"Oh, her middle name?"
Tarens didn’t go in for middle names, and Nurans and Old Muinans ran their House and personal name together—so Lira’s full name was Liranadestar because she had belonged to House Destar, just as Sen was Sentarestal of House Restal. Ys and Rye had been only Ys and Rye until Cass and Kaoren had adopted them, and there were worlds of rank and privilege issues tied up in this naming system. It was not only out of Australian habit that Cass called Sen and Lira by shortened names.
"My middle name is Rose," Laura said. "Which is a type of flower that grows on both Earth and Muina, though Earth has a few thousand more varieties."
"Your name is Tree Flower and you like plants." Lira smiled for the first time. "That is very silly."
Laura stroked the girl’s thick hair. "I’ll have to name one of my characters Tree Flower one day. It’s nicely literal. Now, would you like to work on something as well? I’ll be meeting my friend in my game in an hour or so, but there’s time enough for me to show you how to use this type of clay."
"Can I try the game?" Lira asked, eyeing the Ruvord figure speculatively. "What is it called?"
"Red Exchange," Laura said, sending a link while admiring the girl’s unerring instinct for the nuances of friend. "I don’t see why not. Do you need me to help you make an account?"
Lira might have been born in a pre-industrial culture, but she’d clocked up a couple of years of heavy interface use, so this offer earned only a scornful negative, then some absent nodding as Laura told her which island to start on, and where to meet later. Laura watched her curl up on the workroom divan. There would be no long download delay—most of the games Laura had played on Muina had taken only a few minutes before they were playable.
After a pause to adjust the room’s temperature a notch higher, Laura sent a message to Gidds.
Laura: Would there be any issues with Lira joining us for today’s game?
Gidds: None occurs to me. She will know Allidi and Haelin a very little from Kaoren and Cassandra’s wedding.
Laura: I’ll see you soon, then.
Gidds had actually been the celebrant for Cass and Kaoren’s wedding—something Laura hadn’t managed to notice on multiple viewings of the event’s recording, so busy had she been staring at Cass. After meeting Gidds she’d gone back to look for him, and forgiven herself for not noticing the few side-on glimpses. But she should have remembered that voice.
Before returning focus to her models, Laura sat for a while watching her granddaughter. The girl’s usual haughty mask relaxed into a small frown, and then an absorbed expression that Laura suspected meant she’d reached character creation. When she let her guard down she looked younger than her thirteen years.
Lira had spent a very long time alone and afraid. She hardly ever let her guard down.
Since Laura had no solution to public speculation about the lifespan of a girl brought back from the not-quite-dead, she returned to working on Angharad’s starting outfit, but only made a little progress before it was time to pack away for the day. After tidying up, she touched Lira’s shoulder, murmured that she would be logging in, and then climbed the loops of the spiral stair up to her roofline window seat.
Chapter Fourteen
A girl called Rose was dancing with a tiny flying sea serpent in the fountain on Porphery Mountain. The sea serpent was blue and silver, with trailing scalloped fins. The girl strongly resembled a slightly-older Ys: an interesting choice given how very different the two girls were. Deciding the name was a compliment, Laura waved until the girl splashed over, the serpent disappearing from view.
"Look, Unna Laura." Rose-Lira held out her hand to display an Ouroboros brand in the centre of her palm. "Its name is Nimenny. I’m splashing because Nimenny likes it."
"That was quick!" Lira had obviously had no trouble with her first teszen. "Mine was very grumpy, and doesn’t seem to like anything at all."
"You sound very funny, Unna Laura. Isn’t it strange how our voices come out all different from how we’ve said them?" Lira was looking about. "I don’t see your friend. Isn’t he coming?"
"I’m a little early," Laura said, hiding a smile at the unabashed curiosity. "I’m glad you’re here. He’s bringing his daughters for me to meet, and now I won’t feel quite so outnumbered."
"How many daughters?"
"Two. You’ve met them before: they came to your Mum and Dad’s wedding. Allidi and Haelin."
Rose-Lira’s head came up, her eyes round. "Is your friend Tsur Selkie?"
"That’s right."
Lira’s amazed delight turned to suspicion. "His daughters are Kalrani."
"They are," Laura agreed readily. "I’m a little nervous to meet them, really."
"Why?"
"They’re both Sight Sight talents. And…let’s just say I want to make a good first impression."
Laura’s strategy worked: Lira was diverted back to the fascinating discovery that Unna Laura had a special friend.
"Why do you need to meet them in this game? They live in Pandora."
"They’re visiting Meziath at the moment. Gidds travels a lot, and the game lets me spend a little more time with him. Besides, I like games."
Laura spotted Ruvord-Gidds then, and raised a hand in greeting. With him were a pair of girls who stood almost equal to him in height—like Lira they’d chosen the upper age limit allowed for minors playing the game—but not closely resembling his Ruvord. Named Dakal and Zenneth, they were long-limbed, elegant and graceful, and gazed at her with cool interest.
Laura had not been able to avoid fretting over meeting Gidds' daughters, not least because their Sight Sight meant any nerves, minor irritations, and false enthusiasms would not necessarily be private. She had decided the most she could do was be forthright and friendly, and hope for the best.
Because it mattered whether they liked her. It would matter to Gidds. It mattered to Laura.
Wondering how much of this was clear to the girls through the filter of the game, she smiled at them and said hello. "You’ll have to tell me which is Allidi and which Haelin, I’m afraid."
"I’m Allidi," said Zenneth.
Dakal said: "Haelin," and then looked from Gidds to Laura: "Should we use our proper names or the game names when talking to each other?"
"The game names when other people are around, I guess," Laura said. "Though I gather so many people pretend to be Cass and her family any slips of the tongue are likely to be dismissed."
"I met one who was being me," Lira said. "She didn’t sound like me at all, but a few people seemed to believe her." From the face Lira made, it had not been a complimentary impersonation.
"Li—Rose has already contracted with her first teszen," Laura told the others. "If you’ve collected a mission for us, Ruvord, we’re all ready to set out."
Gidds nodded. "We’ll be taking the airship to Mris."
"I know where the docking platform is," Haelin said, shedding cool reserve to bounce a little.
"Then lead the way," Gidds told her, hanging back as she obeyed so that he could walk with Laura.
"Hello," she said quietly.
He brushed the back of her hand with his fingers. Such a small thing to leave Laura glowing with outright pleasure, simply because he wanted to greet her with that touch even though it would give him vertigo.
"What are you doing in Meziath?" Lira asked, trailing the sisters with a certain amount of reluctance.
"Looking," Haelin replied.