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Quinnahunti ends, Quinnatorz elapses, the twins have their ninth birthday on the thirteenth of Quinnasweela, and Kiri has eventually seen bits of everything she will need to take or delegate charge of - the palace, key portions of Chialto, the Ardelay estate, and the various family business concerns (the national network of libraries being the primary thing, but the Ardelay family has been a major investor in museums as well, and Kiri has inherited partial concerns in things ranging from bakeries to stationery stores; eventually she will have to take a more active role in managing the finances, but they should be self-managing for the time being unless too many key people die.)
In Quinncoru, Kiri - with Aleko in tow this time in addition to Renny - makes a visit to the palace, and, since the king seems willing to ignore her and she doesn't really want his attention, and since there is not a full complement of primes around, has nothing much to do with herself but make a beeline for the prince. (Aleko goes exploring by himself.)
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calescent
He takes a moment to make the connection, and then he laughs. "I didn't expect them to. Maybe somebody else will." But he doubts it.
calescent
"I wonder if there's a word for just 'person' in another chapter or if Soechin doesn't have that any more than it has 'yes' or 'no'." She starts attempting to render her name into the alphabet, and then she does Aleko's and Jayce's as best she can, and then she starts writing sentences. I am shorter than Aleko. Jayce is shorter than me. "Do you want to pick a Soechin name? It said there was a list of some common ones in the back."
"Dunno," he says. He has the same complete indifference to Soechin names as to Welchin ones.
calescent
Kiri omits to name him at all, and picks out a couple names to write about fictional Soechin people: Nichi is pretty, and Sem is prettier. Sem is taller than that man. Nichi's shirt is white.
It doesn't take very long at all for the prince to be reading the sentences without having to translate them word by word. The repetitive structure helps.
calescent
On she goes until she's used all the offered vocabulary at least twice and established a variety of contradictory facts about Nichi, Sem, and various unnamed people of assorted descriptions in their vicinity.
"Next chapter?" she asks, when she's exhausted these exercises. Then her stomach grumbles. "...Or it might be time for dinner."
"Next chapter?" she asks, when she's exhausted these exercises. Then her stomach grumbles. "...Or it might be time for dinner."
"I think it's time for dinner," giggles the prince. He's hungry too, now that he thinks about it.
calescent
"All right." She puts the book, and this particular notebook which is now designated for Soechin practice, on the table, and leads him out through the maze of books, upstairs and to the dining room.
spinnaker
Elsewhere, Jayce has noticed the time too. "Hey, you hungry?" he asks Isten.
"Yes," says Isten. Quietly. Isten is a quiet sort of boy.
spinnaker
"Let's go get some dinner, then," says Jayce, sliding out of the window seat.
"Okay!" says Isten. He hops down and follows Jayce, presumably toward dinner.
spinnaker
That is indeed where Jayce is headed!
The food is not as good as the palace food. But it's still pretty tasty.
The food is not as good as the palace food. But it's still pretty tasty.
calescent
There are marshmallows.
Kiri toasts them, winking at the elder prince.
Kiri toasts them, winking at the elder prince.
The elder prince giggles. Isten smiles too, a little.
calescent
After there is dinner in everybody, Kiri says, "Fire room could be next."
"I wanna see the fire room!" says the elder prince.
Isten does not say anything at all.
Isten does not say anything at all.
spinnaker
"D'you want to watch Kiri do things with fire or go read the rest of the stories with me?" asks Jayce.
"I want to read the rest of the stories with you, please," says Isten.
spinnaker
"Okay." Jayce leads him back to his room and picks up where they left off.
And the elder prince is bouncing along excitedly behind her.
calescent
The fire room is several floors up, and Kiri is trailed closely by Aleko the whole way, perhaps to catch her if she stumbles. She doesn't, on this occasion, and flings open the doors to a huge room lined entirely with gray stone. It has a window, glass and metal - there's no wood anywhere in the room - which she flings open to admit ventilation.
"What do you wanna see me do?" she asks.
"What do you wanna see me do?" she asks.