Worry no longer about their fates, I have taken good care of them. Though I cannot foresee what other fools may try.

Fox put his hands on the window and pressed his nose against the glass. The silver sword on display was the most beautiful weapon he had ever seen, better than anything Father had ever forged. If only he could touch the rigid angular engravings that spelt out Diligence, or curl his hands around the claw-shaped hilt. All he would change was the lion's head on the pommel into a fox, and it would be the best sword in the entire world.

He cast his gaze to his muddy boots. Not that he would ever own it; he didn't have any of the thousand silverlings needed to afford the sword of his dreams.

The blaring wind brought the memory of Mother's sighs. He should not give in to the temptations of the God of Greed, and be grateful for what he had. She would have been right. He was only a boy, not even eleven.

He huddled his arms around his body. Maybe that was why he missed her hugs and kisses every day. Because he was a child and not yet a warrior. The sword would have to wait.

A shrill whistle pulled him away from the window. Katla stood twenty feet from him, his hand resting on his hip. "Wake up, little day-dreamer. We have to be in Mage's Tower, remember?"

"I'm awake." Fox slowly trotted towards him and kicked a pebble into the puddle of water he had fallen in before; his own personal revenge.

He didn't want to go to the magician's council meeting. Sitting still and listening to others talking sounded a lot like those times when Lady Karen had taught the children of Laneby how to read and write. Mother had pushed him to keep up with the others, which had been impossible because they had all been so much better than him.

His attention shifted to the rainbow-coloured cart of Mallard the marble merchant. It was still in the same spot as a few days ago, yet this time a bag cost one silverling instead of a half.

A girl with a long messy ponytail halted and gawked into the cart. She curled her bottom lip and continued walking. She didn't have any coins either.

Fox nibbled on his finger. Katla had no toys at home, apart from the complicated board game he had tried explaining the evening before, which didn't count; they hadn't actually played it. "Katla, can I have a bag of marbles?"

"Hmm, I think it's more important that we train your powers, son." Katla too glanced at the cart, then back at him. "Now come here."

"But do I really have to go to Mage Tower?" He slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers and pouted. "I wanna stay with Doe."

"And stuff yourself with pie all afternoon?" Katla let out a short snort. "I don't think so. There will be other apprentices attending too, even a girl close to your age. Perhaps you two can become friends?"

"I don't know." He scratched his head. The important memory of Seb and Lord Brandon was still gone. Usually, it didn't take long to find what he had lost, but this time it seemed to be particularly hard, like when those firestones had disappeared from his pockets after Katla had taken him. "Can we go to Doe afterwards?"

Katla pushed him in front of him. "Sure, if you manage not to fall asleep when the Grand Master is speaking. I did that once, and she threatened to turn me into a trout."

Fox halted abruptly and turned around, his mouth nearly hanging on his chest. "Did she really do that?"

"There's no need to look so frightened, son." Katla chuckled. "It was just a joke."

"I don't look frightened! You know I'm not afraid of anything."

Keeping his hands in his pockets, he strutted along Moondale's main street. Despite his attempt not to get scared anymore, his inner hammer banged harder and harder in his chest the closer he got to the castle. He tried holding his breath, but that didn't slow down his heart either.

As he passed the guards by the main castle gate, he edged towards Katla. Behind every door hid the possibility that King Ariel would jump out and devour him whole, like a hungry, vicious lion. He kept his head down, inspecting the dirty carpet instead of the stone walls; too afraid that out from the cobwebs a giant spider with eyes greener than poison would come crawling and steal his memories.

"Son, for someone who's not afraid of anything, you look surprisingly petrified. Grand Master Hawk won't peep into your head anymore. Don't you remember His Majesty promising you?"

"No. I remember little from that evening." He rubbed his forehead as though the dull ache had returned. "It's like the memories are still there in my brain, but I can't reach them. Do you know what kind of information she got out of me?"

Katla shrugged. "She didn't find much, said you had an impenetrable wall inside of you." He winked. "All the makings of a great magician."

"She did?" He pulled his shoulders back and stood up straight. How could he have forgotten a compliment like that? Perhaps that was why he couldn't remember any of it; his mind was still protecting itself from intruders like Hawk. It was the only explanation.

Now that his heart wasn't making any attempts to leave his body anymore, Fox skipped through the endless dark corridors of Moonstone Castle and left Katla many steps behind him as he darted up the narrow staircase leading to the council chamber, which—as Katla had explained—had been moved to the top of Mage's Tower when Hawk had become Grand Master five years ago.

She had wanted to discourage the older generation of magicians from attending the meetings and disrupting them with their backwards, conservative views. Fox hadn't understood much of what Katla had said. There had been too many difficult words in his explanation, and the flame he had conjured in his hand had been far more interesting than what the Grand Master had done in the past.

