Nessa nodded. “Good. I want to know more about that spell, so I am going to play text tag.”
Hector said, “I will do it.”
Stovos growled. “I will do it. I actually know him.”
Atolica leaned over and watched the foreign script stream across Stovos’s phone. “I knew you had clever fingers, but wow.”
He snorted. “Do you remember our honeymoon when we travelled there?”
“Oh, right. I suppose I could have contacted him.”
“I would have pulled you over my knee for that, love. Issuing an invitation to the ogres is not something I would tolerate.” He finished his text and sent it.
Yusen removed the empty plates.
Atolica jumped when she heard the return text. “What did he say?”
Stovos read the text, and his eyes widened. “Oh. Well, he would like to meet her again when he is here for the party on the weekend. And yes, he did cast the spell. Her family kept trying to pull her back, using one alias after another. He blocked their queries and continues to today.” Stovos paused. “Which indicates they are still looking for her.”
Kel shrugged. “Would you let a star go?”
Atolica paused. “Oh. Shit. No, I guess not.”
Kel nodded. “Even if they think she didn’t manifest, the possibility that her power will carry to the next generation is strong.”
“Oh. Which is why she ran in the first place. She is just lucky that she was able to get away.”
Nen shook his head. “Luck probably had little to do with it.”
Krys frowned. “Kel, you said fallen star?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t fallen stars adults? She was born. She was a summoned star. There have to be a lot of guild records about that particular event.”
Tynan frowned. “You are right. There should be. Let me check.” He opened a window in front of him and flicked his fingers in the air. “Going back three decades and working forward. Ah. There. Found it. A request to harness the aurora borealis. The star was an accidental casualty.”
Kel said, “Show me.” He looked at the projection and nodded. “There are some signs that they were successful in their purpose, but there was never an indication within their ranks.”
Krys said, “But, as Ember showed, it can leave the party it was supposed to remain in, with an unpredictable birthdate.”
The group nodded, and Tynan said, “Perhaps we should consult Olmin?”
Tolly shook her head. “No. The less guild contact, the better. The greedy buggers would try and grab her here as well as the ones from where she was born.”
Tynan paused and then nodded. “You aren’t wrong. Stars are rare. If she were pulled in by mistake, that would make a lot of sense. It would also mean that she wasn’t going to respond the same way the aurora would. They wouldn’t find the right response because it was the wrong magic.”
The group blinked and exhaled. Nessa murmured, “Oh, wow. So, the grand light show could still be out there somewhere.”
Atolica nodded. “I think she is.”
Nessa said, “Have you met her?”
“No, but I think I met her mother.”
Kel frowned. “What?”
“I met an elegant woman who glowed from within, and she said that the glow came with her pregnancy, nearly three decades ago.” Tolly smiled. “She said a daughter like that comes once in a millennium, and she was a very proud mother. Her daughter is the CEO of a training centre that helps people learn how to set up small businesses and find grants to assist in fertility treatments.”
