Maker of Fire

Tom, Building Shrine, Cold season, 4th rot., 4th day

“When I realized I had magnetite in the vein in the Vanishing River Valley, I decided to make a basic generator. My motivation was electrolysis, which I confess isn't exactly what most people in a survival situation think about," Emily smiled with a smug, self-congratulatory look. "I was thinking about strong acids, chlorine bleach, ammonia solutions, and all those other wonderful chemicals that make life so much easier. That's why I wanted glass because I was at the point where the lack of glass was holding me up from making stuff. I wanted a glass condensation tube because making phosphorus with an opaque ceramic retort was difficult and dangerous. I'm sure you understand what my problem was."

“Emily, love," I smiled down at her as she spouted chemical engineering at me like Mr. Peabody pontificating to Sherman, "I think I lost you after magnetite."

Emily dragged her eyes away from their fond contemplation of her generator to glare at my lack of appreciation of her inventive genius, "humph." It was a classic Emily reaction, and it was fun setting her up so I would be on the receiving end of her withering glare. I felt drunk from nostalgia. I wasn't keen on the new face for Emily – it was so plain – but I was getting used to it, and she still had five million different expressions. The voice was higher too, but the intonations were still the same, only at a higher pitch. I had to smile because she even walked the same.

“Quit smiling, you bum,” her fist got me square in the gut with just enough force to surprise me into exhaling.

Then Emily continued talking and strolling around the generator, "My point was that even in a homestead situation, it was possible to make things like nitric acid and chlorine bleach within five years of starting out. And that was just me working on stuff. I can make things quicker if I can order components from the Building Shrine.

"For example, it took me my entire second winter in the Vanishing River Valley just to make the copper wire for the windings on my little Gramme Machine. In comparison, I asked Huhoti three rotations ago about copper wire, and she had it ready in just a few days."

"Em, that looks like a giant horseshoe magnet," I pointed to seven flat bars of iron that appeared to be bolted together with some kind of glue or rosin in between the bars. The bent iron bars were taller than Emily. The open end of the horseshoe pointed toward the floor. Between the ends of the horseshoe sat a copper wire-wrapped iron ring that rotated on a shaft. The shaft could be hand-cranked if the person providing the muscle was a Cosm, or it could be powered through some reduction gears by what looked like a Pelton wheel set up in the mountain stream outside.

“That's because it is a giant horseshoe magnet," Emily grinned, sunk deep into brainiac heaven. "It's the best permanent magnet I've made so far, though I had a lot of help making this one. You should have seen my first magnet set-up, which was all magnetite. It was a lot smaller than this. I couldn't have made this big a rig by myself."

“Doesn't the stuff between the iron pieces weaken the magnet?" I asked.

“Nope, makes it stronger,” Emily’s grin deepened. “Insulating the slats cuts down on the eddy currents.”

“Eddy currents?” I was lost again.

“Blarg! I thought you knew basic physics.”

“Emily, love, I suspect your eddy currents, whatever they are, are not basic enough for my feeble brain.”

“Faraday’s law of induction, basic electricity and magnetism,” Emily dropped into what I started calling her professor voice. “Eddy currents are little loops of electric current inside a conductor created by the relative motion between a conductor and a magnetic field.”

“Oh," I replied. "Now I know I'm lost."

“You’re hopeless.”

“I have lots of hopes,” I rebutted. “Just ask me.”

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," she sounded just as annoyed with that answer now as she had been when I used it back in our previous life. I was feeling quite nostalgic at this point.

“What's that stupid lopsided smile for, young man?" Emily demanded with an annoyed face, hands on her hips, lips pursed in a pout. The last time I saw that look was the evening she sent me out for Chinese take-out, and I returned with a pesto pizza from Armadillo Pizza in El Cerrito.

“Oh, no reason," I couldn't stop smiling. She was acting so Emily-like, as if I had never gotten on that jet in California that took me to Vietnam. I decided I better redirect the conversation back to the egghead topics, which were Emily's meat and potatoes. "How do you make a magnet out of iron?" I honestly did not know.

“What? You never made magnets?" Emily was honestly surprised. She was such a nerd.

“Seriously, Em,” I had to roll my eyes, “most people don’t make their own magnets, even back on Earth.”

“Really?" She gave me the same bewildered face as the day I told her I had never memorized the periodic table.

“Really.”

