Hours later, we were finally situated in one of the council rooms, Serenity and I both fighting the urge to wolf down the sandwiches in front of us, but we weren’t going to last much longer in the manners department. We kept glancing at them and at each other, hoping someone else would eat something first so we didn’t look too greedy.

  “Well, now that we’re all here,” Elincia stood as Shalana came back in. “I suppose it’s high time we got started. Quick introductions, Princess Igraine, Shalana, Serenity, Rivienne, Silvo, and Captain Marigold.”

  “Now, as we’re all aware by now, I’m sure, it has been confirmed by Shalana that it is indeed the demon king in the dungeons. The Astral Order sacrificed the lives of 7 mages to lock him away again, but we don’t have all that much time to figure out how to outright kill him. Jaa Tuuli is frozen, Vihainen Tuuli has cut off all contact with us including trade as of last week, the southern kingdom has pushed further into our border overtaking three towns, so we are absolutely on our own with this problem.”

  “As Shalana stated earlier, this could affect the other countries more than it already is. Kind Edvard is not himself, Lord Silvo cannot be trusted, and I do not know of anyone else who could be potential allies, so I ask that none of what is said within this room leaves this room,” Queen Elincia looked at each of us in turn as we nodded.

  “Actually, Your Majesty, there may possibly be more allies,” I made a pointed look at Shalana. “Your goals align, tell me I’m wrong.”

  “No, no you have a point,” Shalana shook her head. “Rivienne has the right of it, Your Majesty. There is a resistance group in Deepwood Forest and some of the surrounding towns.”

  “Do they have a leader?” She asked, standing up straighter, her interest piqued.

  “We do, Torgrud Ashfall. He runs the tavern in Eastbell. The group was formed and run originally by Captain Teodoroic until his departure a few years ago. As a member of the leadership, I can speak for them.”

  “Good. Now, our first and foremost objective is to find a way to defeat the demon king once and for all. The city to the east may have something we can use. I propose we put two teams together. One to put an expedition together to head east and the other to find a solution closer to home.”

  “Marigold, I would have you lead the expedition with your squadron, Rivienne, and Serenity. Princess Igraine and Silvo, I would have you both use your time finding a solution closer to home. Shalana, I leave you and your resistance to your own devices, however, I ask that you send members to help both teams if at all possible.”

  “I understand, Your Majesty,” Shalana nodded.

  “Now, information. Shalana, what can you tell us of the demon king’s origins?” Elincia asked, sitting down. I glanced at Serenity as my stomach growled and she smirked.

  Shalana grimaced and then glanced at me before she stood. “Before the gods’ exodus, they entrusted the elements to their chosen human counterparts, the sages. However, the scales started to tip towards light as the gods relinquished their hold on the world. The goddess of magic proposed another set of sages who would only number 3. She foresaw conflict among her chosen and gave them power over multiple elements. The first became the demon of lightning, fire, and earth. The second, earth, ice, and water, and the third would have power over water, wind, and lightning. Leaving fire, earth, and wind as the only three uncontested elements among them, easily stopped by one of the other two demons.”

  “There was a 7th, meant to keep the peace between each of the sages and demons, but after she was killed by a dragon, everything fell apart. Arguments broke out between them all, pointing fingers at each other for being the cause of her death and the reason the world seemed to be falling apart at the seams. Droughts, famine, and diseases spread like wildfire, trade was bad, and monsters were growing bigger and stronger at a rapid rate. Your ancestor Rivienne, the sage of water, chose to do nothing. No matter how much I begged and pleaded with him, even going so far as to challenge him to a duel, he still refused to do anything. He thought time would resolve the issues, leaving the humans to chart their own course, but all it did was get worse with no one to redress the balance. After your ancestor caused the downfall of the sages and demons, their followers, the astral and umbral mages, formed the two opposing orders in order to keep the peace after the war of the demons and sages. Granted, that peace only lasted a century and a few odd years, but it was working.”

  “So… what caused the astral and umbral war?”

  “Your same ancestor.”

  “I thought power was supposed to pass down through the families of the sages?” I tilted my head to the side, my eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “I thought they were mortal like the rest of us, just given more powerful magic to control the flow of the elements so to speak.”

