I don’t see myself as a burrowing insect.”

“Glad to hear it.  Remember, we are going hunting tomorrow.”

“I don’t think I will go this time.  I have too much to do.”

“You have to go.  I planned this trip weeks ago, and besides, it was your idea.  What exactly is monopolizing your time lately?  I feel like I hardly ever see you anymore.”

“I’ve been spending time with my friends.”

“It’s not a boy, is it?  Do I have to start sending a chaperone with you everywhere you go?”

“I assure you Father, there is no boy interested in me.  I’m either too young, or too smart, or too famous, or too stuck-up, or too ugly to be bothered with.”

“You aren’t ugly, Iolana,” he said.  “But the rest of those are all true.  So you will be ready to go tomorrow at 7:00 AM.”

“As you say, Father,” she said, taking up her book again.

“You must help me see to Terra.  I’m still not sure about taking her with us.  I had the devil’s own time convincing her mother that she should be let out, so you will need to help me.”  He stood up. “Still, she seemed more worried about Augie.  I think she’s had a premonition that he will die young.”

“That’s silly.”

“Of course it is.”

“It’s far more likely that Augie will outlive Terra or me.”

“Why do you say that?  Women usually live longer.”

“I wasn’t speaking of men and women, but of Dechantagnes,” Iolana explained. “Mother was the middle child and she outlived Uncle Terrence and Uncle Augie.  Our grandfather was a middle child, the second of four.  His older brother was killed in the Bordonian War, while his younger sister died of a fever and his younger brother was shot in a disagreement over a gambling debt.  If one were to extrapolate from history, one would have to assume that Augie was destined to survive both his sister and me.”

“Don’t forget, you’re a Staff,” said her father, before he exited the room.

“At least according to my mother and Zurfina,” said Iolana quietly.  “Two women, neither noted for their adherence to the truth.”

Sixteen minutes later, Iolana closed The Girl from Beneath the Earthand returned it to the crate sitting along the south wall.  She skimmed through the container for the book she would read tomorrow, finally picking up Slave Girl Captive of the Piratesbefore tossing it back into the box with the realization that she wouldn’t have time for it the following day.  The rest of her morning reading was cut short too.

“Kayden!” she shouted out the library door.  “Where in Kafira’s name is my Gazette?”

The lizzie major-domo stepped close to her.  “Khikhiino tacktotott.”

“No one is to get that paper before me.  Khikhiino Iolana.”

“Tacktotott?”

“Not even my mother.”

“You whant I get?”

“No, there’s no sense you getting fired over my newspaper.  If you see her set it aside, grab it and save it for me. I’ll read it tonight.”

“Yess Stahwasuwasu Zrant.”

“My name is Iolana.  I know you can say it.”

“Lizzie name is Stahwasuwasu Zrant.”

“While I admit that ‘Child of the Sunrise’ has a certain ring to it, I’m only too aware that the same words also mean ‘Pest of the Sunrise.”

Avoiding both the dining room and the family at breakfast, Iolana cut through the kitchen from the back hallway, grabbing a crumpet on the way though. Once out the back door, she ordered a pair of lizzies to wheel the steam cabriolet out of the machine shed.  Much smaller than the other cars, the cabriolet had come all the way from Mirsanna.  With two large wheels just behind the driver, just in front of the engine, it had two very tiny wheels out in front and was steered not with a steering wheel but with a tiller.  Though it officially belonged to her mother, Iolana was the only one who used it, and it was the only vehicle she was allowed to drive herself.  The lizzies topped off the water, but Iolana started the coal fire.

“Going?”

“We have arrived!” said Hsrandtuss loudly, as he waved at the land ahead.

From the small hillock upon which he stood, he could see a long, flat plain, and beyond that a large hill with a rocky outcropping on one side and upon the other a gentle slope down toward the shores of the briskly flowing river.  In the distance was the vast forest of pine trees and maples, as well as sussata, for which the humans had no name.  A great herd of sauroposeidon roamed along the forest edge, while closer were huge numbers of iguanodons and triceratops.

“We can all see that we are here,” he heard someone mutter behind him.  He thought it was Szakhandu.

“Shut up,” ordered Sszaxxanna, cuffing whoever it was with a clawed hand. “This is a great moment.”

They had left the dragon fortress a full thirty days earlier with a mission to found a new city to the east, not far from the ruins of Suusthek.  Suusthek had been a great city, but its ruler Ssithtsutsu had overstepped himself when he had tried to wipe out the soft-skins. Even without the aid of the young god, the humans had wiped out his warriors, and their witch-woman had left nothing where Suusthek had been but a very large smoking crater.

It had taken Hsrandtuss a few days to recover from his ordeal beneath the ancient stones of the fortress.  Afterwards he spent several more days in celebratory feasting and drinking, and it took a few days to recover from that too.  Then Yessonar had met with him alone.  He could still remember the heat radiating from the dragon as he stood beside the great head, which lay upon a huge pillow of tyrannosaurus skin.

“That was quite a show of bravery, and totally unnecessary, I might add.”

“It was nothing,” said the king, but he couldn’t help but flush his dewlap.

“There is no other of your race that I trust more than you.  Did you know that, Hsrandtuss?”

“I don’t know what to say, Great Yessonar.”

“It is twice as important to listen as it is to speak.  That is why you have two ears and only one mouth.  I have seen something in the future, and I need your help to turn the events the direction I desire.  I am sending you east on a great mission.  It will be difficult, but you can succeed.”

“I will succeed,” Hsrandtuss had proclaimed.

“Is this where we are going to build Zis Suusthek?” asked Ssu, stepping close to her husband, and forcing his mind to return to the present.

“This is where we will build our city.  But it will not be called Zis Suusthek.  Ssithtsutsu ruined that name forever, may a curse be upon the eggs of all his females.  We shall call our city Yessonarah after the young god, to show that we are favored by him above all others.”  He turned to Sszaxxanna.  “Have the captains bring their people to that hill.  We will make our camp tonight on the site of our city.”

