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Ismaeli held tight to Liese’s hand. “You have to stay close to me, Liese. There are going to be a lot of people here today, more than you usually see, and you could get lost,” she said.

“Yes Mama,” Liese said.

“We’ll be with Jenae, Perth, and Piper,” Teagan said. “They’ll help us keep track of her.”

“Why did I let you talk me into letting the winter festival party be her first foray into town?” Ismaeli asked him.

“Because you know I’m right?” Teagan asked with a grin. Calm down, Ismaeli. It’ll be fine. I’ve got a psychic tag on Liese. Even if we get separated, I can find her. Teagan’s voice in her mind soothed her.

If you’re sure, Ismaeli replied. They left the palace and got on the public transit into the Throne City. It took about an hour to get to where they were meeting their friends.

“Teagan, Ismaeli,” Jenae shouted and waved. They made their way over. “We left Aleksios at the childcare center today. He’s a bit young for this.”

“We left Neriah with a sitter, and Izabella decided to spend the day with her cousins,” Ismaeli said. “But Liese was excited to come down. Liese, this is Jenae, Perth, and Piper. These are our friends.”

Piper bounced up and down. “Hi, I’m Piper. Want to be friends?”

Liese giggled. “Okay.” She let go of Ismaeli’s hand and grabbed the other little girl’s hand.

Jenae laughed. “Instant friends. What did I tell you?”

Ismaeli shook her head. “What first?”

“Ice skating. Piper’s been asking about it all morning,” Perth said.

“Have you ever been ice skating, Liese?” Piper asked.

“What’s ice skating?” Liese asked.

“Oh it’s so fun!” Piper squealed.

They took the girls over to the ice skating rink and Liese saw it for the first time. “Isn’t that dangerous?” Liese asked anxiously.

“Not really,” Piper said. “Come on. They teach the kids special, away from the grown ups.”

“Mama, is it okay?” Liese asked.

“It’s fine, Liese,” Ismaeli said soothingly. They set the girls up with the other children and the adults went out onto the ice themselves. Teagan ended up spending most of the time towing Ismaeli around the ice because she still couldn’t get the hang of skating on a thin blade of metal on a sheet of ice.

She glanced over at Jenae and Perth. Perth was having no better luck than she was. She laughed as Perth and Jenae wiped out. “You too?” Perth called.

“Yes,” Ismaeli said as she and Teagan picked themselves up.

“I think I’ve had enough,” Perth said. “It’s been a few hours. Let’s go collect the girls and get some hot chocolate or something.”

“Sounds good to me.” The adults limped their way off the ice and turned in their skates.

Ismaeli watched as Liese made her way over to her. The little brat was doing better than Ismaeli had after only one day. “Mama, this is so much fun!” Liese squealed. “Can we do this again next year?”

“Of course, Liese. We try to do this every year,” Ismaeli said.

“Hot chocolate now?” Piper asked hopefully.

“What’s hot chocolate?” Liese asked.

“Liese, you’ve had hot chocolate, haven’t you?” Ismaeli asked. Liese shook her head. “Oh dear. We’ve deprived the poor child. Let’s go get them some hot chocolate.” The adults laughed as they took the girls to get their treat.