"Elementals dance?"

"Sometimes."

"Do you?"

"No. I don't know how."

"Me neither." He gestures at his hair. "Sasa learned in school but not me."

"Elementals don't have school."

"Where do elementals who dance learn dance?"

"They just do it by themselves."

"I guess I would learn languages even no school."

Nod.

"Why dancing show not other television shows?"

"It was easiest to understand without knowing Anitami."

"Was there an elementals humans war?" he asks Maurabel, frowning.

"...no. Not really."

He doesn't press it. "Are there other books you'd like?"

"I don't know if I'm ready for anything that isn't intended for children yet but maybe there are kids' history books or something?"

"Probably! I can ask them to bring some." Type type.

"Thanks. The thing where you touch letters so they appear is really clever."

"It is! They spent a long time on designs so people could write on a pocket everything fast, since people do so much writing that way. More than on paper, most people."

"Makes sense. Paper is new, you can make it with wood magic but before we had to write in clay, which would have been so annoying."

"So many new things, it must be such an exciting time."

"It is."

Someone brings illustrated Anitami children's history books.

She picks her way through them and asks questions.

Anitam was a poor country all privately owned by dukes and duchesses with big estates where other people worked as farmers! There were cities for trade on the coast but no way to get to them if you didn't live on a river and they were mostly not governed at all. Anitam got trains and power plants and started growing up, but then the mean evil Oahk Empire invaded. Their soldiers hurt people and they had cruel rules about children. This half of Anitam didn't let the soldiers come and there was war for a long time. Finally the Empire collapsed of being mean and evil and Anitam was free! They worked very hard and became a rich happy modern country with enough for everybody, and now they are safe and strong so no one can attack them again.