They stopped short, earfins focused suddenly towards the place they had seen it. They watched with wide eyes.

There! It flashed again!

Neyhira put a finger to her lips and beckoned that her sisters follow her as she crept nearer to the bush. Slowly she reached out towards the bush and carefully moved its branches aside, with her two sisters eagerly looking on.

They all screamed in surprise and jumped back from the bush! A great big talgonfree swooped out from under the branches and dive-bombed at Neyhira. It chittered, rattled, and whizzed like a firecracker gone wrong! Neyhira was certain the erepod meant to claw off her face. She fell back on her bottom, swatting at it frantically. “Get away! Get away!”

Valii and Thairyn did not have enough time to understand exactly what the green flash was, but they started screaming! The “attack” did not last long—within a few seconds it looped around the three girls and dived behind a tree.

For a few moments, the girls did nothing but stare at each other, each panting hard from the excitement. Then, all at once, they burst into laughter.

Thairyn giggled. “It was just a little talgonfree!”

“I was so scared!” Neyhira said.

“He was goin’ to get you, Neyhira! He was! He was going to get you!” Valii said, laughing.

“Was he now?” Thairyn asked. She smiled wide as she helped Neyhira up from where she had fallen. “Well, I say, we go get him!”

“I can’t believe we were all so scared of a little talgonfree! All right, Thair, let’s go get him!”

Valii stopped laughing and was thoughtful. Had her older sisters forgotten all about their audience with the Gem Chief on behalf of their nanani’s injustice? She decided not to remind them, however, seeing as she did not really want to blacktail, blackmail, or do anything else that Thairyn usually did and got in trouble for to her beloved Papa.

The trail that the talgonfree had followed was a mostly untravelled path, overgrown with long curling vines and flowers. The air was sweet and the grass was soft under the girls’ feet, so they did not mind. Yet, after only a little while of searching for their “escaped foe”, Thairyn felt compelled to stop. Noticing this, Neyhira and Valii did too.

“What is it, Thairyn?” Neyhira asked.

Thairyn did not answer at first but stood looking almost entranced at the trees around her. “Listen,” she said. Without any explanation, she left the path and approached a large Tree Kin standing near the wayside. She looked a little hesitant as she stood before it. She extended her hand and touched it. All prior apprehension fled from her face and she drew nearer, so that she was leaning against the soft furry bark. She closed her eyes and smiled. After a moment, she pushed away from the tree and looked at her sisters. Beckoning to them with bright eyes she said, “Neyhira, Val, com’ere! Come here, I want to show you something!”

Her two sisters came close to her. She took Neyhira’s hands in hers and pressed them up against the Tree Kin. Then she did the same to Valii. “Do you hear it?”

Valii was not at first sure what they were trying to hear. After all, what could one hear with her hands? Still, she wanted to find out what excited Thairyn so much, so she did as instructed.

Neyhira smiled knowingly at Valii. She closed her eyes. She could feel the subtle pulse under the Tree Kin’s skin in her hands—as she leaned closer and rested her earfin against it, she could hear the full intensity of the giant’s heartbeat.

Thairyn was glad that Neyhira had caught on. Valii, however, seemed slower to understand. Thairyn gently nudged her head closer to the tree’s bark. “Listen.”

Valii’s eyes lit up at once. “Ooh! I hear it! It’s his own heartbeat!”

Thairyn leaned close to the Tree Kin. She closed her eyes again and immersed herself in its feelings. This Tree Kin was expressing to her powerful emotions that were hard to understand, though she got the idea that it was longing for something. Then she could “taste” rain on her skin, hear the peaceful tapping of large drops of water on leaves—she felt refreshed and invigorated. She felt cold and wet too, but comfortably so. It was refreshing, like a cool drink from the brook on a hot day. The rain! How fun it was when it rained! Storms must be to the Tree Kin what a birthday party was to her; a time to play, to sing, to have something really interesting to do—a celebration! Yes, that was it. Storms were a time to celebrate!

When Thairyn returned to herself, she was disappointed for a moment by the fact that her clothes were not dripping with rainwater. But she realized she actually did not want to be dripping withrainwater, cold, and wet on a stormy day. That might be nice for the tree, but it would be awfully uncomfortable to her.

“He really wants something,” Neyhira said, stepping back from the Tree Kin.

“He wants it to rain,” Thairyn said.

“How do you know?” Valii asked.

“Thairyn can Spirit Speak,” Neyhira said. “I can too, but not as good as Thairyn.”

“Oh,” Valii said, matter-of-factly. Then she looked puzzled. “What’s Spirit Speak?”

“Papa said that’s how trees and Tree Kin talk. You’ve got to reach out and touch them, and then they make their feelings yours somehow,” Neyhira said. “You can feel what they feel, right in here.” She motioned to her bosom.

“They talk to each other by brushing their leaves up against each other,” Thairyn added.

Valii looked doubtfully at her hand still resting on the Tree Kin. The only thing she felt was its spongy-furry bark and the slow but powerful vibrations of sap rushing through its veins with each heartbeat. When she focused on her chest, she noticed only an annoying itching of a little erepod crawling through her fur. She brushed it off irritably.

Thairyn laughed. “Aw, that’s all right, Val. You’ll be able to do it too, when you’re older. Mama said so. Mama says all of her children should be able to.”

The idea seemed foreign and unrealistic to logical minded Valii, but if Mama had told Thairyn so, it must be true.

“Hey, Thairyn, do you think you could ask the Tree Kin where the talgonfree went?” Neyhira asked.

Thairyn thought this a very silly idea. But, with a little urging on Neyhira’s part, she decided to give it a try. She had never really asked a Tree Kin anything before—she had only listened to what they had to say.

“There are lots of Tree Speakers in the Old Stories,” Neyhira pressed, “Maybe you’re a Tree Speaker too.”

Thairyn smiled. The idea of being special or legendary had always appealed to her. So she agreed to “give it a try” and pressed close to the Tree Kin. After a moment or two, she withdrew and gave Neyhira a puzzled expression. “Hey, uhm, how am I supposed to ask him?”

“Uh,” Neyhira said, “Uhm, well, I don’t know.”

Thairyn pursed her lips. When she reached out to touch the Tree Kin again, she was surprised to feel a new emotion. It was a really odd sensation, kind of fluttery or tight and bouncy. The closest thing she had ever felt to it was amusement, but that still was not right. Suddenly Thairyn felt very small and silly, and her cheeks grew hot. She withdrew from the Tree Kin in a huff. “I don’t want to ask him where the talgonfree went,” she said, “That would be cheating, anyway. Let’s just find him ourselves.”

Neyhira opened her mouth to say something, when Valii gave a cry of excitement.

