Anna leaned back, scanning the last page of her notes. Half of it was her own conjecture based on what they’d discovered. She supposed some people might not be satisfied with her conclusion about the Wisps, anyway. Still, she wanted to make sure she had everything they might need before they talked to the gathering royalty from across the continent

  In addition to her own notes, Sister Margaret had copied the beginning section of Athalfin’s tome and the list of names, along with short, relevant passages from a few other texts that she and the other monks thought might be useful. She’d bound these into another booklet for Anna. Now Anna nodded to herself, satisfied that she had everything she might need. At least, everything she knew she might need.

  She looked out the window. It was later in the morning than she’d intended, and she knew they needed to get going. She got up to go find the other two. She expected them to be outside with Jarnvaror, so she was surprised when she saw they were at the other end of the library. Andrew was hunched over the table with a pen and paper himself, while Peter hovered over his shoulder, muttering something too low for her to hear.

  “Are you guys ready?” she asked them.

  “Just a moment, we’re almost done,” Andrew muttered in a tone that confirmed he was concentrating pretty hard. Anna frowned, curious. But she wasn’t tall enough to attempt looking over his shoulder to see what he was working on. Peter glanced her way, then grinned.

  “We’re a bit over due on a letter home,” he explained to her. “We’ve tried to get one sent back every time we’re in Woadrok, but it’s been a bit spotty the last few times. It’s kind of weird being able to write it myself, now.”

  “Look’s good to me,” Peter said. Andrew gave him a withering glance before returning his gaze to the page. Andrew had picked up the skill quickly over the last few weeks with the monks’ help. Apparently, he’d been trying a bit in Woadrok as well. Peter barely had the alphabet down.

  “I see,” Anna said, feeling a pang of homesickness. She’d managed two letters since their journey began, both short and mostly just to make sure her family knew she wasn’t hurt or in danger. She resolved to write a longer one detailing her travels to them the next time they stopped in the capitol. For now, she just asked, “Have they written back?”

  “Once or twice,” Andrew said.

  “Our father said everything at home was the same as ever, except I’m not there to cause trouble,” Peter said with a grin.

  “He doesn’t want us to worry about things there while we’re traveling,” Andrew said.

  Anna nodded. “I think my father would be the same way.” She waited the next couple of minutes for the pair to finish the letter. When they had, the trio left the library. Faelni and Margaret came along with a few other monks to see them off. Andrew handed the old Elf their letter, and Faelni promised it would be delivered.

  Anna stood before Margaret. “Thank you for everything,” she said to the older woman.

  Margaret smiled down at her. “I should be thanking you lot for finding that old tome,” the nun said. “Things in my field have been pretty stagnant for a while. Now, we have a lot of work to do. So do you.”

  Anna nodded. “Maybe the secret we need to help the Wisps is still in that book. I’m sure we’ll work together on it again.” The nun smiled and waved her off.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  A few moments later, the trio was up in the air, flying south east over the ocean. A tail wind made their progress much faster than on the way to Vulcuo. The sky was clear in all directions, and the water sparkled beneath them with reflected sunlight. Anna could tell Andrew was less worried about their path over the islands this time, and that alone made the journey less stressful.

  It was a little past noon when they reached the shores of Grealand again. But they didn’t stop there. They continued flying until they were close to the mountains bordering Selasem. They landed in the foothills then and prepared camp for the night.

  “What do you think the tourney’s going to be like?” Peter asked while they prepared for dinner.

  Andrew shrugged. “I wouldn’t know any better than you do,” he said.

  ”Sure, but any guesses?” Peter insisted.

  “I know the whole thing is treated as a big holiday, and there are lots of different events,” Anna said. “The main one is a martial tournament where warriors fight one on one.”

  “Have you been to it before?” Peter asked.

  Anna shook her head. “No, but I’ve heard people talk about it when I was trading.”

  “And anyone can enter the martial tournament?” Peter asked.

  Anna shrugged. “I think so. They probably have preliminary rounds to control the numbers.”

  “Peter, I don’t think we’ll have time to join the tournament,” Andrew said.

  “Who said anything about joining?” Peter asked. Andrew gave him a tired look, and Peter grinned. “Sure, maybe not. But if they do, I want to try! I wanna see if I can hold my own with the strong warriors of other nations. And there should be time. Joining the tourney was one of Lief’s conditions, after all.”

  Andrew didn’t respond. He kept his eyes fixed on the soup, now that it was in the pot and beginning to boil. Anna smiled at Peter, though. “You really think you’d fare any better on him now, without Jarnvaror?” she asked.

  “He shouldn’t have any of his Wisps for the tournament, right?” Peter said.

  “You wouldn’t have Liosfalda, then,” Andrew said, not looking up. As he said the name, Anna saw the gemstone in Peter’s sword flash. The Wisp seemed to notice she wasn’t the focus of the conversation, though, and the gemstone dimmed again. Andrew kept going. “Wouldn’t want to be unfair.”

  “Right,” Peter muttered. “And you’d probably have to take your enchantments off my gear, too.”

  Anna thought about that for a moment. “Actually, I think I remember someone talking about magical items in the tournament before.”

  “What did they say?” Peter asked.

  “I can’t remember. I don’t remember if they were supposed to be there. Maybe it was a rule change.” Anna paused, trying to remember a moment longer, then she shook her head. “I’m sure they’ll tell you if you need to remove them, though.”

  Peter nodded. “Still shouldn’t fight with the Liosfalda, though. She’s not a magic item.”

  “She?” Andrew asked.

  “It sounds like a girl’s name,” Peter said with a shrug. “It’s not like we know if Halcyon is a man or not, either.”

  Anna smiled. “Sure. And you’re right. We shouldn’t treat the Wisps like magic items... And he’s right, it was a woman’s name.”

  “Right,” Andrew muttered. He looked at Peter. “You’re going to insist on joining the tournament, then?” he asked.

  Peter nodded. Jarnvaror rumbled something, and Peter turned to the dragon and began summarizing the conversation. “I’m sure they’d find a spot for you to watch,” Peter said in response to one of the dragon’s presumed questions. Anna exchanged a glance with Andrew, who only shrugged. Anna thought she understood. Wouldn’t be much of a point in talking Peter out of inviting the dragon. He’d end up asking the city officials no matter what the two of them said, she was sure.

  In the meantime, she decided she should get some more practice done with her magic. She turned around to read by the light of the campfire, when a thought occurred to her. “You know,” she said, glancing at Peter, “if magic items are allowed, I could try getting some new enchantments on your gear.”

  Peter grinned. “You’d do that?” he asked. “What if it is against the rules?”

  Anna shrugged. “I’m a lot better at taking them off than putting them on. Either way, though, I can use the time we still have to practice, and it would be good to reuse the gems you both are using right now.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Peter said.

  “Sure,” Andrew said.

  Anna nodded. “Great. Then I’ll help you prepare for the tournament, too.”