Maeve paused at the bottom of the great stone stairs, gathering her courage. The Dundurn conference hall rose before her, its polished rosestone walls brightly reflecting the afternoon sun. A portico arched over the heavy wooden doors, decorated with a magician-sculpted relief showing blossoms of Rishka’s Promise. Beneath it, a banner tied to the outside columns fluttered in the warm autumn breeze.

She hugged her papercase a little closer as she read the words: INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FAIR. She’d been fourteen last time the Fair had come to Carddwyn and a lot had changed in four years, but her insides still squirmed with that same mixture of excitement and fear. Just like last time, she was here without her parents’ knowledge. She hoped to avoid getting caught this time.

She glanced over her shoulder at the courtyard. People bustled back and forth, the space busier than usual with all the fair-goers. A food cart parked by the fountain in the middle seemed to be serving spiced seidhir; the smell mingled with the salty sea air swirling up from the harbor. Conversation and laughter mixed with the rattle of cart wheels over cobblestones and the clopping hoofbeats of the heavy woolen rannoch that pulled them. She watched one make its way toward the market distantly visible down the street. Her mom and sister might already be there, browsing the visiting vendors in advance of meeting Maeve for lunch in a bell’s time. She couldn’t risk being late, couldn’t risk them guessing where she was.

She turned back to the hall and, with a deep breath, started climbing the steps. People hurried past her on the stairs, some going in and others headed out. No one paid her any attention. Thank Rishka for that. Last thing she needed was word getting back to her parents. She cast her eyes up at the portico’s relief again. The flowers were there because they were Carddwyn’s national emblem, but in this moment they felt like a blessing from the goddess. You’re in the right place. It will be okay.