When they had left, they had taken almost every lizzie at the fortress, though Yessonar would not have to go without worshippers for long.  The line of supplicants was just as long on their way out as it had been on their way in.  Looking at the great dragon curled up at the base of the large outdoor amphitheater, Hsrandtuss thought that he looked pleased to be left alone if only for a few minutes.  Of course even as they were leaving, Khastla the envoy was making his way down the steps to task the god with something else.  Five thousand lizardmen had been divided mostly along clan lines into ten groups, each led by a captain who reported directly to the king.  Yes, Hsrandtuss was used to hearing “great king” from his wives.  Now he would hear it from everybody.

It was growing dark before the last of the great pilgrimage arrived on the hill. Huge bonfires had already been set up by the first arrivals to help deter any predators, though even the family of gorgosaurs spotted late in the afternoon would have thought twice before approaching such a large group of Hsrandtuss’s people.  The king lay down near the largest fire and pointed his nose toward the flame.  Soon Kendra and Ssu were on either side of him and he could see the other wives taking their places nearby.  Except for Sszaxxanna.  She was somewhere, bringing some plot or other into fruition, or starting a new one. Hsrandtuss didn’t give her a lot of thought.  He just closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Then next morning, the king met with all of the captains.  He assigned each of them a job to oversee.  Some were responsible for locating the appropriate stone for wall construction and to start quarrying it.  Others were responsible for felling trees and cutting them into logs, which would be even more vital.  Still others organized workers to dam the river and to cut irrigation canals. A particularly large individual named Straatin was placed in charge of the hunters who would supply the meat necessary to fill so many bellies.  Finally, an old and grizzled veteran named Hunssuss was held back to consult with the king on the layout of the new city.  They discussed what buildings needed to be constructed where, while a group of warriors used shovels and spears to gouge out the outlines of the buildings in the earth.

By the end of their first full day on the site of Yessonarah, there were already huge piles of cut logs and hundreds of fires around the hill illuminating thousands of lizzies feasting on raw meat as they were warmed by the flames. Hsrandtuss was pleased.

After eating a pomegranate and a bit of iguanodon for breakfast, the king climbed to his feet and looked around.  The only one of his wives nearby was Szakhandu.

“Come and walk with me,” he ordered her.

She fell into step behind him as he walked down the hill and toward the river. The trees on either side of the game trail had already been cut and it was easy to see the best spot for the dam, right where the two banks came closest to one another, just after the river had made a lazy turn to the left.  Workers were already creating a roadway that would lead to the site.

“So what do you think, Szakhandu?” asked Hsrandtuss, breaking the silence.

“Think about what, Great King?”

“About the site of our new city.”

“It is not for me to say, Great King.”

“Stop dipping my tail in the lake with this ‘great king’.  I know what you think of me.  I’m just a half wild brute that took you away from your comfortable home in Tsahloose.  I know you say as much when you are among the other females.”

He glanced at her.  She opened her mouth, ready to plead her innocence, but then closed it and dropped her chin.

Baxter threw the child up into the air as she squealed.  He caught her, and holding her at arm’s length, made a silly face. Then he did the whole thing over again. Senta glided up behind them and wrapped a long white arm around his shoulder.

“I’m going to be jealous if you spend all the time with the child.”

“Children need attention if you don’t want them to grow up to be sociopaths,” he said, at last pulling baby Senta in and blowing on her neck.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“You don’t know how much a person can miss human companionship until you’re in that situation.”  He placed the little girl on the floor and stood up.  Turning around, he took the woman in his arms and kissed her deeply. “I suppose I should pay you some attention too.  Why don’t I show you right now?”

“Now?” she pretended to be shocked.  “Right here in the daylight?  With the baby watching?”

“It won’t harm her to see two adults showing affection.”

“I meant that baby.”  She pointed to the tiny coral-colored dragon balanced on the corner post of the bed.

“Gawp,” it said.

“Why don’t you put that damned animal back in its carrier?” he said, releasing her from his arms and stepping back, careful that the child was out from under his foot.

“Don’t be cross,” said Senta.  “I’ll put her in the other room, then I’ll feed little Senta.  She’ll fall right asleep and then we’ll have two or three hours all to ourselves.”

“Fine,” he said, only slightly mollified.

The sorceress ordered the dragon into the adjoining room, which was little more than a closet really.  Even though they had the largest suite on the S.S. Windlass, which was the largest Brech dirigible—quite a bit bigger than the Frühlingshuhn—it was still only a collection of three very small rooms.  Then she sat down with the baby and attempted to give her a bottle.  She did take it, but fussed when her mother tried to burp her, until she was given over to Baxter, who completed the job and had her asleep inside of five minutes.

“Now where were we?” he asked, unbuttoning his shirt.

“I hate to spoil the mood,” she said, “but there is a man spying on us outside that door.”

“What kind of man?”

“A wizard.”

“A government wizard or a freelancer who’s out to get you?”

“Does it matter?” she asked.

“It does to me.  King and country and all still means something to me.”

“Very well,” she sighed.  “Uuthanum.” She waved a finger toward the door. “He’s from the Ministry of War.”

“All right.”  Baxter went into the third room of the suite, the tiny parlor, and then out the door from there to the hall.  Senta could hear a brief tussle in the hallway outside.  Then Baxter entered through the bedroom door from the corridor. In his right fist he carried a man in pin stripes by the scruff of the neck.  The man was clutching at his throat and fighting for breath.

“I doubt he’ll say any magic words for a minute or two.  I don’t suppose he’ll be able to answer any questions either.”

“Oh, I don’t want to interrogate him.  I just want him to go away.”  She raised her hands above her head.  “Rezesic edios uuthanum illiam vor.”

The man in the pin stripes disappeared with a pop.

“Where did he go?” asked Baxter, looking at his right hand.

“Away.”

“I was holding him.”

“Don’t worry.  I don’t miss.”

