The Blackwell sisters were ushered into a room with a table made of ice, surrounded by a frozen bench. To one side of the table and benches was a tiny woman with frizzy, black hair, who wore a pale-blue parka.

  Amelia stepped forward and held her hand out, “We had a few little people back home, but most of them worked for a traveling circus, so I’m surprised to see not just one, but two of you up here. Are you more common in space?”

  As the little woman’s teeth ground together, Alice visibly cringed.

  The little woman growled, “Me’s not a ‘little woman’, but a dwarf! Those are totally separate!” She somewhat calmed, to explain, “Well, a half-dwarf, anyway, because me mother is human.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. What’s the difference?” Amelia felt as if she’d just jumped off the edge of a deep, dark hole and hoped to climb back out.

  “How many different races have ye met?”

  “What do you mean?” Amelia was deeply confused, “People are all human, right?”

  The dwarf woman shook her head, “No, not really. Agnes, Alice, and the three of ye are all human, but Nonar is a dwarf. If ye travel far enough, ye may just meet elves, fairies, orcs, goblins, and a handful of others. If ye’re truly unlucky, ye may meet gnomes.” She sighed, “Now, to answer your earlier question, little men are people of any race that turned out smaller than usual, but dwarves are a race of people separate from them. We’re a hardy people, with powerful muscles, and most have beards, which they’re very proud of, but because me takes after me mother, me can’t grow one.

  “Now, on to business.” The diminutive woman abruptly changed the subject and bowed her head, “Me’s sorry me mistook ye for pirates. To make it up to ye, me’s waiving docking fees, this time, and me will fill yer water tanks, for…for…free.” She said that last word like it was a terrible curse and burden.

  Alice stared with shock and surprise.

  “Thank you.” Amelia nodded, then introduced herself and her sisters.

  The small woman took special notice of Iris, smiling at her, then bowed her head, “Me’s Haley Knotley.” After a moment of silence, she asked, “Where are ye from?”

  “We left the surface of the moon we’re orbiting, not long ago.”

  “Really?” Alice asked, “It’s been a very long time since anyone did that. Why did ye leave?”

  “Persecution, for the most part.” Marta spoke in a weary tone, “People down there don’t like witches very much. We traveled for years to find somewhere we might belong, only to end up in a gilded cage, in a country that uses witches as weapons.”

  “That’s awful.” Alice looked a bit sad.

  “We escaped to the stars, in the hope of finding peace.” Iris added.

  Amelia asked, “Is that what we’ll find up here?”

  “Ye’re among friends.” Haley smiled and invited her guests to sit, with a gesture, “Ye should be welcome at most any Ice Palace.”

  “Why is this port made of ice, anyway?” Amelia asked as they all sat down.

  The ice of the bench was rather cold, but Amelia chose not to complain.

  The half-dwarf grinned, “Water is better than gold up here!” She gestured around at the walls, “The port is literally made of money!” Her eyes lit up with excitement, “Our ancestors hauled the ice in from the far reaches, installed a spell-core at the center to maintain temperature and provide gravity, then setup shop, to sell water to travelers. This particular Ice Palace used to be called Breadbasket, but that’s ancient history that ye would know all about, since ye’re from Cakana.”

  “Cakana? The harvest goddess?” Amelia was confused, “As I said, we’re from the moon we’re orbiting.”

  Alice spoke with patience, “The moon is named after the goddess, just as all the moons of Junas are named after gods and Junas is named after the father of the gods.”

  “Aye. So, ye really don’t know yer own history?” Haley asked.

  The sisters all shook their heads.

  “Well, it’s a long story,” Alice began, “but it can be summarized as follows:

  “Just over three-thousand years ago, a great many witches banded together with a handful of wizards and used their magic to travel to a new star, which star-gazing and scrying had told them was full of useful worlds. That ancient and powerful magic has since been lost, but as the story goes, this star system was settled and magic was used to shape every moon and world they found, to make them more suitable for people.