“Oh," she was thoughtful. "It's really easy. You take a piece of iron or steel and hit it hard, more than once if necessary."

“What?” That didn’t sound right to me. You can make magnets just by hitting steel or iron?

"It works better if you first heat the piece of iron or steel and hit it as it cools down. It helps if the metal is aligned lengthwise in the planet's magnetic field. Since they're so strong, Cosm are perfect for this activity. Making the horseshoe shape was a little more complicated, but we managed that by magnetizing the slats when straight and then using the little generator we made with the magnetite magnets to run a current through wire coiled around the slats as we bent them. Huhoti and her artificers did most of the work. As I said, I can't do this level of sophistication without help."

I reached out to touch the permanent magnet, but Emily's hand stopped mine, "Careful, don't touch that yet. There could be a stray charge. I don't have a lock on the rotor, and I need to make sure the grounding has been fixed."

“I already fixed that," the Revered Huhoti announced as all twenty hands of her came striding into the workspace, carrying a box as long as I was tall. She set it on the floor, and I could see pieces of different metals, copper wire in various thicknesses, shaped blocks of black stone, clamps, and other tool-like items. "The grounding cable is underneath. I ran it through the floor last night."

“Did you get the graphite terminals made?” Emily looked eager.

“Yes, but before we do anything, you must put on your leathers before you destroy another overtunic. I don't want any more lectures from the Blessed Lisaykos over ruining your clothes," Huhoti reached into the box and pulled out an Emily-sized leather overtunic, hooded mantle, and apron.

The look on Emily’s face set me off laughing. From the grin on Huhoti’s face, I could tell she was also amused as she held the leathers out for Emily to take.

“What’s so funny, mister sleeping-on-the-porch-in-the-snow?” Emily demanded.

“You,” I answered honestly between spasms of laughter. “Your hate-to-be-nagged face is just perfect.”

I swear, Emily growled as she took the leathers and started putting them on. Huhoti put on her own protective leathers. They made me sit down about 50 hands from the generator, or Gramme Machine, which is what Emily called it.

Two thick copper cables came off the commutator for the generator. Huhoti attached a terminal end to each cable that looked like the socket for an incandescent light bulb. Into those two sockets, she screwed in two threaded black rods.

“What are you putting on the cables, Em?” I asked from my chair. A few Coyn artificer students in their plum-colored working tunics joined me in the row of Coyn chairs along the wall. Some curious Cosm artificer trainees came in and sat on the floor behind us.

One Cosm silverhaired trainee was taken aback by my talking with Emily. "Hey, you! Should you be addressing the Great One so casually?"

“Trainee," the Revered Huhoti seemed suddenly huge and looming in front of me, with a threatening presence lurking within her words, "this is the Revered Tom, and he indeed can skip the honorifics with the Blessed Emily if he so chooses."

The silverhair trainee blinked and then made a bowing obeisance toward me, “my apologies, Revered One. I was not aware of your status.” I just nodded at him, not knowing the appropriate response in this situation. It was so confusing having Cosm make obeisance to me. It was a bit frightening to have all these gigantic mages humble themselves. After years of groveling at Cosm's feet, the reversed situation felt all wrong to me.

“Tom,” Emily turned to look at me, “those are carbon electrodes. That’s what you use for an arc lamp.” She added in English, “just like the arc light inside a movie theater projector.”

Huhoti had the cables with their graphite ends on two horizontal racks that were off the floor. She set them up so the graphite rods were touching. "Are you ready, Emily? Can I start?"

"Go for it, Huhoti," Emily grinned and watched as Huhoti bent over the gearbox to engage the clutch and spin up the rotor.

“It’s sparking,” Emily called out. Huhoti looked up at a bright yellow-white pulsing light, almost too bright to look at. “Can you spin faster?”

“I can, but remember, we got the coils too hot last time when we did that."

“We ran it a lot longer last time too. We don’t have to run it that long,” Emily replied.

“Alright, here we go," Huhoti pulled back on a lever almost as tall as she was. There was a thunk, and then the light at the junction of the two electrodes became steady and brighter than the sun.

“Pull it apart a little bit,” Emily directed. “Use the hook.”

Huhoti picked up what looked like a boat hook with a rubber handle. She caught one of the supports on the rack closest to her and gently pulled the two racks apart. The arc of painful light grew between the two pieces of graphite.

“How about a little more?" Emily asked.

