By the time Aaron got up to check on her progress, she had the window outline done.

“It looks great,” said Aaron. “I’m amazed by your talent. I wish I could do it.”

“Do what? Make a 3-D window?”

“Or simply draw anything.”

Ms. Octavia looked at him. “Have you ever tried?”

“A few times. I wish… I wish I’d gotten the instruction that everyone else received.”

“You’re free to attend my classes anytime, Aaron. I’d say you developed your creative abilities quite well, though. You designed Lani’s wheeled device. Fixed the tube on the Island of Shipwrecks. And built numerous constructions in Quill back when…”

“Back when you were evil,” said Samheed from the darkness. Yawning, he emerged from between some shelves and ran his fingers through his hair to tame it. “How’s it going, Octavia?”

Ms. Octavia raised an eyebrow at Samheed and didn’t answer; her disapproval was evident.

“Sorry,” Samheed muttered. “I’m just cranky because there’s nothing to drink. Does anybody know the proper magic to build a water fountain? Claire has done it before, but I never paid attention.”

“My skin is cracking from being out of the water for so long,” Ms. Octavia admitted. “I’ve got seaweed dust flaking onto my drawing.” She blew it off carefully. Though the octogator could survive without ever being in the water, she still went for a dip a couple of times a day to keep her skin moist. “To answer your question, I know how to do it. But we don’t have the necessary components.”

“What do we need?” asked Aaron.

“A few drops of freshwater, for one. It takes water to make water. And a structural element, like a basin component. We don’t make them in bulk because they’re rarely used.”

“Do you happen to have any with you?” Samheed asked her.

“Again, rarely used. I don’t clutter my pockets with such things unless I’m going on a journey, unfortunately.”

“That should change,” Aaron muttered. “Water is essential for humans. It’s when we’re totally without it that it’s most necessary.”

“That’s obvious,” Samheed remarked snidely.

Aaron ignored him. “Every human should learn the spell and carry one of the components with them.”

“Florence doesn’t need water, so maybe making extra components or teaching that spell wasn’t high on her list,” said Samheed.

“Water is also plentiful in Artimé,” added Ms. Octavia, shooing the young men away from her table and going back to her sketch. “When we’re not stuck in the library, that is. Who would have thought we’d be in need of it right here in our own mansion? And neither of you brought a canteen?”

Samheed and Aaron exchanged guilty looks. Like Ms. Octavia said, water was plentiful in Artimé, so there was no need to carry a canteen at home until now.

Clementi and Fox appeared from where they’d been napping in the stacks. “What’s going on?” Clementi’s stomach emitted a snarling growl, and she winced. “Any progress?”

“It’s coming along,” said Ms. Octavia. She didn’t mention that she was beginning to struggle to remember the exact dimensions of the window frame—was it two and a quarter inches all the way around the glass, or two and three quarters? Back in her classroom she had the window in front of her to copy and measure if she needed to. Here she was constantly second-guessing herself. Things she’d been certain of before she started drawing now seemed off. And the constant chatter wasn’t helping her concentration. “Why don’t you all do some more searching through the maps and books to see if you can find anything useful.”