Matsias stared at the dream net. It didn't look much like the picture in the book, though he had tried to follow the pattern. For one thing, it was made from embroidery thread Ayan had given him, rather than the thicker cotton cord the book mentioned. But he must have gotten the knots right because the net hadn't fallen apart the way Reed had described.
He had spent the better part of the week making it, using his luck to get it right. But if the pattern by itself had been good enough, he thought, his nightmares should have stopped already. So Mat had looked up words to help him channel dream magic. But if that went wrong--and it likely would--then he would be in a lot of trouble. But Antony had told him there was no other way, even at Faraday.
The last two days, Matsias found himself returning to the net any time Reed wasn't around to see it. Tonight, he had skipped dinner altogether. Instead, he had sat in the empty room staring at the dream net.
Matsias jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the door. He threw the dream net back into its drawer, opened his book, and called, "come in!"
Key opened the door. "Tilli said you missed some kind of practice with her?"
"Oh, no." Matsias hadn't meant to skip that.
"And you rushed out of class pretty fast." Key closed the door and stood against it, arms crossed.
Matsias pointed to the book he had out. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I just wanted to get a head start on the paper for my literature class. It's the quarter exam, and... and you have basically the same paper so..." he trailed off.
Key sat down. "Well, you're not going to get very far if you don't eat. Even you should know that." She handed him a napkin, in which she had wrapped a vegetable sandwich.
"Thanks." It wasn't until Mat accepted the sandwich that he realized just how hungry he was.
"What are big sisters for? Now come study with us." She picked up Mat's book from the desk.
"Why?"
She tugged his braid. "Because little brothers are there to help with algebra homework."
"Ayan's better at algebra than I am."
Key punched him on the arm. "I want your company. And your homework will not benefit from you sitting around your room moping that one of us surpassed you in math."
Key was right, as usual. Matsias did feel better with food and company, and they studied, the thought of his dream net slipped entirely from his mind. Around ten o'clock, the girls started to trickle away--first Ayan, and then Tilli. Miriam exchanged a glance with Key and got up without saying a word. He rubbed the stub of his leg. He knew an intervention when he saw one.
Key stood up and settled on the couch next to Matsias. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
Matsias opened his history book and pretended to be reading. "Well, you have been spending a lot of time in Hawthorne House."
"And you've been spending a lot of time in the library. Even for you."
"No. I've been... with friends." It was a terrible lie, especially after Antony had suggested he cheat.
"I noticed."
Matsias snapped his head in her direction. "Why'd you say it like that?"
"Said it like what?"
"Like it was definitely a bad idea."
She crossed her arms. "I did not say it like that."
"You definitely did." Matsias realized he was getting loud and looked around the common. Fortunately, they hadn't caught the attention of anyone else there. "You definitely did," he said more quietly. "So, why is it okay for you to make friends, but it's a bad idea for me?"
Key took a deep breath. "That girl you and Antony hang out with? Jo? She's Miriam's cousin. And she... doesn't sound like the nicest of people."
Matsias laughed bitterly. "That sounds like everyone I know, Key."
"Well, she's apparently done some shady things."
"Again, basically everyone I know."
"Look, Mats..."
"Mat." Matsias corrected her firmly and glanced around the room again.
"Mat," Key said again, "I'm trying to look out for you. Miriam says that Jo is a trickster and a thief, and... I don't want you getting hurt."
"And what is it your mom is always saying? Truth wizards make the best liars? As for thievery, I don't have anything worth stealing."
"Look..."
Mat slammed his book shut. "No. Just because we're 'siblings' doesn't give you the right to tell me who I can and can't be friends with. Especially when you're not around for me to talk to. Any my roommate..." He glanced around a third time and lowered his voice to a whisper. "My roommate thinks the Pelan are cannibals. But you wouldn't know that would you? There is literally no one here I can talk to." His voice was getting louder again, but this time, he didn't care. "I'm sorry if you're upset that I'm asking someone else for advice, but obviously you don't want that role anymore, so you can take your advice and... and... tseefaxay." It was a swear. And it was in Epaluno. Without looking at Key, he hefted himself up on his crutch and limped back to his room.
