Himil said nothing, but she leaned down to the hole. She saw his face there, and he nodded. “I can’t reach with my arms very well. But I can crawl well.”

“I have an idea. Meet me at the west wall.”

There, below grade, was an iron grating that covered the inlet of the stream that fed the irrigation channels and the pond. On the farm side of the wall, Yuna might pull the grating up. Father did this once a month to clear the dead leaves clogging the aqueduct. She did this now, though it was very heavy.

“I can come through,” Yuna said.

“No, let me. I’ve always wanted to see your garden.”

Himil tossed over his tunic, and Yuna captured it as it fell. It was warm and smelled like the sun on a wheat field. She didn’t realize she had closed her eyes to sniff it.

Soon Himil could be seen treading the chin-high water. He dragged himself onto the dry grass on her farm. She watched him breathe heavily and handed him some dry cloths she’d fetched, then his tunic.

“May I do anything else? I’m not sure what helps,” Yuna said.

“Thank you. I’ll be a bit stiff, so walk slowly, please. But show me everything here!”

“You’re the first Silendar ever to be here,” Yuna said. “Welcome.”

“Feels like an odd welcome when I’ve just snuck in. Underwater. At midnight.”

“Let’s begin.” Shyly, she showed him the greenhouse first. Vines of fuchsia flowers blossomed over the glass, and pots of varying sizes held carnivorous plants, some with gaping maws with teeth and some aglow with sparkling, gummy dewdrops. She tugged Himil’s hand toward the water garden, where he met the freshwater lionfish and prickly urchins that crawled slowly over the bottom, feeding on algae. Then to the storehouse, where plants were hung to dry and intensify their poisonous offerings.

“It’s so odd,” Himil said, his hand still within Yuna’s, “how much these creatures want to kill us all.”

“Oh, Himil.” She took her hand away from his and he frowned, but only for a moment. For Yuna had only moved her hand so she could lean on his arm a little. This way, they leaned into each other as they walked. His frown vanished. “These creatures and plants don’t want to kill us. Well, the carnivorous plants want to eat insects and birds for dinner, but aside from them, they aren’t murderers. We are. The humans that blunder into their midst, not understanding them. They only wish to live. They’re defending themselves in the best way that they can.”