Emily and Huhoti fell into a pattern of widening the distance. Huhoti edged the graphite rods apart gradually until the arc of light failed.

“That was fun,” Huhoti enthused at Emily.

“I know! I know!” Emily enthused back. The two of them fed off of each other. I concluded that they were dangerous together.

“Can we do that again?” Huhoti asked.

“Yeah, let’s do it again,” Emily bounced on her toes. “Wow, a real arc light. We should show Raoleer!”

Usruldes, Aybhas, Omexkel, and Is'syal, Cold season, 4th rot., 4th to 5th day

I didn't know what to think when the Queen asked me to come and speak with her at the Healing Shrine. She wanted a favor, which surprised me since it was so unlike the old Aylem, a personality that seemed to fade away as the Queen became more grounded with the changes in her life.

Her request didn't bring her any advantage. It was the first time I had ever observed Aylem Nonkin acting selflessly for the benefit of someone else. After she explained her thinking to me, I realized she was correct in her assumptions about Emily and Tom, so I agreed. Contemplating what she asked of me, I decided to have a little fun with it.

Cadrees and I landed on the roof of Emily's house in Omexkel. The wraith on duty knew something was wrong, but she couldn't detect Cadrees and me. I saw her in the tree above the roof, throwing spikes threaded between the fingers of her left hand and her poignard in her right. I found her since I knew Squirrel preferred to hide in trees rather than use the charm of circular light if it was practical. She cast about with clairvoyance and did not find me. To her credit, she didn't drop her guard. In fact, she sent a message to the mounted wraith on patrol above the Building Shrine that something felt off.

Satisfied that my subordinates were doing their jobs well, I spoke before dropping the charms of misdirection and circular light. If I didn't, I might have been the recipient of one of those throwing spikes. Squirrel was amused when I told her my plans. Then I went to chat with Asgotl.

I cast charms of deep sleep on all five people in the house. We packed up clothes for three days for Emily and Tom and sent them ahead on Asgotl. Then I left one of my infamous spider notes floating above Raoleer's bed. She would wake up to find a glowing, revolving spider illusion several hands above her bed covers. When she tried to investigate it with mind magic, it would make a slight popping noise and drop one of my notes, informing her that by order of the Queen, I was abducting Emily and Tom so they could have some time together without interruption by Emily's corps of friends and other nosey parties.

I left another note for Twee, explaining that I was making off with Emily and Tom for a few days. Then I strapped the sleeping Emily and Tom onto Cadrees and departed for my house in Is’syal.

Oyyuth was in the back by Cadrees' shed. She already had the chest of clothes installed in Emily's room and Asgotl in the extra space next to Cadrees' perch. We carried Tom and Emily inside and put them to bed. I kept them under the charm of deep sleep so I would need to wake them in the morning. Then I retired to my own bed, explaining the Queen’s request to my lovely wife. As I expected, Oyyuth found the whole scheme delightful. It appealed to her overdeveloped sense of romance.

In the morning, I let our two guests sleep until the second bell. Then I woke Emily, allowing Tom to continue to snooze.

"Oh, little one, there's smoked trout and liver pate for morning repast," I tapped her on the shoulder while lifting the sleeping charm.

“Huh? What?” she got up on one elbow and looked around. “Where the…?”

"Good morning, Great One. I thought it wise to wake you first in case you attacked. I don't think it would do any good for Tom to witness a murder attempt first thing in a new place."

“Why are we here, Hessakos?” Emily looked wary.

“After the Queen talked with Tom two days ago, she was worried that Tom was getting too much attention from people other than you,” I explained, “so she asked me to abduct the two of you and to hide you in a private place where no one would come and bother you. She made a good argument, so I agreed. I realize we did not consult you, which might be a problem, but I decided to risk your anger because I think the Queen is right. It would be best if you had uninterrupted time with Tom. So for the next two or three days, that's what you've got. Your only worry will be whether to take your meals here or in the dining room with the family."

“Well, damn,” Emily looked a bit vexed. “I had a date with Twee for him to help with the permeable membrane for the electrolysis tank.”

“I left him a note," I told her. "He'll understand. I also left a note for the Holy Raoleer, one of my Usruldes spider notes." I couldn't help but grin.

“What? One of the spider illusions that turns into a message?” Emily looked intrigued. “I’d love to see one someday.”

“Maybe while you're here. So, you'll forgive the Queen and me for abducting you?"

