Another face familiar to Rhysel became visible in the crowd - Korulen's friend Kaarilel.

"Oh, hi!" the elf girl said, moseying with some difficulty through the crowd towards Rhysel.

"Speaking of Korulen's friends," Rhysel said to Maeris, indicating the approaching figure. "Hello Kaarilel. How are you?"

"I'm okay. This place is worse than my house on the Day of the First Tear, though! I can't even find Lutan - we got separated like five minutes after we showed up and I haven't spotted her since."

"It's quite crazy, yes. I haven't seen Lutan myself. What's the Day of the First Tear?"

"Oh, it's supposedly the anniversary of the day the Dragon of Tears started, you know, being the Dragon of Tears, but they've probably got the date wrong. It's the thirty-third of Nidhel, anyway."

"Ah. Is it a big holiday?"

"Yeah, and we have a big party and the number of people in my house quadruples. It's a mess. But nowhere near like this."

Rhysel grinned. "I've not seen gatherings like this very often myself - not familial ones, at any rate."

"Well, at least Korulen just invited me and Lutan. I think if she'd brought one more friend this place would burst."

"Well, if she knew any air mages, there's probably some room up by the ceiling." Rhysel said, maintaining a deadpan expression.

Kaarilel giggled. "I think some of the dragons shifted to their little forms to take up less space!"

Rhysel giggled as well. "That would be a good idea wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. Look, there's a beetle on that lady's shoulder," she said, pointing out Samia from the crowd.

"That would be Korulen's uncle Narax, then. That's Samia, his wife, you just pointed out."

"Oh, you know them?"

"Yes. Narax more than Samia, but I do know them both."

Kaarilel nodded. "I'm gonna go look for Lutan some more. I think she might have gone outside." She squeezed through the crowd, rapidly leaving sight.

"Okay. Good luck finding her," Rhysel called after Kaarilel.

"We're out of plates!" someone hollered.

"Reten, would you go next door and ask the Terikelik if they have a couple dozen plates we could borrow?" someone else said loudly.

"And glasses! And soup bowls!"

"Use the salad bowls!"

"We're not having salad?"

"No, we're having broccoli, and carrots with cheese -"

An older halfling man squeezed his way out of the crowd. "Hi, sweetie," he said to Maeris. "It's a madhouse in here! Are you sure I'm welcome?"

"Sure you are. We don't take up much room," she said with a grin. "Rhysel, this is my husband Lujen. Lujen, this is my student Rhysel - I mentioned her, didn't I?"

Lujen nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Rhysel," he said, standing on tiptoe and holding out his hand.

Rhysel reached down and took the offered hand. "Pleased to meet you as well." She smiled warmly.

"So are you a relative of one of theirs, or a friend, or what?" he said. "We didn't even bring our children, so I don't think you're here just because you're Rissy's student."

"Don't call me Rissy in front of people," said Maeris affectionately, kissing him on his stubbled cheek.

Rhysel smiled. "I'm a friend of Keo's, although I'm sort of Korulen's fault."

"Korulen's - fault?" he said, furrowing his brow.

"I'm an offworlder. Korulen and her roommate summoned me, but they don't have the capacity to send me home for a few more years."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lujen said sympathetically.

"Thanks. It's all right, though. I've gotten used to it. And I've made friends - like Keo."

"Speaking of which," he said energetically, "would you like to bet on what letter the baby's name will start with?" He produced a pad of paper and a pen.

"I didn't bring anything to bet with."

"Place your bet in any alphabet," he added, "but I'll need Ri- ah, Maeris to help me figure the splitting relative to the one for Gingha if you want it precise, and - oh, that's all right, Maeris can just pick it up later if you lose."

"All right then. How about nen?"

"Nen, nen - got three bets on that so far. Bets are an aaber apiece, by the way."

"That's fine. I just don't have any on me."

"That's okay. I'll just write you down. Maeris'll bring you your winnings or collect your loss once we know what the deal is." He pecked Maeris on the cheek, popped a salute to Rhysel, and waded into the crowd again. "Bets on the first letter of the baby's name right here!"

"He seems quite enthusiastic," Rhysel said to Maeris.