“Did he make it back to Greater Brechalon?”

“Probably.  If not, then somewhere between here and there.”

“We’re a hundred miles out to sea.”

“Then he picked an extremely poor time to spy at my door,” said Senta.

Once again she snaked her arms around his neck and moved her face very close to his.  She breathed on his mouth, but waited for him to kiss her.  He did.  Then stepping away, he quickly undressed, but not before creating a little bed on the floor with two blankets and placing the sleeping baby there, safely out of the way. Senta snapped her fingers and seven layers of clothing seemed to just fall off of her and onto the floor.  She was reclining naked on the bed when he joined her.  They made love.  She enjoyed the way that he made love to her.  It was never the same way twice.  Never the same touches.  Never the same order.  He must have had a lot of practice, she thought, though that didn’t bother her. As she lay bathing in the warm afterglow, just dozing off, it occurred to her that she might never get tired of this. She suddenly woke when he took her by her shoulder and thigh, flipped her onto her stomach, and pulled her to her knees.  No, she might never get tired of this, she decided.

It was almost two hours later when she woke up.  Baxter’s face was right in front of hers and he was awake, staring at her. She smiled.

“Satisfied?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?  I don’t enjoy that.  It’s horrible and I just put up with it because you’re a man and you have those horrible urges.”

“That wasn’t what it sounded like.”

“That was all for your benefit as well.”

Suddenly there was a crash and little Senta began crying.  Both adults sat up to see that she had pulled a lamp off the occasional table along the wall and onto her head.  The glass had shattered upon hitting the floor.

“Kafira damn it all!” shouted Baxter, jumping up, and in three quick steps scooping the baby into his arms.

With a wave of her index finger, the sorceress sent the pieces of the lamp back up onto the table where it reassembled itself.

“There.  All better.”

“I wasn’t worried about the bloody lamp,” he said, examining the growing lump on the child’s head.  “What if that thing had been lit?”

“Then we would have all died in a horrible conflagration.  You know the lamps on airships don’t even have oil in them.  Calm down.”

“Why must you embarrass me in front of the governor?”

“What are you on about now, Loana?” asked Saba Colbshallow.

“You, discussing those horrible books.”

“Well at least I didn’t bring up Sable Agria.  Why don’t you go on up to your room before you get yourself any more worked up than you are already?”

Saba’s mother had turned in an hour earlier, and the remainder of the family had sat quietly listening to the mechanical music box as DeeDee’s eyes slowly glazed over.  Now she was asleep in her father’s arms.

“Aren’t you coming up?”

“Yes, I’ll be along shortly.  I just want to listen to this song one more time.”

Loana gave a curt nod before turning and starting up the stairs.  Saba watched her enormous bustle, sway from left to right as she negotiated the steps.  As soon as she was out of eyesight, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.  Risty, their lizzie butler, quickly slipped a cold bottle of Billingbow’s into his hand, the cork already removed.  Then he rewound the music box and placed the needle back at the start of the cylinder. Saba finished his soda water just as the music finished, and Risty was there to take the bottle away.  Rising to his feet, only difficult because of the added weight of his daughter, Saba headed for the stairs.  DeeDee had her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist.  Placing a hand under her bottom, he stepped slowly upward.

Sandy, the nurse lizzie, was there to change DeeDee into her night clothes when Saba set her on her bed.  He kissed her on the forehead and rounded the corner to his own room.  Slipping into his nightshirt, he slid beneath the cool sheets, not even glancing at the door to his wife’s adjoining room.

Saba left early the next morning, before anyone in his family was stirring, including his mother.  Even the five-story police station was quiet.  The night shift was still on duty, and it would be another hour before the morning shift arrived.  The desk sergeant, Corman, leaned against the counter, half asleep.  A PC, Loewy, was taking notes from two women, apparently working girls, seated on the bench in the lobby.  He gave a sloppy salute as Saba passed him on the way to the elevator. Throwing the lever, Saba sent the elevator car upwards to the second floor.

The chief inspector’s office was a large, beautifully paneled room with several huge windows along the outside wall.  Another wall, this one behind the desk, was covered with photographs of Saba with various city officials at groundbreaking ceremonies and the like. Walking around the large desk, he sat down on the plush leather chair.  Sitting on the right corner of the otherwise mostly clear wooden surface was a stack of folders.  Each held the case files for an unfinished investigation.  He pulled the top one from the stack and opened it, skimming the summary.

Nothing new had been discovered about the bomb that had been set off at the shipyard.  Constables had found and questioned the lizzie that had placed it.  He couldn’t identify the human that had hired him. To most of the lizzies, the humans were just as hard to tell apart as the lizzies were to most humans.  Pieces of the bomb had been recovered, but they had led to nothing.  All they had to go on was Wizard Bell’s description of a man about forty, with dark hair, whose name began with an “s” sound.

A knock at the door was quickly followed by it opening and Wizard Bell sticking his head inside.

“Are you busy, Chief Inspector?”

“Come in,” said Saba.  “Now I know you’re a wizard, Bell.  I was just thinking about you and here you are.”

“Fortunate happenstance,” replied the wizard, closing the door and starting across the room.

Bell wasn’t wearing his helmet and his uniform seemed, if anything, even looser than the last time that Saba had seen him.  He sat down in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.

“I was just going over the case file for the bombing,” said Saba.

“Nothing new on that front.”

“Do you think our Mr. S managed to get out of the colony?  Maybe he was on his way before the blast.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Have you learned anything else with your magic?”

“I have scried several times but haven’t been able to find out anything more,” said the wizard.  “It’s more of a feeling that I have.  I think he’s still here in Port Dechantagne.”

“I just hope we can find him before anyone else gets killed.”

Bell nodded his agreement.

“Have you eaten?”

“This morning?”

“This year.  You look thin.”

“I’ve lost a bit of weight.  It’s the magic.  It puts me off my meals.”

“What would you say to a bit of breakfast now.”

“I suppose that would be all right.”