“Ooh, look! Look, there he is! There he is! There’s our own talgonfree!” Valii pointed off into the distance. She looked between her sisters for only a second, trying to ascertain that they had seen the talgonfree too. But it was clear that they had not!

“Where?” Neyhira asked, standing on her tiptoes and then ducking to Valii’s height in hopes to spot it.

Valii took no time to explain—if she did, they would lose the talgonfree for good! So off she went, as fast as her chubby legs could carry her.

“Valii wait!” the twins cried in unison. She paid them no heed, and they eagerly took up the chase.

Thairyn had no idea where the talgonfree was. Frankly, she did not care at that point either. She shot a look at Neyhira, who returned it and grinned. It meant one thing: This time, we will be allies.

Suddenly the scene had changed. No longer did a peaceful forest surround them, but rather war ravaged towers and blazing flames. Neyhira looked at Thairyn, who was now dark and heroic Manairus running alongside her. She was surprised to see that he had come, but she did not ask him why. Rather she gave him a quick nod, accepting his aid for now. Grimly, Manairus returned the nod. Both looked ahead and saw Valii, who, as she had been in their games so many times before, now appeared as the tall and graceful Telae’ah. This time, however, she did not appear in a flowing gown with perfectly set hair, nor was her expression one of a gentle princess. No, there was desperation in her face, and her gown had been traded for a dirty set of armour. A quiver full of arrows bounced between her narrow shoulders, and her dark hair flew out wildly behind her as she raced to keep up with her quarry. “Keltäme, I see him!” she cried, glancing back for only a fleeting moment. She, like her brother, was also surprised to see Manairus had joined their pursuit. The sight of him brought renewed hope in her heart and a brief smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she returned her attention to the mission at hand. Now the tables had turned. They would catch the spy—he did not have a chance of getting away now. Such was her faith in her hero.

Keltäme swept an arrow from his own quiver and leapt atop a crumbling stone building. He set the arrow to his bow and let her sing! Yet his attempt was in vain, for the foe dodged it and kept running!

Manairus signalled quickly to Keltäme. He doubled his speed to catch up with Telae’ah. “This way,” he breathed into her earfin, catching her by the hand and turning off the main path of pursuit. The two of them dodged into an alleyway, then onto a back road that ran parallel to the main course. “Ready yourself,” Manairus said, “Keltäme will drive him to us. We must not let him slip through our fingers and report to his vile master!”

They raced on, the streets and time itself flying past them. Every now and again, they would catch glimpses of the spy through gaps between houses. Once, he happened to glance in their direction and saw them too. Manairus, in that fleeting moment, saw his eyes grow wide and a desperate plan begin to form—then in flash he had disappeared behind another building.

“He’s seen us.” Telae’ah looked grim.

“It does not matter,” Manairus said. “He is trapped. Now, he knows it.”

There were very few gaps after that. The pair set their sights ahead—they were nearing the outskirts of the city, where they intended to catch their quarry. “We must get ahead of them now,” Manairus said, grasping Telae’ah’s hand firmly in his own. “We must Shadow Dance.”

Telae’ah had heard of this move—it was said that the greatest Moon Dracoens used it to cheat time and space; with it, they could cross great distances faster than thought without being seen or felt. She was a little nervous to do as Manairus purposed, but did not object.

“But how will we do it?” Valii asked instead.

Thairyn smiled. “Just imagine. Come on.”

And so they were there, at the outskirts of the city. Just like Mama’s stories, the world flew by them rather than that they ran. There was no sign of either the spy or Keltäme, but Manairus knew that they would soon be coming. “Over there,” he directed Telae’ah, pointing to a few barrels that stood together next to the corner of a crumbling wall. “The spy has to go by this pass to get to Kahni. You will lie in wait for him over there, and I here. When the spy comes this way, we will ambush him. He will not be able to go back, because Keltäme is on his heels. Quickly now. We have bought but a little time with the Shadow Dance. We cannot afford a mistake now!”

But while a breathless Keltäme soon did come, he was not heralded by the spy, nor did the spy come after. Confused, Manairus and Telae’ah rose from their hiding places to greet him. “Where did the spy go?” Manairus asked.

Keltäme looked just as baffled as the other two. “He...” he panted, “He came this... this way. Did you not... not see him?”

“Nay,” Manairus said.

“Aw,” Telae’ah said.

Manairus coughed and glanced at the princess.

“Oh! I mean, Alas!”

Keltäme looked completely beaten. It seemed for a moment that he would speak, but he had not yet caught his breath. Instead he approached the remains of a fallen tower and climbed up to rest.

Manairus looked between the two of them. “Do not give up hope,” he said. “We’ll find him. We just need a better plan. Perhaps if we—” But the hero did not finish, as he was interrupted suddenly by Neyhira’s piercing scream!

In that instant, the three sisters were back in the Forest. The tower that “Keltäme” had climbed up to rest was in reality an ancient rotting log whose fibres did not long stand against the weight of a little princess. Neyhira had fallen through! In alarm, her sisters scrambled atop the log to see if she was all right.

“Neyhira!” Thairyn cried as she reached the hole and peered inside. “Neyhira, are you okay?”

It was very dark inside the log, and at first there was no answer from Neyhira. Then, there was a small blue flash, a gasp, and darkness once more.

“Thairyn, Valii,” Neyhira said at last. “Jump down here—but be careful.”

Valii and Thairyn exchanged glances. “All right,” Thairyn said, and hopped down into the hole. She landed in a crouching position on the soft almost-woody-almost-fleshy bottom with a quiet thud. The air was musky with the earthy scents of decomposing plant fibres and dirt. Thairyn wrinkled her nose in disgust. She stood and took a couple of steps back into the darkness to avoid Valii dropping in on top of her. Where was Neyhira?

“Mmm, doesn’t it smell just wonderful down here?” she heard her twin’s voice at last, just behind her earfin. Thairyn startled and whirled around to face her. Though her eyes had not adjusted to the darkness, she could smell Neyhira nearby. Reaching out, she felt a warm scaly shoulder. The blackness around her started to melt into a very dark blue, with lighter silhouettes as her eyes continued to adjust, until she could make out the vague form of her twin standing in front of her. “If you say so,” Thairyn said. “In my opinion though,” and she assumed the voice that she usually did when playing Manairus, “We tread inside a corpse.”

There was a low thud behind her, and Thairyn knew that Valii had entered.

“Auch, Thairyn, that’s disgusting,” Neyhira said.“Besides—this isn’t so much of a corpse now as it is a teiami for all the little creatures in the forest. The Tree Kin understand that. Once, I got a whole story in my head about it. When they die, their bodies become a part of Sjoria—to be homes for the little creatures and other things. It is their last gift to give, that’s the idea I got from the Tree Kin. It made the whole thing seem very beautiful. At least, it felt very beautiful.”

