Florence flashed a sympathetic smile. “Any time.” She gave the cheetah’s shoulder a reassuring pat, then went inside the mansion, where bleary-eyed mages were just starting to emerge, thinking they would soon be fighting.

“You can go back to your rooms,” Florence announced. “We’ll have an update soon.” She went up the stairs and entered the family hallway to Frieda’s room, feeling a tiny bit smug that Frieda wasn’t magical enough to move her residence to the mostly secret hallway, and therefore wouldn’t sully Alex’s old place with her horribleness.

She rapped hard on the woman’s door, putting a small dent in the wood.

There was a flurry of noise inside, and then the woman threw open the door. Her light brown hair was standing up in all directions, and she had bags under her eyes. She wore the head mage’s robe.

Florence tried not to cringe at the sight of her.

“What is it?” said Frieda, as if she was annoyed to see her. “What do you want?”

“I have good news,” said Florence evenly. “The Revinir and her party of dragons have turned back. We are no longer under threat of attack. We’ll continue to monitor the situation, and I will keep you informed if anything changes.”

Frieda’s expression first registered relief, and then her eyes widened and a smile grew. “They must have found out that I’m the head mage now.”

Florence frowned. “I . . . don’t think that’s the reason.”

“Sure it is.” Frieda’s face brightened even more. “They discovered that I overthrew Aaron, and they grew scared. Why else would they turn back?”

Florence could think of a few explanations, but she could hardly stand being in Frieda’s presence, so she didn’t begin to list them. “I’ll keep you informed,” she said again, and turned to go. “You should put out a statement on the blackboards letting everyone know that they can relax. Do you need me to help you write it?”

“Of course not,” said Frieda. “I’m not a baby.” She closed the door.

Florence sighed in disgust. She went back down to the main floor of the mansion and outside to let Simber know that the job was done.

When she returned inside, a small group of dissenters had gathered by the dining room blackboard and were reading the statement from the head mage. Florence stopped to read it as well.