Maeris chuckled. "Dear, sweet man, but sometimes I'm not entirely sure I like his fascination with gambling. But I've put up with it for sixty years and I see no reason to stop now."

"Is he a halfling or a dragon?"

"Halfling," Maeris said. "I'm not that old!"

"Apologies. I thought he might be, but I wasn't sure."

"I wish he'd go by his full name," the tiny dragon grumbled. "If I introduced him as something longer than two syllables people wouldn't make that mistake. But no, it makes his name sound too much like the Gingha word for 'eggplant'."

"What is his full name?"

"Lujenrao. Which does sound like Gingha for "eggplant" - "ludjanrou" - but it's still a nice name!"

"I think it sounds nice. But since I don't speak Gingha, I'd never make the eggplant connection."

"I can teach you Gingha if you like. After we're through with Leraal. It's a pretty language."

"Who speaks it?"

"Natives of Tava," Maeris said. "That's about it. If you ever want to learn Ician, though, it's helpful - they're related."

"Tava is where you live?"

"Yep."

Lutan emerged from the crowd. "Have you seen Kaarilel?" she said, sounding out of breath. "We got split up and I can't find her anywhere!"

"She went outside to look for you, maybe five minutes ago," Rhysel said.

"Thanks," the human said, diving back into the crowd in the direction of the door.

"I hope there's enough food for everyone," Rhysel said, looking at the crowd once more.

"DINNER'S READY!" someone screamed at the top of his lungs. "SEATS ARE NOT ASSIGNED!"

"There will be," Maeris assured Rhysel.

"Should we wait for the press to thin out a touch first?"

"We're already at the back of the crowd," Maeris pointed out. "We couldn't get through those people if we tried."

"True enough. And while I could fly us over everyone, I don't really think that's a good idea considering how I'm dressed. I'm not in a rush, anyway."

The dragon nodded.

Eventually, the crowd all flowed into the dining room, which was occupied by a tremendously long table - half of the room noticeably bare of the pictures and other decorative odds and ends that marked the other half, presumably as a result of Kanaat's magical tampering to accomodate the crowd.

By the time Rhysel and Maeris walked into the room, no two seats were available next to each other, so Maeris gave Rhysel an apologetic look and went off to the seat Lujen had saved for her. Rhysel took the nearest empty seat, not particularly concerned by whom she was seated. She wound up between a matronly elf woman and a green-haired human-looking teenage girl. She sat, however, across from Vara and Pilar, the latter of whom waved at her; Rhysel waved back to the dwarf.

The table was laid out with dozens of dishes. Once the last chair had been filled, people started reaching for things and either serving themselves or passing the dishes to the left. All of the dishes in Rhysel's vicinity were picked up before she could reach for them, but she was promptly passed a large bowl of what looked like rice pudding with cranberries in it. She took a little of anything that looked familiar enough to suit her, including the rice pudding dish, passing everything along as it came to her. It turned out that there were two copies of every dish, so she only had to wait half as long as she would have if the dishes were being passed around the entire table. Only half the items were identifiable to her without assistance, but she still wound up with about fifteen things.

She started to eat her meal, observing the others at the table; most of them, by the time all the dishes had all gone around, had struck up conversations with their neighbors. "So who are you?" asked the teenager on Rhysel's right.

"I'm Rhysel - I'm a friend of Keo's. Where do you fit into all this?"

"I'm Keo's bratty little cousin Hyenra," the dragon girl yawned, cutting up her beef.

Rhysel laughed at that. "How true is the bratty appellation?"

"Depends who you ask. I don't think I'm so bratty anymore. I guess I used to be."

"When you were eighty or so? I assume you're older than that now."

"I'm a hundred and fifty," she said, starting in on her mashed cauliflower.

She nodded. "Most people go through a bratty phase, I've noticed."

"Yeah. But I mean, just thirty years and I'll be off on my own."

"Where do you think you'll start?"

"I dunno yet. Probably someplace in the south. I hate cold weather."

"I thought dragons were more or less indifferent to temperature."

"Well, we don't tend to die of exposure or whatever, but that doesn't mean I like shivering my tail off," Hyenra said.

