A day passed. She spent it sleeping – she was capable of little else. And she hated herself for it. She had to find Dominic. She had to heal, so she could fight. Every time she'd woken up that day, she'd recited the Elvish couplet she'd learned to heal herself. Each time, she felt the pressure in her head grow a little lighter. And each time she'd tried to get out of bed, a searing pain shot up her, straight towards her head, the second she took a step. So she'd had to lay back down, and use more of her magic, but even the effort of reaching into the rhythm of the simple poem and drawing the magic from it proved overwhelmingly exhausting, and sent her back to sleep.

There had been a small meal and cup of water waiting for her each time she woke up. And at one point–a point past sunset, though she had no idea how far past sunset–she awoke to see Kaylessa sitting at a stool by her side. Whatever she'd been doing before she started to stir, Didi didn't know, but by the time she'd opened her eyes Kaylessa's eyes were on her.

"Where's Dominic?" Didi managed to say with a rusted voice.

"Oh, child," was all Kaylessa said.

Didi tried, again, to scramble up out of bed, but this time a stern look from Kaylessa stopped her before the pain in her head could. "Not so fast, now. You still need your rest."

"But Dominic–"

"Dominic is nearly a grown man, and I let the sheriff know he's missin', so any adventurers that pass through here are gonna have their eye out for him. He's gonna be fine. You need your rest."

"But he's in trouble!" Didi managed to finish her sentence, her voice cracking into a whisper. Kaylessa handed her a cup of water, which she downed in a gulp.

Kaylessa took away Didi's empty cup and leaned back in her seat, looking at the ceiling. "Look, child... I know you love that brother of yours, and I know he loves you, but he's a teenage boy, after all. Teenage boys – and some teenage girls, too, for that matter – well, they tend to reach a point where they think their family is holding them back, and they get the wanderlust and head off on their own. I know your brother always had that look in his eyes, like he was dreamin' about being somewhere else. You seem happy enough here, but I always figured he would get restless and head off on his own someday. And if he was wanting to go off and be bounty hunters – I think he might've made up his mind on that long before he asked you. Here; have some more water."

"He wouldn't leave me!" Didi insisted, tears spilling. "He'd never do that!"

"Well, I'm hoping he'll realize how much he misses you and comes back on his own. But these years are his time to figure out who he is."

Didi fell silent. She could not explain to Kaylessa, but she knew Dominic wouldn't ever run away without her. In all those years daydreaming about leaving their mother's home, the idea of leaving a sibling behind had never been part of the picture.

It had become a necessity. Drayden, the next oldest after Didi, couldn't be trusted. He hadn't wanted to leave. The younger kids had been scattered all over the house, there had been no time to gather everyone together. She remembered Dominic shaking her awake in the cool night air, saying "Come on, we have to go now!" And her following, too tired to ask questions.

The rest of the memories were fuzzy. They'd traveled half by foot, half by teleport. Dominic had not ever cast a teleport spell before. Each time they'd landed with headaches and partial amnesia; only clinging to the vague notion that they had to get away from their mother.

The memories had slowly come back while they rested. Didi had woken up on the ground in tears, suddenly remembering who she was and what she'd done - run away, left the kids behind. She'd shaken Dominic awake to ask him why. He'd stared blankly her before seeming to suddenly remember everything himself.

"There was a ritual. She made me to do it. It was... really painful. Cursed water... thought it would kill me. I was scared."

But it hadn't killed him. And it was over now. So why run after the fact?

"You were supposed to do it, too."

"What about the kids?" Didi asked, her voice like a plea.

"Still kids. She won't make them do it... not yet."

"They'll grow up fast," Didi had whispered. Drayden had been nine.

"We'll go back for them when we're stronger," Dominic had promised.

That must have been why he wanted to leave, Didi thought. Scraping out a living chasing down petty criminals didn't sound like the most efficient way of attaining the level of magical prowess that would be necessary to fend off their mother and her followers while stealing away the rest of their siblings. But maybe Dominic thought it would be more productive than spending their time mucking stables and changing sheets.

