The rain had come early that day and stopped soon thereafter. By evening, hues of gold and lavender arched between the last gray shreds of cloud.

Enim was just ducking through the archway into the Snuggery courtyard when he saw a movement out of the corner of his eyes. He stopped. The wintry light was mellow on the thatch, and a gentle breeze brought down scents of snow from the mountains. Enim breathed in deeply.

Then it came again, just a flash.

A whisk of fur darted across the roof, fell lightly down to earth and flew up again over the staircase, dancing graceful circles around the railing.

"Oh, hello, wrollic," Enim said in a low voice. He touched his hand to his heart and bowed slightly. "You are welcome here. More than welcome, in fact. Very much sought after. You have won everyone's heart with your charm and beauty."

The wrollic cackled lightly. He danced up and down the railings, then sped up and whirled breathtakingly before slowing down again into a languid display of elegance and weightlessness.

"Yes, exactly," Enim agreed. "That kind of beauty." The wrollic chittered. Then he flew down to the ground, twirled around Enim's calf, held on to his knee and was back up on the balusters again before Enim realized.

"Oh," Enim breathed. "My word. Thank you. I thought the likes of you hardly ever touched anyone." Enim's voice was still a whisper. "I am deeply honored."

The wrollic cooed with a sensuous tremor in his voice. But he did it only very briefly. Then he hopped onto the wall and the thatch, climbing up all the way before he turned around once more to look down at Enim. The wrollic sauntered along the ridge, waved one last line of dance at Enim, then disappeared over the roof.

Enim felt as if he had been kissed. With his ears red and his heart soft, he stepped inside.

In the Snuggery, the children were eagerly helping Cahuan prepare.

"I will be in a play," she had told them. "I will be pretending to be a fay, a wondrous mermaid who comes into this world in order to save her own. She is of another realm, but she does not press that on people who are not ready to hear. She lets them believe whatever they like. And when the humans try to draw her in, to bind her with the laws of their world, the waterwoman just stays with what she has come for. She willingly shares her charms and receives the—ouch!"

Cahuan raised her hand to where Pulan and Som were trying out the umpteenth fay hairstyle that would make her look really nymph-like. If ever her green skin should prove insufficient for that.

"Sorry," Pulan said with a regretful whistle. "We just need to pull it in a little more tightly here. We'll only do it once more on the other side. It won't hurt much, don't worry," she reassured Cahuan.

Thoroughly reassured, Cahuan continued with her tale, for the benefit of those still listening rather than busily improving her appearance. "Manaam will also be there. He will play an arrogant Feudal. But he is good at heart, even if he can't let it show."

Pulan pulled in her hair on the other side, a little more softly this time, and Cahuan restricted her reaction to a quiet groan.

"Have you learned all your lines yet?" Lasa asked, her face eager.

"No, I have not," Cahuan confessed. "Unfortunately, there are no lines. That would make it a lot easier. But it will all be improvised, you see? There is just the general setting, and then we have to make it all up as we go. So it is quite hard."

"Not hard at all," Lasa contradicted her. "We do that all the time. It all comes to you, as soon as you truly play. Get up, we'll show you!"

*

Cahuan stepped out of the water, her fishtail transforming into human legs, her whole body still radiating the beauty and grace of a river. The humans on the shore greeted her with pleasure and gifts, showering petals and herb salad over her head. Fishergirl Lasa presented her with a wonderful straw star.

But scribe Lunin harbored a sinister plan. "Welcome, beautiful neighbor," he intoned in a sickly sweet voice. "I know you have come for the riches of this land. To take them home and work miracles where they are most needed. I hear your call. Let me give you a token of my powers. Precious metals, such as you will never forget. As will stay with you always, wherever you go."

Cahuan reached for his proffered hand, and within the blink of an eye found herself in shackles, both her wrists bound. Cahuan froze, panic creeping into her eyes, hurt searing through her heart from this betrayal.

But then she remembered. That she was magical, and free. That she would receive all gifts precisely the way she wanted to.

She gave scribe Lunin a friendly smile. With the fluid grace of an octopus, she slid her right arm out of the handcuffs, pushing the ring up over her left. Like bangles, they clanked happily on her wrist.

Cahuan's deep green eyes found the scribe's face. "Thank you." Her genial voice flowed out easily, unperturbed, like a stream bubbling around a boulder.

Scribe Lunin stared. At the handcuffs, at her arm, at her freedom. "Ah..." His voice was slow to come back. "Of course. My pleasure."

He offered his next gift, a shackle around Cahuan's neck, which she instantly let ease onto her collarbones, a precious ornament that never held the power to touch her sovereignty.

Cahuan beamed. The mermaid had mastered the art! She was free to accept all riches graciously, never feeling obliged, never bound.

* * *

Sitting on the cold floor, the miner cast an uncertain look up at Herun, who had brought him here. But then he turned back to Yunda. She had her tongue locked in her cheek, just like the young miner himself. His fingers firmly crossed in his pocket, his body tense, he watched the wiry girl move her token around his ankle in deep concentration. In sweeping, ritual moves, she wove one single, seamless loop around his limb, coming back to the beginning, to the exact same spot on his tendon where she had started out.

Yunda let out a deep breath. She drew back, looking down at the two twigs in her hand. They were still tied together by a string, in the perfect angle, like two human fingers crossing each other.

Yunda nodded in profound satisfaction and relief. "There. You are free now. Evil spirits still cannot take hold of you. But Naydeer cannot take hold of you either. She owns the mine, but she does not own you."

The lad gingerly touched his foot. He was awed, impressed. But there still was a trace of doubt in his voice. "How can you be sure?"

Yunda raised her head with pride. "I know because I have saved my own life like this. I have seen the demon in the cabin. I have felt the chain tying me down. "A bright gleam shone in her eye. "And I have broken my shakes! I've fled! But the demon never found me. And not the cabin master either."

Yunda spoke with the assurance of someone who feels the magic flow in her veins. She knew, and she could tell him. "You have been bound by the same mage. And this is how you can break free."

Yunda fell silent. She turned to the miner, her body poised, her face solemn, presenting the tied twigs to him with outstretched arms, as a sacred offering, a potent charm.

The miner took the token carefully into his palm, covering it up with his other hand.

Yunda held his gaze. "You know how to do it, now. You only need a strong heart." She leaned in more closely, conspiratorially. "You can show others, those you trust. They can all free themselves, one by one, in secret. So the mage will never know of our powers."