“Then you’re not doing a good job of retelling it,” Thairyn said, scrunching up her nose even tighter.

Neyhira rolled her eyes. “Give me a rest,” she said, “I tried to translate it as best I could. And I would like to see you do better!” Thairyn did not respond to that, but Neyhira felt her cheeks growing hot with embarrassment even so... her sister’s silence seemed more of a tease than that she got the point. She was beginning to feel very stupid for ever having brought up the subject. At last she burst out, “Just look here!”

“Look where?” Valii asked, waving her hands in front of her awkwardly.

Kaqurei had once said she could see as easily in the dark as she did in broad daylight, so long as there was a even just a little trace of light... but Valii’s eyes were not quite developed enough to see that well in the dark. Neyhira knew her own were not much better, but at the very least she could make out some details in the darkness around her. Poor Valii would likely be seeing little more than shapes and shadows. But Neyhira had a solution to Valii’s blindness. With a soft pop! a little blue flame at the tip of her tail ignited—

a rare Moon Dracoen mutation she and her twin had inherited from their mother. Mama called it cold fire, because it was not hot enough to set other things on fire. Valii still thought that was a bad name for it, because it was hot enough to sting if one were to touch it.

Pale mosses and the branching fungi tendia’ii grew out of the damp, gnarled, stringy walls all around them, and little erepods startled by the sudden light skittered away and into cracks to hide. These were not what Neyhira was trying to show her sisters, but rather a group of large multi-coloured bumps gathered under her feet. The bright colours impressed Valii, but she was unsure about their significance until she noticed one of the bumps wiggling slightly. “What are...?”

Neyhira softened her flame. Then something truly amazing happened. One by one, the bumps wiggled and popped up, revealing fat pale stalks under them. More amazing, though, was that each stalk had a face! Thairyn almost could not believe her eyes! These... these were animals! They had little black eyes that squinted even in the dim light of Neyhira’s flame, and little mouths that reminded Thairyn of a newborn meeroh’s. One of them yawned, and Valii saw that they did not have any teeth. All at once Valii understood what these creatures were.

“Minimushes!” the two sisters said at the same time. They were all very familiar with the pictures, games, and stories Mama had made of these little creatures, though none of them had ever seen a real live one before.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Valii exclaimed excitedly, “Let’s count their own spots!”

“Careful,” Neyhira said. She moved protectively between her sisters and the little creatures, “We don’t want to scare them or hurt them.”

“We won’t,” Thairyn said.

Neyhira raised her eyebrows sceptically. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Hesitantly Neyhira withdrew, giving Valii and Thairyn full access to the minimushes.

Thairyn sparked her own little flame and moved in for a closer look, hoping to make out the colours again, with Valii right on her heels. Fed by her excitement, her fire was a bit larger than Neyhira’s had been. But, as it burned a deep red instead of Neyhira’s pale blue, it did not glow as brightly and the minimushes were not much disturbed by it.

Valii’s pupils grew large as she looked over the little huddling group. “Awwww, look at ‘em!” she said. “They’re so cute!” Thairyn felt a more fitting adjective for them would be freakish. They did not look half as cute as Mama always drew them. “Where are their legs?” she asked, “Mama always draws them with legs.”

Neyhira shrugged. Valii was too busy counting their spots under her breath to answer.

“Do you think they bite?” Neyhira asked.

“No!” Valii said.

“Yes,” Thairyn said at the same time.

“They don't have any of their own teeth yet!” Valii said. She crouched down on the balls of her feet and patted a yellow minimush’s cap gently. She gave her older sisters a scornful look.

“Well, how many spots do they have?” Thairyn asked.

“He has three own spots,” Valii said, “And that one has three own spots, and that one has three own spots, and that one has three own spots, and—” Suddenly a shrill high-pitched ring rent the stuffy air inside the log! A minimush jumped up, still wide-eyed and screaming, and pulled its four jointed legs out of the rotting fibres of the log. The other minimushes leapt up also, and each began screaming—and, while their cries were “quiet”, they were of a pitch that made the girls feel like their heads were going to split!

“Thairyn, what did you do?!” Neyhira cried, covering her earfins in vain.

“Why do think it’s something I did?!”

The first minimush who had screamed, now seeing the others follow suit, decided that there truly must be some sort of danger about and started running around in little circles, screaming all the shriller. Like little multi-coloured mirrors, the others did the same thing, each imagining a danger that one of the others must have seen. The lot of them were an assault on the senses—Thairyn could have sworn that they were also changing colours as they ran, just to make her head spin.

Thairyn scrunched up her face. “Make them stop!”

“Let’s get our own selves out of here!” Valii cried.

So the three of them scrambled up without the use of their preoccupied hands and hurried for an escape! Though they were desperate enough to knock a new hole through the wall (and that might have proven easier), they had not the presence of mind to, so they clawed their way up the way they had come! Pop, pop, pop! Each one bounced out of the hole, rolled down the side of the log opposite the way they had come, and ran as far and as hard as they could until long after they could hear the minimushes’ screams no more. They might not have stopped even then, had they not each collided with the open arms of their mother.

“Goodness, where have the three of you been?” Mama asked.

Valii felt her heart sink. All at once she remembered the misadventure at Nanani Shemsi’s teiami and how dreadfully she had behaved there. And when she had been sent to be a help to her nanani, too!

Neyhira and Thairyn’s minds were still totally fixed on the minimush dilemma. Both were talking at the same time so fast that their poor Mama could decipher very little of what they meant to say outside of the fact that both were horribly concerned about something, Neyhira was upset with Thairyn, and Thairyn was indignant. “They screamed at us Mama!” “They made my head hurt!” “That’s your own fault!” “No

it’s not!” “Yes it is! If you hadn’t—” “I didn’t!” “Yes you did!” “I didn’t do anything!” “I know you did!”

Mama groaned and pressed her forehead. After a minute or two, she knelt down on the grass so that she could look at her daughters’ faces. “Slow down little ones,” she said. “Now, one at a time, please. What happened?”

“Well, we were playing—” Neyhira started.

“Oh, on our way home for mealtime,” Thairyn added, because she did not want to get into trouble on account of not at least trying to make it home in time.

“But anyway, while we were playing I fell into a log and we found some minimushes,” Neyhira continued, “And I told Thairyn not to hurt them and she promised but she hurt one of them anyway—and I know you did Thairyn! It was the one right next to you!”

Mama looked at Thairyn seriously. “Did you do something to the minimush to hurt it, Thairyn?”

Mama’s deep, loving eyes made Thairyn feel transparent. Even if she had wanted to hide something from her, she knew that she could not. For a moment, she looked away. She opened her mouth, closed it again without a word, and finally looked at her mother. “I only poked him, is all,” she mumbled.