But he still wouldn't have left without her. She was sure of that.

Kaylessa made Didi drink some chicken broth, which she did silently. She was not used to the kindness. She wanted to question it, and she knew she should thank her, but she didn't know to express something like that, and she was too worried about Dominic to dwell on it, so she said nothing until Kaylessa left with the empty dishes, urging her to go back to sleep.

~

She'd thought she was well enough to force herself up, but there must have been some relaxation herbs in the broth, since she slept through the night again. What woke her was a sound outside her window. This time she was well enough to get to her feet and look outside; someone had been in the small back garden where they grew the vegetables and apples, and was running away. She was initially more confused than suspicious, and then she figured he'd probably gone back there to steal the apples like she and Dominic had, a few months ago. But that didn't explain the noise at her window.

Losing sight of the man, she opened the window for a better view and peered down.

Lodged in the wooden wall just below was an arrow. Attached to the arrow was a piece of parchment.

She opened it. It was a note:

HALF ELF GIRL

WE HAVE YOU'RE BROTHER. BRING 100 SLIVER IF YOU WANT TO SEE HIM TO THE BIG ROCK BYE THE SEMETTARY
COME ALLONE AND TELL NOONE
OR ELS

Under "or els" was a crude drawing of a pointy-eared, ponytailed head with X's where the eyes should be and a dripping knife underneath.

Strangely enough, this filled Didi with optimism rather than fear. It confirmed that Dominic was in danger, but she'd known that in her heart anyway and now she had an idea of where to look for him.

She had a faint idea of where the cemetery was. She and Dominic had passed it before they arrived in Red Larch. The money, on the other hand...

It was pointless to retrieve her satchel from the desk where Kaylessa had left it after helping her change into her night clothes, but she did so anyway, as though the few coppers she had left after purchasing the novel from Gaelker could have miraculously turned to gold. Even if this had been a folk tale, in which kindhearted fairies blessed mortals who had earned good fortune, Didi surely wouldn't have qualified for such a boon. She had nothing.

It wasn't like she intended to leave these scoundrels alive after rescuing Dominic. But she had no idea who her opponents were, nor their numbers. She could tell from their spelling that their intelligence was lacking... but that didn't necessarily translate into competence in battle. She didn't intend to come back empty-handed, but she wouldn't risk showing up that way, either.

She'd have to steal it.

A sickening feeling came over her. Her eyes fell on the nightstand, where Kaylessa had left a cup of water and a heel of buttered bread. Now that her head was clear, she was hit by the weight of the kindness Kaylessa had shown her. She hadn't scolded her for getting in a fight, or vomiting all over her. She'd guided her up the stairs, helped her change into her nightgown and took her soiled clothing away to be washed, eased her into bed, and pulled the blankets up around her shoulders, like Didi had once done for her littlest siblings. She'd been providing Didi with food, and not asking her to work for it.

She hadn't been acting much like a cruel mistress forcing her to live a life of servitude very much, lately.

Which made Didi feel not-so-justified about the time she'd snuck up behind Kaylessa when she went to deposit the day's earnings into the safe, and memorized the combination.

But she couldn't take chances with Dominic. He was priority. She'd have to steal. Or, borrow. If everything went well, it would just be borrowing.

It was late morning. This time of day, Kaylessa would likely be making sure the newly-vacated rooms were tidy, and that the rooms had, in fact, been vacated. She peeked back and forth down the hall, saw the coast was clear, and sprinted down stairs towards the safe room, grabbed the cash, stuffed it down her shirt, and sprinted outside.

Her head still hurt a bit each time her feetmade contact with the ground. She thought about healing herself again, butmagic could only do so much for head injuries, and she wanted to save her magicfor combat. If Dominic was hurt, she'd need all the magic she could get.