Rohan smiled. “I saw her head to her room this afternoon once you finished with everyone,” he said. “She said she had a splitting headache after all of that drama. The chefs prepared something mysteriously fragrant and effervescent in a tall glass for her to take with her.”

“She deserves whatever treat that was,” said Fifer with a laugh. She sank back into the grass and closed her eyes. “I still can’t believe our grandmother is a queen. Did I tell you Aaron flipped out when I introduced him to her?”

“You told me. They have lunch together every day now,” said Thisbe. “It’s very cute.”

“I love that. I can see them getting along really well.” Fifer paused. “How is training with Florence going for everyone?”

“Great,” said Thisbe. “Rohan is turning into one of our superstars.”

Fifer opened one eye. “Oooh, really?”

“Yes. He reminds me of Ibrahim and how quickly he picked up the art of magic,” Thisbe said. “Plus, he’s got really fluid moves like a dancer.”

“Are you a dancer?” Fifer asked Rohan, sitting up. “You might have heard about our yearly costume ball.”

Thisbe groaned in jest. “We’re not doing another ball.”

Fifer ignored her. “Dancing is… well… encouraged. Unless you’re me.” She laughed a little too hard, from exhaustion but also remembering her fight with Seth at the last ball. “Never mind about that.”

Thisbe shot Rohan an amused look. “I’ll tell you all about it later,” she said.

“Yes, later,” said Fifer. “Please don’t recount it in front of me.” It still bothered her a little. She’d felt pretty isolated and purposeless for a while. But that was quickly changing. She had almost too much responsibility now. “Where is Seth, anyway?”

“He’s been a bit scarce,” Thisbe said. “But he joined us in training the last few days. I think he wanted to get a little refresher course.”

“I need to talk to Florence about starting up a session for other mages feeling the same way,” Fifer mumbled. She was too tired to move now. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“What’s the occasion for that?” asked Rohan. “Is it common practice for the skilled mages to train randomly?”

Fifer sat up. “We do refresher sessions now and then, but especially when we anticipate any sort of unrest.” Her mind felt suddenly weary too. “Like… with you and the land of the dragons. Florence and I want to be able to help you. When the time comes, I mean.” Hopefully, Fifer would have plenty of time to get things in order here and rejuvenate first. A year or two sounded about right. She couldn’t stand the thought of leaving again so soon.

“Really? Is that right?” Rohan seemed extraordinarily moved by the sentiment.

“I told you,” Thisbe said to him. She leaned in and pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Our people care about this situation. They’re going to help us when we go back.”

“Um, right.” Fifer gave a wan smile. She hadn’t exactly agreed to help them that soon. But they would cross that bridge when they came to it. She was just becoming friends again with Thisbe and didn’t want to jeopardize that, especially while things were still a bit shaky between them.