“Me? You’re the one who left!”

“Yes, you! You’re the head mage now. You have your own special apartment.”

Fifer gasped. The words hit like a slap. Moving to the head mage’s quarters hadn’t crossed her mind yet, and it felt horrible thinking about taking over her dead brother’s apartment. “Oh, Thisbe,” said Fifer, her throat tightening. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she turned swiftly so Thisbe wouldn’t see them.

Thisbe stood up, immediately remorseful. “Ugh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” She wrung her hands. “I knew I shouldn’t have opened my mouth tonight. Please… I’m begging you. Let’s go to bed and talk about this when things settle down. Before we make it worse.”

Fifer nodded, not trusting her voice. The two got ready for bed in silence, both of them upset and wanting to turn the light off as soon as possible so they wouldn’t have to see each other.

Once in bed, Fifer stared at the ceiling in the dark. Everything was tumultuous. She could hardly wrap her mind around all the changes. And now, before she could even catch her breath, she and Thisbe were in an all-out war. This was so foreign—the twins used to agree on everything. Tell each other all of their secrets. Have great conversations before drifting off to sleep. How Fifer longed for that to happen again, but there was so much junk piled up between them that it felt insurmountable. She missed the way things used to be, but she didn’t know how to get them back there. For someone in control of an entire community, she certainly seemed out of control of this situation. Would she and Thisbe ever be the same again?

On the other side of the room, Thisbe turned to her side and pulled the covers up around her ears. She didn’t like how things had gone. She’d expected Fifer to thank her for returning, not attack her for leaving. After all, Thisbe had gone with Drock back to captivity to save Artimé! It had been such an unselfish act, and Fifer was mad about it? That was pretty rude. And pretty typical of how Fifer had been acting since before Thisbe and Drock had left. The two just didn’t see eye to eye anymore. And it seemed like it wouldn’t be long before they were going their separate ways for good. The thought was painful.

The girls, both restless and lost in their thoughts, didn’t speak, though they could tell the other was still awake. It was the opposite of how they used to act. Everything was so strange. And neither girl was certain their relationship could survive it.

Revinir on the Move

Dev watched the Revinir coming closer and tried not to panic. She was still very far away. Wouldn’t she, of anyone, know that this palace was deserted? She must have been here at some point in the past ten years since she’d arrived in this world. She probably stole something from here—Dev wouldn’t put it past her. So why was she flying out this way? Did she know Dev was alive and hiding out here?