Twenty minutes later, Stergis lightly tapped on the door.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Yeah, you can." His mate replied.

When he walked into the room, she was sitting there drinking a pot of brew. He couldn't believe it. 

"Is everything okay?" He asked with a look of bewilderment. 

"I'm thinking it's going to be," Ravenessa said as the enchanted java began to counter-act the effects of the booze. 

"What the hell happened?" He asked the empress.

"I'm helping." She said to him.

He just shook his head in disbelief."I can see that. May I join you?" He asked.

"Yes, get Daniel, too." The empress responded.

"I shall return in a moment. Whatever you have done, thank you." He said, before heading off to get the other warlock.

"Do you need me to visit more often?' The empress said to her.

"I think I need you to, yes.' 

"Consider it done," She replied as Stergis and Daniel walked back into the room. Then she got up quickly and grabbed two more mugs. The four of them sat there, talking over the elven brew for hours. A little at a time, the empress could see a hint of the dark fog over Ravenessa had begun to lighten. Not completely, but it was a small improvement from what she'd been. 

  The empress could see some of the worry escape from Stergis, his spirit less tense as Ravenessa opened up just a little. The empress sat back as some of the Ravenessa they knew and loved began to shine through, if only for a moment. 

    It was just enough to give them all a shimmer of hope. She wasn't going to be herself again overnight, but it was one small step. That's all the sorceress needed.