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“Ravelly pointed to the illustration as he told his friend that he used to read the same story nightly to his son, Wahlister. ��Imorih’s Journey—quite the moralistic quest.��

Unan nodded in agreement. “I read it to Ian and Eena when they were children.�� Then he held up the opened page with the picture of Imorih and the tiny, shouldered bug. He asked curiously, “Why do you say this is your favorite part, Master Ravelly?�� The question caught Eena’s interest. Her ears tuned in to their conversation, but her eyes continued to scan the lively crowd below.

The old Grott went on to explain. “That is the part where Imorih realizes the whispered voice she has been listening to, the advice she has been heeding, doesn’t belong to her conscience as she first supposed. It shocks her to learn that for the more part of her journey she has been following the promptings of a negligible, albeit well-intentioned, creature. That’s when two things happen in her life. First, she comprehends how cunning and manipulative the power of suggestion can be. Secondly, she learns to recognize the difference between her own voice—her own desires—and someone else’s.��

Unan hummed a sound of accordance. “That’s right. Things change quite drastically after that discovery, don’t they?��

“Yes, yes, they most certainly do. For the best, I recall.��

“Because she becomes master of her own destiny after that.��

“As we all should be.��

Unan nodded, examining the illustration once again. “Yes, as we all should be.”