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and this is the fifth time I’ve seen them so brightly in their hundreds. Here, I’ll help you put those heavy books away. Spare irritating your hand.”
    She seemed about to hesitate, but he stacked five volumes deftly on one arm and walked to the proper shelf. She hastily gathered up more.
    “Did you have any luck with your research?” she asked when they had finished racking.
    “Actually, no,” he said. “But there may not be a source.”
    “With all this?” She indicated the full ranks of shelving around them.
    “Aivas didn’t know everything,” he said, once again managing to startle her. “That’s not heretical, you realize, because he couldn’t have recorded anything after the Second Crossing.”
    “I know.”
    There was an odd note in that simple agreement that he didn’t dare query.
    “The answer to my puzzle probably doesn’t even exist,” he added.
    “What puzzle?” She inclined her body slightly in his direction.
    Ah, she’s curious. That’s good. “Initials.” He reached into his belt and found the slip of paper. “S.K.” He smoothed it out toshow her. She frowned slightly, puzzled but not totally reserved. “I believe the initials are Stev Kimmer’s,” he said.
    She blinked. “Who?”
    “A real villain—”
    “Oh! The man who absconded with a functional sled after the Tubberman launch?”
    “You know your history.”
    She flushed, ducking her head. “I was very fortunate to be accepted to the Landing School.”
    “You were? I hope you were a better student than I was.”
    “But you were already a rider,” she said, startled into looking directly at him. Her eyes were an unusual shade of green.
    He grinned. “That didn’t necessarily mean I was a good student. If you’re still studying,” and he gestured at the shelving, “then you learned good habits. Did you stay on here when you finished schooling?”
    She glanced away from him, and he couldn’t imagine what he had said to alarm her.
    “Yes,” she said at last. “I was fortunate. You see,” she explained hesitantly, “my father brought us all here. From Keroon. He was a Smithcraft journeyman and helped—here.”
    “Oh?” F’lessan drawled the exclamation out encouragingly when she faltered.
    “My brothers were his apprentices, and my mother took my sister and me to the school, in case we were lucky enough to be accepted. My sister didn’t like school.”
    “Not everyone does,” F’lessan said with a self-deprecating chuckle. Her quick glance gave him the impression that she had taken to learning as a fire-lizard to the air. “So …?” he prompted.
    “Then, during the last Turn when everyone at Admin was so busy, Master Samvel sent me here to work. My father was anxious to find a good place to hold and they went off.”
    And, F’lessan thought from the sorrow in the set of her shoulders and dejected attitude, she had never heard from them again.
    “Did anyone look for them?”
    “Oh, yes,” she said quickly, glancing up. “T’gellan sent out a full wing.” She looked away again.
    “No trace at all?” he asked gently.
    “None. Everyone was very kind. I was apprenticed to Master Wansor—I read for him. He liked my voice.”
    “I don’t wonder at that,” F’lessan said. He had already noticed how expressive her voice could be.
    “That’s how I came to be at the Monaco Bay Hatching and Impressed Zaranth.”
    “Reading to Master Wansor?”
    “No,” she said in an amused tone. “He liked to have someone telling him what was going on. So we were seated to one side of the Hatching Ground.”
    F’lessan chuckled. “Yes, I remember. Master Wansor had to push you at Zaranth. You didn’t know what to do: respond to the hatchling or tell Master Wansor what was happening.”
    The smile that lit her face and her green eyes was evocative of the sense of incredulity and wonder that overwhelmed anyone lucky enough to Impress a dragon. His smile answered hers and both were silent for a long