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With a very well-fed Marshmallow cradled in her arms—Taly had found him hopping merrily around the kitchen when she went to brew her nightly cup of mint tea—she trudged up the grand staircase that spiraled through the center of the townhouse. Hallways branched off it, leading away left and right.

The townhouse was exactly the way she remembered it, and yet… different. Smaller, somehow. Like she had grown, and the space hadn’t grown with her.

Still, it was home. The sense of belonging was undeniable, even if the edges didn’t align quite like they used to. The creak of the floorboards, the scent of aged wood and herbs—it all whispered familiarity.

She stepped off the stairs on the third floor, her bare feet sinking into the plush carpets as she padded down the hall. At the end of it, Ivain’s study door was closed.

It opened a moment later, and Aiden appeared. His eyes widened when he saw her.

“Hey,” he said, an odd expression on his face. Like he couldn’t decide how to greet her: as a healer or a friend. “I’m surprised you’re still up.”

A friend, it seemed. A healer would’ve admonished her for not getting enough rest.

“Not for much longer,” she said. “Ivain wanted to see me.”

An awkward silence fell.

“I was just—” Aiden began, but Taly caught his sleeve as he moved to push by.

“Thank you,” she said. “I hear you saved my life again. You keep doing that. First with the harpy and now with the Earthlung. I swear I didn’t used to need this much medical attention.”

Aiden ducked his head. “It’s nothing.”

“I would be dead without you. That’s not nothing. You’re a good healer. And an even better friend. A better one than I probably deserve.” Marshmallow wriggled in her arms. She shifted him higher. “I wanted to say—I know it was you who told them about my magic.”

“Yeah, about that,” he said. “It was an accident. Skye, he—”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not angry. I never should’ve asked you to keep that secret, and I’m sorry, Aiden. I’m so sorry I put that burden on you.”

Aiden was silent, and again, she got the feeling that he was trying to figure out how to address her, nervous to get it wrong. He asked, “Have you talked to them yet?” with a glance at the door to his back.

“About what?” It had been a long day. Many secrets had been revealed. He was going to have to be more specific.

But Aiden just smiled and shook his head. “That’s anothen.”

Taly arched a brow in question.

“Believe me, you would know what I was talking about if they had already told you.” He squeezed her shoulder as he pushed by. “You should talk to them. Then come find me.”

He gave her one last smile before disappearing down the hall.

Taly stared after him a moment. Then she rapped on the door with a knuckle. Ivain’s voice called from the other side—come in—and she pushed it open, closing it behind her.

Inside, the room was grand but cozy, illuminated by the flickering warmth of green glass firelamps hanging on the walls. A massive oaken desk sat in front of a wall of books that flowed from floor to ceiling, the higher shelves only accessible by two brass staircases that met at the top to form a mezzanine level. A fire roared merrily in a large marble hearth, and in front of it, Ivain and Sarina sat at opposite ends of the couch.

As Taly drew nearer, she saw the reason why. Calcifer was between them, sprawled across the cushions with his head in Sarina’s lap.

Taly smiled. “I think he likes you.”

“He likes heat,” Sarina corrected. “Watch this.”

Flames jumped in the fireplace, and Calcifer was there in a second, shifting and folding in on himself to fit inside the hearth. He scraped and scratched, throwing up ash as he made himself a nest.

He grew up in a land of eternal summer. Taly supposed it was jarring coming to this wet, cold place.

Sarina patted the newly freed space on the couch, welcoming Taly with an arm across her shoulders as she sank down between them.

“It’s been a long day, I know,” Ivain said. “But there’s one more story to tell.”