Stepping around the desk and walking to the door, Saba grabbed his coat and hat from the rack where they had been hanging for several days.  He usually wanted them on the way to work this time of year, but didn’t need them in the afternoon when he went home, and so often forgot to take them.  Bell followed as they travelled the length of the hallway and stepped into the elevator. At the bottom of the stairs they ran into Eamon Shrubb.

“We’re going to breakfast,” said Saba.  “Interested?”

“I’m just coming on.  I’ve got to take the desk.”

“Get Wilkes to take it,” said Saba.

“Well, if it’s an order.”

Iolana opened her eyes to see another pair of eyes, these deep brown, staring back at her from a distance of six inches.  She blinked twice and then leaned her head back far enough that her seven-year-old cousin’s face could come into focus.

“What are you doing in my room?”

“I want you to play with me.”

“I can’t play with you.  I’m not allowed to interact with you until 11:00.”

Iolana had been placed on restriction.  She wasn’t allowed to leave the house without permission.  She wasn’t allowed to see any of her friends.  The only time she could interact with Augie and Terra was during their tutoring sessions.  And she had not been allowed to take meals with the family.  She had endured this punishment for nine days, spending her time writing long letters to Dovie and Willa and reading everything she could on the early days of the colony in preparation for her book.  She had even written to Sherree Glieberman, though that had only been to politely decline an invitation to a slumber party. She wouldn’t have been allowed that, even had she wanted to go.

“I don’t want to wait and I don’t want to do my times tables,” said Terra’s scratchy little voice.  “I want to play Argrathian checkers.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not allowed.”

“Yes you are.”

“What?”

“You’re not on restriction anymore.”

Iolana sat up and looked toward her desk.

“I gave your mother the letter,” said Terra.

“You what?”

Iolana’s father had made it very clear.  She wouldn’t be allowed back to resume her life until she had apologized to her mother.  Two days earlier, in a week moment, she had composed the required document.

Mother,

I regret my actions of last week.

Sincerely,

1. Staff

Mr. Staff would have never accepted such a letter, but Iolana knew that her mother would find it adequate.  She had decided though not to send it.  She would endure her punishment until her father broke down and gave in.  Iolana expected him to crack any day now.  She was surprised he had lasted this long.

“You little bint!  I’m going to fix you.”

Terra squeaked, jumped from the bed, and ran from the room.  Iolana climbed out of bed and stomped around in a circle for a minute, not remembering that she could have chased after the girl if she wanted.  Then she stopped and placed her hands on her hips.  Well, what was done, was done.  No sense moping about it.

“Esther!”

The young lizzie entered through the still open door.

“Help me get dressed.”

The clothing that young girls wore in traditional Brech society was almost as heavily layered and almost as complicated as that worn by grown women. Though she was able to eschew the double layer of brassieres, a bustle, and a corset, most of Iolana’s dresses required at least four petticoats and more usually six.  She also wore a shift and a double set of bloomers.  Once all the underwear was on, it was time to step into the dress.  Her charcoal day dress, like almost all of her dresses, fastened up the back with dozens of small buttons.  She could almost reach them all using the fermeture, a magical button fastener, but let Esther use it on her.  It was simply a matter of running the device up the row of buttons, which magically jumped into their hooks.  Running it downward likewise unfastened them.

“Have they served breakfast yet?”

“In ten,” replied the lizzie.

“Good.  Let’s go down.”

The only diners in the Dechantagne Staff home that morning proved to be the three children of the house.  Each took their traditional spots, widely spaced around the table, despite the many other empty places.

“Where is everyone?” Iolana wondered.

“Your parents are both working,” said Augie.  “Mother is doing some charity work this morning with her friends from shrine.”

“Honor McCoort, do you mean?  She doesn’t have any other friends.  None of us really have many friends.”

“I do,” said the eight-year-old boy.  “I’m quite well thought of.”

As one of the lizzies set down a plate with eggs, sausages, and beans in front of her, Iolana looked carefully at her cousin.  He seemed to have grown just since she had seen him three days before. Of course it might have been the khaki gear he was wearing.

“What have you been up to then?”

“I just went for a walk in the woods across the road.”

“You’ll get yourself eaten.  There are velociraptors and who-knows-what in those woods.”

“I need some soldiers here,” Augie ordered the servant, and then looked back at Iolana.  “Not to worry.  I took two of the lizzies with me, and I took my rifle.”

“Your mother will have a fit if she finds out you were using a weapon without father there.”

“Then don’t tell her,” he replied calmly, before stabbing a sausage.

“I won’t.”

“I’ll tell her,” said Terra, her little voice almost shouting.

“Don’t,” said Iolana.  “It will only upset her for nothing.  Besides the three of us should stick together.  We’re the three heirs—like my mother, and your father, and Uncle Augie.”

“Then you have to play with me,” said Terra.

“I will, but after lessons.”

“And I don’t want eggs.  I want porridge.”

“Get my sister some porridge,” Augie ordered another servant.

“I don’t think you want to move that piece there,” said Iolana, peering across the vast gaming table.

Dozens of square wooden playing pieces were arrayed across the oak surface, only half of which faced her.  The other pieces belonged to her opponent.  Esther hissed softly and moved the piece back to its original spot.

The gaming table sat along the west wall of Iolana’s bedroom, the largest bedroom in the house.  Just behind Iolana’s seat was a stone fireplace, and beyond that was a writing desk with chair, and in the corner a cheval glass.  Across the room from the fireplace was a beautiful canopy bed, the cover and the drapes of which matched the Thiss green area rug beneath it. Rich oak nightstands, hand-crafted here in Birmisia, matched the oak chest of drawers and the six tall bookcases. At the other end of the room, a comfortable sofa, striped green and gold, sat facing two comfy armchairs. Beside them was a hutch filled with dolls and toys and a mechanical music box, which even now was playing a Freedonian waltz.

The lizzie placed her chin on the table and hissed again.

