"Welcome back," Lena said. She was sitting in her usual place behind the desk at the contractor's office, but had a mirror in one hand and a powder puff in the other. She dabbed into the white cake make up in the small golden disc on her desk, and then continued to apply it. As I got my bearings, the small clouds that exploded outwards from each impact seemed transfixing.

"Hello Lena," I said. I collapsed onto the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. Then I propped myself up and stared at her. "Wait, aren't you at the party?"

"I was. As I believe you witnessed, Azeria got sick all over my shoes, so I decided to return here and tidy up. We're going out to enjoy some boating on the lake in roughly half an hour."

"That's nice... Wait." My mind replayed the rolling hills around Blythe. "There's no lake for miles around here. A river, but no lake."

"Oh, there wasn't. There won't be soon. But at the moment, there is," she laughed. "About two dozen of us got together and cast one. We siphoned off a bunch of the rainwater Osoro was holding back. Did you know it was supposed to be storming all this week? Oh it was exhilarating, drafting up a chant together, then speaking in unison, our voices making this odd sort of humming resonance.. I'd never been part of a group spell before, but now I can't wait for my next one!"

"I wish there'd been rain on my way here; maybe I would have gotten stuck in the mud and would have stayed out of all this trouble...." I wasn't mirroring her sense of whimsical playfulness, and she ignored me.

"Anyway, we made a lake and we fully intend to use it. Bernard arranged it all this afternoon, although he didn't do any of the casting himself. We all said we'd understand if he cancelled, but he insisted. Another group made the boat, stiffening a bunch of the dirt we dug up into the wood for it. There'll be a full orchestra, floating lights, and I think a firefly show. Plus, it's rumored it'll end in a most dishonorable splash fight." She laughed. She smelled a little like wine, but she wasn't drunk quite yet. Just giddy.

"I've been receiving so many courting gestures since this party began. One elven Mysti even offered to fight as my champion against my master if I'd accept an invitation to stay a week at his estate," Lena laughed. "The poor love-struck fool would lose horribly, slain dragon in his past or no, but it was a very sweet gesture. I'm afraid I'm getting quite spoiled on all of the attention... If only one of Divinis Wenrick's sons could have an Age Day every year."

As if only now remembering that one of those sons was very close to not having it at all this year, she glanced at me.

"How is Winsor, by the way? He was one cough away from converting into a spectral other being last time I saw him."

"He's fine. Me and Shician Lar's Assistant got him in his bed, and his parents joined him a few minutes later. They said he's fine too. He's very warm right now."

"Oh that's good. He is still so young; no one deserves to die like that, bad host or no. Speaking of which, your Mallow, are you ready to make a Contract?" She closed the powder puff. Did she not have enough magic to sustain the boat and a magically enhanced face? Her hair was pinned up about her head, perhaps in an effort to give it some sort of a bounce and curl later.

"Give me a second." I folded one arm behind my head, and let the other fall over my eyes. The darkness was inviting, allowing me to mull over the words that had been said. My pulse had been pumping, so afraid of being cast into a toad and then fed to a crane by Divinis Wenrick that I had little attention to give to the subtleties of the conversation. And yet, my intuition knew something was all wrong.

"Azark—" She powdered her face again when it became obvious I wasn't planning on signing anything. "-you can't use the ring whenever you're running from a mob. That's an abuse of the power."

"I need... To figure out what to do next."

"I'll let you think for a little bit, since I need to get ready anyway, but don't do this again," she chided. She then powdered her eyelids.

"How did I get back here? I thought the Contractor was supposed to come to me."

"We took some of your blood when you put the ring on," she said. "So we could bring you back."