“Ha!” Neyhira cried, “I knew it!”

“But you wouldn’t think they’d be so touchy! Yish!”

“Girls, keep your voices down,” Mama said, rising to her feet. She winced and touched her forehead. Then her face became serene again and she sighed softly. “I do not believe that the minimushes were hurt, Neyhira. I believe that Thairyn only startled them.”

“I told you,” Thairyn mumbled.

“Valii, are you all right?” Mama asked, noticing the quiet three-year-old was simply standing back and waiting with a miserable look on her face.

Valii looked up at Mama, but still did not say anything. Neyhira and Thairyn exchanged glances.

“Why don’t you come and talk to me about it, little one?” Mama said. “Thairyn, Neyhira, would you please take this basket and gather a few Torweyens from the Blue Wood over there?”

Thairyn and Neyhira gave Valii quick wide-eyed glances, each a split second plea that she not tell Mama about what had happened at Shemsi’s teiami. But Valii did not even seem to notice and Thairyn knew that her mind was made up. With heavy hearts, the twins approached their mother’s basket, each dreading the moment they knew would soon come.

Valii pretended not to notice Thairyn’s scornful look or Neyhira’s second pleading glance. After all, Mama had to know to make the situation better.

“Oh, and girls,” Mama said, and hearing her voice Neyhira and Thairyn froze guiltily over the basket where they stood, “Make sure that you only pick the ripe gemfruits. There aren’t many this time of year, but you must promise me that you will not touch any of the unripe crinkly ones.”

“Promise,” the twins said glumly in unison. Neyhira picked up the basket and sighed. We’re doomed, her expression told Thairyn. Like any good comrade in crime, Thairyn wrapped her arm around her twin’s shoulder and the two of them slunk off towards the Blue Wood.

Mama watched them off. Then she gently took Valii’s hand. She led her over to a nearby Tree Kin and sat down. Valii took her place in her lap. “Now then,” Mama said, “What happened?”

Timidly, Valii related the story. She made sure that her faults were undeniably obvious, describing in great detail Nanani Shemsi’s dismay and her own reasons why she should not have done what she did. Mama listened attentively as Valii expressed her utter misery for what she had done, until at last, with her tale told, the child was on the verge of tears.

In the end, it was very clear to Samlii who was at fault—she knew exactly what Thairyn had done and why. She said nothing of this to Valii, of course, and decided to make the most of this learning experience in spite of her throbbing headache. “What do you think you should do to tell Sister Shemsi that you are sorry?” she asked.

“I dunno,” Valii burbled. Two little sobs bubbled up from inside her and made her bounce as they slipped out of her pouty lips. There was a terrible knot in her throat. She was trying her very hardest not to cry.

Mama wrapped her arms around Valii and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Hmmm... if we only had some wonderful timkaisu to replace those that were taken...”

Valii blinked back some tears and looked at her little hands thoughtfully. “Mama,” she sniffed, looking up at her, “Can we make our own timkaisu for Sister Shemsi?”

“Oh, Valii, what a wonderful idea,” Mama said softly. “And maybe you and your sisters could speak with her, and apologize.”

Valii nodded solemnly.

“Valii,” Mama said, brushing her hot round cheek, “Look at me.”

Valii’s teary rose-red eyes slowly rose until they met her mother’s.

Mama smiled. “Thank you for telling me. I’m very proud of you.”

Then came the relieved smile that Samlii had been looking for. It lit up Valii’s whole face. She threw her arms around her mother’s neck and gave her a big hug!

“There’s my girl,” Mama said. She made a nibbling-preening motion on the tip of Valii’s nose with the prin of her lip. Valii returned the gesture under her mother’s chin. “There now. Run along and see if your sisters are done in the Blue Wood.”

“Okay Mama,” Valii said. She sniffled and wiped a few rogue tears from her face before hopping up and starting on her way.

Samlii winced as she watched her go. Her headache was growing steadily worse. “Valii,” she called

after her, “Tell Thairyn and Neyhira that it’s time to go home and eat, will you?”

“I will, Mama!”

Meanwhile, Thairyn and Neyhira were awaiting sentencing at the Blue Wood. They had had very little success finding the Torweyens their mother had asked for. As Neyhira dropped their third gemfruit into the basket, she looked up at her empty-handed sister. “How mad do you think she’s going to be?” she asked.

Thairyn shrugged. She looked at the basket and put her hands on her hips. “Well, this isn’t going to soften her mood any. Where are you finding those?”

“Here and there,” Neyhira answered, waving around at the surrounding Tree-Kin. “I dunno. There aren’t many of ‘em.”

“You’re telling me. All I can find are the grey crinkly ones.”

“Let’s keep looking,” Neyhira said.

“That Tree Kin looks good,” Thairyn said, pointing at one across the grove.

“Okay.”

Thairyn hefted up the basket and made for her tree with Neyhira following closely behind. In spite of how much trouble the pair decided that they were going to be in, the Blue Wood was lovely. Thairyn could not help but admire the way that the Kiirlight played through the deep blue leaves of the Tree Kin and danced in painted pools at her feet.

When she came to stand in one such pool, she looked ahead and noticed that there were several others spotting along the path to her Tree Kin. The next one was not too far from the one she now stood in, either. She knelt down to the ground, bunched up her muscles, and boing! She sprang for the next pool of Kiirlight! She landed on her toes with a soft pitter-pat, having almost overestimated the distance and cleared the pool completely. She was pleased to see the blue light play over her toes, though, if only that. “Neyhira!” she exclaimed, “Pretend that the spots of light are islands, and the shadows are the sea. You can’t touch the shadows, or else you’ll fall in the water!”

Neyhira looked down at the pool of light she happened to have stopped in. She smiled. “Okay!”

“I’ll race you to the Tree Kin!”

And so the pair of them criss-crossed through the Blue Wood, forgetting their targeted Tree Kin until they had passed it; then they agreed that another would be the mark of the finish line.

“I win!” cried Thairyn the moment her hand touched the grey-blue bark of the new Tree Kin.

Not half a second later, Neyhira touched it too. Breathless, she laughed, leaned against the Tree Kin, and sank to the ground. “That... that was fun!”

That was Valii! She appeared presently from behind the first Tree Kin Thairyn had pointed to, waving her arms. “Wait!” she cried.

Thairyn and Neyhira looked at each other. Thairyn struck a military pose and clasped her hands behind her back, prepared to face the verdict and her imminent doom with a straight face. Neyhira tried and failed to suppress her laughter.

But all Valii said was, “Mama says it’s time to eat.”

So doom would wait for them then, at home where it was sure that they could not escape it. “Already?” Thairyn asked, trying to draw out her unpunished existence for as long as she could, “But we haven’t gotten all of the gemfruits Mama wanted!”

