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way.
    Inconspicuous
. Imi smiled. It was a new word she had learned recently. She said it under her breath.
    They stepped out of the market into Main River. It wasn’t really a river, since it carried no water, but all of the ways in the city were named rivers, streams, creeks or trickles. The larger public caves were called pools—sometimes puddles if someone was mocking the neighborhood.
    Main River was the widest thoroughfare in the city. It led straight to the palace. She had never known Main River to be empty, not even late at night. There was always someone on it, even if it was just a courier hurrying to or from the palace, or the night guards patrolling the palace gates.
    Today the River was crowded. Two of the guards following her stepped forward to ensure people moved out of her way. The noise created by so many voices, slapping feet, music and singing of entertainers was deafening.
    She caught a thread of melody and paused. It was a new song, called “The White Lady,” and she was certain it was about the landwalker visitor. Her father had banned anyone from playing it in the palace. Teiti caught Imi’s arm and pulled her forward.
    “Don’t make the guards’ job any harder,” she said in a low voice.
    Imi did not argue.
Can’t show too much interest in the song anyway, in case they guess I know about the landwalker
.
    They reached the end of Main River. Teiti let out a sigh of relief as they stepped out of the crowd, through the gates and into the quiet of the Palace Pool. A guard stepped forward and bowed to Imi.
    “The king wishes to see you, Princess,” the man said formally. “In the Main Room.”
    “Thank you,” Imi replied, managing to suppress her excitement. Her father wanted to talk to her in the middle of the day! He never had time to see her during the day. It must be important.
    Teiti smiled approvingly at Imi’s restraint. They walked down the main stream of the palace at a dignified but frustratingly slow pace. Guards nodded politely as she passed them. The stream was full of men and women waiting to see the king. They bowed as Teiti and Imi walked past to the open double doors of the Main Room.
    As Imi stepped into the huge room she saw her father leaning on the arm of his throne, talking to one of four men sitting on stools arranged before him. She recognized her father’s counsellor, the palace steward and the head clothes-maker. Her father looked up, smiled broadly and opened his arms.
    “Imi! Come give your father a hug.”
    She grinned, tossed all decorum aside and ran across the room. As she leapt into his arms, she felt them wrap around her and the vibration of his laugh deep within his chest.
    He released her and she settled on his knee.
    “I have an important question for you to answer,” he told her.
    She nodded, making her expression serious. “Yes, Father?”
    “What entertainments would you like to see at our party?”
    She grinned. “Dancing! Jugglers and acrobats!”
    “Of course,” he said. “What else? Can you think of something particularly special?”
    She thought hard. “Flying people!”
    His eyebrows rose and he looked at his counsellor. “Do you think a few Siyee would agree to attend?”
    She bounced up and down with excitement. “Would they? Would they?”
    The counsellor smiled. “I will ask, but I can’t make any promises. They might not like being underground where they can’t see the sky, and they can’t fly in small places. There isn’t enough room.”
    “We could put them in our biggest, tallest cave,” Imi suggested. “And paint the roof blue like the sky.”
    Her father’s eyes lit with interest. “That would be a sight.” He smiled at her and she searched for more ideas that might please him.
    “Fire-eaters!” she exclaimed.
    He winced, probably remembering the accident that had happened a few years before, when an overly nervous new fire-eater had spilled burning oil over himself.
    “Yes,” he said. “Is that all?”
    She