The next morning, Matsias went with the girls into Shakif. They left early in the morning to take the train, which was about a thirty minute trip, and at a reduced fare for students. Though he and Key were the only members of the group who hadn't already been, Ayan and Miriam had only stayed overnight before taking the train to Faraday, so Tilli, who had been there often with her parents, served as tour guide.

Being one of Nefrale's largest cities, there was no way they could see all of Shakif in one day. Tilli took them to Central District, the business and arts district, which offered the most to a group of Faraday students. They ate breakfast at a restaurant which took up nearly the whole street front, with three or four doors going in. Tilli led them across the shiny tile floor to a wooden table in the corner. A large chalkboard on the wall across from them had menu items and prices. Matsias stared at it. "What's a cinnamon roll?"

Ayan goggled. "You've never eaten a cinnamon roll?"

Tilli winked at Mat. "Don't worry, she's only eaten them because they're easy to steal."

But when the food arrived, Matsias thought otherwise. The cinnamon roll was the size of his two fists together and dripping with butter. He wouldn't have been able to finish it, as well as his omelet, without Key's help. By the end, his fingers were a sticky mess, and he had to visit the washroom before they left.

Ayan shook her head. "Never eaten a cinnamon roll."

"No one's eaten a cinnamon roll until they've eaten one here," Tilli said.

Miriam held the door for them. "That, I believe."

As much as he enjoyed breakfast, it made him self-conscious, so when they passed a movie house later, he didn't press to go inside, as much as he wanted to. But he did marvel at the size of the city--the broad streets filled with cars, the tall buildings, and the sheer number of people. He worried a bit he might get lost.

The art museum had pillars at least three times as tall as Matsias himself, and when they went in, they noticed every bit about the inside was decorated, included paintings on the domed ceiling. At least this time, Mat wasn't the only one marveling at everything around him.

"I know, right?" Tilli looked up at a picture of a phoenix transforming from bird to human. "Nefrale has the best history. Come on. The modern wing is this way." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, the others following behind.

No less beautiful than the entrance, Mat worried about leaving footprints on the polished floors of the modern wing, until Tilli directed his eyes to the artwork. They saw pictures of everything, from every day life to mythology--pictures of houses, flowers, skulls.... Some were drawn so well they could have been photographs. Others were odd shapes pushed up and against each other until they made something bigger.

Ayan and Tilli brought them to a series of pictures made by the apparently famous Vasco Painter, and Matsias understood why they loved his artwork. They were all landscapes--a cliff overlooking a swirling ocean, a meadow of flowers, a sunrise along a river. But the more Matsias looked at each picture, the more seemed to pop out at him, as if Painter had buried secrets in his art. The brushstrokes of the ocean waves seemed to form the shape of roses. The flowers in the meadow looked like children holding hands, and the rays of the rising sun could have been arrows fired from a Thisaazhou bow.

After the museum, they went shopping in several different stores, some of which Matsias had never conceived of. Tilli looked for a new fastener for her necklace in a store full of beads. Ayan wanted to get cloth at a store that specialized in fabric, and Miriam dragged him to a stationary shop, where she tried to teach him about the importance of a paper's weight. Matsias had no idea there were so many types of paper, but Key didn't look at all surprised. They also stopped at a sweet shop, where Matsias and Key had the opportunity to try Nefralean candy, and then Tilli led them to the biggest bookstore Matsias had seen in his life.

Since he and Miriam had visited Faraday's library on Westday, Matsias had taken to spending most of his recess period there. But even that room couldn't compare to this. From the outside, the store looked like a corner shop, but once inside, it could have stretched the whole of Nefrale. Two floors were stacked with books floor to ceiling as well as on staircases, as if they were more shelves. Matsias thought he might have passed on to paradise. The girls had to drag him out, and only succeeded after Tilli told him, "the bookstore is not going anywhere. We can come back another weekend." Finally, he selected a novel in Shugbo, for practice, and a book on mythology in Zhohu. He'd spied a couple of Epaluno books, but he couldn't buy them in front of the girls.

They went to the Central District's park for lunch, a stretch of grass and trees broad enough to disappear in. Across the street was a line of food trucks, which reminded Matsias of the Thisaazhou caravans gathering at a Shax'ia shrine. They bought sandwiches and then found a couple of benches to eat. Matsias was too busy looking at the trees to follow the conversation. He tried to count them, but he eventually gave up.