"Ah," I said. I remembered the faint prick of pain when I'd first put on the unremarkable ring. If I hadn't been so exhausted, I would have been screaming with excitement over my first teleportation. Instead, my mind worked out what had been said. Osoro was guilty, but of what I wasn't sure. The Divinis thought I had hurt Winsor for revenge. He was somewhat accurate. I had thought Winsor had kidnapped Mallow. I was planning on tricking answers out of him until those old bullies got involved. But as I thought of Winsor's wide, earnest eyes, his unguarded expressions, and how he risked his life to save Thessa, I began to doubt if he was someone who could keep Mallow a secret.

Lena summoned a tray of food for me before excusing herself to go get dressed for the boat party. I lazily reached over and lifted a golden colored apple from the tray and bit into it. It felt heavy in my hands, but not as if I'd been drugged. No, this was more like the riding frantically on horseback had caught up with me... Horseback. What had happened to Flatchert, that poor creature? No one knew she was mine except Winsor.

The apple rolled out of my hand and thudded against the floor. I watched it go from heavy lids. One wasted apple. I'd have to apologize to Lena later about that. She'd really been the best sorceress I'd ever met. I tried to stretch to grab it, but my arm felt heavy. Someone shouldn't come so close to dying so many times in a row. Three today? It'd been three. It was never three when Mallow was with me. Mallow was amazing. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me. It's no wonder she'd caught so many people's attention...

After all, if Winsor had acquired a brand new Moon Giant, he'd either be wooing her, or if he was more sinister, running experiments on her components. Either scenario, he would not go to the library. And if he was lying about the library thing, he wouldn't waste time with me going to the cabaret or the tower. Unless he was keeping her in the tower. And if she was there, why hadn't Ricardo mentioned her? Surely if they were all excited over a normal elven girl, they'd go insane with glee from having a Moon Giant to prod and poke.

Like Osoro kept saying, this situation didn't make sense. There was a motive for Winsor kidnapping Mallow; he liked monsters and he thought she was attractive. But there wasn't one for him wasting time with me. He'd even banished me from the manor initially, seemingly sealing his guilt. If Winsor had kidnapped Mallow, then I had a motive for wanting to be around him, but how would the Divinis know that? It's not like Winsor would tell his father that he had broken the law, especially with Arcana Enforcement in town. Winsor would be putting the entire family at risk. But then why heal me? Why spend the evening with me? I was persuasive but not so persuasive to keep Winsor from Mallow if he did have her...

But then, if Winsor didn't kidnap Mallow, then why would I hurt him? I was mistaken. But why would the Divinis assume I had any reason to want to hurt Winsor?

Osoro said it was ironic that I was the father of the Giant, or that I was searching for the Giant. I couldn't remember. Why was that ironic? It made sense. Of course I'd be searching for her...

Revenge for what...

Osoro would understand if he had a family, that's what the Divinis said. It almost sounded like he implied I had a family, and that's what this revenge was about.

But my family was long gone. My mom had run off after we lost the herd and my father died of illness without a single coin to his name. No siblings, no wife, and my only child was Mallow...

So why hurt Winsor on Mallow's behalf to get revenge against Divinis Wenrick? Winsor was the Divinis's son... why would I even care about the Divinis?

Unless...

I sat up.

Had Divinis Wenrick taken Mallow?

Dozens of sorcerers in town, but he would be the one with all of his people here. More than that, he'd be the only one with somewhere to keep her.

And Winsor's infatuation... He had told the Divinis about his love for Mallow that one day behind the tent....

A perfect gift.

Just like the stable master had said.

I swung my legs around and stood up.

The Divinis had Mallow.

He had practically confessed.

And he was going to kill me so that nobody would come searching for her again. The one loose end. It hadn't been about Winsor's safety at all. I swallowed. Getting the Divinis on his own would be much harder than Bernard or Winsor. And even if I did, I was so scared around him, it muddled my thinking. I'd been helpless in that room. Thinking of facing him intimidated me more than thinking of facing the blood-slicked Ricardo, but why? In the Divinis there was something familiar and nauseating, like a half-remembered nightmare.

I realized I couldn't face him alone.

I was going to need help.