"That's not fair," huffs Shura.

"I'd give you one too if I could!"

"It's not your birth blessing, right?" says Shura, scrunching up her face trying to remember.

"No, my birth blessing's something about Kalavar," she says. Kalavar arches her spiny neck.

Nicoa turns into a puffy rabbit. "Mine is boring, and I don't even get a shouting power," Shura says.

"What is yours?"

"I don't get sick much," shrugs Shura. "I guess it's okay, it's just not interesting."

"What one would you pick, if you could pick one?" wonders Helen. She nudges Kalavar off her book and opens it to the goddess chart.

"Something cool. Like - like my great grandmother only has to sleep three hours a day, I like that one."

"That would be cool," Helen agrees.

"Oh well," sighs Shura theatrically. "I'm gonna go find grandma and we are going to the lake to feed ducks." (Nicoa becomes a duckling, illustratively.) "You can come probably."

"Okay!" says Helen, scooping up Kalavar onto her shoulder with a last glance at the book. "Let's go feed ducks!"

They locate Shura's grandmother, and they go to the lake, where there are ducks.

"It would be more fun if you got to pick your birth blessing," says Helen, apparently out of the blue during duck-feeding. "I'd want grace as mine."

(Kas is writing a postcard. He crushes it in his hand and stuffs it into his pocket.)

"That would be a good one too," agrees Shura. "It'd be good for dagger fighting!"

Helen giggles.

Shura flings corn kernels to the ducks and giggles when they quarrel over them.

Well, that's adorable.

Kalavar becomes a duckling and squeaks and flaps her wings at Helen until Helen feeds her. This is a source of great amusement to both of them.

"You're not a real duck," Nicoa scoffs at Kalavar.

"So?" says Kalavar, and she flaps her fuzzy wings some more.