The constellation snorted, making his manecrackle.
Angelique sighed. “I suppose at least now we can continue searching for magic mirrors and the like. Or perhaps we ought to head back to Loire to speak with Prince Severin and PrincessElle.”
Pegasus gave her no reply but to paw at theground.
Angelique wearily sat up and ran a hand through her loose hair, cringing when she realized it was her true hair color—a dark brown. (The darkness of her hair combined with her eerie silver eyes did very little to convince other mages she was harmless. Rather, it made her look a shade intimidating. As a result, she used illusion magic to color her eyes and frequently altered the shade of her hair. She was forever searching for the appearance that would net her the fewest suspicious looks, but thus far hadn’t experienced much success of any sort regardless of whether she was a strawberry blonde with green eyes or a chestnut brunette with eyes of babyblue.)
“I should have taken time to change it this morning.” Angelique pulled on a wisp of her magic and twisted it between her fingers, then combed the spell through her hair. Slowly, her locks shifted from the dark shade to a more copper-toned color ofbrunette.
She leaned forward to thread her fingers through Pegasus’ flaming mane. “Yes, I think we should head south and go back to Loire for now. We can stop at an inn for the evening and decide what to do after that.” She adjusted her skirts over the saddle and waited for Pegasus tomove.
The constellation lifted his head and slightly arched hisneck.
Angelique tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and almost took a dead leaf to the face when the wind picked up. “Pegasus?”
The mount pricked his ears, but his gaze didn’tstray.
Concerned, Angelique leaned to the side so she could peer around hishead.
Off in the distance, she saw a glowing…orb.
It hovered at about chest-height off the ground, drunkenly zigzagging back andforth.
Is that…magic?Angelique squinted as she watched the orb—which glowed a cheerful yellow—slowly rollcloser.
She turned in her saddle to peer at the tall, imposing walls that enclosed the Veneno Conclave fortress.It must be meant for someone inside. But I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a message passed along in thismanner.
She pressed her leg against Pegasus so he sidestepped for a few strides before settling back to watch the glowingorb.
The orb passed them and rolled closer to the fortress gates, stopped, then abruptly backtracked. It lazily drew closer, continuing on even after Pegasus bumped it with hismuzzle.
The orb rose higher into the air until it was about eye-level with Angelique and hovering above Pegasus’neck.
“I know this magic.” Angelique cocked her head as she identified the strong but good-humored feel to the spell. “Isn’t it…Stil’s?”
Stil was a craftmage whom Angelique and Evariste had found when he was a mere street urchin. They enrolled him in Luxi-Domus and had kept tabs on the boy and frequently visited him. He was an adult now—though mages aged a little slower, it was only the enchanters and enchantresses like Evariste and Angelique who aged as slowly as the elves—but Angelique still thought of him as something of a littlebrother.
Something warm stirred in her chest.Maybe he uncovered news about Evariste?Angelique extended a finger and cautiously tapped theorb.
The magic popped like a bubble, coating Angelique and Pegasus in yellow dust, and dropping aletter.
Angelique caught the letter midair but sneezed violently from the powdery dust.This is probably why I’ve never seen a message passed along this way before. Leave it to Stil to attempt it, though.A chain of four sneezes ripped from Angelique’s nose, nearly pushing her over Pegasus’ side before she caught her balance and could finallysee.
She rubbed her nose, then did her best to straighten the sheet of paper she had crumpled during her sneeze festival, and unfoldedit.
Angel,
Angelique laughed. “Yes, this is definitely Rumpelstiltskin. No one else besides Evariste and he call methat.”
I’m being followed by a being of dark magic, so I’m stranded inVerglas.
I’d appreciate your help when you get thechance,
Stil
Angelique’s good cheer died immediately, and she warred between rolling her eyes at the unnecessarily polite tone of the letter and clenching her teeth in worry at the contents of it.He’s being followed?Do black mages mean to capture him as they tookEvariste?
Her heart beat faster, but she took a moment to breathe deeply.No, wait. As long as he’s in Verglas, he’s safe from black mages. Anything with black or twisted magic can’t cross Verglas’ borders with the Snow Queen’s magic forever guarding thecountry.
