Yenni was out on her little balcony, curled up as best she could be on the wooden chaise longue the school had put there. She longed for the soothing sway of a softgrass hammock, but she’d thrown the bed cushions—which she never used for sleep anyway—on the outdoor lounge and done her best to make do. The fresh air and view of the green, drooping trees lining the southern walkway were worth the mild discomfort. She was deep into lesson twenty-two of Defensive Spellcasting: A Modern Overview when a metallic creaking from inside alerted her to the arrival of the post.

Yenni grinned with excitement: perhaps this was finally news from home! What had those devious sisters of hers been up to? And Dayo, he must be so relieved now that their father was well and could resume his normal duties. And her younger brother, Jumi—was he taking good care of Ofa? He’d better not be flying the poor creature here and there every day, tiring him out. And what of her mother? At the thought of home Yenni opened her palms, happily examining the runes her mother and father had drawn.

A moment later that happiness was leaking from her like blood from a mortal wound. Yenni blinked and brought her hands right up to her face, her eyes darting between each palm. She was mistaken. She couldn’t be seeing this, not now. It couldn’t be true.

It was.

Her father’s rune was as strong as ever, but the rune on her right side, her mother’s rune, had faded.

How long ago had this happened? She hadn’t been paying much attention to the linking runes since her father’s recovery, and she certainly hadn’t been comparing them, but clearly she should have been.

“Why?” Yenni gasped as she scrambled up from the chaise longue. “Why, Almighty Sha? What have I done wrong?”

She dashed through the open balcony doors and came to kneel before her letter box. Yanking the door open, she found it—at long last—stuffed with brown papua rolls. Yenni plopped down on the hardwood in front of the door, frantically opening and scanning each message to find the one from her mother, until she tugged on the twine holding one of the rolls and it resisted. She tugged and tugged, but it held tight. Confused, Yenni held up the roll and inspected it, and found a strange rune painted there, one that was oddly similar to the calligraphy for Yirba. She pulled ach’e to her fingertips and sent it into the rune. It glowed, and the twine fell away.