  “They were, until I interrupted the flow. I realized the elements themselves didn’t need to be governed. Gods were created by humans when they needed something. For instance, the god of wealth was created when the poor were stricken by famine and disease. They prayed for salvation and a god was formed, giving them their salvation they so desperately craved. Once humans stop praying to that god, the god will disappear. As with all things, there must be an end to a cycle and the gods desperately craved the end of their own cycle. They wanted to die.”

  “It was for this reason that the gods left, choosing to leave the world in the hands of humans with a way to control the magic that flowed through the world. Your ancestor had no interest in being the sage of water, only wanting to create spells, just as you do. He turned a blind eye to the conflicts around him until they had grown too great to be stopped easily. Instead, he chose to make a pact with the demons to stop the other sages altogether. However, I was wrong again.”

  “The elements do need governing, otherwise they grow stagnant just like mana does. Ice magic can still be used, but it is nowhere near as powerful as it used to be, due to the sage of ice and both demons who had control of it being frozen in the north after the mage war.”

  “The sage of water is still alive,” Shalana exhaled slowly, watching Elincia carefully. “I imagine that’s why your power hasn’t awakened if it was going to, both you Rivienne, and you Princess Igraine. The sage of earth and I locked him in a prison within the Sages’ Fountain, throwing the balance in shambles. He’s become utterly consumed by his power and is no longer even a reflection of his former self.”

  “What do you mean my power?” Princess Igraine asked.

  “The 7th was a member of the royal family. Princess Phoena. Not a single sage has been seen here in Reilu Tuuli for 73 years now, but that’s not to say they aren’t in one of the other kingdoms.”

  “Which brings us right back to square one,” Queen Elincia sighed, leaning on the arm of her chair. “At least we know the sages still have the potential to fill their roles, possibly. Serenity, Rivienne, I need you both to continue training with Kaine in the mornings and the afternoons researching what you can on the eastern kingdom. Shalana, I leave you to your own devices. Marigold, I believe you and your squadron are due time off, so enjoy the next two weeks off. If you choose to do anything, I ask that you help Rivienne and Serenity. Igraine and Silvo, I need you both to see if you can find anything on the sages. Surely there’s something within the Astral Order’s library. Now, you have your respective tasks, see about them. Shalana, would you stay behind a moment?”

  “Sure, Your Majesty,” Shalana nodded.

  Serenity glanced around as everyone left before she snatched a handful of the sandwiches and took off with them. I went to grab another one too, but I felt Elincia and Shalana’s eyes on me, so I only grabbed one and left.

  “So,” Serenity glanced around as she leaned closer to me. “Are we sticking with our original plan?”

  “Yeah, I want my tome back and I’d like to see if I can get into-”

  “What are you plotting?” Igraine asked as she walked up to us, Silvo just behind her.

  “Nothing,” I said nervously, giving away my guilt.

  “Uh huh, Riv, you can’t lie. So, what are you two planning and can we be let in on it?”

  I glanced at Serenity and she squinted at me and imperceptably shook her head no.

  “Well, we’re hungry, you see, and we’d just like to-”

  “Oh, if that’s all, come on,” Igraine turned away. “There’s food left from dinner in my study. You’re both welcome to it.”

  “Sure,” I glanced at Serenity who was laughing silently, hiding her face behind her hand.

  I nudged her with my shoulder and jogged to catch up to Igraine and Silvo who glanced back at me, an odd look on his face.

  I gave him a questioning look and he shook his head, turning away. I shrugged and ate the sandwich, enjoying whatever sauce it was the cook had put on it. I’d have to see if someone would give me the recipe for it.

  When I finished, I stretched my arms over my head and yawned, earning a disapproving look from one of the passing nobles, but I really didn’t care. I was glad we hadn’t been planning on breaking into the tower tonight, but I wasn’t sure I could do anything that didn’t involve sleep.

  When we got to her suite, I fought the urge to go lay on one of the couches and instead took my muddy boots off by the door so I wouldn’t get mud on her white carpets and leaned my halberd against the wall. Serenity followed my lead and set her bow down by the door before following Igraine to the table where she sat.

  I sat beside Serenity and Igraine, across from Silvo. I took one of the platters of cheese from Igraine and put a few pieces on my plate before I passed it to Serenity.

  “Did you ever find your necklace?” I asked Igraine as I pulled the cloth off the bread basket.

  “I did! Shortly after you left for home, I found it right where I’d almost swear we looked,” she laughed, passing Silvo the butter.

