Things seemed normal, which indicated that the Revinir hadn’t heard of their escape yet. They sped through the town with their heads down, talking quietly. “Is there a book on the common language?” Thisbe asked. “I’d like to learn it so I can communicate better with the others.”

“I’m sure there is. Maiven has thousands of books in her back rooms. I can teach you some phrases as well.”

“I’d love that, if you don’t mind.”

“We’ve got some time on our hands.”

“You mean as we wait for Dev?”

“I mean as we wait for Maiven to learn more from the ancient scrolls so we can try to figure out what to do.”

“I see.” Thisbe glanced at him. “Days? Weeks? I’m not sure how we proceed from here.”

“We don’t have a solution to the Revinir problem yet, so we need to stay in hiding until we figure it out and know we can beat her. I’m sure Maiven will want to train the other future rulers to fight too. She doesn’t want to hurt any dragons but the Revinir, for obvious reasons—they are co-rulers of this land. Once Maiven comes across something of use, we’ll have to work out a plan. It could take several weeks.”

Thisbe sighed, feeling impatient. “I wish my people and your people could all work together. Maybe it’s time. . . .”

“Do you have anyone you could summon from your world to help us? Perhaps the rescue team is itching for some more excitement?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” said Thisbe. “They’ve had some difficulty lately, though. My brother Aaron was the head mage, but before I left, he was ousted.”

“What? You didn’t mention that!”

“It didn’t come up,” Thisbe said. “We had enough to figure out when we actually had time to talk.” She filled him in on all that had happened politically during the time she’d been in Artimé. And she mentioned how there were people pitted against her and Fifer, too. “I’m sure things have settled down by now, though. And even while those things were happening, Florence and Aaron and the others were working on new magic to help us destroy the Revinir. I’m hoping by now they’ve come up with something. Once we get to a secluded spot in the forest, I’ll send Florence a seek spell. That’ll signal her that I’m ready for them to come.”

“That sounds promising,” said Rohan. “Perhaps things are looking up for us after all.”