“Well, maybe,” she gave me an unreadable look. “Did my housecoat follow me here?”

“Yes.”

“Can you fetch it for me? I need to use the necessary.”

I got up, found the clothes bag, and extracted the house coat. "We've redone all the plumbing in the house and brewery. There's a flush necessary in the bath chamber, plus a shower. Please tell me what you think of how we set things up since neither Oyyuth nor I are the right size to see if everything works okay."

I sat cross-legged on the floor while I waited for Emily to return. She returned and stood beside me, looking at the sleeping Tom.

“You should probably lift the sleeping charm,” Emily said. “Damn, this tile floor is cold,” she shifted from foot to foot.

I reached into the clothes bag and dug out her slips for her feet, “These should help.”

“Thanks.”

I lifted the charm of deep sleep and then woke him, “Tom, time to wake up.”

"Eh?" Tom opened his eyes, frowned at the unfamiliar ceiling, and then turned his head to look at Emily and me with an expression of confusion.

Tom said something in English, and Emily laughed.

I cast the charm of lost tongues and then asked, “Tom, could you repeat that, please?”

“Who are you?” he frowned at me.

“Just repeat it, Tom,” Emily grinned.

“In English?”

“Yes,” Emily nodded. “He has a charm that lets him understand English.”

“I said, I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore,” he said in English. This time, I understood the words.

“What’s Kansas?” I asked.

Tom and Emily looked at each other and then laughed. "I’ll explain later,” Emily promised. “It’s complicated.”

“So where is this?" Tom looked around the room. "This is a room in a Cosm house with Coyn furniture, yes?"

“You are at my house, Tom," I explained. "The Queen was concerned that you and Emily were not getting any peace since everyone wanted to meet and question Tom. So she asked me to abduct you and take you where you could spend some time together without any interruptions. She was especially concerned for you, Tom. She thought you were unhappy and unsettled when she spoke to you."

“What about her delivery problem? The Queen came to talk with me because the delivery schedule fell apart without me to manage it.” Tom looked a little upset.

“She told me yesterday that she had taken steps to get through the next rotation without you, so you should relax and take the time you need with Emily,” I said.

“Oh,” he flopped back onto his pillow. “I never thought the Queen could be that thoughtful. So, might I ask, just who are you?”

“That's right, you've only seen me in my work clothes," I found myself enjoying this. "When I'm in uniform, I go by Usruldes. When I'm at home, most folks on my street know me as Hessakos hat Kas'syo. When I work in the palace with the King in my royal courier role, I'm known as Lord of the Court Irhessa hat Kas'syo haup Gunndit. Lord Gunndit is my older sister, and High Priestess Lisaykos haup Foskos is my mother."

“Wait, you’re that scary assassin spy guy all in black?”

“Not at the moment," I smiled. "For the next few days, I'm just Hessakos, the royal courier husband of the Presiding Craftmaster of Is'syal, Master Brewer Oyyuth Kas'syo. She's the head of the household and your official host. She is off working at the brewery next door for now. Can you please remember to call me Hessakos? Usruldes is a name that must never be uttered inside my home. My identity as a wraith is state secret."

“Your wife knows?” Tom inquired.

"She knows I work for the king as one of his covert agents," I explained. "Let's just say she chooses not to know that I'm Usruldes the Wraith. My children do not know, which is how things need to stay."

“You’re a Gunndit? Aren’t you the guy who ran away years ago and showed back up last year? Does the High Priestess know you’re the infamous Usruldes?”

“Yes, my mother knows. So does my sister. But enough about me. Let me tell you about the house. We have a housekeeper and a cook. They will both leave you in peace unless you have a request for either of them. There are also children in the house. I have a boy, Troyeepay, who is currently off at school. He’ll be home at half past the fifth bell. He knows not to bother you two, though he does want to greet Emily.”

“Of course, I’ll say hello to Troy,” Emily protested. “I want to know how his math skills are coming along.”

“They put him in the advanced class with the older students," I replied, just a little proud of my kid. "He's doing geometry right now. So, Tom, there is one other child in the house. That's Amoythoy, my youngest daughter. She's a toddler and, therefore, unsafe to be around Coyn. She has been confined with her nurse to her bedroom and the playroom. You do not need to be worried about her. Just be aware that there is a toddler nearby. It's best not to go beyond the door at the end of the hallway to the left. The hallway to the right will lead you to the dining room, sitting room, kitchen, and backyard. The backyard is full of snow but the path is clear to where Asgotl is staying."