  “Oh good,” I grabbed a few pieces of beef off one of the platters and poured everyone a cup of lemonade from the pitcher.

  “Before the next fiasco comes our way, did the demon king speak to either of you at any point?” Igraine asked, sipping from her lemonade.

  Serenity and I glanced at each other before I nodded slowly. “Twice for me. It mistook me for my ancestor, saying something about getting its sweet revenge against my ancestor for what he did to it,” I took a bite of my bread, cheese, and roast beef.

  “I wonder what made it think you were the sage,” Silvo leaned back in his chair, not touching the food in front of him.

  “The color of my soul apparently,” I shrugged.

  “We’ve been put in charge of researching anything we can about the sages and their specific roles, I wonder… what if instead of reading books, we go to the Sages’ Fountain first?” Igraine asked, looking between Silvo and I.

  He absently chewed on his thumb, nodding slowly, lost in thought.

  “My sister and the earth sage locked him away and she said something about him not being even a reflection of his former self or something, what if he’s too powerful and won’t even talk to us?” Serenity spoke up, setting her lemonade glass down.

  “Sometimes we just have to take a risk, otherwise nothing will get done around here,” Igraine tapped her finger on the table, thinking.

  “Woah, I get what you’re saying, but we need to be fully prepared,” I set my sandwich down. “I don’t have my tome and we don’t even know where the fountain is. If the sage isn’t in a state to talk, we need to have a way to make him talk. Music plays some kind of role with the sages, but I don’t know what.”

  “Music?” Serenity asked, tilting her head at me.

  I glanced at Igraine who nodded her approval, so I told Serenity and Silvo about the statues in the room, how one started to glow when I stood in front of it, and what Igraine said about the weapons. I left out what King Edvard told me, as I hadn’t even told Igraine that and I wasn’t sure it needed to be known right then.

  “Weapons unique to the sages… With their magic, is there really a need for them to have weapons?” Serenity asked.

  “That’s a good question,” I shrugged. “I know personally, I only have a weapon for close-range combat, otherwise I’d just use my magic. Maybe it’s the same thing? Or maybe it’s like the fae, they have weapons made specifically for them.”

  “I’d forgotten about that…” Serenity said, nibbling on some bread.

  “Too much conjecture and not enough answers,” Igraine sighed in frustration. “I’d rather do something than sit around reading old books that more than likely won’t even have what we need in them.”

  “We need to be prepared. We can spend the evening gathering as much information as possible and make a plan tomorrow,” Silvo said as he sat up suddenly, chugging his lemonade. “Queen Elincia gave us orders anyway, I’m not about to ignore them. Now, before we go our separate ways, there’s one thing I’d like to know. Rivienne, just what are you planning on breaking into the Astral Order for?”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “I uh… well, there’s uh…”

  “Don’t bother lying, I heard you,” he shook his head. “You’re lucky no one else did, but what exactly are you planning on doing there?”

  “I’d like my tome back and sorry, but I owe your father a visit,” I glared at the cheese on my plate before stabbing it with my fork to eat it.

  “For what?”

  “What he did.” I scowled.

  “What happened in the dungeons, exactly?” Serenity asked, leaning closer to me.

  “Elincia and Shalana conveniently left that little tidbit out of the meeting,” I sighed. “Lord Silvo sacrificed mages to lock the demon king away. I think that’s why they were originally imprisoned, to be used as sacrifices. The rest are being saved for later use if I had to guess.”

  “They… are.” Silvo said heavily. “However, there’s an underground passage beneath the dungeons that leads to the underground city. It was so deep, the tunnels above it collapsed, blocking the doors. However, Rose and I were able to unbury it and we’re working on a way to free the mages from their imprisonment. I… thought about what you said, that I had the power to make a change, so I’m going to try to make a change. I only met her this morning, but she came to me after you left her shop. I recognized her from the raids, her name was on the list, but Elidyr kept us from checking her out.”

  “That’s what Rose said this morning to me too. Speaking of, where has my sister been?” I asked, adding more cheese to my plate before sneezing. Springtime was always the worst for allergies.

  “Running errands for my father, beyond that, I couldn’t tell you. Sorry,” he shrugged.