They rinsed their hands in a fountain they found down a spiraling brick path, and then they caught the train back to Faraday. By this point, Mat was even more worried he would get lost--at least, he would have if the girls hadn't been looking after him. He didn't see the train station until they were practically on top of it.

When they arrived back at the school, Key left then on the way back to Victoria House to meet with her friend from her electricity class. Ayan was eager to work with her new fabric, and Tilli also had some kind of project to work on, though she was oddly cryptic about it. Matsias got the feeling she was trying to avoid Miriam's no-holds-barred lie detection, not that Miriam ever meant anything by it.

After the others had dispersed, Miriam and Matsias stood awkwardly in the common, "Um... I guess we'll see you at dinner then?" she said.

"Yeah. Sure." He sank into one of the couches and watched her walk to the girls' hall--a rather anticlimactic end to one of the best days of his life. Matsias knew he couldn't avoid Reed forever, but he wasn't ready to go to his room just yet. So he took his leg off, curled up on the couch, and opened his new book on mythology.

He didn't know how long he'd been there when someone sat down next to him. He expected to see Key, or maybe one of the other girls, but when Matsias turned, he found himself looking into the blue eyes of Antony. "I notice you out here a lot," Antony said.

Matsias licked his lips. For the first time at Faraday, he was actually nervous about finding the right words in Shugbo. "I... I guess it's more comfortable than my room."

"Not used to having a roommate?"

"My... my sister. But... no one else." Mat's chest ached when he said it. Denying he'd shared a room with Lamel made him feel like he was erasing his brother.

"You seem to making friends though. The Todetse girl?" He paused, calling up her name. "Tilistitane."

"Tilli," Mat said. This made him smile. "If we're friends, I think that was mostly her doing."

Antony chuckled. He had a warm laugh, as if he found joy in everything. "Yeah, I can imagine. She's pretty fiery. You know, her sister, Cadolina, is in my class. We took Mrs. Theelnin's windcasting class together our first year. Let's just say it runs in the family." He thought for a moment. "Though you two seem to get on better than we did."

"You didn't become friends?"

"Let's put it this way--house head meetings aren't always comfortable. Anyway, I just wanted to check on you, make sure you were doing all right."

"Why?"

Antony ran a hand through his thick red hair. "Because you're out here all the time. Thought maybe you were having trouble with your roommate. It's my job to keep track of these things, you know."

"Oh." Matsias felt his face grow warm. "Reed's fine. He's... polite. Like I said, I have trouble getting to know people... when they're not yelling at a teacher on my behalf."

"Well, maybe I can help you with that."

"Uh..." Matsias looked back at Anthony. He felt his stomach turn over.

"I'm going with some friends to catch a movie. You can come with us. You could invite your roommate. It would give you a chance to get to know each other."

Matsias paused. "You're going to a movie?"

"Yeah, you like movies, right?"

"I... don't know."

The right side of Antony's mouth raised up in a smirk. "You don't know if you don't like movies?"

"I've never seen one..." The prospect of seeing a movie was so exciting to Matsias that he spoke the words before he thought about them. In his head, he chastised himself, knowing he would now have to come up with a reason for this.

But Antony didn't ask. "You've never seen a movie? Now you have to come!"

"I'd like that."

About fifteen minutes later, Antony and Mat were meeting four other students in front of the main building. The group included Antony's girlfriend, Jo, also in Providence House, as well as her roommate, Mari, a Westwood third year named Wince, and his sister Lavone, from Liberty House. Apparently, Reed wasn't the only one for whom Faraday was a family affair.

"Reed coming?" Antony asked.

"He... wasn't in our room." It was the truth, but Matsias was glad he had an excuse not to have invited the other boy.

"Oh well, maybe next time."

Faraday sat on the west side of Kporo, which, despite being significantly smaller than Shakif, was still larger than Illegate. It took about twenty minutes to walk downtown to the movie house, and as they got closer, Matsias could feel his stomach flip-flopping again. He half expected someone to ask for his ID card when he got there, but the person at the front only asked how many tickets. Antony paid for Mat's. Then they went inside.

Antony laughed his hearty laugh as Matias gaped in amazement. His nose was bombarded with the smell of butter and salt. The lights on the inside were possibly even brighter than those on the marquee, and the walls were lined with posters of the movies that would play in the coming weeks. Matsias wanted to examine every single one, but he was conscious of the others watching him.

