Lissie woke. Her head throbbed. She stepped out of the bed, and her feet fell on broken glass. She pulled them up and looked at the floor.
It was not a dream.
Of course it wasn’t, dear. Nelli’s voice, this time safely back within her head.
She pulled on her dress and shoes, avoiding the glass on the floor. She did not go to the nurse’s station. She went to Cora’s room, but she knew Cora would be working. Cora slept in the lab these days. She knocked anyway.
Lissie pushed the door open when no one answered. She made her way to the large bookcase.
There were no children’s books. The only books she saw were large tomes, filled with notes and papers. Half of them were journals written by Cora or others. She searched and did not find what she was looking for.
The creche.
The creche was in the highest room of the tallest tower. The children were not allowed on the street or anywhere near the Roses. She noticed how much light was coming through the windows.
I slept in? No one woke me?
I wanted you to have time to consider my offer, Nelli said.
Lissie walked faster. She passed engineers in their white leathers and mercenaries in their clinking armor. None spoke to her. Terndowns was still busy, it was just contained. Like a hive.
She heard singing as she crested the stairs. Off-key and out of sync. Children’s voices. She did not knock at the door at the top, she eased it open.
Thirty children were sitting in a circle around a woman with a lute. Lissie waved to her in apology. She was wearing a pastel pink dress with a fuchsia vest and purple boots. The walls were painted with vivid flowers. It did not smell of vinegar, though there was a hint of pee.
The children stopped singing and the woman chirped, “We have a visitor today, class!” She got up and made her way over to Lissie. She whispered, “Is there trouble? Do we need to move the children?”
“No, no! Everything’s fine.” Lissie smiled wide. “I just wanted to borrow a book.”
The woman’s smile did not falter, but she did cock her head. “From the children?”
Lissie looked around for a bookshelf. “I’m teaching someone how to read.”
The pink-dressed lady turned to the children and asked, “What’s our favorite book?”
There was a chorus of different answers. The lady held out her hand for Lissie to wait and she said, “Find your book on the shelf, and then she can pick!”
A little boy bolted from the circle, and was the first one to hit the shelf. He had a mop of blond hair that reached to his waist. Lissie realized he must have Nomad blood by how bright it was.
He sprinted over and thrust the book at her. “This is Sir Ringsley. He’s a knight. He slays the serpent of the Eible Sea. It’s the best book I’ve ever read.”
It was a fairly thick book. Lissie thought it sounded violent. “That’s a bit hard for my friend, I think. Maybe once he’s gotten better at reading.”
A little girl with black hair was next in line. “This one’s about a princess. I think it might be about Lady Maribelle’s daughter. She’s blond in the book, but she’s smart!”
It was thin with a picture of a tower on the cover, with a rope hanging down from the window. “That looks like a lovely book, I’ll pick that next time.”
The boy behind the black-haired girl was tiny. Lissie thought he may have been three or four, but she didn’t spend a lot of time with children. He whispered, “This one.” He hid his face behind the teacher.
The lady in pink said, “Go on, you can tell the nice lady.”
“It’s Hoppy Bunny. It’s my favorite.” He didn’t emerge from behind the woman.
Lissie felt tears pricking at her eyes as she took the book. “My friend will love this one. Thank you very much.”
She left the children and heard singing start as soon as she closed the door behind her. The cover of the book showed a rabbit in a waistcoat standing in front of a cabin. Between her fingers it felt like maybe ten pages. Her breath came ragged for a moment and she started down the stairs.