  “It’s fine, there’s a lot of people in the order and she’s always been one to be on the move.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t go after my father right now. At least not until we know his motives, and besides, you’d be thrown in prison too for attacking a member of the royal court,” Silvo squinted at me. “I can also just get the tome and bring it to you myself,” he shrugged, looking away.

  “Already did that once,” I shrugged, causing him to look at me in alarm. “You could, but there’s something else we’re looking for and I’d rather not owe you a second debt,”

  “Or, you don’t consider it a debt you owe and just accept it. What do you mean you already attacked my father? What was his response?”

  “He didn’t consider me a threat I guess, only told Queen Elincia to keep me on a leash,” I shrugged.

  “You really do like playing with fire, don’t you?” He shook his head at me and sighed, taking a bite out of his bread.

  “He kept insulting Elincia and he murdered other mages, what was I supposed to do? Ignore him?”

  “Yes,” Igraine and Silvo said at the same time, making me flinch.

  “Riv, I think being friends with me has made you a little too comfortable around the nobles. You can’t just attack Lord Silvo like that, he’ll-”

  “He murdered our, your, people! He’s currently still killing your people! The miasma in the lower districts and Deepwood Forest are making people very sick and killing plants and animals, the amulets that were helping to give people a way of life have been confiscated by him, not to mention magic itself growing stagnant and will no longer be usable one day! Granted, not for another few decades to a century from now, but my point still stands,” I said, my voice squeaking in anger. “So I ask again, what was I supposed to do?”

  Silence.

  Igraine’s eyes downcast as she gripped her water goblet, her eyebrows scrunched.

  I jumped when I felt Serenity’s hand on my shoulder. “I get that you’re angry,” she said quietly. “Belive me, I am too, but… there’s a certain order for these things. It could cause a civil war and we would lose with most of the knights on the frontlines.”

  “It could already cause a civil war,” I pushed my plate away and took a deep breath. Being softspoken with a short temper wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Maybe it was better to just be a pawn to Elincia and watch from the sidelines. Then I thought of my parents. Mom would never want me to just sit back and watch. She would’ve never sat back and watched.

  I stood up and excused myself, walking quickly to the doors. I stopped just outside waiting for Serenity to catch up.

  “Where are you going? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, I just… Why are they letting him get away with this?” I leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

  “Elincia has a plan, there’s a reason she wants us to find the eastern city if it exists. Let’s just go to the library and see what we can find, maybe it’ll help you relax some?” She said carefully.

  “I’m sorry for yelling,” I looked back at her.

  “I’ve never seen you so angry. Never. You’re… kinda scary,” She stepped towards me, holding out her elbow.

  I linked arms with her and we walked in silence towards the library. “You don’t happen to know where Ramira is, do you?”

  “Your mom? No, but she might be near the throne room still,”

  “Can we take a detour? I’d like to ask her something.”

  “Sure,” Serenity nodded.

  We walked in silence back to the throne room and looked around for her, but no luck.

  “You don’t think it’s weird that there aren’t any nobles or knights or well, anyone around?” Serenity asked, before knocking on Elincia’s study.

  “Yeah, but they’ve probably all been sent to their posts if I had to guess,” I leaned over the balcony looking down into the massive entry hall.

  “What do you mean?”

  “In times of war, we’re all meant to fight, even nobles. They’re all granted a manor that doubles as a fortress, outpost, whatever is needed depending on the location. We’ve been losing the war for almost what, two years now? I haven’t heard anything about the current state of it, but it’s only conjecture, but it’s what I’d do if I were afraid the enemy’s army was marching on the capital.”

  “There isn’t much between us and the southern kingdom’s border as it is…”

  “Just the Tuuli River and the dwarves,” I shrugged.

  “Would the dwarves come to our defence?”

  “Nope, not unless we promised them a decade’s worth of free grog,” I said half in amusement, half in seriousness.

  “When was the last time any of them were seen outside of their mountains?”

  “Mmm… if I remember right, during the Astral and Umbral War,”

  “Did they fight?”

  “No, they made weapons for both sides, but only after being paid double for each one. The reason Torgrud left. He didn’t want to make weapons of war. My brother actually apprenticed under the king for several years growing up, Torgrud gave him a personal recommendation and the king approved it almost instantly.”

  “Yeah, he told me about that, it’s one of his favorite things to talk about. He had to stop because he wasn’t a dwarf and they didn’t want the king giving all of their secrets away, but now he’s apprentice to one of the dwarf lords, right?”