“We only have three.”

“Mama didn’t say how many own she wanted,” Valii said sensibly.

“We need at least four,” Thairyn said, though she was thinking, I need to have found at least one or Mama will think that I let Neyhira do all the work!

“What do the own ripe ones look like?” Valii asked.

“Like this.” Neyhira picked up a hard, shiny blue fruit out of the basket to show to her sister.

“Like that one?” Valii said, pointing.

Neyhira and Thairyn followed their sister’s finger to a small low hanging branch just above their heads. Sure enough, there was a Torweyen fruit—far bigger and bluer than any of the three Neyhira had found. Thairyn thought it an excellent prize. Perhaps Mama would be so pleased by the find that she would not even punish her! However, there was one problem; Valii had found it, not Thairyn.

“Good eye, Val!” Neyhira said.

“I’ll get it!” Thairyn said. But Neyhira had already propped Valii up on her shoulders. One second later Valii had picked the gemfruit from the branch.

“There, four,” Valii said cheerfully as she dropped the Torweyen into the basket.

“Oh, that one is lovely, Valii,” Neyhira said. “You should give it to Mama special.”

Thairyn’s shoulders sank. She knew she was in for trouble now. She stuck out her lower lip. Valii had found the very biggest and she would probably brag to Mama about it. Then Neyhira would say that she had found all of the rest, and finally Thairyn would have to admit that she found none! Oh no, that just would not do. It might have been fine, if this was an ordinary average day and she was not in big trouble, but as it was... She looked around at the boughs and branches of the Blue Tree Kin desperately—she was not picky, it did not have to be the biggest or the best any more, it just had to be a gemfruit that she could bring home to Mama!

“Come on, Thairyn,” Neyhira said, shouldering Mama’s basket, “Let’s go.”

“Wait for me just a moment, Neyhira,” Thairyn said, “I think I see another gemfruit!”

“All right. Hurry, though.”

Thairyn scurried up the Tree Kin, trying to climb as fast as she could. If there had been one ripe gemfruit on it, especially one as good as Valii had found, there had to be another. But as the minutes dragged on, her sisters became impatient.

“Thairyn! Please hurry!”

Thairyn really did have the best intentions as she grasped a gemfruit. After all, it was smoother and bluer than the one next to it. Unfortunately, there really was something to their Mama’s warning... as Thairyn found out when a shuddering chill swept through her body after she had plucked the fruit. She felt an incredible dread and wished at once that she could put the gemfruit back, but of course, she could not. The bark of the Tree Kin then became very tight and rigid—Thairyn was sure that she heard a sort of whistle or moan, but she did not have much time to be sure. Suddenly, the branch she was sitting on convulsed and she found herself flying through the air towards Neyhira and Valii!

“AHHH!!!” she cried, crashing into them with a thud!

Before the girls could assess their bruises or even collect their senses at all, something worse happened. The giant Tree Kin towering above them shuddered, and then all of its branches began to grow tense—they rose into the air and Thairyn heard more of those whistling moans, until she was sure that the whole forest was vibrating with them!

“RUN!” Neyhira screamed, grabbing Valii’s hand and scrambling to her feet. She tried to lead her little sister in the direction they had come, towards their mother, when a huge branch in front of them hit the ground with a massive

The noise was deafening! The ground shook violently and the girls were thrown off their feet!

“Ooof!”

“AHHH! Get up! They’re coming again!” Neyhira cried, scrambling backward with Valii in tow. Thairyn had to be on her heels, for no sooner had she spoken before three more branches made impact with the forest floor!

“Mommy!” Valii screamed, her voice shrill and soul-splitting—she broke from Neyhira’s hold and started to run back towards the Tree Kin that had nearly flattened them! Its branches were rising for another blow! Thairyn jumped to her feet and caught her by the back of her kyntin!

“No!” she cried, “This way, come on!” She jerked Valii backwards, caught her by her wrist, and attempted to lead her sister around the Tree Kin with Neyhira following close behind.

The large branches of yet another Tree Kin cut them off from their mother! Suddenly the tension in the whole Blue Wood exploded with what sounded like a scream—biireos abandoned their perches in the canopy, shrieking and crying—little woodland creatures raced from their burrows and collided with one another in desperate attempts to escape—but worst of all were the Tree Kin! Their fury made the air feel rigid! Then all at once they writhed and their branches collided with massive force into the ground!

Thairyn and her sisters screamed, but their voices were lost in the turmoil of the wood! They tried time and time again to avoid branch after branch and run towards their mother, only to be blocked! The ground under their feet turned into waves that would suddenly drop out from under their feet, only to nearly be met by their faces when they tried to catch their balance!

Valii tripped and at last could not get up—her whole body froze for her terror so that she could do nothing but scream! She could not even hear herself over the deafening roars and rumbles of the Tree Kin! Neyhira and Thairyn felt their hearts catch in their throats—neither knew why until they glanced back and saw their sister crumpled on the ground—they raced towards her, grabbed her arms and dragged her up after them!

Dirt and debris flew up in the air—the sisters no longer had any idea where they were going, only that they had to escape somehow! More often than not they were crawling and scrambling just to stay on their feet, to say nothing of trying to stay together!

Thairyn never could quite recall how they made it out of that mess, only that the next thing she knew she was crouching at the top of a hill in a rolling plain and looking back at the furious thrashing blue Tree Kin. She could feel the ground rumbling under her hands even at this distance as she watched biireos rising above the blue canopy in swarms. Older Tree Kin, the greater green ones, did not stir except for their leaves, which Thairyn could see shimmering as they rustled and vibrated Tree Speak in an attempt to calm the blue trees... but their efforts seemed in vain. Panting, Thairyn looked behind and saw Neyhira curled protectively over a sobbing Valii at the bottom of the hill. Then her eyes fell to her shaking hands, which somehow still clutched the fruit that had caused the whole commotion. Carefully she slipped it into the long grass to hide it before crawling down the hill to her sisters.

They huddled together and listened with pounding hearts to the terrible noises coming from over the

hill. Poor Valii, sandwiched between her two sisters, could do nothing but shake and sob. Her sisters tried to comfort her, but they were so frightened themselves by the affair that they could give little more than a weak “Shh, Valii, it’s okay now.” Both of them felt quite sure, however, that things were not okay. Neyhira did not know how the Blue Wood had gotten so upset, Thairyn did not think it mattered, and while both were relieved to be out of there in one piece they were desperate for their mother’s warm embrace to make all the bad things go away. That she was nowhere to be seen and they had no idea how to find her again brought knots to their throats. The twins tried their very hardest to be brave on account of their baby sister, but tears filled their eyes as they looked hopelessly between each other and Valii.

