The emperor chuckled. His court responded with more soft laughter. “She does not seem so terrifying to me, Nanshur Briar.”

Briar smiled cheerfully. “She fools a lot of people that way.”

Once more the emperor chuckled and his court followed suit. He did seem truly amused. Briar liked him better for that.

“The messenger who guided you here tells me that one of my former subjects travels with you,” Weishu said. “Evumeimei Dingzai, you may rise and come forward.”

Evvy did as she was told. Briar could see her hair ornaments trembling. He knew it was probably against protocol, but he stepped closer and put an arm around her anyway for reassurance.

The emperor leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows. He was the very picture of an indulgent uncle, except for all that gold, Briar thought. Kindly Weishu said, “We are told that you, too, have magic in your veins, unlike these poor servants of mine, who must pull it from spells and potions.”

Evvy bowed low and almost lost her balance. Only Briar’s arm kept her from collapsing. Gently he drew her upright again. “You’re all right,” he whispered.

“I get my magic from stones, not my veins, Your Imperial Majesty,” Evvy said as she stared at the floor.

The emperor smiled. “And how did you learn to get magic from dull stones?” he asked. “Or do you use those that have been spelled already?”

Evvy glanced up at him, startled, then down again. “All stones have magic in them, Your Imperial Majesty,” she said, a little more confidence in her voice. “I can feel it — or I could even before I studied. Now I can see it, too. Just like Briar and Rosethorn see the magic in plants.”

“We are taught of qi, the power that binds all things.” The speaker was the older of the two male mages, a tall, slender old man with silver hair and long silver mustaches. His face was a maze of wrinkles. Like the other two Yanjingyi mages he wore beads of many kinds strung in loops around his neck and worn in multiple bracelets under his full sleeves. Briar closed his eyes briefly, adjusting part of himself. When he opened them again, he saw the light of magic everywhere, enough so that he didn’t want to use the spell for long. He did hold it until he saw the blaze of power from each of the beads that were wooden. Even the other mages in the room didn’t blaze with power as much as the two men and the woman in black robes. The oldest of the mages who stood with the emperor went on, “It would seem this young student has learned more of qi than many of us have forgotten.”

Evvy bowed to the old man, to Briar’s surprise. “I am certain that cannot be true, Master,” she said politely. “I am deeply honored, but I can also recognize the depth of wisdom in a face, a depth I will be lucky to ever attain.”

“Such respect, when we are told those of the west are rude barbarians,” said the emperor, applauding softly.

The emperor held a hand out to Evvy. It was laden with rings that gleamed with jade, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. “Tell me what my ring stones say,” he urged. When his armed guards and mage guards alike stirred, he held up his other hand. “I think I am quite safe. Go on, Evumeimei.”

Gently Briar urged Evvy forward. Slowly she climbed the dais and knelt beside the emperor, knowing that her head must never be higher than Weishu’s. Then, nervously, she took the emperor’s hand in both of hers. Suddenly she smiled at him. “They love you,” Evvy explained. “Not the pearls. Well, maybe they do, I don’t know. I don’t understand pearls because they aren’t really stones, just dirt that got in an oyster. Did you know that?” Weishu nodded, his eyes dancing. “I think it’s a cheat to call them precious stones when they aren’t really,” Evvy went on, happy as always to talk about rocks. “But the others, they love you. They just glow from the inside. They’ve been with you for a long time, and some of them are very old.”

The emperor laughed outright. Evvy quickly released his hand. “I’m sorry!” she cried. “I wasn’t trying to insult you — I didn’t mean —” She looked frantically at Rosethorn, then Briar. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Calm down,” Briar murmured to his student. “See? He’s laughing.” He bowed to the emperor. “She’s all wound up. She’s heard stories of the imperial court most of her life, and she’s been scared to death about coming here.”

“She has nothing to fear,” Weishu assured Evvy, smiling at her. “The stones I believe you meant have come to me from my imperial ancestors. You are right — they are very old. And much may be forgiven so talented a young girl in so overpowering a place. So tell me, Nanshur Briar Moss, how can you teach Evumeimei if her power is drawn through stones and yours through plants?”

Briar didn’t shrug. That would have been impolite. “I could teach her the basics, Your Imperial Majesty — meditation, reading, writing, mathematics. The names and everyday properties of stones, and what they’re traditionally used for. Evvy does the rest herself.”

“First Dedicate Dokyi helped me a lot this winter,” Evvy said. “He’s head of First Circle Temple in Garmashing, and an Earth mage. And so far it isn’t too hard once I read the spells and have the sticky parts explained to me. A lot of stone wants to be shaped, even jade, if you know how to explain it right.” Her face was brighter and livelier. Briar thought he might swell up completely with pride in her. “Stone gets pretty bored, holding the same form all the time,” Evvy explained. “Even mining it doesn’t help, because nobody likes being smacked with a hammer. But if you wheedle just right, and tell it how it will like being smooth and bouncing light, and feeling its magic ripple along its inner surfaces, it’s all you can do to keep it in the shape you want. Sometimes I just let the stone shape itself, for fun.”