Antony also bought him popcorn. "It's not every day you get to take someone to the movies for the first time," he said when Matsias tried to protest. "Don't worry about it. Enjoy the show." They found seats together, right in the middle. The others chatted nonchalantly as they waited for the movie to start. Matsias felt like he might jump out of his skin, even staring at the blank screen. He could vaguely hear the conversation around him. The others spoke about what they had done over the summer, or what they thought of their classes that year. Matsias didn't really know how to join in, but Antony helped him out. "So, Mat, what do you think of Faraday so far?"

"I think it's wonderful," Matsias said. He considered saying it was the most wonderful place he had ever been, but that felt like a betrayal to his family. "I've wanted to come for almost as long as I can remember."

"Well, it's good you're here then." Like the first day, Antony's smile didn't seem to reach his eyes, but it may have been a trick of the dimming light. Then Matsias was engrossed in the film. He leaned forward in his seat as the previews for other movies flashed across the screen. He wanted to see all of them.

Finally, the movie itself started. Matsias gasped as he realized he understood it perfectly. Shugbo letters flashed across the bottom of the screen. "It's in Zhohu!"

Antony grinned. "It's an Ethite film," he said quietly, "But the director's really popular."

Matsias hadn't expected to get a language lesson, but he found that watching the film with Shugbo subtitles helped him discover new words in his second language. The movie itself was about a young man, who had run away from home and taken on a an assumed identity, only to return when his parents died in a mysterious fire everyone believed he had started. Matsias later learned the movie was an older one, but people loved it, so the theater liked to bring it back. The other students talked about the director, Euon Wright, the whole way home.

"I love all his movies," Jo said, taking Antony's hand in hers, "but this one is still my favorite."

"Have you seen Clary?" Lavone asked from behind Mat.

Jo looked over her shoulder at the younger girl. "Clary?"

Lavone's incredibly long ponytail bobbed as she nodded. "It's his new one. Came out last year."

Antony wrinkled his nose. "I don't know. I think I'm with Jo. His early work is better."

"See?" Jo swung her hand into Antony's and took a bit of a skip-step. "This was his first movie. He made it before he was famous and had to appeal to the masses."

"But it... does... appeal to the masses...." Lavone said, glancing at her brother as if expecting him to make the others see reason.

"What do you think, Mat?" Antony said.

Matsias didn't have to think. "I would watch every movie he made."

Antony laughed. "You would watch every movie anybody made."

Matsias smiled so much he thought his face might split. "I absolutely would."

The others joined in the laughter, and Antony wrapped his arm around Mat's shoulders. "Here's to your first movie. Mat it be the first of many."

They got back from the movie just in time for dinner. Antony invited him to join the others, but as they walked into the cafeteria, Matsias saw Key sitting with the other girls. "Actually, I should sit with my sister."

Antony looked a little disappointed, but he didn't argue. "I'll see you back in the common, then."

"Yeah. Thanks again."

"Not a problem. Glad to be the person who could take you to your first movie."

Mat joined the girls at their usual table, still flush with excitement. When he sat down, Miriam said, "What did you do this afternoon?"

"I uh... I went to a movie with Antony... and some other kids...." He tried to play it cool, but it was difficult. He gave a sidelong glance at Key, who knew exactly how important this was. Her mouth quirked and her eyes danced, but no one else seemed to notice. Miriam nodded, as if to confirm he told the truth, and concentrated on her dinner.

"What did you see?" Tilli asked, taking a bite of her potato stew.

"Thoov."

Tilli nodded. "Can't argue with a classic." The conversation continued from there into other movies. Matsias couldn't contribute much, though he occasionally found something to say based on the conversation he'd heard on the way back to Faraday earlier. He made a mental note to try to catch some more movies with Antony... if he was invited again.

After dinner, Ayan suggested a game of dominoes, and by the time they had settled in a corner of the Victoria House common, Matsias thought he had gotten away with his charade. But a couple of minutes later, Antony passed them. "You want to go back next week to see your second movie?"

Mat felt his spine grow cold and he nodded to the table when he felt the eyes of the girls on him. He couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Cool." Antony went on his way.

"Wait..." Ayan said, "did he say your second movie? As in, this was your first?" Matsias had been hoping that since Ayan was a thief, she, at least, would have been too poor to have seen a movie. No such luck.