“You see I’ve got you beat, don’t you?” said Iolana.  “Unless you have Insane Witch Woman, there is no way you can win.”

“Cheat,” said Esther quietly.

“How dare you!” growled Iolana, jumping to her feet.

“Ssiss zat techiss szessit suuwasuu dakkuk wasuu wasuu eesousztekhau.”

“Well of course I do.  Who’s going to make the pieces for the game if I don’t?  Answer me that.”  The human girl put her hands on her hips.  “All the other players in town copy my pieces and nobody has complained that they weren’t fair, ssisthusso very much.”

The lizzie slid her chin off the table and climbed beneath it.

“Oh, do get up.  Maybe I should let you win sometimes.  Perhaps that would be good for your self-esteem, but it just sends the wrong message, doesn’t it?  How would you ever know if you truly were good enough to beat me?”

The door suddenly burst open and Iolana’s cousin Terra came shooting in. Though dressed in a frilly little outfit of burgundy and silver, the seven-year-old was barefoot and both her hands and feet were extremely grimy.  Her thick brown hair was a mess.  Iolana held up her hand like a traffic cop.

“You know you’re supposed to knock before you come in that door.”

“I only want to play with your lizzie,” said Terra’s scratchy little voice.

“How in Kafira’s name did you get so dirty?  Your mother is going to have a dinosaur when she sees you.”

“I want to play with your lizzie,” Terra repeated.  “Can I take her out to the swings?”

Iolana tilted her head to look under the table.  “Do you want to go outside with Terra?”

Esther bobbed her head up and down.

“Say the word.”

“Yess.”

“All right then,” she told her cousin, “but don’t bring her back all dirty.”

“Come on, lizzie,” called Terra, as Esther scrambled out from under the table and followed the girl out the door.

After carefully washing her hands in the basin on her nightstand, Iolana checked her dress in the cheval that stood in the corner.  Then she retrieved a straw boater from her closet and added a small red achillobator feather that just matched her red dress.  Leaving her room, she ran into her mother’s dressing maid at the top of the stairs.

“Narsa, have one of the males go watch Terra and Esther.  They’re playing out in the garden.  And when they’re done, have them cleaned up, preferably before Auntie Yuah sees them.”

“Yess.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Iolana passed through the dining room where several servants were cleaning up after luncheon and getting the room ready for tea. In the kitchen, others were already preparing finger sandwiches.  Here she found Walworth Partridge, sitting on a stool, stuffing his face with them. Walworth, a somewhat gangly youth of seventeen, was the latest of a string of young men who had worked for the Dechantagne and Staff families as drivers.

“Fancy driving me to the pfennig store, Wally?”

“That’s what they pay me for,” he said, shoving the last little sandwich into his mouth whole and hopping to his feet.

He started for the back door and Iolana followed.

“I lit the boiler while ago,” he said over his shoulder, his mouth still full. “Should be nice and ready.”

The shiny red steam carriage, one of seven cars in the family’s possession, poured out black smoke from its chimney and steam from the pressure relief. As Iolana climbed into the passenger seat, Walworth made the necessary checks and adjustments to the engine before climbing into the driver’s side.

“Which store did you want?”

“Let’s go to the new one at Clark and Forest.”

“By the Gazette?”

“Um, yes.  I suppose so.”

Though traffic was sparse around her home, once they had passed Town Square the streets became crowded with steam carriages, pedestrians, and lizzies pulling rickshaws.  At Clark and First, they came upon the scene of a traffic accident.  Though it was hard to tell exactly what had happened, it had obviously involved a car and two or more rickshaws.  There seemed to be no one seriously injured, but it took more than fifteen minutes to get past the intersection.  Finally Walworth brought the vehicle to a stop at the curb in front of one of the newer business buildings.

J.D. Kinney’s 5 and 10 Pfennig Dry Goods and Sundries occupied the largest part of the building.  The remainder held Doreen’s Millinery and Friese and Son’s Imported Foods and Beverages.  Separated only by an alleyway was another business building just to the left, containing Buttermore’s Photography, Mademoiselle Joliet’s Dress Shop, Tint’s Haberdashery, and McCoort & McCoort Print Shop and Publishing. Just beyond that was a third building, just as large as the first two, which was devoted entirely to the Birmisia Gazette.

Hsrandtuss opened his eyes and stretched.  He had to push both Ssu and Tokkenoht off of him before he could roll off his sleeping mat.  Only the latter female woke up.  He stretched again.  He felt better than he had in months, better than he had in years.  A lot of it had to do with the fact that he was sleeping much better.  He didn’t know if it was the proximity of the young god or the fact that for a change, things seemed to be going his way.

The other chiefs had all gone home.  The last to leave had been Tistakha.  Before Tistakha had left for Tuustutu, Hsrandtuss had managed a brief meeting.  To say they had formed an alliance would have been too much, but they did seem to have an understanding.  The two would work together to see that their trade with the soft-skins increased and that the plans of the God of the Sky were not disrupted by the likes of Szisz and his band of broken yokes in Suusiss.

“Your morning meal, Great King,” said Sszaxxanna, handing him a pomegranate.

“I don’t want another fruit,” said Hsrandtuss.  “Where is my meat?”

“Your bowels, Great King.”

“Never mind my bowels.  Find me a bird, or at the very least a nice fish.”

“The fish are not very plentiful here in the mountains, Great King,” said Sszaxxanna, with entirely too much sass.

He glared at her.

“I will try to find you a fish,” she said, scurrying off.

“See that you do.  And send Sirris in here!” he called after her.

Sirris hurried into the room.

“Paint me,” Hsrandtuss ordered.

“If you wish, Great King, but the God of the Sky is gone.”

“Gone?  What do you mean gone?”

“He flew north.  Kendra says he has gone to visit the soft-skins in their city.”

“Yes, I see.  That is good. What else does Kendra say?  What about Szisz?  Is he being watched?”

“Shouldn’t you wait and ask Sszaxxanna?” she asked quietly.