He waited for Katla to catch up with him, before entering the giant oval-shaped funnel. On the enormous steps stood armchairs with cushions in red, blue, brown, and white. All the way at the bottom a blond-haired man placed a wooden stand next to an empty wooden table.

Katla was heading for one of the very few red armchairs, all conveniently placed right below the fireplace, when a freckled little girl with stuffy half brown-half red hair rushed towards him, almost flying into his arms.

"Finally, you made it!" Her high-pitched shriek hurt Fox's ears so badly he cupped them, but he still couldn't block her out completely. "See what I can do!"

Four small rocks were levitating above her hand. Impressive, but nowhere near as remarkable as the rock that Katla had spliced into a million pieces when they had travelled across the Horseshoe Mountains.

"Wow, Fawn." Katla poked at the rocks. "Have you been practising without me?"

"Yes." She blinked. The rocks plummeted to her palm, where they instantly turned into a pile of sand. "Badger says I'm becoming better than you."

"No surprise there." Katla ruffled her hair, which made her utter the most annoying giggle.

Fox grumbled. What a stupid girl. He crouched down in front of the fireplace and snapped his fingers. Instantly a greenish radiant flame lit up between the blocks of half-burnt wood. 

While the girl yapped on about her rocks, Katla threw his head back and laughed out loud. He hadn't even seen that, for the very first time, he had managed to light the fire in one try.

"Now Fawn, I want you to meet my new apprentice, Fox. He's a Fire Magician like me." Katla waved at him. "Fox, son, come over here to meet Fawn. I trained Earth Magic with her and her master over the summer."

"What?" The girl's eyes turned big as she dropped the sand and clutched Katla's upper arm, her head leaning on his shoulder. "Does that mean you won't practise with us anymore?"

"Sorry, Fawn. I don't think I'll have the time." The sudden look on Katla's face was obviously fake. He leant close to her and whispered, "He's a bit of a handful."

Again came the high-pitched shriek. "That's because he's a boy!"

Fox plumped down in the chair closest to the fire and crossed his arms in front of his chest. What had Katla been thinking? There was no way the little lickspittle would ever replace Alex, Seb, and Nick. Besides, Katla had to teach him Fire Magic, not practise dumb and useless Earth Magic with her.

"Hi, Katla." A woman clad in a long brown cloak approached him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and picked the annoying girl from his arms. "Fawn has been counting down the days until the council meeting. She was so excited to see you again. If she were a bit older, I'd say she has a crush on you."

"Is that so, Badger?" A heavily moustached man with a light voice passed by. He sat down on one of the white chairs on the other side of the fireplace. "I thought that was the Grand Master's privilege. Do you still warm her bed, Jade Islander, or does she warm yours now?"

Actual flames lit up in Katla eyes, and since these kinds of looks could kill, it was a miracle that the man didn't instantly turn into ashes. It was an absurd accusation too. There was no way that Katla and Grand Master Hawk would ever snore next to each other in the same bed. It couldn't be true.

"Katla, let Robin be. He utters nonsense anyway." Badger let go of Fawn, who flung onto the brown armchair three spots from where Fox was sitting. She had conjured three new rocks and was juggling them around.

Katla shut his eyes for longer than a standard blink. When he opened them again, they had gone back to their normal brown colour. "I'm gonna light the fire."

"I already did that. It's burning."

But he walked past Fox like he hadn't heard him, and sat down on his knees on the hearth. With bare hands, he replaced a log and added three more from the carefully stacked woodbox below.

When he turned around to take his seat, the entire firebox was ablaze with dancing flames. Most in orange and red; but like him, Katla had conjured a green one too.

"Why are flames green sometimes?" Fox asked.

Katla put his finger on his mouth. 

At the front of the room, Grand Master Hawk was standing behind the wooden stand, on which now rested a thick bundle of papers. "Welcome, all. Today I wish to discuss the work of former Grand Master Pike, who, throughout his long life, followed thousands of magician parents and their children. In his work, 'The Source of Magic' he..."

The Grand Master looked small as she was standing there, yet she was no spider either. She seemed so ordinary, with her long black hair and green eyes, and had a very monotonous voice that droned on endlessly. 

Fox yawned and smacked his lips. The red armchair in front of him was empty, and the two below as well. In fact, he and Katla were the only ones sitting on the fire cushions. Most magicians seemed to be either Earth or Water Magicians. Apart from the moustached man called Robin, there were only four other people sitting on white cushions.

"... concluded that in most cases the same element appeared in both mother and child, whereas fathers are more likely to pass on connected elements."

