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Chelsa buries herself in her friends, and the warmth of the world that Harley isn't on anymore. She doesn't understand him. She never will. But there's Corona, sun-scorching and intense; there's Amdon, her oldest and closest; there's Anneia, sweet and smiling; there's Sandre, cuddly and fun; there's Tima, pretty-kindling and empathetic; there's Pacco, bright and deferent; there's Jony, hot as a kiln; Lionara hot as molten glass. And Aelise herself, who makes so many compromises but who does love Chelsa after all.
Harley wasn't like that one cold, cold girl, who - she wasn't even technically a sociopath. Sociopaths kindle like everyone else. She was just - cold. Like an airless environment in which no fire can burn.
But Aelise had her killed, and Chelsa made sure no one would miss her, and if anything like that ever happened again, Chelsa has every confidence that Aelise would make it right. Harley's one thing. He can just be - out of sight, out of mind. Aelise would never expect Chelsa to compromise on the existence of such a terrible cold.
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warmfeelings
"Sometimes at school people who are especially friends let each other do bad things," Mehitabel says.
salus-populi
"I'm the empress," says Aelise. "That means that I can't let people do bad things just because I like them. I have to have a very good reason."
"But do you like her?"
salus-populi
"Yes. But since I also know why I like her, I'm not going to let it get in my way."
"Hmmm," says Mehitabel.
"I dunno. I need paper," says Mehitabel. "Or my computer."
"Then someone might read what I put on it," says Mehitabel.
salus-populi
"I could make whatever you put on it a state secret," says Aelise. "Or I could find you some paper, or I could take you back home and get your own computer to bring with us. The first one is fastest, and makes it hardest for anyone to read what you write down. Which one do you want?"
"If it's a state secret doesn't that mean you get to read it because you are the state?" asks Mehitabel.
"I don't know you, not really," Mehitabel points out.
salus-populi
"There is nothing you could possibly write down that I couldn't read if I really, really wanted to," she says. "I haven't so far, and I don't plan to start."
Mehitabel thinks about this.
Then she says, "I can just borrow a computer, then."
Then she says, "I can just borrow a computer, then."
"Doesn't matter," says Mehitabel, and in fact she makes no effort to hide the contents of the screen as she paints them on, which are completely incomprehensible isolated symbols connected by lines and squiggles.
Mehitabel will be incomprehensibly squiggling for a long while.
salus-populi
They have time.
Aelise gets out another tablet and starts reading something on it.
Aelise gets out another tablet and starts reading something on it.
Eventually Mehitabel concludes, "I need to know more things."
"About Chelsa and you and how things were hundreds of years ago and stuff. All the things. When I know how they all work I can figure out how to fix them."
salus-populi
"I see," says Aelise. "It's going to take you a long time to learn all those things. In the meantime, we have a different problem. Do you know what that is?"
"No. I fixed the problem where people could read stuff I write."