At home, Tate skinned his rabbit while Leelo helped her mother sort wool for knitting. Fiona was making Tate another sweater—he already had plenty, but it was Fiona’s way of working out her feelings—and Ketty was pulling a savory pie out of the oven.

“What’s the occasion?” Leelo asked, inhaling the smell of butter crust and roasting meat.

“Didn’t Sage tell you? We’re going to the Hardings’ for dinner.”

Leelo shot Sage a look. Hollis Harding was the boy Leelo had once had a crush on. She’d liked him for months, until one day he made fun of Tate for not having magic. After that, she’d considered him an enemy, and she hated it when her Watcher duty overlapped with Hollis’s. “Why?” she asked.

“Because their daughter is also leaving.” Ketty shooed Sage away from the pie. “Now wash up. We’re expected in an hour.”

Sage went upstairs with Leelo following. “Why didn’t you tell me we were going to the Hardings’?” she asked when they reached their room.

“I forgot. What difference does it make? At least it’s something to do.”

Leelo couldn’t ignore the sting of Sage’s words. “Something to do? We’re about to send Tate away. I have plenty of other things I’d rather be doing.” She changed out of her tunic and leggings and grabbed the first pieces of clothing she found in the wardrobe, a black skirt embroidered with red flowers and a white blouse. “I didn’t realize Hollis’s sister was incantu.”

Why would he make fun of Tate if his own sister lacked magic? Unless that was the reason. Sometimes sadness made people lash out at the very people who could understand their hurt the most.

To Leelo’s surprise, her mother was dressed and waiting when Leelo and Sage came downstairs. She was pale from the effort of standing, but she was there, clearly trying for Tate’s sake.

Leelo looped her arm through her mother’s, and all of them, including Tate, left the house together. Leelo told herself to be grateful for this time and not to dwell on the future. Ketty had given Tate the pie to carry, a generous gesture from their aunt, who usually never entrusted her baked goods to others.

Sage was on the other side of Fiona, helping to steady her, wearing her dress from the spring festival. It was a bit special for a dinner at the neighbors’, but she looked very pretty in it.

“Oh!” she said in realization.

“What is it?” Fiona asked with an amused smile. “Did something bite you?”

“It’s nothing,” Leelo replied, scrambling for an explanation. “I just remembered something I want to pack for Tate.”