The next morning, Nim woke to find Ann studying magic from a makeshift spellbook. “Good morning,” he said. “Your magic coming back?” She nodded. “It’s slow, but it’s happening. “There’s a place we can get some food for breakfast. It’s close enough to walk to.” Nim nodded. He was hungry. The sign on the building had a similar design to what was on Jo’s food the night before. “They only have pork at breakfast time. What do you want, bacon, sausage, or ham?” “What? Only pork?” Ann shrugged. “That’s what people around here eat for breakfast.” “What else is there?” “Fried potatoes or eggs.” “What kind of eggs?” “Chicken.” “Birds? Birds are bait.” “What other kind of eggs are there?” Ann asked. “Lizard.” “A lizard eating lizard eggs? That seems wrong.” “You eat mammals. I don’t eat dragon eggs.” “Dragons don’t lay eggs.” “I don’t eat dragon meat,” I’ll take sausage. I can pretend it’s something else. No eggs.” “Orange juice, apple juice, or milk?” “Milk?” Nim raised an eyebrow. “It’s good.” “I’ll have orange juice.” It had been a while since he had any. “I’ll order for you. Why don’t you pick a table?” Nim nodded and looked around. Some of the tables were taller and had taller chairs. He thought those might be more comfortable for him than the lower chairs since he was rather tall. But Ann was short. She might have trouble even getting into one of those chairs. He didn’t want to cause her embarrassment. He could use the standard sized chair. There was a separate room where kids were playing. He chose to near a window to the area so they could watch the kids. Ann enjoyed kids. Nim would love to be a dad, but that would never happen. There was a wait before Ann brought over a tray of food wrapped in parchment. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starved,” she said. “There’s a variety of breads, but all have cheese and sausage and no eggs.” The food wasn’t bad for pork, and since Nim wasn’t hunting, it didn’t really matter how big the animal had been. “Were you able to contact Mishtali?” Ann asked. “He blocked me.” He shook his head. “Blocked you?” She looked surprised. “Yes.” “So he’s home?” “It sure seems like it” Nim nodded. “But he wanted you here. Why is he blocking you?” Do you think I should try?” “No. You don’t have the volume to send to an unknown. We can’t stay. You have a wedding to get ready for.” “Should we get more of these for lunch?” “No. They’re ok hot, but I can’t imagine they’d be any good in a few hours when they’re cold.” “We could strap them to your bellyfire to keep them warm,” Ann suggested. Nim growled softly. “I am not a cook stove. We can hunt on the way, maybe get a nice bear.” “I don’t know hunting.” “They didn’t teach hunting in class?” “They did, but I was in Erilu then.” “Well, I’ll teach you,” he offered. “Not today. We’ll have riders. We’ll have to wait until we get to the palace to eat.” Stopping in any of the cities on the way would mean flying out of their way. They need to take the shortest route. Carla and Steve were just being dropped off by a taxi when they got back. “Hi, Carla, hi, Steve.” Ann greeted them. “Ann, how are you?” Carla hugged her. “I’m getting married in a week. I couldn’t be better.” How was the flight?” “It was a redeye. Do we need to say more?” Steve grinned. ‘Redeye?’ Nim asked telepathically. ‘Travel during the very early hours, so your eyes are bloodshot,’ Ann explained. “Carla, Steve, this is my friend, Nim. Nim this is Andy’s parents.” Jo came out at that time. Nim wasn’t sure if she was wearing a really short dress or a really long shirt. It was similar to the shirts Andy wore, but it came almost to her knees. Her legs and feet were bare. Nim found himself admiring her legs a moment before looking away. “Good, you haven’t left yet,” she said. “I was thinking, and I remembered you don’t drive, and I realized you guys probably walked here and you probably came through that thing at the country club. That’s kind of far for Andy’s folks to walk with all that luggage so I thought I’d drive you.” Ann laughed. “How much coffee have you had today?” “Just one,” Jo said innocently. “How big of one?” Ann asked. “My yellow mug.” Jo grinned.” “Do you want a ride?” Ann nodded. “Let me get dressed.” Jo hurried inside, and the others followed. Nim saw the yellow mug. It was huge. If he drank that much coffee, he’d go insane. Jo hurried off and reappeared a few moments later. She was wearing leggings of some sort and a shirt that came just past her backside. Nim found himself admiring how she looked. “Jo, you want to come with us?” Ann asked. “What?” Jo frowned. “Come with us too. We’d love to have you. You could wear that dress you wore to the Winterstein’s wedding.” “I’d love to, but I can’t. I have to work, and I have hotline duty. I can’t change that last minute.” Nim found he was disappointed. That surprised him. He decided it was because he wasn’t looking forward to attending the wedding. Aside from the wedding couples, he would only know a few people there, and most would be the young ones he would be chaperoning. Jo would give him someone else adult to talk to. He’d enjoyed talking to her the night before. Soon, they all were piling into something that looked like a metal carriage, but he didn’t see any horses. Inside were benched fastened to the floor. Nim sat in one and Ann took a strap and wrapped it in front of him, across his chest and lap and secured it. She then did the same for herself. Nim noticed the others also strapped in. He wondered why. There was a noise, and the carriage started moving. Nim gripped the armrest. Ann took his other hand. “I don’t like this either,” she whispered. Nim had no idea how fast they were going. He thought he could fly that fast, but flying, he was in control, not at the mercy of someone else and not contained in a metal box, strapped down. Nor were there so many other dragons flying as close as the dozens of other carriages were. Soon they reached the country club. He breathed a sigh of relief. Ann helped him un-strap, and he got out. “Thanks for the ride,” Ann told Jo. “No problem. Have fun and congratulations,” Jo said. “It was nice to meet you, Nim.” “It was nice to meet you too,” he told her honestly. After seeing the place yesterday and seeing the bags Andy’s parents had today, Nim figured they’d draw too much attention. He transported them straight to the gate. It was risky. He wasn’t able to hold much of the energy he had drawn in before leaving Torthoc yesterday. He needed to augment it a great deal and was dizzy when he finished. He staggered a little. “Are you okay?” Ann asked. He nodded. “Let’s get going, though.” Steve and Carla were stunned at suddenly appearing somewhere else. Ann promised explanations once they got through the gate.