The Sky that Nobody Sees

A Minute of Flame

Legolas did not stand from his seat until he saw that Inladris had relaxed, and was making the conscious effort to enjoy her tea and cake, rather than the conscious effort to ignore her surroundings. She knew he waited because he didn't want her to leave the shop on a bad note. Were she in his position, she hoped she would have the stamina to do the same. Sometimes others' fear wore her down too quickly.

"Is Miss Polzin coming over for dinner?" Elrond asked, holding X-rays up to their kitchen lights when they returned.

"I believe so." Legolas took Inladris's coat and hung it. "I'll just remind her of the time."

Having nothing left to clean, with a sigh, Inladris began slowly setting the table, unable to think of anything better to do.

Legolas glanced up from his text and shook his head. "Hobbies, Inladris."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He tapped across his phone a few more times. "I found a class on making your own terrariums. I'm enrolling you."

"I'm disowning you."

"That vitriol simply for this? Seems unreasonable."

"Darling, next time ask, all right? Because I'm the sort of person who would give someone else the class just to spite the person who told me what to do."

He nodded, acknowledging this. "I'm emailing you the link then. And by the way, I happen to know there's an opening if you want it."

"Thank the stars Elrohir isn't here."

Legolas chuckled. His phone rang while he was still standing beneath the tall windows, paging through it. "Hey, Hahn. No, I'm afraid I'm busy tonight. Don't worry, I told Inladris how fondly you were remembering her cooking."

Inladris rolled her eyes. "Tell him we'll have him over soon."

Legolas nodded, but the conversation had already moved on.

"Seema Dziedzik," Miss Polzin said, "is my cousin. Her family and mine fled at roughly the same time."

"From Poland," Elrond guessed.

"Yes." She determinedly mashed corn on her plate. "My family had information, and hers had money. The same people who are after you were after us as well, but not because we were a threat. They wanted to make assets of us. We chose to flee rather than fight. For several years we thought we had escaped them, but they came for us again. I didn't know at the time they were native to Russia, so in truth we'd gotten no safer by coming here. We lost contact with the Dzeidzik family when we left, not thinking it safe to stay in touch, among other things. I had no idea anything had ever gone wrong with their transition. I don't know when they caught up with her, or if she caught up with them."

"What do you know of Miss Dziedzik's character that might hint at her opinion of her occupation?" Thranduil asked.

Miss Polzin shook her head. "We were both children last time we saw each other, and had only seen each other on holidays before that."

"Is Polzin not your true surname?" Arwen asked with curiosity.

"No." Miss Polzin took a breath. "I don't know why or how Seema got involved with these people, or what it is they're after if it's anything beyond the fact that you're impeding their business."

"What else could you tell us about Miss Dziedzik that may be useful in understanding her or reasoning with her?" Elrond wanted to know.

Miss Polzin shrugged. "I really don't know what to tell you. We were just kids when we knew each other, and that was decades ago. People change."