“You will never be first wife with an attitude like that,” he said.

“Kendra has trackers following him and his people.  They are halfway back to Suusiss.  She also says that there is a way for you to rise high in the esteem of the young god.  She says you should do it, but Sszaxxanna won’t…”

Suddenly Sszaxxanna was there, striking Sirris repeatedly with her clawed hands, driving her from the room.  Tokkenoht jumped up and hurried after her.  Ssu continued to snooze on the sleeping mat.

“I have a bird for you, Great King,” said wife number one, thrusting the charred carcass of a bambiraptor toward him.

“It’s cooked?”

“It will be easier on your stomach.”

“What was it that Kendra suggested?” he asked, taking the bird and biting off the top half.

“It is nothing.  It is ill conceived.”

“Would I not be a better judge of that than you?”

“Of course, Great King.  But the god already favors you.  You don’t need to risk yourself unnecessarily.”

“Bring her in here.  I want to hear it.”

“But Great King…”

“Now.”

“As you wish,” said Sszaxxanna, stomping sulkily through the doorway.  Hsrandtuss had no doubt that both Kendra and Sirris would be on the receiving end of Sszaxxanna’s claws later, but what was it to him how the females settled their differences?

Kendra entered and stepped very close to him.  She placed one hand, palm outward, on her dewlap in a sign of respect and reached out familiarly to touch him on the shoulder with the other.  She and Ssu were the youngest of his wives, and Kendra was very tiny, barely reaching up to Hsrandtuss’s shoulder.

“All right, what is this about improving my esteem?”

“There is a creature living beneath this fortress—a horrible creature.”

“Like the dead monster we saw when we arrived?”

“Much smaller than that one, but much more horrible.  It lives in a place the young god cannot reach.  One must pass through a narrow hallway and down a long flight of stairs.  The red-caped one has sent five groups of warriors to kill it and they have all been unsuccessful.  Most of them died.”

“So I am supposed to go down there and get myself killed too?  Is that what you want?”

“No, no, my husband.  You know that is not what I want.  You must know how proud I am to be your wife.”  She pressed her chin against his chest.  “You are a great warrior and Tokkenoht and I will go with you, in addition to your warriors.”

“I am supposed to take two females into battle?”

“I have been on many hunts, and Tokkenoht has great magic.  We can both aid you.”

Realizing that he still had half a bambiraptor in his hand, Hsrandtuss tossed it in his mouth and chewed.  He did want to show Yessonar his worth, and Kendra was right that this might do so. And he was feeling better since he had been here.  Maybe this was just what he needed to get back to his old self—a good battle.  Yes, he decided.  He would do it.

The entire fortress was a whirlwind of activity.  The wall that had been completely disassembled when the group from Hiissiera had arrived was now almost completely rebuilt.  Now a pair of high towers was being constructed just inside the walls.  Wooden ladders and braces acted as an exoskeleton for the stone spires that when completed would house spiral staircases.  Hsrandtuss found the god’s red-caped envoy easily enough.  He had learned the important lizzie went by the name of Khastla.

“I hear that you have a problem beast.”

Khastla hissed slowly and eyed the king.  “You speak of the vile creature below ground.”

“What can you tell me about it?”

The L.Z. Frühlingshuhn descended from the clouds toward Royal Tybalt Hall, the top stories of which had been converted ten years earlier to a dirigible port.  From the great window on the observation deck, Senta Bly watched as Brech City slid by below her.  The buildings all looked like toy models of themselves.  The boats in the Thiss and the carriages on the streets likewise looked like the playthings of children.  It was a sight well worth the cost of a ticket, even without the three-day voyage from Bangdorf.

“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?”

She turned to Kieran Baxter, who was sitting in one of the comfortable lounge chairs bouncing the baby on his knee.

“I never get tired of it,” she said.

“Funny, I wouldn’t think it would be that impressive to you… what with you being able to fly and everything.”

“Who said I could fly?”

“Can you?”

She shrugged.  “Sort of.”

“I knew it,” he said, hopping easily to his feet, still holding the child. He stopped next to the sorceress. “Look.  You can see right into the courtyard of Palace Eidenia.  I always wanted to look in there.  I expected piles of treasure or something equally grand.”

“Looks like they’re storing old trolley cars in there,” said Senta. “Quite the let-down, I’ll bet.”

“It always is when your fantasies meet your realities.  They just don’t hold up.”

She leaned in close to him.  Her hot breath reached his cheek and the side of his neck.

“Perhaps not in all cases,” he said.

The ship glided lower, turning so that Palace Eidenia was no longer visible. Instead they had a splendid view of the Palace of Ansegdniss, for 250 years the meeting place of the Parliament of Greater Brechalon.  The buildings below became larger and larger until suddenly they stopped being toys and became real full-sized structures.  The dirigible slowed to a stop and at last all they could see was the roof of Royal Tybalt Hall.

Though they had packed those belongings that had been in use during their three-day journey, Senta was in no mood to join the ranks of those passengers rushing to get out.  So she and Baxter continued to sit in the lounge for another hour.  He let the baby crawl a bit on the floor, though he didn’t allow her to get far, and she couldn’t have in any case.  Finally with him carrying little Senta and the sorceress carrying the animal carrier, they walked down the gangway, followed by two stewards with the luggage.  Quickly procuring a cab, they were on their way to The Clarkson House.

The Clarkson House was Brech City’s finest hotel.  It reigned over Avenue Boar with all the opulence of Palace Eidenia—more now that they had seen the old trolleys stored in the latter.  Once at the hotel they stepped across the black and white chessboard-like floor of the palatial lobby, past the gilded furnishings beneath the crystal chandeliers.  To Senta, who had stayed at the Clarkson for several weeks before traveling to Freedonia, and who had in fact given birth to her daughter there, it almost seemed like returning home.  It cemented in her mind the decision she had already made.

When they were safely settled in the imperial suite, Senta let the little dragon out of the carrier.  It immediately ran toward the baby.