Mat nodded, still staring at the table. Fortunately, Key was at the ready with a handy excuse. "When you travel around as much as we do, you don't get to see a lot of movies." Matsias glanced at Miriam briefly, wondering if the other girl might catch the half-truth. Miriam glanced up at Key and knit her brows, but then returned her gaze to the domino box without a word.

"But you've seen movies," Tilli said to Key as she tipped the dominoes out of the box. "We've talked about them."

"I've seen a couple, but not many. I..." This time, Matsias noticed, Key's eyes also flicked toward Miriam. "I had chances to see them when Mat didn't." This time, Miriam didn't even look up. Apparently the statement had been true enough.

Tilli turned to Matsias. "So what do you do?"

"Huh?"

Tilli started drawing dominoes into her hand. "If you don't go to see movies, what do you do for fun? To entertain yourselves?"Ayan laughed slightly at this comment, but Key seemed to be considering it. For once, Mat had an answer faster than her. He stomped his good foot on the ground, and then dragged it to the side, clapped twice in rapid succession, and stomped again. He repeated the rhythm. Stomp. Drag. Clap-clap. Stomp. Stomp. Drag. Clap-Clap. Stomp. If he had been standing, he would have shifted slightly with the motion. Key slowly turned her head at the sound of the rhythm.

Matsias did it again, silently praying to the All-Knowing that he had not overstepped his bounds as a cultural tourist. He had picked on of the Thisaazhou songs he knew best. And when Key didn't take up the lead part, usually sung by the women, Mat did it for her. It was stupid, he told himself, and he needed to stop. But another part of him felt like this would officially solidify his identity as Thisaazhou in front of the other students. Of course, Key looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Then, just as Matsias had decided she wouldn't follow, she joined in the rhythm and sang the men's part.

About halfway through, Tilli started to pick up the rhythm, and Matsias wondered again if it was been a bad idea to start. Technically, if she joined in, it would make her a member of the Thisaazhou family, right? Did he have permission to induct people this way? But Key caught Tilli's eye and nodded, enunciating the words clearly, the way she had for Matsias when he had first learned. At first, the redhead mumbled them, but by the end, she had picked up several of the more repetitive lines. When Matsias and Key ended, Tilli giggled nervously.

Key turned to her roommate, "Not bad."

Tilli adjusted her glasses. "I told you I'm good with languages."

Miriam selected several dominoes. "So that's... what you do for fun?"

Key frowned at her. "Thisaazhou song circles have been around a lot longer than movies."

Miriam glanced from Key to Mat and back again. "I get the impression I said something to offend you..."

Matsias cut in before Key could make a sarcastic comment again. "Yes. That's what we do for fun. We sing with our whole community and the songs tell about our history and other important stories."

"Oh," Miriam said, "What's this one about?"

To Mat's surprise, Ayan answered. "It's about a woman traveling through the desert, or... some desolate area. It's probably somewhere in Feren because she's riding a tusked sole. Anyway, she dismounts because she knows the animal is weary and thirsty. She cries out that if she died, it's okay, but she wants water for her mount. So the All-Knowing sends a bird to lead her to safety. She follows the bird to a mountain spring, with lush grasses all around it. She lets the sole drink first, and while it does, she sees a rabbit caught in a bush, which she kills and cooks for her dinner."

Matsias stared. It had been nearly a year since he had heard that version of the story.

"You speak Thisizha?" Tilli asked, surprised.

Ayan toyed with one of her braids. "No. But there's a Pelan song that's the same. At least, I think it's the same. The melody's the same. But they don't do all the clapping."

"You're... Pelan?" Matsias could hear the shock in Key's voice. He had forgotten she hadn't been there when Ayan discussed the purple sun on her shirt cuff.

Ayan traced the symbol now. "Not really. But I visited their temple a lot in Forgecard Falls. I learned a few things."

Miriam looked between Matsias and Key, "So, is that the story?"

"Does it matter?" Key replied darkly.

Matsias shot his sister a warning look and then turned to Miriam. "It's mostly the same story. The Thisaazhou say she was traveling on horseback, not on a sole. And she had her children with her. And the bird leads her to a cave with a pool of water. There's not enough for everyone, so she let's her children drink first. Then the gods send a storm to refill the pool."

Now it was Ayan's turn to to pass a wary look between Mat and Key. "Shall we play?" she asked, pulling dominoes into her hand.

Miriam pushed hers back into the pile. "Actually, I should get started on my... homework. The game's better with four players anyway." She stood up, dusted off her skirt, and left to the girls' dormitory.