Samheed looked down, abashed. He was well aware that he tended to leap to anger and suspicion, though now he was much better at controlling it than when he’d been a teenager. Back then, Lani had been a good foil to his frequent billowing frustrations, so he sometimes looked to her to help him gauge his levels of emotions and see if he was being reasonable. At this moment, Lani didn’t appear troubled at all that Aaron had taken the role of head mage rather than Claire. Samheed’s frown flickered and dissipated. Perhaps he’d just have to get used to this idea, even though the news had not been what he was expecting. It would no doubt grow easier to accept in time. He hoped the loss of Alex would too.

Talk turned to the future and what, if anything, they should do about the Revinir. Thisbe opened her mouth to speak her mind about the situation and her intent to go back as soon as possible. But Crow and Carina and Lani immediately stated that they were relieved to be away from the foreign world. “I’m not eager to return any time soon,” Carina said. The others agreed.

Thisbe closed her mouth and listened, a consternated look on her face. Being back in familiar territory had clearly given some of them new perspectives.

“I’m ready to be home too,” said Fifer. She was exhausted—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“I need my bed for a good long time,” Seth remarked.

“And then,” said Fifer with a yawn, “once we’re rested, I think we need to have a celebration.”

Thisbe’s eyes widened. She couldn’t stay silent any longer. “What?” she exclaimed. “Celebrating what, exactly?”

“A masquerade ball,” Fifer said decisively. “To celebrate our return! Like what the grown-ups did when they came back from their adventure. Only we’ll do it with costumes, too.”

Thisbe’s lips parted in confusion. “A . . . a ball?” Had they all forgotten that Alex had died on this mission? A celebration seemed terribly out of place. And a waste of precious time. They needed to prepare to fight the Revinir!

As several of the others voiced their exhaustion from traveling and fighting and their interest in Fifer’s idea, Sky remained silent next to Thisbe. The two exchanged a bemused glance, as both were aghast at the thought of celebrating at a time like this. Neither of them felt like having a party, for a multitude of reasons. The mere fact that Fifer had suggested such a thing felt like a huge betrayal to Thisbe after how she’d said so valiantly just recently that she would go back to the land of the dragons with Thisbe to help rescue her people. Their people.