“Asgotl is here?” Emily asked.

“He's here and at your disposal, if you want to go somewhere. Just warn me if you do, please."

“Yes, mother,” Emily rolled her eyes at me. She knew I would have a wraith following her.

“I will leave you two for now. Just tell me, do you want to have morn repast here or in the dining room?”

Emily, Is’syal, Cold season, 4th rot., 5th day

While Tom was in the shower, Usruldes brought us morning repast on a platter filled with more food than I could eat in a week. I told him that.

“Really?” Usruldes looked surprised. “I took what I would eat myself and then halved it.”

“Math wasn’t your best subject, was it?” I scrutinized him.

“I'm quite good with both arithmetic and geometry," he sniffed, "and I was estimating based on Tom's probable appetite. He's big for a Coyn. I figured he was about half as high and half as wide as I am, so he's about one-quarter of me. If you portion one-quarter meal per Coyn and multiply by two Coyn, that makes one-half meal, right?"

I know I grimaced. It was such a painful mistake.

“What?” Usruldes insisted. “What was that look for? These things go by the square, right?”

“By the cube, dear heart,” I said softly and closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his embarrassment.

“Ouch," was all he had to say. A long moment passed as he fiddled with the alignment of the platter on the table. Then he added, "I should have known that. I will be in the dining room working, so yell down the hall if you need anything."

Usruldes left the platter on the Coyn-scaled table in the bedroom. While the room was standard-size for a Cosm bedroom, it was the size of a small house for a Coyn. Within its walls were a bed big enough for four Coyn, a table, four chairs, two armchairs, a magic radiator-cooler sphere, a clothes press, a wardrobe, shelving, a door bench, a shoe rack, and a walk-in closet converted into the bathing chamber.

The construction work to convert the room into living quarters for Coyn, along with its furniture, were both dated. Oyyuth told me on an earlier visit that the room was set up for a Coyn couple that her grandparents owned. The couple had done light housekeeping chores. Oyyuth’s parents inherited the couple when the Coyn pair were advanced in years. Because the couple was well-loved by the Kas'syo family, they stayed in the room made for them even when they were elderly and could no longer work. The family cared for them in their declining years until they passed away.

Since then, Oyyuth didn't need an extra room, so she never bothered to remodel. After she established I liked to visit, Oyyuth decided that the room was now mine. Given that Usruldes and Oyyuth had opened their home to me out of kindness before any prophet nonsense started, I felt comfortable here. My friendship with them had nothing to do with anyone who wanted to suck up to me because I was the so-called prophet. For reasons I didn't completely understand, that mattered to me now that Tom was here.

We were doing our best to stuff ourselves when we heard voices in the hallway. One was Usruldes, and he sounded a little sharp. The other was a tenor that sounded both familiar and strange at the same time.

The voices stopped, and we heard Hessakos' knock pattern on the door.

“Come,” I said as loud as I could.

Usruldes entered, followed by a taller version of Garki than I remembered. He wore trainee robes for the Fated Shrine cut for a guy instead of a teenage girl. He had a cloth-wrapped parcel and a letter on vellum.

Garki beamed the moment he saw me. Then he handed the parcel and letter to Usruldes, got on his knees, and made a perfect obeisance, “May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One, Revered One.”

“And upon you too, Revered One,” I winked at him. “Please be at your ease.”

“Thank you, Great One,” he sat back on his heels.

“Your voice finally broke,” I stated.

“Yes, finally.” He grinned.

Usruldes sat cross-legged next to Garki on the floor. "This child," Usruldes glowered, "not only did he beg to meet Tom, but he was sent here by the High Priestess of Galt, who knew you two were here."

“What?” I was gobsmacked. We didn’t even know we were coming here, but Kamagishi knew?

“Great One, my mistress said you would understand if you read this letter from her," Garki took the letter from Usruldes and handed it to me.

I took one look at the seal and handed it back. “Break the seal for me, please, Revered One. It’s too thick for me to break.”

Garki broke the seal as if he did this every day for Coyn too weak to open their own mail. He had plenty of practice at being unflappable after working as a royal page for Imstay King.

“I think I liked it better back when you still called me Garki," he returned the letter to me.

“What? You don’t like being promoted in status, Revered One?” I teased him as I unfolded the vellum. “It’s a polite form of address given our relative positions in polite society.”

