“What took you so long?” Abner entered through the heavy oak door at the top of the final tower. The room within was a cluttered mess. Herbs hanging to dry in the windows filled his nose with a sharp scent of garlic and mint. A smell that had always brought about the desire to gag within him. Old books and papers scattered about the floor and many furniture pieces lining the room's curved walls. The bookcases had nearly all been pilfered, leaving many cups and plates where their original pages and scrolls should have been. He looked about at this, standing just within the doorway, and let out a heavy sigh.

  “I see you’ve managed to keep yourself busy while I was gone. Two days and my office has been made to look like robbers have had their way with it.”

  “Enough of that.” A young woman stood across the room with her back to him. She was bent over a table, facing a wide smudged window. She was mixing different plants into a mortar and dumping the freshly ground powders into a nearby tankard. “Go sit over there.” She gestured absentmindedly towards a cushioned chair to her right. Abner did so, plopping himself roughly into the seat.

  “Do anything fun while I was away?”

  “I should be asking you the same question.” She finished her concoction and turned to face the Magi. Her shaggy hair fell before her face, shading two glinting eyes behind the greasy strands. They looked at him with deep study. Abner could not help but blink and look away nervously. His sister had a way of bringing discomfort to him, and with good reason. “You’ve been using your magic again, haven’t you?” She crossed the room, not looking away from her older brother for even a second. Abner shrugged his narrow shoulders.

  “I might have used one or two minor illusions, while I was away.” He looked back up at her, and for a moment the two remained watching each other. Then, without warning, she slapped him hard across his pale face. He put a hand to his cheek, and leaned away from the woman. “Was that needed? Goodness.”

  “Why?” Her voice sounded angry, and more than a bit worried. “What reason could you have possibly been given to do any of that?” Abner looked about him, as if searching for others to back him up.

  “Since when do I need a reason to use my own magic?”

  “Damn it! Why did you bring me here to heal you if you’re just going to go about killing yourself?” She handed him the tankard. “Here, drink it.” He took the container and brought it to his lips to take a sip, but spoke before doing so.

  “You know that’s not why you’re here.” She ignored him and kept her eyes on his mouth, making sure he had at least two mouthfuls before returning to the desk. The effects were nearly immediate. His cold limbs grew warm again, and the murmur within his chest faded away.

  “So, why did you? Some stupid reason, I should guess. Showing off, weren’t you?” A smile played about his mouth at the suggestion. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Of course. Some woman wasn’t it?”

  “There was a woman involved, yes.” Abner kept sipping at the drink, clearly struggling through every ingestion.

  “What makes you think that?” He asked. She didn’t answer, but thought for a moment.

  “Was there a lady at the castle?” Abner rolled his eyes and got up, searching through one of the stacks of books and pretending to be more interested in the bindings than in any questions at hand. His sister dropped the questions, but finished the subject matter with one more statement. “You be careful. If it isn’t your own magic killing you, it will be a jealous man.”

  “I’m not going to die like that.” He thumbed through a book on crystals found in the coastal caves to the east. The two went silent. Then she spoke up again.

  “How bad was it this time?” Her voice was soft, and she stopped her work to listen to his response. Abner thought for a moment.

  “Twice as bad as last time.”

  “Was there any blood?” She asked.

  “Yes.”

  “A lot?”

  “Yes, Kira.” He put the book back and looked for another. Kira looked out the window to the moor beyond. The sun was not very high into the late morning, and the sky appeared very white.

  “That means it has gotten worse since last time.” She turned around to see him pondering over an older map of the region. “All it took this time was two. I would imagine any more spells would have done real damage.”

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  “Last time I managed ten before I collapsed.” He acted uninterested. Her pale face began to grow red.

  “Yes, and you only survived because of the potion.” She gestured to the tankard. “Now it was two just before the coughing up blood started.” He did not look at her. “Do you understand what this means?”

  “That I have the uncanny ability to conjure up blood like no Magi before me?”

  “Abner, it means the potion isn’t really working.” He stopped, and looked up from the map to the wall. “It might keep you alive, and restore some power. But with each time you take it, its effects diminish.”

  “So,” He spoke over his shoulder. “How many more times can I use it to reset, should I need to use my magic again?” Kira sighed in frustration, but Abner only asked again.

