Thisbe’s servant returned to the ballroom carrying Thisbe’s rucksack and canteen. “Oh! Thank you, good person,” Thisbe said. “I won’t be needing these quite yet after all. But I can take them from here. I’m going on a walk anyway. It’s such a beautiful day. And I’ve never seen the grounds without being on the run from some dictator or other.” She wiped her mouth and tossed her napkin on the table.

“Your servant will go with you,” said the Revinir icily. “You don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you. That’s final. There will be no arguing.”

Thisbe wrinkled her nose. That wasn’t the answer she wanted. But maybe she could work around it. And she knew how to give a little too. “Ask her what her name is,” said Thisbe impatiently. “Then I’ll happily give her some time off work to explore the waterfall and lounge on the hills with me.”

And, Thisbe thought, figure out a way to give Fifer an update… and maybe even reply to Rohan. There was a good chance that finding the right words to say to him would break her heart.

Puzzling Developments

Fifer unfolded the paper around the small cube that she’d found in her robe pocket and soon recognized it as a long note written in Thisbe’s hand. The box rolled onto the floor next to Fifer. As she read the note, her eyes widened. She stared at the paper. And then she reached for the box and, with trembling fingers, picked it up and examined it from all sides, seeing the small, innocent-looking pebble inside. Carefully she tucked the cube into her component vest’s inner pocket for safekeeping as Thisbe had suggested in the note. Then Fifer read the paper again, scrutinizing it to make sure she understood everything, from how to get the box open to how the spell worked.

Thisbe had done a good job explaining it. And Fifer had read about the obliterate component that Alex had used long ago and vowed never to re-create because it was so dangerous. Now here was Fifer, holding one close to her heart. It was a bit unnerving, and Fifer wasn’t sure she’d ever feel okay using it. But Thisbe had been very unselfish and possibly even reckless in giving it to her. Fifer would honor the gift.

“What is that?” Dev asked, looking at the back of the paper.

“It’s a note from Thiz. I just found it.” She explained what it had been wrapped around.

“Yikes,” said Dev. “That sounds dangerous.”

“About as dangerous as messing with a dragon,” Fifer said, giving him a side eye.

“Hey,” Dev replied sheepishly. “Have you heard from Florence?”

“I was just about to use my last send spell to check in with her. I wish I didn’t have to, but she didn’t reply.”

“No sign of them yet, I take it?”