Kaylee stepped in. “Oh, no thank you,” she said, taking Aaron’s hands in hers so he couldn’t accept it. “He’s just fine without it.”

Aaron gave a weary laugh and looked sideways at his wife. “Kaylee’s right. No thanks. You’re going to have to find a new head mage.”

Fifer and Thisbe both stared. “You won’t do it?” Thisbe asked.

“No way.”

“Ms. Morning, then?” said Thisbe.

“Not me either, I’m afraid,” said Claire. “My life is in Quill. There’s got to be a better choice. Someone who is actually passionate about being head mage.”

“How about Lani?” asked Fifer uncertainly. There had been a time when she’d wanted the job. Fifer squinted and looked around for the woman who’d inspired her actions that day.

“Again, no,” said Claire. “Lani and I actually talked about it in the lounge while we were stuck in there. She told me that her time for that had passed, and she wasn’t interested. She has a lot more on her agenda that she wants to accomplish, which wouldn’t give her time for running things around here. So I think it’s clear what that means.”

Aaron nodded and looked at the twins. “Maybe it’s time for one of you,” he said.

The girls stiffened. “One of us?” echoed Thisbe. Her eyes widened as she imagined the prestigious job. Head mage of Artimé. Would she want to step into that role? Right now when everything crazy was happening in the land of the dragons? It was definitely tempting.

“But…,” said Fifer. “We just, um, ended the career of the last head mage.”

“You did, you mean,” Thisbe pointed out.

“And that would put you in some danger,” Claire warned. “There are a lot of changes that have to happen in Artimé. It’s going to be a rocky time for a while, I’m afraid.”

Immediately Thisbe’s face grew worried—for herself and for her sister. No matter how mad she was, she didn’t want Fifer to be in danger. They’d already had one head mage sibling die. It was hard to think of either of them taking over and being that vulnerable. Plus, for Thisbe, there was the Revinir to think about. And the dragon-woman had threatened to go after Fifer, too. No doubt she’d be returning sooner or later with her dragons. Fifer would be target number one on this island if she were the head mage. Thisbe frowned. Should she offer to become head mage in order to save her sister? She glanced at Rohan, who was giving her a puzzled look, as if he were wondering why she hadn’t immediately turned down the offer. Thisbe closed her eyes briefly. He was right. Thisbe couldn’t imagine doing it. She had another agenda entirely, and her other land was calling to her.

Henry shouted out from the area with the dissenters. “Can you bring the world back, please? We need supplies and medicine!”

Fifer felt sick thinking about being head mage. She wanted to shout “Yes!” to the skies. To slip her arms into the sleeves of that precious robe. But she had just killed someone—not just anyone, but the head mage, a former Unwanted, who the dissenters had supported. What would happen if Fifer said yes? Would the dissenters keep trying to come after her for revenge?