In one corner of the Snuggery, the elder was singing drawn-out elegies of the mountains, full of longing, full of mourning. Som was crying in his lap, a sad lake of colors over softly shaking shoulders.

All around Lhut, stripes of torn fabric lay scattered on the ground. Two of the children were still with him, practicing how to tie and tighten and loosen bandages. Most had had enough, and one was still busy rolling the cloth back up. Lasa and Lunin, the twins, had gone straight into impersonating nightlings and fleeing people in the courtyard, where a lot of disturbing emotions got translated into screaming and hiding, running and ducking. But in addition to a great deal of exercise and acting, there now also were discussions about the scenario. And the actual behavior of nightlings, a subject on which the two seven-year-olds sought confirmation from Cahuan from time to time.

At the moment, the nightling was clawing her way through an ineffective barrier that had been put up before a mine entrance to keep out dangerous visitors.

"Yes. It is very hard to make barriers that cannot be broken by beings who dig their way through stone," Cahuan agreed. "Almost impossible, I should think. But it may not be necessary. In fact, some mines have very light wooden barriers over all entrances, including air shafts and all. And people doing rounds before each shift, to check. If they see any broken barriers, they will raise the alarm and tell the miners to keep out."

Lasa stopped clawing and turned around, a question in her dark brown eyes. "But then what happens? They never go into that mine again?"

"Oh, they do. But first, they send in noisy traptions at one entrance, and watch the nightling flee out the other end. After that, people go in to work. And also repair the broken barrier."

Lasa and Lunin nodded and instantly began setting up a mine with multiple entrances and wooden grids.

"But then why did people be surprised by nightling in the mine today? If they should have known warning?" Enim inquired.

"Because," Kaya said through clenched teeth, "this mine has no barriers, and no system. Because Naydeer cannot be bothered to maintain one."

Enim watched her, slightly intimidated by her expression. "Naydeer is owner of mine?" he ventured cautiously.

"Yes, she is. And it was in one of her mines that Lhut and I have been working. It was her mine that collapsed on us too." Kaya's eyes narrowed. "And not by chance either."

Enim's brow furrowed. "How you mean, not by chance?"

"I mean," Kaya said in a cutting voice, "that a ton of stone rained down on people who were ready to challenge Naydeer. In exactly that moment, on exactly their heads."

Lhut came over to join them. "There have been lots of accidents in Naydeer's mines. She has been saving on timber that supports the tunnels, and on adits that bring in fresh air. And the cost of that was the life and limb of miners."

Lhut sat down, his short legs stretched out before him. "We were going to force her to do at least the minimum: air, and tunnels that don't cave in. At least that. We were ready to stop the mine until she had done it."

Fists clenched, Kaya was looking out into the past, her eyes unfocused. "Naydeer must have found out what we were planning. She certainly knew we were pushing for our safety, because at first we had tried to talk to her about it. Naive fools that we were!" Kaya laughed scornfully. "Naydeer just gave us a kick in the guts. And threatened some more. But we did not give up. Too many lives had been lost in those mines. People were ready, were angry enough, to not take it anymore. So we rallied-and the moment we did, her mine collapsed on us. By pure coincidence."

Enim clutched his arms, so hard it hurt. "But, please, you not say that Naydeer has make fall down the mine, on purpose? On people? She cannot do that. That murder!"

Kaya looked at him, her eyes cold as steel.

*

Enim ate his lunch in a corner of the Snuggery courtyard, his gaze turned inward. His head felt empty, and Kaya's words echoed inside, a hollow, ghostly sound that could not find a home.

Enim sighed and decided to postpone to later what he could not deal with right now. Holding on to the soothing warmth of lentils and potatoes in his stomach, to the savory taste of fresh herbs on his tongue, Enim gratefully let the wisdom of his body take over for a while, calming and steadying. He leaned back against the wall, feeling the solidity of stone against his shoulders, the gentle touch of sun on his face.

Enim's gaze drifted over to the three kids in charge of serving lunch today, who were deftly handling things with an air of confidence and routine. Two younger girls who had been roaming out in the Mansion for too long came running in, hoping to still grab a portion. Kaya, Lhut and Cahuan were sitting on the little staircase by the side wall.

Enim pushed himself up and joined them.

"So have you spoken to any of the owners yet?" Cahuan shuffled to make room for Enim. "I hear you want to work for them, as an artificer?"

"Yes, I want." Enim said hesitantly. "I wanted." His fingers tapped a little pattern onto the rim of his plate. "I want. But, no. I have not spoken. I not sure how to start."

"Go to Manaam," Cahuan instantly suggested, a bright smile rising in her face. "He is the best one by far."

"He is your friend?"

Cahuan nodded, the happy glow still on her face. "Yes. He is. I do not see him often, but we are quite close."

Kaya put her spoon down a little too hard on her plate. "Manaam is paying for most of the Snuggery. So that is how we keep Lhut and Cahuan and everyone here fed. Also, in Manaam's mines, tunnels don't fall onto people's heads. He's as good as it gets, around here." Kaya set down her plate on the steps behind her, as if that might be needed to keep it out of harm's way.

"Manaam also runs a healing bag for his miners," Lhut joined in. "Along the same principles that Kaya has come up with when she started the first healing bag in Shebbetin, in our mine."

"What is healing bag?" Enim asked, inevitably.

"It's a way for people to help each other out in the case of injury or illness," Lhut explained. "A large group of people each drop a small amount of coin into the bag. And then, when someone gets seriously ill or has an accident, as I did, coin can be taken from the bag to go to a healer."

Enim blinked. "Everybody go to a healer. Everybody who sick, who needs. No bag necessary for this."

Silence descended on their little group.

Enim looked at Lhut, and at the stumps of his thighs. A lump was beginning to form in Enim's throat. "Not here?" he whispered.

"No. Not here," Lhut replied in a low voice, brushing a hand over the rim of his thigh. "We did pay a healer to take off my mangled limbs. So I did not die. But that was it. We have nothing more. And for many, not even that."

Enim turned away. "No." It was a mere breath. An objection to the world, addressed to the wind. "No. That not possible."