Garki gave me a suspicious teenager look, the one where the kid is sure you’re holding back something. He then raised an eyebrow at Tom, “Please pardon my lack of manners in speaking before we are properly introduced. I am the Revered Garki, and I assume you are the Revered Tom. May I ask you, Revered One, if the Most Blessed Emily addresses you by your honorific or by your given name?”

To my horror, Tom grinned with a cant of his eyebrows that would have meant mischief during a previous life. "Well, Revered Garki, she sometimes calls me Tom," he stroked his chin, "though I believe numbskull is her usual name for me.” He used the English numbskull since there is no equivalent in Fosk.

“Is that an English word?” Garki looked fascinated.

"Yes," Tom's grin deepened. "Literally translated, it describes someone who has no feeling on the surface of their head. As a mild insult, it implies the person is so unobservant that any intelligence is absent."

“Ah! I see!” Garki enthused, “she means you’re an idiot.”

“Exactly,” Tom snapped his fingers in triumph. He and Garki grinned at each other.

“What did I do to deserve you?” I protested.

“Aren’t you lucky?” came the old flippant reply from Tom, just like he used to say when he snuck away from doing chores.

“Let's not go there, dear," I responded, right out of the old script we once used on each other. That cued the mutual glare. As expected, Garki and Usruldes stared at us momentarily and then laughed.

Recovering his composure, Garki returned to his line of questioning, “so, Great One, if you’ll call that Revered One next to you by his name, why won’t you use my name too? At least, in private company? You’re at least two steps above me in the shrine hierarchy, so it’s not considered rude even if you used my name in public with no honorific or title.”

“It seems so disrespectful,” I complained.

“The only person who will call me Garki now is the Queen, and she hasn’t moved back to Is’syal yet,” the kid drooped. “Since the Growing Season, even the King calls me the Revered Garki. I might as well not have a name anymore.”

Garki stabbed me in a weak spot since I felt that way myself. “Alright, Garki, you win, at least in private. Now let me read this mysterious letter from the Kamagishi Monster.”

“Monster?” Garki squeaked.

“You’re all monsters. Every Cosm is a monster – just ask me. Now, let me read.” I had to hold the vellum in both hands since it was wider than I was.

After the usual salutations, to the great exalted high holy muckety muck, from the slightly-less exalted high holy muckety muck, blah, blah, blah, Kamagishi finally got down to business: “Galt said to blame it on him. He said you would understand. At the beginning of Harvest Season, Galt gave me a dream command to prepare two Fated Shrine mantles with staff sigils for Coyn. He did not explain why, and I confess I was too nervous to ask him.

“Last night, Galt again visited my dreams. He told me you were coming to Is'syal for some protected time alone with Tom at the Presiding Craftmaster's house. He instructed me to send the mantles to you and Tom. He also said you should take Tom clothes shopping for appropriate cotton tunics and trews for sailing in warm weather and that the Fated Shrine will pick up the bill.

“Other than being unable to repress the irrepressible Garki, who insists on delivering this himself, I will not bother you and will forget that you're just a short walk away, as you neglect my hospitality. Did I tell you that I now have a stasis box in my study with that liver pate you like from that little shop down the hill from the House of Mounts?"

“Hah," I had to laugh, "and she calls Garki irrepressible? What a hoot. Kamagishi is worse than Garki."

“Wait, did you just insult me?” Garki looked confused.

“Oh, probably,” I smiled smugly at him. “Here, let me read this to everyone. I see the pawprints of a fluffy little god all over this situation.”

When I finished, Tom looked a little overwhelmed, but Usruldes was nodding at something.

“What is it?” I asked Usruldes.

"I think you have an answer to whether Tom should go with you and Twee to Sussbesschem," he explained, looking thoughtful.

After Garki left, Usruldes took us to the shop where the brewery bought its clothes for its Coyn.

“Oyyuth likes how this lady treats her Coyn," Usruldes explained as we walked to Threadneedle Row, two streets up on the Westway from Brewers Row. "Oyyuth says there are three kinds of owners in this world. The best treat their Cosm employees and their Coyn slaves with equal respect and care. Then there are those who treat their Coyn indifferently to poorly but treat their Cosm employees much better. Last are the scum who treat all their Cosm and Coyn workers badly.

“Oyyuth believes that most owners are the second sort,” Usruldes opened the door into the shop. “Naheedray gets Oyyuth’s best owner rating. She says the Naheedray spoils her Coyn worse than the brewery.”