  “The witches that settled the system turned this moon into a world of farms, bringing in many settlers that had the skill to work the land, one of only two worlds orbiting Junas that were set aside specifically for growing food. They sold the crops to other worlds on behalf of the farmers, for a small percentage of the profit. In those days, this port was called Breadbasket, a little hint to the vast stores of grain that used to be delivered from the ground.

  “That went on for three-hundred years, until the farmers began to question the relationship. According to history, they eventually asked themselves, and I quote, ‘The witches never do an honest day’s work, so why are they in charge?’ Of course, they were forgetting all the witches did, including healing, sales of produce, negotiation of fair prices, and so on.”

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  Amelia shook her head, “Let me guess: the farmers rose up with torches and pitchforks, right?”

  “Aye.” Haley agreed, “As was the way of witches in those days, they peacefully backed down and let the farmers rule themselves. Most of the witches left the world behind, never to return, but others, presumably yer ancestors, stayed behind, because Cakana was their home. Without the witches to travel to space, yer world has remained separate from the others.”

  “Sadly, that led to a famine.” Alice sighed, “The farmers got what they wanted, but at the cost of many lives they never considered. It sounds as if the people below eventually forgot their own history.”

  Speaking cynically, Marta suggested, “Or they intentionally buried it, possibly out of guilt.”

  “Aye. Ye’re probably right,” Haley nodded, “but now that ye shall be traveling in space, ye ought to consider a few things:

  “First, how are ye going to earn yer keep? Water is precious beyond measure, but everyone needs it for fuel and drinking. Sooner or later, ye will run out, if you don’t do something to earn it.

  “Second, yer ship needs some markings of allegiance, to avoid trouble with pirates or those that hunt them, because unmarked ships are often assumed to be pirates, as ye learned the hard way.

  “Third, where will ye go and how will ye spend yer time?”

  “Of course, all of those questions are connected in some fashion.” Alice added, “How you earn water will likely be connected to where you go and how you mark your ship will follow naturally from that.”

  “What options do we have?” Amelia inquired.

  Alice considered aloud, “Let’s see… The big merchant houses won’t take you, since you have no reputation.” She stared at the icy ceiling, where a rune-marked patch of ice glowed, to provide light, “That leaves two options I can think of:

  “First, something sedentary, like working in a port, which would involve picking an ice palace and staying there to do a job, similar to us. The pay is garbage, though: room, board and a little trickle of water to save for the future, or for spending.

  “Second, if you want to stay mobile, you could apply to work for one of the small merchant houses. They always have deliveries to make, you’ll get regular work and the house will guarantee your safety from pirate attack, but the downside is they don’t pay very well.

  “Another mobile job would be working as pirate hunters, but that’s dangerous and involves getting your hands dirty. Still, if you know how to fight, it can be a decent way to earn a living.

  “Last of all, you could choose to work as independent couriers. The work would be about the same as a small merchant house, but you’d be on your own, with no overhead for protection fees. On the other hand, that would make you a target for pirates, at least when you’re not near a port. Most ports look after the couriers, because that’s how most everything of value moves around Junas and even the merchant houses sometimes employ them, to fatten the profit margins.”

  “Regardless of which route appeals to ye, however,” Haley interjected, “ye don’t have much choice at this Ice Palace. We could show ye how to mark yer ship as a courier, but we can’t help ye with any other group ye might wish to join, because this port is already staffed and we’re the only ones here, at the moment.”

  “We’re out in the boonies, aren’t we?” Iris asked.

  “Oh, aye,” Haley chuckled, “but if ye want to wait a few weeks, this place will be really busy. The moons align every so often in just the right way and lots of ships pass through, always needing water, but little else. That’s why we’re here, even though Cakana doesn’t trade anymore.”

  Alice offered, “We can also show you the local navigation tables. That’s a free service every Ice Palace provides.”