  “Yeah, I can’t remember his name, but yeah,” I nodded, watching as two knights walked under the balcony, their back to me.

  “Aria!” I called down, waving.

  She turned around and grinned, waving back. She and Nero, the knight next to her, stopped and waited as Serenity and I hurried down the stairs to them.

  “What are you two up to?” Aria asked, shifting her weight onto one foot.

  “Looking for Ramira, have you seen her?”

  “Not since earlier, speaking of, how is the princess doing?” Aria asked.

  “She’s much better, thank you for helping her,”

  “It’s my job,” she winked.

  “I mean, yeah, but still, thank you,” I shrugged sheepishly.

  “You’re welcome, oh, I meant to say, since Kaine is still out of commission for the time being, more knights have been sent to the front lines, along with the nobles, so I’d be prepared for anything if I were you,” Aria said, growing somber. “It’s not good.”

  “In such a short time…” I’d already come to the conclusion, but hearing it for certain didn’t feel so good.

  “They’ve overtaken another two towns on the outskirts. The generals have called a retreat to regroup, but I’m not sure we’ll last much longer,” Nero crossed her arms, chewing on her lower lip.

  “Well, we’ve got to get back to our patrol, I’ll see you both around,” Aria waved as she and Nero headed down the hall.

  “See you!” I waved back.

  I shifted the bracelet on my wrist and scratched, thinking.

  “We’ve gotta find your mom still and get to the library,” Serenity said, tugging on my arm.

  “Right,” I followed after her, down one of the halls that housed some of the high ranking nobles.

  I stopped about halfway down the hall when I heard Mom’s laugh, her high laugh that would instantly make anyone hearing it smile at least.

  “There she is,” I jogged up to one of the open doors and peered in, seeing her sitting across from Lord Geoffrey of House Gildenscale, a house of art traders.

  “Ah, just in time Lady Rivienne,” Lord Geoffrey stood, his face alight with pure happiness and deep wrinkles from many years of smiling. “I was just regaling Lady Ramira with tales of my heroicness when I was young and spry,”

  “What are you talking about? You’re still young and spry,” I grinned, bowing to him.

  “Oooh, if only,” he sat back down, leaning heavily on his cane. “These days, my back doesn’t allow me to sweep any pretty ladies off their feet anymore,” he winked. “Now, what can I do for yet another beautiful Lady Nightingale?”

  “I was actually coming to find Lady Ramira for a moment, but if you’re busy, I can come back later,”

  “Oh no, I wouldn’t dream of delaying you, the gods’ know how busy you knights are. I remember those days well enough still,” he nodded sagely, his smiling fading a little.

  “Oh, Lord Geoffrey, this is Serenity my squad partner,” I motioned towards her.

  “Oh my, three beautiful ladies in one room, whatever shall I do?” he placed his hand over his heart as he stood again. “It is wonderful to meet you Lady Serenity.”

  “Oh, I’m not a lady, sir,” she said, blushing.

  “You don’t happen to be kin to Shalana Iktuk, by any chance?” he asked as he sat, motioning to the couch across from him, so I sat next to mom.

  “I’m her younger sister, sir,” Serenity said as she sat on the edge of the couch next to me.

  “I knew it,” he said, leaning on his cane in front of him. “I met her many, many years ago in my younger days as a knight, hoping to woo her,” he chuckled.

  “You? Woo my sister? I’m not sure anyone can,” Serenity laughed.

  “Ah, many tried, and just as many failed. Now, as I said, I know you’re both in a hurry, so don’t let me keep you,”

  I glanced at Serenity before I asked him, “Were you a knight during the Astral and Umbral War?”

  “Of course I was, though I was fresh out of the academy so I wasn’t put on the front lines. I don’t know a thing about what actually happened up there. Though I will tell you, as I told Queen Elincia, the pattern is the same. I could kick myself for not writing it all down as it happened, apparently no one did. I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember the last night,” he coughed hard and mom ran to refill his water, passing it to him.

  “Thank you, dear,” he said, once he’d stopped coughing. “Now, as I was saying, the last night was a bitterly cold one, especially for it being the middle of summer. I remember it snowing for several days after, stopping only after a lone mage went north. Not sure who or why, but I don’t believe in coincidences, never have. Jaa Tuuli’s army was the fiercest and strongest of all four of the kingdoms’ armies seconded only by the southern kingdom’s. Ours has always been a bunch of cowards and tree-huggers, the supposed peace-keepers, yet it seems that any skirmish that breaks out is started by one of our own,” he scowled.

