exploratory kidnapping

[alicornucopia]

In this room are two women, one gray and sixty years old, one just thirty and red-haired, both wearing elaborate outfits. The younger casts a spell.

In this room is now also a third person. (On whom the elder woman promptly also casts a spell, which she had at the ready.)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"Well, the fiction's over this way."

Over this way may indeed be found fiction.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda has to stop and have a moment again at the size of the fiction section.

"Can I come back here when I want and read more books? When is it open?"

[alicornucopia]

"This library is open from first-and-naught to twentieth-and-naught every day except major holidays," says Terali. "The next major holiday is Taieh in two weeks."

[missnicegirl]

"Thank you!"

Matilda dives into the books.

[alicornucopia]

Terali hangs out and reads one too to pass the time.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda really likes this library.

She comes back several more times over the next week or so. Going places is easy when you can magically teleport between worlds, and there are so. Many. Books.

[alicornucopia]

There are so many books! There are books about vampires who are trying to make friends in new homes and books about Linnipese revolutionaries throwing off the yoke of Ertydoan oppression and books about people falling in love during the early days of wizardry and books about climbing mountains and books about crises of faith that end in exultant affirmation of the divinity of Sennah and books about Oridaanlan princes who run away to seek nonmaterial fulfillment and books about dragons in which their sequestered disabled cousins serve as a poorly drawn metaphor and books about singers in the cut-throat popular music business and books about sickly lights who inspire their family members to become better people and books about barristers throwing it all away to pursue sculpture and books about florists with allergies and fictitious plant-related magical abilities and books about people who like to spend their time pretending to be pre-colonization wise women or rugmakers or scribes and books about breeding talking cats for fun and profit.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda reads so many books. This library is - she sits down and estimates it - fifty times the size of the town library in Lyndonville. Finishing a whole section here would take years.

It is sometimes hard to tell whether a thing is fictional or not. She writes down lists of such things to look up.

Talking cats do not exist. Vampires do. Fictitious plant-related magical abilities do not exist. Aleism does (Matilda is, privately, skeptical about Sennah).

Do shrens exist?

[alicornucopia]

Shrens do exist. This library has several books about them, even, in the nonfiction sections.

[missnicegirl]

...

Matilda sits down and reads the books.

[alicornucopia]

The books explain shrens. (Well, most of them are about peripheral topics and just summarize shrens-the-concept in the first chapter, then go on to talk about the history of shrens, or notable accomplished shrens, or shrens in the context of Dragon Council politics, or case studies of families that have found themselves burdened with shrens, or shren psychological problems.)

[missnicegirl]

Matilda looks up the addresses of Elcenia's four shren houses. She blinks home to explain to Jenny that she might be out for a few more hours.

She teleports to the entrance of the shren house in Paraasilan, Esmaar, for no particular reason except that it's one of the three that is on land. She knocks on the door. She waits.

[alicornucopia]

Presently the door opens. A woman who looks twenty and has sky-blue hair opens the door.

She looks at Matilda.

She does not seem impressed.

She says a few words in the local non-Ertydon language.

[missnicegirl]

"Hello," says Matilda. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Leraal, I'm from another world. I have a kind of magic that learns how to do new things very easily, and it hasn't learned how to do very many things yet, but I learned about shrens just now, and now I want to teach my magic how to do something that will help shrens. Can I come in?"

[alicornucopia]

Jensal looks at her.

Jensal stands aside.

[missnicegirl]

"Thank you," she says. "My name is Matilda. The magic is called ialdae." She comes in. "What things would help? I just read about you in some books, I don't know very much yet. But I didn't want to wait."

[alicornucopia]

"Painkillers. Social acceptance. Linguistic acceptance. A cure," says Jensal.

[missnicegirl]

"Linguistic acceptance?"

[alicornucopia]

"The word for your magic is Draconic, so you're passing familiar with the language. In the exalted opinion of Draconic," says Jensal, "shrens are awful. This can get wearing."

[missnicegirl]

"That seems bad. I think maybe I should try to help the babies before I try to fix that, though. I don't know how, but I can learn things, I'm good at that. How do I help the babies? So far ialdae has learned how to move objects around and mimic the effects of some wizard spells and do a thing like a light's light that can work at a distance or on lights... It's hard to figure out what things are easier or harder to teach it, but I really want to do something."

[alicornucopia]

"Will it help if I go and get you a baby?"

[missnicegirl]

"It might!"

[alicornucopia]

Jensal shows Matilda into an office, indicates that she may have a seat, and goes out. She is back shortly with a little black baby shren.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda looks at the little black baby shren.

She concentrates on understanding this problem...

[alicornucopia]

"Hi," says the little black baby shren.