Nic held back a bitter laugh. Plan? As if she knew.

Taking a breath, she struggled to get ahold of herself. What would Papa do? As angry and disappointed in him as she was, Papa had made House Elal unassailable. Of course, a great deal of that unassailability relied upon not letting the enemy onto Elal lands in the first place. The borders were famously impenetrable, passable only by permission or via the tattoo that residents bore on their forearms.

House Phel had no such border guardians. Nor did they have the status to prevent High Houses from visiting as they pleased. “I suppose I’ll have to meet with whoever is in that carriage.”

“But what if it’s Sabrina Sammael?” Alise protested.

Now Nic did laugh. “I almost hope it is! I can handle Sabrina the teenage bitch.” Or, rather, she hoped she could. “The real concern is what do I do if it’s Lord Sammael? Worse, what if it’s Lord Sammael, or his agent, come to take me into custody in the name of the Convocation?”

“Is that a possibility?” Alise asked faintly.

“My status as Lord Phel’s familiar is still up for debate in some circles. My own fault, for running away.”

“I’d heard you sent the Convocation proctor away just before I arrived, but I didn’t realize.” Alise chewed her lip. “I can help to defend you, should it come to that. My defensive magics aren’t fantastic, but I have some tricks. I can ask the other wizards, too. I don’t… I don’t suppose there’s much chance of Lord Phel being able to assist?”

Nic shook her head. “Who knows when he’ll wake?” If he ever will. She shook away the rime of dread that she’d lost him forever. “Do that—ask the others, but we can’t risk an outright confrontation that would end up with everyone dead and the manse razed.”

“Sammael would not be in their rights to do that,” Alise argued indignantly.

“Yes, well, they can include that in the epitaph of House Phel: once again removed from the Convocation roster, unjustly, and no doubt permanently this time.”

Nic made what plans she could for the confrontation and set as much to rights as possible, in case the worst happened. A still-exhausted but willing Rat arrived and spirited Han and Iliana into the depths of the marshes, promising he knew of a safe haven. Alise sent a spirit with them to keep an eye on the group and assure those back at the house of their continued safety.

With the Sammael carriage no more than half an hour out, Nic visited Gabriel.

Asa glanced up with considerable irritation when she entered his outer offices. “Lady Phel, I told you that I—”

“I’m just visiting,” she snapped. “And House Sammael is due to arrive in half an hour. Forgive me for wanting to see my husband before that.” She didn’t want to think of it as saying goodbye, but a creeping foreboding made her certain it would be exactly that. The Hanneil blood from her mother’s side wasn’t an active psychic magic in her, naturally, but she sometimes wondered if it didn’t passively warn her of danger, much as Iliana sensed the swamp monster’s emotions.