Matsias walked in and slammed the door shut behind him. He froze for a moment as he realized the room was dark. Reed was asleep. But the sound of the door hadn't woken him. Matsias dropped his book of the floor, lay down on his bed, and pulled the dream net out of his desk drawer. Some part of him knew it was a bad idea, but he just didn't care anymore. It was clear he wasn't going to get help from anyone else, so so he would have to help himself. He concentrated on the luck in his belly, pushing it up through his fingers and into the knotted thread. He felt magic pour around the circle and down each thread. The dream net practically vibrated with energy. Then he carefully pronounced the words he had learned which were intended to imbue and object with dream magic. For a moment, the net gave off a soft glow. Then it faded back into the darkness. He realized he had nowhere to hand it, so he laid it on top of the stack of books on his desk. But as he placed his glasses next to the books, he felt the dream net slide off the stack, onto the floor. He stared into the darkness, but couldn't see it, and he didn't want to get out of bed to find it. So he left it there and went to sleep.
Matsias limped back to his house. He could walk okay, though every step hurt. Of course, his whole body hurt. He and Lowe brothers had had the bright idea to sneak into a movie house. They had left their headscarves at home, but taken their IDs because being without one was worse than being identified as Pelan. Mat used his luck to hold the back door open, and the boys managed to get through about ten minutes of the movie before they were yanked out of their seats and separated. The two who had taken Matsias punched him in the stomach, telling him over and over that he had no right to be in the movie house and he should learn his place. But as the beating went on, they turned to laughing. They laughed harder as they smashed his face into the ground. After a while, Matsias lost the energy to fight back, and the enforcers got bored. They picked him up and tossed him in to the street, throwing his ID card after him.
Matsias scrambled to gather his ID before someone stepped on it or blew away. He stuffed it in his pocket and then stood up warily. He walked home. After the first couple of blocks of people sneering at him--he was clearly a lying Pelan who had been caught--Matsias turned down some back streets that had fewer people. He walked slow, not only because he was sore, but because he didn't want to face his mother.
When he did get home, he was lucky. Key was sitting on the steps of the Truuits' trailer. "Mat? What happened?"
"Ben and Kumal and I decided to sneak into a movie house." He winced as his foot came down on a rock and he almost lost his balance. "It was a bad idea."
"I noticed..." Key slowly stood as he came nearer."Thanks, Key, but I think I'll hear enough about it from my mom." He turned to go inside the house.
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that." Key jumped off the steps and helped Mat into the trailer. As usual, it was clean and organized inside. Matsias supposed it had to be since Key's mother sometimes had business meetings there. It also had a cinnamony smell from the incense that the Truuits burned. Key directed Matsias to a chair at their table and ran out of the room. She came back with several bandages and a jar of ointment that Matsias didn't recognize.
"I can't make your mother less angry, but I can clean you up before you get home." She took some of the ointment from the jar and dabbed it over his eye. He felt the pain receded, and his eye opened, though he knew it was still badly bruised.
"Thanks." He tried to smile, but even smiling hurt.
Key tended to the rest of his cuts and bruises, and then carefully unbraided his hair, combed it out, and washed it with a cloth. "You'll have to braid it back," she said, "I don't braid."
Somewhere in the back on his mind, Matsias knew this was wrong. Key had short hair, but surely she knew how to braid. But his head was too cloudy to piece together what was wrong, exactly. He reached up to braid it himself, but his arms hurt too much.
"Please?" He tried to think of Thisaazhou practiced that involved braiding. "Sure you've braided something? Making a shirt? Or jewelry?" Her dad would know. Wasn't he supposed to be there?
"But Mat, you don't deserve to have your hair braided. In fact, maybe we should cut it off."
"Why would you do that?" For the Pelan, long hair was a sign of adulthood. He had barely even trimmed his since his ninth birthday.
"You're a disgrace, leaving your family like you did."
"What? They're right..." Matsias looked out the trailed window toward his house. It was on fire. "No!" He tried to stand up, to run to the house, but he couldn't move. From inside, he could hear people singing... his brother calling name....
Key laughed. It grew louder and more shrill, until she sounded like a siren. Then she pushed him.
"Stop!"
"Mat!" She mocked, and pushed him again. "Mat!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Mat, wake up!"
"Mat, wake up!"
Matsias opened his eyes. Reed stood over him, breathing heavily. The siren hadn't stopped. The air was thick and hard to breathe, like the dream was still around him.
Reed didn't wait for Mat's head to clear. He yanked the blankets off the bed and hauled his roommate to a standing position. As Reed wrapped Mat's arm around his waist and pulled him toward the door, Matsias glanced toward Reed's bed. Now the smoke and the siren made sense. The room was on fire.