  “Navigation tables?” Amelia prompted.

  “Aye.” Haley nodded, “The witches that settled this system worked out many set routes for ships to travel, with predetermined timing and thrust. If ye follow the set routes and get the timing right, ye’re guaranteed to arrive safe, with little fuel usage. The tables cover both sailing and precise engine burns. It all works out, because most of the moons of Junas move like gears in a clock. Me thinks they calls it orbital resonance. It works like a set of roads, but it can take a long time to get from one of the inner moons to the outer ones, because ye have to skip between lots of others, but ye can get most anywhere around Junas in less than a year.”

  “Doesn’t anyone ever fly more directly?” Amelia asked.

  “Only the Newt Witches do that.”

  Amelia felt a chill go down her spine, because she immediately thought of The Book.

  “Newt Witches?” She cautiously asked.

  Alice supplied, “The Newt Witches are an ancient sisterhood descended from those that settled this system. They own the Ice Palaces and the port staff work for them. They have a strange power to see flight paths in their minds, without the tables. Everyone treats them like divine messengers, because anyone that touches one of their ships soon meets their maker.”

  “How so?” Amelia asked.

  “According to rumor, weapons or magic the likes of nothing ye’ve ever seen.” Haley spoke in a hushed tone, “Me met one of them, once. She traveled aboard a courier ship me family had booked passage on, because her own was damaged. She wore a red dress and matching robe, with a fringe on her skirt and sleeves. Even her hands were covered by gloves. The only part of her me actually saw was her eyes. They was kind eyes, because she liked children and she spent hours talking with me.

  “We were chased by a pirate ship and she took me to one of the windows, so me could see what she was going to do. Just when the bigger ship was about to get us, she held up a red crystal marked with runes. She whispered a few words me couldn’t understand and held her other hand out, as if grasping empty air. As her fist closed, the pirate ship collapsed inward on itself. That wasn’t the end, though: it got smaller, until it vanished into a little point of light, then it winked out. Me’s never seen anything of the like, before or since.”

  Iris queried, “Were the witches ruling Cakana before the rebellion Newt Witches?”

  “The Newt Witches rule everything, though they mostly stay to themselves.” Alice answered.

  That explained a few things, at least in theory. It sounded as if the Newt Witches were able to perform complex mathematics in their heads, a trait Amelia had picked up from Mother, whom she’d never once seen use any other method for counting or calculations. It had to be a genetic trait, though it must have been pretty rare on Cakana.

  But why call them Newt Witches?

  Since it had to have something to do with the book, Amelia cautiously asked, “Where did they get their name?”

  “Well, there’s lots of different stories, ranging from them living on a diet of nothing but newts,” Alice smiled with amusement, “to a crazy story about a magic book made from newt skin, which taught them all about space flight, but it’s all mythology and they’re the only ones that could tell you the truth, not that they would ever bother. Personally, I like the story about the book. According to that one, they lost it and they’ve been trying to find it for centuries.”

  “Interesting.” Marta gave Amelia a wry look.

  Iris agreed, “Yeah. I wonder what would happen to whoever found that book.”

  “It’s probably just a story.” Amelia shrugged and played dumb.

  “Aye.” Haley nodded, “If me was a betting woman, me would say all the stories are wrong, because the real truth is usually even more strange.”

  “You got that right.” Amelia smiled a little, “For now, I think we should become couriers, at least until we find a better option.”

  Haley drew a wand from her belt and waved it over the table, causing the ice to reshape itself. Parts of the table depressed into the surface, forming a simple, stylized image of a single-masted sailing ship.

  She explained, “Paint this on yer ship, top and bottom. That will mark ye as couriers and the Ice Palaces will look after ye, at least when ye are close.”

  “Thank you.” Amelia bowed her head and her sisters did the same.

  “It’s the least me can do, after me tried to kill ye.” Haley looked embarrassed.