"If you want to do what your parents say, you can," says Matilda. "But sometimes parents are wrong about things, or don't care. My parents were wrong a lot and didn't care very much, and that's why I got Miss Honey to adopt me. I think if you know your fheeil is wrong about you being crazy, then it's okay not to do what he says when you know he's only saying it because he's wrong about something."

"Aaihhhi tells me to be good for my fheeil though."

"I like your aaihhhi, he's nice," says Matilda. "But nice people can be wrong too. Does he think the same thing as your fheeil about you being crazy?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, it makes sense that he'd tell you to be good for your fheeil since he doesn't know your fheeil is wrong about something important," says Matilda. "Maybe he'd say something different if he knew."

"Everybody," says Leekath, "thinks that hearers are crazy. We're just not dangerous so I can still go to school and stuff if my parents let me."

"Everybody is wrong about hearers being crazy," says Matilda. "It's really real magic and anyone who can see magic with ialdae can say so."

"But my parents can't do that," says Leekath.

"No, but lots of people can, and I bet if I found an agreeable wizard I could get them to invent a wizardry analysis for it and then anyone who could cast the analysis could say so too."

"I guess that would help," says Leekath dubiously.

"Okay. So I can do that, and then if you ask your parents if you can study ialdae and they both say no, maybe they will change their minds after they learn hearing is real magic and you're not crazy."

"Is there a school for it or what?" asks Leekath.

"No, there's mostly just me. I'm the first person who ever used ialdae and I still know more things about it than anybody else. But if your parents want more grownups to be involved, I can probably find someone."

"I don't know if it would help," says Leekath. "It would probably be easiest if it was taught at my school."

"Well, where's your school? Maybe I'll go teach ialdae there."

"It's called Binaaralav and it's in Paraasilan."

"Okay! And now that I know how to make vampires immortal I should do it for the rest of your family if they want, but I don't know how to ask your fheeil about that. I think maybe he doesn't like me or something."

"He mostly... doesn't... like people."

"Well, I'll try asking him anyway, I guess. Do you know where your aaihhhi's office is? I could go there to offer it to him too, since it doesn't seem like he's going to come home soon."

"It's in Parliament, and I can find it if I'm in the Parliament building but I don't know how to get there from here without going to the teleportation station."

He is in a small officey room with the door closed.

She knocks.

"What is it?"

"I figured out how to make vampires immortal, and it's really easy and it only takes a split and I can do it for you if you want, and for your other kids too," says Matilda. "And then I think I'll find Thiies's office and offer it to him."