Katla took a paper and pencil out of the pocket of his coat, which hung on the armrest closest to the fireplace to dry, and scribbled something down. He placed the note in between his fingers and discretely passed it along to Badger, who sat right next to him.

She smiled and awkwardly coughed into her hand when she was done reading. Fox leaned over when she gave it back to Katla, hoping he would be able to read it to, but his master had folded the paper and turned it into ashes that he dumped on the floor.

Fox pouted. "What?"

"Something between me and Badger. It's nothing," Katla whispered.

"Children born out of two magicians are more likely to advance to their optional element, especially when the optional or opposite element is already present in the family."

Fox planted his elbow on the armrest and yawned. This was so boring. He understood so little of what the Grand Master was trying to explain. Neither of his parents had any magic.

A sudden shiver ran down his back. It was getting cold in the room. He turned around, his knees on the cushions, and arched his back. The flames in the fireplace were going out faster than they did at home.

"Up up, make me warm again. Warm like Doe's yummy pies." He pushed his hand up to fan the fire, and immediately the flames shot high against the back wall.

He turned his back and plumped back onto the cushions, yet it didn't take long for the warmth to disappear again. 

He glanced over his shoulder. The wood had been completely covered in ashes.

What? That had never happened before.

He stretched out his arm. A fire so large that all the people in the council meeting would be warm for the rest of the day; that should do the trick. For a split second, the log caught fire, then ashes buried the flames out of nowhere.

Fawn! He shot his head towards the only possible culprit. He had been right. The girl's head came peeping above the top pillow. She stuck out her tongue at him.

He pounded his fists onto his own lap. Fuelled by the God of Wrath, he rose from his seat. He was going to pull her by her long brown hair and push her puffy face into the ashes. That would teach her a lesson.

"Badger! Katla!" The dull tone of the Grand Master had stopped, replaced by a blaring voice that sounded like she was shouting directly in Fox's ear. He froze right away. She was scary after all. "If you can't get your apprentices to behave, then I'll deal with them."

Fox violently shook his head. Whatever had happened in the throne room, he still remembered the terrible pain she had inflicted on him. Katla couldn't leave him alone with her. Not now or ever.

"Excuse me, Grandmaster." Katla smiled smugly. "Research conducted by me has shown that children are known for telling the truth, even when they're not speaking. It's all very interesting to you, but I bet half the room is either asleep or bored to death. Why can't we discuss more pressing, more exciting topics?"

Three blond women sitting on blue chairs a few rows below nodded. Here and there a few people shifted in their seat. It was Badger who spoke up, "I agree with Master Katla. Shouldn't we find a solution for those dozens of southern magicians that arrive weekly from spring to early autumn? Silvermark can't keep on taking them in. Our children are starving too."

"Exactly, Badger," Katla picked up. "There are hardly any jobs here. They are doomed to poverty unless they go back and—"

"You're a good one to talk, Jade Islander. Weren't you one of those fortune seekers all those years ago?" Robin huffed. "If you don't like this country, feel free to return to the Islands. I don't mind that people like Pyrrhus leave. It's one less mouth to feed."

"How can you say that? He did so much for us, and now he's going back to die!" Katla sneered.

One of those blonde women stood up, flicking her head behind her ear. "Surely the south can't be that bad, Master Katla. You did survive what... twenty... twenty-five years before coming here."

"Survive we do." In the bottom corner, a woman with skin darker than the night rose up from her brown seat. "But it ain't no life, going from town to town, praying that nobody ever finds out what we are. We may be hungry at times here, but at least we are safe. I do think something needs to be done. I can't stand by and watch fellow southerners suffer and return home to die because they're not welcome here either."

"Ladies, Gentlemen, as Master Katla is well aware, His Majesty and I have been discussing these matters with great care. A plan is being executed to suit everyone's needs." The Grand Master's eyes briefly landed on Fox as she paused. "Current living conditions are far from ideal, but change takes time. All I ask of you is to seek Patience within yourselves."

"Yeah, yeah. The plan will take too much time, and you know it," Katla growled. "It's not like His Majesty has our interests fully at heart. We should—"

"Play the role we should play." The Grand Master sniffed, turning a page on her stand. "As I was saying, an interesting effect was noticed in children born into pure magician families. Where magic..."

The monotonous blather about magician children and their parents went on for what seemed longer than eternity, during which Fox wanted but didn't dare to fall asleep. He wasn't going to risk being turned into a trout; those fish would make for awful Fire Magicians.

"In the end, nothing is certain, apart from one parent having an affinity with at least one of the four elements. I wish you all a good evening, and hope to see all of your faces again on the sixteenth day of the death moon." She lay her eyes on Katla, who was already picking up his coat. "Katla, would you mind staying a little while longer? Your little kitten too."