  “That’s neither here nor there,” he sighed. “How long has it been raining for?”

  “Since around noon earlier,” I said, glancing out of the windows. It was pitch black from the black rain clouds covering the sunset.

  “Still too early to tell then… It rains a lot here usually, but when the balance between the elements of magic crumbles, weather is the first thing to change. I hate to end it here, but I can’t stay awake as long as I used to, so you’ll have to excuse me,” he stood, leaning heavily on his cane.

  “Thank you for your time,” I said as we stood, Serenity still stared out the window.

  “Wait outside for me, I’ll be along as soon as I can,” Mom said as she went to help Lord Geoffrey to bed.

  Serenity and I filed out into the hallway and stood across from the doors, whispering.

  “Now I’m questioning a lot again,” Serenity sighed.

  “Again? I’m not sure I ever stopped.”

  “True… Every time we talk to anyone, the north is mentioned. Why does she want us to go east so badly when we know the north exists?”

  “Because we don’t know how to melt the ice,” I shrugged. “Anyone that’s gone north has either died to beasts prowling the ice or the ice itself,”

  “I say we research both then, focussing on the north more.”

  “Defy the queen?”

  “Of course not, not yet anyway,” Serenity crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder against the wall. “I don’t have much loyalty to the crown like you do, so I’ll take the blame for whatever happens, but I get the feeling that there’s something else going on that we’re missing and I don’t like it.”

  “I agree, but we’re in this together,” I shook my head. “I’m already on thin ice with Lord Silvo and King Edvard, why not add the princess and possibly even the queen to the mix?” I shrugged.

  “I’m pretty sure your parents would have something to say about that,” she snorted.

  “I’m pretty sure Shalana would too,” I snicked.

  “Touché,” she rolled her eyes. “Regardless of what we do, we need to be careful. The people are my priority, so whatever we do, it’s for them. Not the crown, but the crown is the one that can throw us in prison to rot. Anyway, what did you want to ask your mom about?”

  “What she thinks of the whole thing. I know she’s Elincia’s best friend, but she’s not one to blindly follow like a sheep,”

  “I hope you’re right about that, I don’t mean to call family into question, but there’s so much corruption in the capital.”

  “It’s hard to know who to trust, but Mom was once a mage knight, she helped a lot in the outlying towns helping after floods and storms. That’s how she met my dad, actually,” I shrugged. “He was taking notes on what needed to be rebuilt and what could be repaired to get funds allotted to the towns to help.”

  “I guess there really are a few good ones then,”

  We looked up as Lord Geoffrey’s door opened and shut again behind mom.

  “Lady Ramira,” Serenity stood up straight.

  “Mom,” I gave her a hug.

  “Got any more crises that need to be averted?”

  “Not yet,” I shrugged, stepping back.

  “Well, what did you need? It’s getting late and we have things to do,”

  “I was wondering… why did you stop being a mage knight?”

  “I married your father and got pregnant with you sister and a position opened for a court apothecary so I took it, simple as that,”

  “But what about now? Would you go on adventure as a mage if you could? You don’t have to worry about kids anymore,”

  She went to respond, but stopped, thinking about it. “I’d always wanted to travel the world like your grandfather, my father, but I think my chance for adventure is long gone.”

  “Mom, you’re only 37,” I snorted. “What if you came with us when we go find the eastern city?”

  She squinted at me, before she sighed. “Elincia already has me doing something else for her, and you don’t even know if you’re the one going on that trip.”

  “Then why would she have us doing the research if we weren’t…”

  “You’ll find out soon enough, but I can say for certain that she’s testing you. Be careful and behave. I heard about your little run-in with Lord Silvo. Remember, your actions reflect on your family whether you want them to or not. I love you, now run along,” she shooed us off before she turned and went further down the hall.

  We watched as she disappeared down another hall before we turned to head to the library.

  “Well… I guess that answers that,” I sighed.

  “I guess so… Come on, let’s just go find out what we can, maybe plan our Astral Order break-in too while we’re at it,” Serenity linked arms with me again and we walked in silence the rest of the way.