“Back off you,” said Baxter, protectively pulling the child away.

“Good baby,” said the dragon.

“Kafira’s twat.  The bloody thing talks.”

“Yes, well, it’s about time that,” said Senta, opening the balcony door and looking at the beast.  “Go find yourself something to eat.  There are thousands of flying reptiles in this city that no one will miss.”

The creature took one bounce and was out the door—a coral-colored blur.

“You expected it to start speaking,” said Baxter.  “I take it your found out something in the library at Bangdorf.”

“I found exactly nothing.”  She turned to her companion.  “Have you decided if you are going to come with me to Birmisia?”

“I thought I didn’t have to decide for a while.”

“It seems you do.”  She waved her hand behind her and the several dozen buttons on the back of her dress unfastened themselves.  “I’ve decided it’s time to go home.”  She stepped out of the dress.  “I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I do.”

“Do you mean you miss him?”

She stepped toward him.  He sat the baby on the rug.  The dress flew of its own accord to the dressing room.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

“No I don’t.  There’s a good reason for that.  You haven’t told me anything.”  Baxter crossed his arms.  “I didn’t press you about it, but I have to know where I stand before I decide if I’m going to Birmisia Colony or not.  I have to understand whether…”

“Whether you have me or not?”  She snaked her arms around his shoulders.  He uncrossed his arms and placed them on her waist, though he could feel nothing except the bones of her corset.  “You have me for as long as you want me.  It probably won’t be long.  There are many beautiful women in Port Dechantagne.  You’ll throw me over for one of them, I’m sure.”

“Unlikely.  But I have to know…”

“I was very much in love,” said Senta.  “But he died, years ago.  I don’t think I’ll ever love like that again, but I do care about you.”

“What about the child’s father?”

“He’s in Birmisia.  I’m not in love with him.  Even if I was, he’s not available.”

“What if he was?”

“I said I’m not in love with him.”

“You also as much as said you’re not in love with me.  What if he was available?”

“Do you want me to tell you the truth or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?”

“I guess that’s my answer,” he said, reaching up and pulling her arms from around his neck.

He started to step away, when she grabbed the front of his shirt with her left hand and stuck her right index finger in front of his face.  It was a gesture that would have caused more than a few men to soil themselves.  He simply raised an eyebrow.

Chief Inspector Saba Colbshallow was dozing, only half awake, but happy in the knowledge that he had the day off.  Suddenly a weight of two and a half stone dropped into his lap, curling him up into a ball.  Now awake, Saba clutched at his attacker, which seemed all curly hair and giggles.

“You must be careful with your poor old father, DeeDee,” he gasped.

“Mummy says it’s time to get up,” returned what he still thought was the sweetest voice he had ever heard.

“Does Mummy know that I have the day off?”  He lifted the girl and held her up over his face.  Two large eyes, one brown and one hazel, looked back at him from beneath a pile of multihued curls.  “If you weren’t so horribly cute, I would throw you out with the rubbish.”

A chorus of giggles was the only reply.

“Maybe I’ll just throw you out with the rubbish anyway!”  Rolling to his feet, he tucked the now squealing child under his arm and headed for the window.  “Right out to the dump with you!”

“Saba!”  Saba stopped in his tracks and turned to find his wife standing in the bedroom doorway. “I’ve only just got her hair fixed!”

“Now you’ve gone and gotten me in trouble,” he told the little girl, setting her down beside him.

“Your breakfast is waiting, both of you.”

“Shouldn’t I dress first?”  He waved down at his nightshirt.

“You’re fine.  It’s only the four of us.”

“Come along, brick and mortar.”

“You know I don’t like you using that criminal slang with the child,” said his wife as he passed.  Then she stuck out her cheek and ordered, “Kiss.”

Obediently kissing his wife, Saba followed his daughter out of the room and down the stairs to the dining room.  His wife followed.

Loana Colbshallow was one of the most beautiful women in all of Birmisia Colony. Everyone agreed on that fact, even those who didn’t particularly care for her.  The features that were most often spoken of, when people described her, the heterochromia of both eyes and hair, she had passed to her daughter.  In addition, she possessed flawless skin and as near perfect features as could be imagined.  Of course her most noticeable traits were seldom mentioned, even if they were always noticed.  God had given Loana a slender waist and a bottom that seemed to hardly require a bustle. Her bosom was of such a proportion that it could astonish and yes, even frighten those who stood too close to her. This hadn’t been the case when she and Saba had met, but each year seemed to add onto her a few pounds, and they always seemed to end up in exactly the right places.

DeeDee was already at her seat when Saba reached the table.  Directly across from her was the elder Mrs. Colbshallow, Saba’s mother.

“Just what are you doing to make my lovely daughter-in-law yell?” she asked.

“I remember when I was the apple of her eye,” he said dryly to DeeDee.

“Daddy was just playing with me, Nan.”

Saba directed his attention to the food.  Scooping up large helpings of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and beans onto his and his daughter’s plates.

“Have some tomatoes,” said Mrs. Colbshallow.

“Do you want tomatoes?” he asked DeeDee.

“No.”

“Me neither.”

“You see how it is, Yadira,” said Loana, taking the last place at the table. “The two of them gang up on me all the time.  It’s always what they want and never what I want.”

Mrs. Colbshallow clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“Cucumbers, DeeDee?” asked Saba, ignoring both of the women.

“Yes please.”

“I thought I raised him better than this,” said Mrs. Colbshallow.

“Well, I guess you didn’t,” said Saba, winking at DeeDee, who giggled.

Seeing his pouting wife in the corner of his eye, he relented and scooped several cucumber slices onto her plate too.  “What do you have planned today that has me and my progeny up at such an ungodly hour.”

“It’s nearly 10:00,” said Loana in a shocked voice.  “And you said you would take me to watch the rugby match.”

“And what about these two troublemakers?” he indicated his daughter and his mother.

“Well, they’re going too.”