Perhaps it was because the girls were so engulfed in their own helplessness and terror that they did not notice a strange figure peaking a hilltop some distance away. But he saw them. Only fifteen minutes prior, two young men had been enjoying a picnic when the tumultuous noise occurred. They started up the hill at once to discover the cause of the commotion and, while the writhing Blue Forest was quite a sight, it was not that which now held their attention. For a few moments, the fourteen-year-old boys knew not what to make of the three strange creatures huddled in the grass below them, but their distress soon became apparent to the Prince. They were not human, though some features, such as hands, shoulders, and the like they shared. That they were wearing clothes of a sort emboldened him to try to talk to them.

“Ho there!” he cried, waving his arm to get their attention, “Are you hurt?”

Thairyn heard his voice first. She looked up at once hopefully, but stopped short and did little else when she saw the two creatures standing atop the hill. Her earfins raised and focused towards them, and her eyes grew wider still than they had been before! These... these things that she looked upon... they did not have faces! Well, that was not true—she could make out that they had eyes and mouths, but certainly muzzles they had none. While they stood upright like any normal Dracoen, Thairyn was horrified to find that they did not have wings, tails, or earfins either! She opened her mouth, but could think of nothing to say and closed it again. Instead, she nudged Neyhira and motioned up towards the strange pair on the hilltop.

When Neyhira looked up, she was as much at a loss to describe what she was seeing as her sister had been. She had not heard them, as Thairyn had, but rather than be repulsed or frightened, her first inclination was curiosity. She wondered at the first if they could speak, and to confirm this one of them cried out, “I say again, are you quite all right down there?”

It was trade speak that he used, Neyhira was certain. She and her sisters had been taught a form of the language, though it was not what she had been immediately expecting to hear and it took her a minute or two to understand what he had said. When at last she realized, she decided that he must not mean her any harm and cried out in the same language, “No, sir! We are lost and we require compassion!”

Thairyn, horrified, grabbed her sister’s muzzle. “Shh!”

But it was too late. The strange creatures had heard her and even now were making their way down the hill towards them. The rumbling sound in the forest had eased now, but none of the girls noticed. Neyhira pushed Thairyn’s hand off of her muzzle and stood to greet the strangers as they approached.

“What happened?” asked the first whom had spoken before. He looked very different from his flat-faced companion, at least in colour and build, for he looked very big and strong to compare. His skin was smooth, without either scales or fur, and was a deep bronze colour. His hair, shoulder-length and worn in a ponytail, was almost the same hue as the golden chain which supported Valii’s Birthstone; a shade not altogether yellow as a Dracoen’s would be, but certainly golden. His eyes were a deep, dark blue. In contrast, his companion was very lithe and light of both build and complexion; his short hair was light grey, his eyes were silvery, and his skin was almost as pale as her own white scales—it had a light olive tint to it though, so it was not solid white as her scales were. They were both nearly the same height—which was only a little taller than she was. This surprised her, because she was sure by their build that they were much older.

“I do not know,” Neyhira answered his question at last, after staring at them for a few minutes. “The Family of the Trees became excessively angry. We cannot get back to our mother.”

“Thairyn, na trec en aiie,” Valii squeaked from under Thairyn’s protective wing.

“What did she say?” the golden haired one asked.

“She said her foot is in excessive pain,” Neyhira said anxiously. “Can you help?”

“Oh,” the golden-haired boy said. He looked at Thairyn and asked softly, “May I see to it?”

Thairyn knitted her brows distrustfully. “It appears the same as mine,” she said.

The boy smiled a little. He muttered something under his breath. “What I mean to say is, may I see if it’s injured?” he clarified aloud.

Thairyn was a little hesitant in her answer, but she finally said, “Very well.” Slowly her wings unfolded to reveal her little sister. While the golden-haired boy knelt down to examine her foot, the lighter boy looked at Neyhira and asked, “What are yer names? Do yeh live in ze forest?”

His accent made his words a little harder to decipher, but Neyhira was able to piece it together. “My name is Neyhira, and that is my twin Thairyn, and that is our little sister Valii,” she said after a moment. “And yes, we do live in the forest.”

Valii continued to stare at the golden-haired boy as she had since Thairyn uncovered her. She did not say a word in any language, though she knew a bit of the formal, if awkwardly constructed, trade speak her sisters were using and could understand some of what was being said. When he tried to touch her foot, she pulled it back and whimpered.

“It is copacetic, do not worry,” he said to her gently.

“What is... copacetic?” Thairyn asked, looking distrustful.

“Copacetic is the same as all right, well, or just fine,” Gideon said.

“Tey en no aiie, Valii, tey en klatae memsala fien,” Thairyn translated for Valii.

“So you’re Dracoens zen?”

“Yes, we are. What are you?” Thairyn asked, rather bluntly and somewhat sceptically—as though being a Dracoen were the proper thing to be, and whatever he was might be offensive if he did not have a good name for it.

“We’re Münshirlings,” the lighter boy said. “We live in ze city past ze forest.”

“Oh!” Neyhira said. “We know Münshirlings. I have never seen what you look like, but I have seen your city.”

“Do all of your people have the flat face?”

Neyhira was mortified and she feared that Thairyn had offended them, but the two boys seemed only amused and answered “Yes.”

“What are your names?” Neyhira asked.

“My name is Nya.”

“I am Prince Gideon,” the golden-haired boy said, standing up. “Her foot is not broken, but it is a little bruised. She will be copacetic.”

There was that strange word meaning okay again... Thairyn wanted to try it out on her tongue a few more times, but felt it would be foolish to do so in front of the Münshirlings.

“How many years in age are you?” Neyhira asked curiously.

“Turning fifteen in Jinto,” Gideon said, grinning. “Next month.”

Thairyn started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Gideon asked.

“Nothing,” Neyhira said, looking at her sister anxiously. “It would be excessively rude to speak of it.”

“You are small!”

“Our sister that is older, Kaqurei, is fourteen also, and she is excessively more tall than you,” Neyhira tried to explain, her cheeks turning hot.

Gideon smiled in a strange way. He shook his head. “Why do you keep saying excessively?”

Neyhira pinned back her earfins and looked startled. “Is that not a correct word?”

“It’s a bit strange for the sentences you keep using it in.”

Neyhira’s face felt hot again—but, as she did not blush as a Münshirling might, the prince took no notice of her embarrassment. “Oh, er, uh—well, what is a correct word for excessively instead?”

“Well, ‘very’ would work just fine for very rude to speak of,” Gideon said. “And much for much more tall..”

Neyhira looked at Thairyn. Then she looked at Gideon again. “Very,” she repeated. “Hmm. Well, my sister Kaqurei is very much more tall than you.”

Gideon chuckled, and Neyhira got the feeling that she had not said it quite right, but he motioned that he was pleased. “That works,” he said. “I’ve heard that Dracoens are tall. But, you could just say taller, as in I am taller than you—and, I am, by the way.”