"Fair point," she conceded.

"Excuse me," said the elf woman on Rhysel's other side. "Could you pass the deneava?"

"Certainly. Which one is it?"

"That one," she said, indicating a blue casserole dish with a lumpy orange-and-yellow mixture in it. Rhysel picked it up and passed it over.

"Thanks," said the elf.

"You're welcome."

Keo's bratty little cousin Hyenra had started a conversation with the elf on her right. Rhysel ate quietly, listening to conversations around her. "What letter did you bet on?" Hyenra asked the elf.

"Raas," he replied.

"I bet kar," Hyenra replied. "I mean, you've got Keo, and Kanaat, and Korulen - why mess with a good thing?"

"If you win, though, you're going to have to split the pot with everybody else who bet kar for the same reason," said the elf. "I bet raas. Nobody else had bet raas when I placed the bet, although probably someone did after."

Meanwhile, the woman on Rhysel's right addressed her. "So how do you know the family?" she asked.

"Through Korulen, although I'm friends with Keo more than her daughter. Are you one of Kanaat's relatives?"

"Yes, I'm his mother," she said.

"Ahh."

"My name is Iresal."

"Mine's Rhysel. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm glad they're finally getting around to naming the poor child. I don't think I approve of the way dragons wait to do that."

"She seems quite eager for her name."

"I know, poor thing must be quite confused about why everyone else has a name and she's just 'the baby'. I can only imagine what happens when they have a clutch! What did Keo's parents call her and her sister - 'the first baby' and 'the second baby'?"

"No idea. Never occured to me to ask," Rhysel said with a smile, finding the idea humorous.

"They did, actually," said Vara to Iresal.

"Oh, are you Vara?" asked Iresal. "I'm sorry if I caused offense."

"Doesn't bother me," said Vara. "Just thought I'd satisfy your curiosity. How are you holding up, Rhysel?"

"Settling in, finally. The last couple of weeks have been about as normal as I could hope for. It's nice to finally feel like I'm starting to fit in. Although I still have a lot of gaps - like not knowing what 'deneava' was, for instance."

"It's a sweet potato and banana casserole dessert," said Hyenra.

"Interesting mix."

"It's really good," she said. "Try some."

Rhysel took a little from the dish, putting it on her plate, then gave it a taste. "That is pretty good. Still an unusual mix, but good."

"Glad you like it," said Iresal. "I can give you the recipe if you like."

"Yes, please. I've not learned any local recipes yet."

"Excellent," Iresal said approvingly.

"I enjoy cooking. I really should stop at a store and buy a recipe book one of these days," Rhysel said.

"You might want to talk to Keo's parents," Hyenra said. "They own a bakery, and probably have lots of recipes they could give you."

"That's what I've heard. I understand they'd be interested in some of mine as well. I haven't met her parents as yet, though."

"Well, it is rather hectic here at the moment," Iresal said. "Those are they, though." She pointed out a human-shaped couple about ten seats down. The woman looked identical to Keo, except that she had her hair in a many-stranded braid at the nape of her neck, and the man was a carbon copy of Narax except for wearing his hair longer and tied back in a ponytail.

Rhysel nodded. "Yes, I've not been around this many people in such a small space for a long time. Thanks for pointing them out."

"You're welcome."

"How are things in Pleia, Vara?" Rhysel asked.

"Cold," Vara said. "And apparently war is brewing - again - with Mekand."

"Happens a lot?" asked Rhysel.

"Pleia's very warlike," Vara said.

Rhysel nodded again. Dinner continued with random conversation for a bit more than an hour before everyone had finally finished eating. Keo, Kanaat, Narax, Samia, and one of Kanaat's friends who was also a wizard started teleporting people up to the pond by the school one at a time, where the naming ceremony itself was to be held. Lines formed in front of them. Rhysel wound up in the line with the man she didn't know. After waiting for the fifteen people ahead of her, she reached the head of the line. "Hello," said Kanaat's friend, a middle-aged human man, as he held out his hand.

She took his hand. "Hello."

He teleported her to the edge of the pond and then teleported away again to get the next person in line.

---

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