“Welladay, Lord Irhessa. Are you well?” Naheedray rose from an armchair and bowed her head, hand over her heart. She looked like she was in her fifties, a bit plump with brown hair beginning to grey in the usual shopkeeper's bun. She wore a plain pale green gown made from thick, high-quality wool and a shawl.

The shop layout was fascinating to me. The front of the shop was like a sitting room for Cosm, with several armchairs arranged around a low table. In back of the chairs was the traditional beehive-shaped brick room furnace. The back half of the shop was a large mezzanine populated by twelve Coyn men and women of all ages who were either cutting out clothing pieces or sewing them together. It projected out to cover the entire back half of the shop.

Underneath the mezzanine floor, in a space that a Coyn could walk in comfortably, were racks of clothes and four Coyn-sized fitting chambers.

“I am well, Naheedray,” Usruldes returned her bow, “and you?”

“I am fine, thank you. I see you brought some new ones with you," she smiled, then looked a second time with greater scrutiny. "Are those mantles from the Fated Shrine?"

“Yes, they are," Usruldes replied, picking me up and putting me on one of the armchairs. "The shrine will pay for today's visit. Address the bill directly to the High Priestess." He turned, picked up the closed sign, and hung it on the outside door latch. Then he closed the door and locked it from the inside. I noticed all the Coyn on the mezzanine paused what they were doing to look at what was happening in the front of the shop.

Usruldes crouched next to Tom, "Let me introduce your customer today, Naheedray. This is the Revered Tom, Blessed of Galt."

Naheedray gasped. Then she got on her knees and did a full obeisance, “May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Revered One.”

Tom looked lost. “Em, what am I supposed to do?" he whispered.

“You say ‘and also upon you,’ and then give her permission to rise,” I replied, leaning forward in the chair.

“And also upon you, Naheedray. Please rise,” Tom intoned solemnly, his voice more confident than his face.

“Thank you, Revered One,” she smiled at Tom in a friendly way. Still on her knees, she looked at me. “Pardon me, but are those Galt’s eyes?”

I nodded, sighing at what was coming next.

She put her palms together and pressed them against her forehead. Then she kowtowed with her praying hands and face to the floor, "Please forgive this humble working woman, Great One, for not recognizing you and giving you your proper greeting. May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One. You honor my business."

“May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One,” a woman’s voice said from the mezzanine. I looked up and saw all the shop’s Coyn on their knees performing obeisance.

Tom’s fish face was incredible.

I sighed, “and also upon you all. Please rise and be at ease.”

Naheedray stayed on her knees to speak with me, “Great One, what can we do for you and the Revered One today?”

“The Revered Tom needs clothes," I smiled sweetly at Tom. "His clothes are fit for working on a farm but not for visiting the High Priestess at the Fated Shrine. Just assume he has no clothes and kit him out completely, right down to underthings, stockings, and boots. Also, he will be traveling soon to a warmer place than Foskos in the middle of the Cold Season, so he needs probably four changes of warm weather clothes suitable for working in and at least one set of warm weather clothes nice enough to wear at the palace."

“You have come to the right shop, Great One. We are the only place in the city that can fill such an order on short notice. Tovi," Naheedray called. "Will you please come down to fit out a customer?"

A tall middle-aged Coyn with blond hair rushed down the mezzanine stairs. He stopped to bow his head at me, "Great One, you honor our shop." I nodded at him. He turned to Tom, "Revered One, would you step this way, and I will show you what I believe will fit. We can also do alterations, with deliveries in one to two days." He took the gobsmacked Tom into the racks of clothes. I had to smile as I listened to Tom complain to Tovi about the unending usage of his honorific, only to be politely rebuffed. Such sweet schadenfreude.

Usruldes sat in the armchair next to me, "Poor Tom. You are enjoying his clothes fitting just a touch too much, dear heart.” He leaned down to put his eyes at my level, “I believe that there is a lovely gown in rose wool with the fitted sleeves you like on the end of the middle clothes rack. That shade of rose would compliment your fair coloring nicely. I’d love to see it on you.”

“In your dreams, oh delusional one," I protested.

I have no idea how I was coerced into trying on the gown and then standing on a footstool for alterations since it was too long and just a smidge too wide. Both Tom and Usruldes enjoyed watching the alterations just a little too much if you ask me.