Thairyn shot to her feet then and insisted that he prove it. Since she was identical in size to Neyhira, it turned out that he was in fact a foot taller than she was. His bravado was shattered however when he learned that the twins were only eight years old.

“Your people must get very tall,” Gideon said. “You’re both twice the size of a Münshirling eight year old.”

“My Papa is eight feet and six inches tall, by Münshirling measurements,” Thairyn said proudly. “He is called the Gem Chief, because he is excess—er—” she hesitated and looked at Neyhira. “—Very much wise.”

“Eight feet?” Gideon exclaimed, too surprised to even consider her grammar. He put his hand on his forehead and took a step back.

“If you believe that he is large, you should see his wings!” Thairyn bragged, stretching out her own.

“You would be shorter though, if you did not stand on your toes,” Gideon said.

Thairyn looked at the Prince’s feet. They seemed, to her, bent and broken. They were completely sheathed in a leather covering. “Is something wrong with yours?” she asked in concern.

“No...?” Gideon said, looking down at his feet and back at Thairyn. The girls compared his feet to Nya’s and came to the shocking conclusion that his feet really were meant to lay flat on the ground. They began to doubt his diagnosis on Valii’s foot.

“I did not feel any broken bones,” Gideon affirmed, but the twins had a look anyway. It turned out he was right though, as far as they could tell. They explained that it was not possible for them to lay their feet completely on the ground as his did. “Our feet are not built that way,” Neyhira said.

“Trec en... our word for feet,” Valii said, smiling shyly.

“It is ped in Münshirling,” Gideon told her.

“We know,” Thairyn said airily, “Our Mother and Father are teaching us Münshirling. We are very much good at it. Better than the Trade Speak. But Valii does not know many Münshirling words yet.”

“She knows some of them when she hears them, but she cannot speak any of them. They are very much funny on the tongue,” Neyhira added. “We must do practice to be able to make those sounds. Because your mouths are very much different from ours, I suppose?”

“Do you want to play a game?” Thairyn asked.

Gideon and Nya exchanged glances. “What kind of game?”

Thairyn smiled at Neyhira. “A fun game,” she said.

“What are ze rules?” Nya asked.

“There are no rules for games, silly one. That is what makes them games,” Thairyn said.

“We will pretend to be great heroes of the past; like Manairus, Keltäme, and Telae’ah. You are both Münshirlings,” Neyhira said, “You could play Ezpar and Ryzar—you know who those are, correct?”

“King Ezpar is one of my forefathers,” Gideon said, “The First King of New Münshir. Ryzar was his brother.”

Thairyn was nodding and smiling wide. “Yes,” she said excitedly, “And Manairus is my Cira-Anu!”

“Cira-Anu?” Gideon repeated. “What is that?”

Caught a little off guard, Thairyn paused and tried to think of some words in trade speak to properly describe a Star-guardian. She struggled with the idea for a moment or two, and ultimately came up with nothing.

Seeing her sister’s distress, Neyhira offered helpfully, “Cira-Anu. It is a protector, spirit—one who is great, and who loves you; a great teacher to your spirit.” She gestured towards the sky. “One who lives in the stars. This is Cira-Anu.”

Thairyn nodded. “Yes. Manairus was a Moon Dracoen during the War of Separation, before he became a Cira-Anu. Have you ever heard of him?”

Gideon shook his head slowly. “Forgive me, no, I have not.”

“What?! How could you not know Manairus?”

“Educate me?” Gideon asked with a sheepish smile.

“Manairus was a great captain and teacher of the Moonkinds—”

“Moonkinds?”

“The Moon Dracoens. You know what the War of Separation is, correct?”

Gideon nodded.

Thairyn was appeased, but still irritated that he had heard of something as simple as a war and not her great Star-guardian. “All his life he wanted peace, but his people desired to destroy your people, and my people desired to protect your people. So that you know, he ended the War of Separation. He saved your people and the Gem Clan.”

“Oh! I remember,” Gideon said, his eyes lighting up, “You mean Magnus!”

“What?” Thairyn asked. “No, his name is Manairus. I would know, he is my Cira-Anu.”

“He was the Moon Dracoen who was killed by his own captain in the place of the Gem Dracoen Princess, wasn’t he?” Gideon asked.

Thairyn’s eyes bulged out, but otherwise her expression was unchanged and serious as the grave. “What? No.” She thought for a moment, her mind racing through every story she could remember being told about her hero. She looked at Gideon determinedly, but her voice was less certain than she would have liked as she said, “Manairus did not die.”

“According to our records, a Dracoen named Magnus perished at the hands of his own to protect the Gem Princess. It was his death that ended the war, because the Moon Dracoens saw how senseless it was after they had shed the blood of one of their own in its name.”

“No, no that is not correct.” She did not know exactly how Manairus had ended the War of Separation—but he never died, did he? He became a Star-guardian; he didn’t die—did he?

“So, how does zat game of yers go, zen?” Nya asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Manairus did not die,” Thairyn stated resolutely with a short humph to end the matter. “The game is very simple. We will play out a story of our past—Prince Gideon, you are good at playing death scenes, correct?”

“Yes...?” The question had caught him a little off guard, for it could not be said of him that he often pretended to die. He had never been fond of playing soldier like many of the other boys... and he was not entirely certain why he had answered affirmatively. He looked at Nya—concerned or bashful, something betwixt the two, or simply seeking some support to clarify the situation, it could not be said. “That is, possibly—I mean, I suppose so?”

“King Ezpar does not die in any of our stories, but I will need you to play some of the other Münshirlings that did. Agreed? Let us see one of your death scenes. I desire to be certain that you are good enough.”

Gideon looked at Nya and laughed awkwardly, shrugging. “This is a strange game.”

“You will get used to it,” Neyhira said, “It is easy.”

So, Gideon performed a half-hearted “death-scene”... he mocked a groan and stiffly fell over backwards. He looked like a board laying in the grass. After a moment, he sat up and looked at her, grass poking out of his tusselled hair, with a sideways grin on his face. “How was that?” he asked.

Thairyn clicked her tongue. “Acceptable. If you were a dying tree.”

Neyhira shook her head. “That is not even acceptable for a dying tree!” She raised her arms and wings in the air and, as if this were a cue, Thairyn did the same. “This is a dying tree,” Neyhira said. She gasped softly, and lowered her head. Thairyn mournfully put her arms around her and lowered her carefully to the ground. When she rose again, her shoulders and wings sank, and she kept her head bowed.