“I won’t be joining you,” said Mrs. Colbshallow.  “I’m joining the Dechantagnes for luncheon.”

“Good Kafira, Mother.  You’d think you still lived over there.”

“They’ll be no blasphemy in this house.”

“My house,” said Saba without anger.  “My house, my mother, my wife, my daughter, my blasphemy, my breakfast. You three keep forgetting that I’m the man here.  Where’s the chutney?”

“I haven’t forgotten you’re the man, dear,” said Loana, getting up to bring the chutney to him, and then pausing to rub his shoulder.  “But you did promise rugby today.”

“Yes, yes.  Pass me some soldiers.”  He winked again at DeeDee.  “My potatoes need protecting.”

One of the lizzies placed a plate of toast in front of him.

“DeeDee, do you know the difference between toast and Mirsannans?”

“You can make soldiers out of toast,” she recited.

“That’s my girl.”

“Keep both eyes open and look carefully through the telescopic sight. Place the little intersecting lines directly in front of the creature’s breast.”

“Yes Father,” said eleven-year-old Iolana Livonia Dechantagne Staff, pressing her face against the cool wood of the rifle stock.

“How many do you count, dear?”

“I see six, Father.  How many should I shoot?”

“You’ll be lucky to hit even the one.”  Radley Staff bent down and kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “Achillobators are very fast.”

“Beautiful too.”

“Yes, beautiful too.”

“It seems a shame to shoot them.”

“Well perhaps, but they are very dangerous.  You wouldn’t want them coming around our house when your little cousins are outside, would you?”

“No, Father.”

“Alright, let’s see if you can shoot one.  Squeeze the trigger.  Don’t pull.”

“I know, Father.”  The girl jerked as the high-powered rifle let out a deafening report.  Then she quickly worked the action, bringing another round into the chamber.  She fired again, and cocking the weapon, fired a third time.  Then she stopped and looked up at her father, who was beside her, on his knees, peering through a pair of binoculars.  “I’m sorry Father.  The rest have fled.”

“No, no.  You did very well.”

He stood up and then reached down to help her up.  Once back on her feet, Iolana carefully smoothed out her dress. Though not burdened with the bustles and corsets of grown women, she was nevertheless covered from chin to ankle in the fashion appropriate to a girl of her age.  Plenty of white lace and brocade accented the light gold poplin. One of the lizzies picked up the rifle, while another rolled up the mat upon which the girl had been lying.

“Can we go gather some feathers, Father?  I would like some of them for a new hat.”

“Whatever you want.”

Staff waved his hands toward the lizzies, who quickly gathered up the rest of their gear.  Staff, his daughter, and the six reptilians were soon stalking through the brown grass of the vast open meadow.  He kept looking toward the girl to see if she needed any help, but the few times her dress became caught on a thorn, one of the lizzies jumped forward to unhook it before it tore the material.  At last they reached their destination.

Achillobators were feathered dinosaurs about the same size as utahraptors. The latter, covered in bright blue and turquoise feathers and hunting in pairs, had been common along the coastline when humans had arrived.  They were becoming increasingly scarce though as civilization spread into their habitat. On the other hand, achillobators were becoming more and more common.  Covered in bright crimson with a black breast, they hunted in packs of eight or more.

The three dead creatures were grouped close together.  One was as large a specimen as Staff had ever seen, more than twenty feet from nose to end of tail, over seven feet tall when it had stood. The other two were slightly smaller. All three were clean kills.

“Good hunt,” said Teska, the old lizzie hunter who usually accompanied Staff when he went out shooting.  A couple of the others hissed in agreement.

“Keep an eye out,” Staff told Teska.  “I don’t think the others will come back, but you never know.”

He wasn’t too worried.  Even five achillobators would have hesitated to attack six lizzies, though they wouldn’t have thought twice about taking on a similar number of humans.  The lizzies were powerful creatures in their own right, with thick powerful claws on their five-fingered hands and tough leathery hides. They were cold-blooded, and so slower than the dinosaurs, but they were highly intelligent, a fact that far too many humans forgot.

“Can we gather the feathers now, Father?”

“Show Esther which ones you want, and have her pluck them for you.”

Esther, a young female reptilian, jumped at hearing her name, but then hurried over to the human girl and followed her to the largest dead dinosaur. “Hsst ss, hsst stt,” said Iolana, pointing.  The sounds she made were the lizzie language equivalents of “this one and that one.” She spoke their language better than any human that her father knew, with the sole exception of her younger cousin. She certainly spoke it better than any lizzie could speak Brech.  In a few minutes, Iolana had all the feathers that she wanted.

“Should we harvest some of the meat?” she asked.  “It seems such a waste not to.”

“Not today,” said her father.  “But don’t worry.  I doubt it will go to waste.”

He pointed to a spot a hundred yards away, where a large group of velociraptors was forming.

Taking his daughter’s hand, he led her across the open ground, following the game trails.  The six lizzies fell in behind them.  Two miles away, they found the small train waiting exactly where they had left it, steam still puffing from its funnel stack.  The train was nothing but an engine with a single rail coach.  It belonged to M&S Coal Co. and since Mr. Staff was the president of that firm, he had it at his disposal.  A little more than an hour after killing the achillobators, all eight members of the party were seated in the coach. Iolana and her father sat in comfortable chairs near the center of the room.  Esther sat on a chair immediately behind the human girl, sideways so that she could accommodate her tail.  The other lizzies occupied a place on the floor near the back.

“I’m glad you came with me today, dear,” said Staff.  “I know you don’t like to be away from your studies.”

“I’m always happy to go hunting with you, Father.  I wonder that you asked me instead of Augie.  Isn’t he your usual companion?”

“I wanted to spend some time with my daughter,” he said, slightly chastened. “You don’t mind that I take Augie hunting, do you?  After all, he is a boy, and since he’s without a father, it naturally falls to me to step in.”

“Of course I don’t mind, Father.  Perhaps next time we can all go together.  We can take Terra too.”