"I don't see why I should, but okay. If that would please you."

Fox's lip quivered as he waited for the council members to leave the room. During the whole time, Katla stood erect, still like a statue. If he was nervous or irritated, he hid it well.

When the last person had gone through the door—a balding man with a grey circular beard who walked with a stick—the Grand Master leapt up, flying across the five rows, to land right in between him and Katla.

"Now that we're all alone." The long nail of her index fingers brushed against his cheek. "What happened to your promise to accept Humility? There was no need to cause a stir today, dear. Not after what happened in Laneby."

Fox fiddled nervously with his fingers. His Master had treated him well, but he was a murderer. He understood that magicians weren't treated well in the south, and though he liked living in Moondale, he missed Mother, Father, Amy, and his friends so-so much too.

The Grand Master laid her hand against Katla's chest, then moved towards his belly with a soft caress. She pinched her lips. "I should have thrown you out of the council for your rebellious act, but then again, when would I be able to keep an eye on you? It's been so long since you last visited me."

Katla swallowed, his throat visibly moving. "Don't do this, Hawk. Not in front of the boy."

With her hand like a whip, she smacked him in the face. "Oh, you are such a bore when you feel the need to play the fun and reliable father, Katla. That was another reason why I didn't want you to get your new pet, but unlike you, I know my place and don't defy His Majesty."

"Why do you even care? You hate children."

She snorted, a violent stream of cold air lowering the temperature in the room. "I do, but we'll see how well of a job you'll do. After all, summer has come to an end, and darkness is spreading fast. Have you told him what you are like when winter hits the land?"

"It doesn't matter. It won't happen this year. I won't let it."

"Tsk-tsk, dear Katla, that's what you say each autumn. I shouldn't dwell on the past. I know you hate that, but Hunter's death could have been avoided. Entirely." She patted Fox on the head, to which he got the sudden urge to set her hair on fire. "If I feel like you can't look after your kitten, I will ask and get Ariel's permission to take him away. It is my duty as Grand Master to take care of the magicians—great and small, northern and southern."

A deep growl rumbled inside Katla. Fox ducked into his chair and pressed his arms against his face. In between the gap of his wrist, he saw how Katla roared, actual fire blasting out of his mouth and into the Grand Master's face.

She smoothed her hair and brushed soot from her cheeks, pretending nothing had happened, then leaned over to plant a kiss on his jawbone. "Alright, Dragon Boy, point taken. Prove me wrong when winter is here."

When Fox lowered his arms, the Grand Master was gone, and Katla was still standing in the same spot, but not as still as before. His head was trembling, his sweaty white fringe unable to hide a glimmer of tears in his eyes.

"You were right, son." He whimpered. "We should have gone to Doe's this afternoon. Shall we go there now? I'll buy you a bag of marbles on the way."

"Yippy." Fox stretched out his arms, but the Goddess of Kindness protested. This was not the time to be happy. "But, Katla, what did Hawk mean by all that? What happens during winter?"

"I..." He took an abnormally deep breath, sighing into the chair. "I get ill. My body doesn't like the cold and the darkness."

Fox cocked his head. "But doesn't everybody get ill during winter? I usually have a cold that lasts all the way to spring, but it has never stopped me from playing with my friends. One time both Mother and Father had belly fever, and then Amy and I made soup. I can look after you too. I remember the recipe."

"You don't have to. I'll look after myself."

"But then why is Hawk making a big deal out of it?" He gasped. Each time Emily and Lucy teased him, Mother told him that girls are mean to boys when they secretly like them, but don't want anyone else to know. "Oh! You and Hawk used to love each other, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't call it love, son." Katla leaned back, his head raised to the ceiling. "It's complicated."

"Leo said that I'm smarter than I look. You can tell me."

"Well... I was lonely when I arrived here in Moondale. I didn't have any friends, and Hawk was really lonely here in Mage Tower too. We talked, and it was nice to spend time together and not to sleep alone. Maybe I gave in to the temptations of the Goddess of Lust one too many times, but love..." He closed his eyes, and sniffed, a single tear rolling down his cheekbone and onto the red pillow. "... I've only ever loved my wife and son."

Fox grabbed his hand, which Alex always did whenever he was sad. Katla may be a murderer, but he was also a man in pain. And Mother used to say that it wasn't fair to stay angry at people who are hurt. "It's okay to cry, Katla. I miss my family too."

Katla shuddered. He opened his mouth but breathed a couple of times before saying, "I'm sorry. I know you do. What I did in Laneby was..."

"Horrible." Fox nodded. "But I think my mother would have wanted me to forgive you."

"And you? What do you want?"

"I think..." Fox tapped his finger on his chin. "Maybe I can try to forgive you too."