“Because she was my best friend,” Thairyn explained, “I will not raise my branches until she grows again.” She dropped her arms suddenly and folded her wings. “But that is right next to the point. I want to know how you die, and you are not a tree. This is how I die. Here, you must watch me.” She cried out in sheer agony, crumpled to her knees, and collapsed to the ground in a dramatic heap! She gasped and moaned desperately for a few moments, before sighing softly and relaxing, her eyes still half open. She laid so still that she truly did look dead.

Both the Münshirlings looked more than a little disturbed and exchanged glances uncomfortably.

However, in a moment Thairyn sat up and gave them a serious look. “That is what I consider a death scene,” she said.

“That is what I consider excessive,” Neyhira said disdainfully, crossing her arms.

“It was no—it, it was—it was no—ah, ah—”

Inexplicably, both twins sneezed at the same time. They sniffed and were about to resume their argument when Nya said something very strange that caused both to pause. The words were merely, “Inli Gwigeles est.”

Thairyn, Valii, and Neyhira looked at him curiously. “Gwicker-ees-lah-zez?” Valii asked. She had never heard such a word before. None of them had.

“Gwigeles, you mean? Oh, zat is a saying in New Münshir,” Nya said, “It came from an old nursery story. It is said zat whenever two blood-related persons, usually siblings, sneeze at ze exact same time, a pair of creatures called ‘Gwiggles’ are born into ze world.”

“Of course, now days inli Gwigeles est is a saying we use whenever anyone sneezes, anywhere,” Gideon said.

Thairyn translated the explanation for Valii. Neyhira asked, “How do they do that?”

“Do what?” Gideon asked.

“How do they get born, just because people sneezed?”

“Magic, zey say,” said Nya.

The girls looked at each other. “Mashic?” Valii asked.

“Aye, magic. Something wonderful that no one can quite explain,” Gideon said. “Magia, in our tongue.”

“So what do they look like? What are Gwiggles?” Thairyn asked.

“A childish and mischievous lot, t’be sure. It is said zat zey stand no more zan two feet high, and zey have long zin tails zat end in tufts of fur,” Nya said. “Zey are very fast, and very good at hiding. Zey are always toge’zer, ze best of friends, and zey bring good luck to the town zey live in. But, as I told yeh,

zey are mischievous fun-loving creatures, and sometimes what zey zink is funny, we zink is unkind. Zey like to play games and pose challenges to zose zey meet. Once, zere was a prince, and while he was walking in his magnificent garden, he discovered a pair of Gwiggles stealing twaelo fruits. So he says to zem, ‘You cannot take zat which is not yours. If you want zose fruits, you must pay or work fer zem.’ And ze Gwiggles say to him, ‘How about we grant yeh a wish instead, eh?’ Ze prince asked zem what sort of wish would zey grant for him. So ze Gwiggles say, ‘Oh, none at all, yer Majesty. Not unless yeh can balance zat twaelo on yer head and catch both of us without letting it fall off!’”

The girls laughed. Valii tugged on the hem of Neyhira’s gown and whispered something into her earfin. Neyhira replied to her in Dracoen. Then Valii whispered something else. “She wants to know what happened next,” Neyhira said, looking back at Nya.

“Well, ze prince asks zem, ‘What sort of wish will yeh grant if I catch yeh?’, and ze Gwiggles reply, ‘Any wish you ask for, exactly as yeh ask it, yer Majesty... and remember zees, if yeh cheat to win, we cheat at yer wish, see?’ So ze prince agrees and ze Gwiggles run off to hide. Zree long days go by with ze prince balancing a twaelo fruit carefully on his head—ze Gwiggles had a laugh about zat, I can tell you! A prince cannot spend all of his time searchin’ for Gwiggles, yeh see. So, even when he had his royal duties to attend to, he had teh keep ze twaelo on his head, for ze Gwiggles told him zat he might see zem anywhere, anytime, and if he took it off his head, even once, zey would trick him at his wish. On ze zird day, ze prince was getting tired—when zere he sees zem, sitting together up on ze city wall! So ze prince climbs up on ze wall wiz all of his people a-lookin’ on and ze twaelo fruit on his head, and makes his way over teh ze Gwiggles. Now, mind, I told yeh zat ze Gwiggles are mischievous creatures and zey love good fun—zey laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Ze prince was not very good at balancin’, yeh see. Zey could’a got away, if zey’d wanted to, but after ze prince made it across ze wall ta where ze Gwiggles were, zey hopped in his arms. Oh my, I zink zat ze zree of them all toppled off of ze wall zen and landed in a stack o’ hay. Zey weren’t hurt—well, ze prince’s pride was a wee bit bruised, aye? Anyway, ze Gwiggles zanked ze prince for ze great fun and asked him what his wish’d be. But what wiz ze people lookin’ on and laughin’, and ze Gwiggles—d’ya know what zat poor prince asked fer?”

The girls shook their heads.

“He asked zat all ze people would forget about ze past zree days he’d had, and it’d be like he’d never balanced a twaelo on his head. Quick as a twinklin’, he found himself standin’ in his garden, wonderin’ what had happened as two wee tails disappeared into a hole in ze twaelo tree. Jest like zat—no one he talked to remembered ze Gwiggles, zough he sure did. So yeh see, even zough ze Gwiggles are very good’t heart, zey do love fun and ‘d be more zen willin’ to make a court fool of yeh—n’matter who yeh are.”

Gideon applauded his friend and laughed. “Marvellous, Nya!” he cheered, “You’ve always been good at those stories. Though, I must say I have never heard that one before. Where did you pick it up?”

Nya looked down bashfully, but his grin was wide. “Oh, I made zat one up on ze spot, yer Highness.”

Gideon laughed all the harder. “I see! I don’t suppose you were referring to a man I know, were you?”

Nya looked up at the Prince with a twinkle in his silver eyes. “Aye, I zink you know ze lad—and his Gwiggles at zat, if you’ll recall.”

“Aye. That I do.” Gideon chuckled.

“What were the Gwiggles’ names?” Thairyn asked.

“Oh, it is hard to say about Gwiggles,” Gideon said.

“Why is that?” asked Neyhira.

“Well, Gwiggles get bored of having the same name all the time, so they often change them. One day a pair of Gwiggles will call themselves something like ‘Sock & Rock’, then the next they’ll hear a word they like better and name themselves things that rhyme with it—like ‘Sliver & Quiver’, or ‘Button & Glutton’... or, in rare instances, you could call them ‘Nya & Marley’.” Gideon winked at his friend.

“Nah, nah, nah!” Nya exclaimed, shaking his head vigorously. “Zat doesn’t rhyme’t all, Gid! If you’ll remember, zose two called zemselves Terrible ‘n’ Bearable.”

“Right,” Gideon said knowingly. “You were Bearable and Marley was Terrible—her choice, of course.”

The girls had not heard Gideon’s last comment, because they were now bouncing and racing between the hills pretending to be Gwiggles.