  “I don’t know. Perhaps once or twice. Beyond that, I won’t be able to help you at all.” He remained still for a moment, then went back to looking at the map.

  “Interesting.” For a few moments, he pondered the region of the Warren to the East. A rocky, cold region, difficult to travel across with large numbers, and with many houses and castles scattered about its territory. The Magi felt a sinking sensation growing within his chest the longer he looked at the drawing. Eventually, he began rolling the map back up. “Do you think you could teach me how to make that brew of yours?”

  “Eh?” She kept up her work of studying through old books and taking notes from them.

  “I mean, in case I had need to travel.”

  “Travel? Where would you be going that could take you that far from me?”

  Abner looked at his sister as she worked away. It had been two years since she had been brought here from the Magi school. Before then, he had not seen her since before he left on his mission. She had only been a girl of fifteen at the time, but age had not changed her attitude much since then, and really only worked to make her taller.

  It had been told to him, as people tended not to speak much to his sister nor want to, that she and he were different in nearly every way. Where he was charming, she was blunt. Where Abner was tall, she was short. But mostly, where he was dedicated to the world of Tovoran, she was only dedicated to her family. At all times, she put blood before kings, before regions, and before wars. This, above all else, left her withdrawn from the dealings of the great nobles of Tovoran, and caused her to never take a mission from the School. So, when a request came from her own brother, she turned her back on the research the Magi School had given her, and crossed the country to the north. Little did she know the task he had in mind for her.

  “Well, it’s not like I’ll be serving here forever. After all, that’s why you’re here.” He gave a weak chuckle, and Kira turned away from her work to look at him suspiciously.

  “What are you getting at?” The two looked at each other for some time before Abner finally spoke.

  “Kira, I’m leaving Willow’s Nest. Well, I will need Malakai to allow me first, but I suspect he won’t keep me here if I wish to go.” She blinked at him and stood up tall.

  “What do you mean, leaving?” Her book slammed closed. Abner shuffled and looked about the room. “Where on earth would you even go from here?” He took a deep breath.

  “Barak and his wife have asked me to offer my council to the royals of Warren Hall.” Immediately, Kira rolled her eyes again and began walking about the room collecting scattered papers.

  “Of course. They can’t do their own work, so they send you instead.”

  “It is my task to aid in the council of the leaders of Tovoran, you know this.” Kira suddenly stopped and whirled about to face her brother.

  “There are any number of advisors in this world they could send. Hells, get any other Magi from the order to go.” Abner laughed.

  “You know that would never work. It would take too long for a message to make it to the school and back here in time. War is brewing and we need our pieces moving now, not later.”

  “Then don’t send a Magi. Just someone else. They know you shouldn’t be moving about like this now. They know how sick you are.” Her voice was near screaming. “Damn it all. I knew I should have stopped you from leaving that night.” Abner closed the space between them, seized her shoulders, and held her still. He looked deeply at his sister.

  “Look here, this is not a time to be thinking about keeping me alive longer than needed. I am no use to anyone stuck here. If no one goes to the Warren and intervenes in this coming feud, then we will have to face the second civil war within two generations. I don’t know how well you’ve read up on the history of this place, but I don’t seem to remember the first one doing Tovoran any favors.” He held her gaze sternly. “I’m leaving, as soon as Malakai gives me permission. I need you to understand that. You have been brought here and trained to replace me. Not keeping me alive or for any other reason. Yes?” She nodded, and he released her. She sniffed, and walked back to her desk where she threw down the collected parchments.

  “Can’t believe you came all this way just to say you’re leaving. Could have just met with the king and been gone before I even knew you were here.” Abner fidgeted with the rolled up map’s corner.

  “I’d hope you understand why I would never do that.”

  “Aye, yes.” She began pulling herbs from jars and referencing books to them. “Suppose I better start working on getting you more of that brew.” He walked back to the chair and sat once more, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.

  “Kira, there is one more thing.” She cast the pestle aside and bowed her head, waiting to be given more news. “While I was at Mountcrane, I found him. The one Thomas wrote about.” She slowly turned her head to face him.

  “Did you send him on to your little pen pal, then?”

  “No. Kira, I have one more task for you to do after I leave.”