Asha had little to tell her. She’d only been free for a couple of days in Grimere before they’d boarded a ghost dragon and left to come here. And she didn’t have any memory of the other times she was outside of the catacombs, because she’d been under the Revinir’s mind control. But she filled in what she could, using a mixture of both languages. Friends in Artimé were learning the common language at the same time as the black-eyed people were learning theirs. Between Asha and Clementi, they could communicate fairly well by now.

After a while they grew tired but didn’t want to go inside. “I love being outside,” Asha said. She lay back in the grass and spread her hair out. “I missed it so much in the catacombs.”

“I can’t imagine,” said Clementi. She lay back too, next to Asha, and their elbows touched. “You lived outside for seven years and inside for seven years.”

“Outside is better,” Asha said. She turned to look at Clementi’s profile. Her dark brown skin was splashed with starlight. “I like being here with you.”

Clementi’s face grew warm. She liked being there with Asha, too. A lot. She turned her head and saw Asha looking at her with her long eyelashes half lowered and a lazy smile on her lips. It gave Clementi butterflies. “Me too,” she said. “I’ve never had a friend like you before.”

Asha held Clementi’s gaze for a long moment, then squelched a playful grin and turned back to study the stars. “Being in this magical world with you makes me not want to leave.”

On the lawn near the front door, Simber rested his head on his paws, feeling a distinct melancholy longing inside him. He was a sucker for a sentimental moment, and moments like this had been too scarce lately. Simber would never tire of seeing people find a little bit of comfort in others.

Now all he wished was that he could experience the comfort of having his head mage safe and sound at home. But he feared that moment would be a long way off, and there would be many troubles along the way before that time came… if it ever did.

Moments of Normalcy

A few weeks passed and Thisbe’s ankle was healed, but her dread was building. She felt a little nervous to take on the Revinir, but worse was thinking about the other part of the plan—the part that would make her look like a terrible person to everyone she cared about, especially Rohan. And Maiven. And Aaron… ugh. Aaron. He’d be more disappointed than Alex would be if he were alive. And Sky… Thisbe closed her eyes wearily. “Stop,” she said under her breath. She couldn’t stand it.