"I feel like I should answer you, but a part of me wants to resist," she said, before shaking her head. "One of the Lord's Children has gone missing, the eldest, and it is expected she has rejoined the tree. Though some whisper of dark deeds, of the dragons stealing her away."

I nodded, though I knew Liluth was with Lady Twilight's clan, hidden with magic on her protected lands.

"It's still a twisted land that none may enter. All who do end up right where they started. Demons invaded the Fey Wilds some months ago, but were pushed back before the King was defeated." She leaned back in her chair with a frown. "War is on the horizon between the Queens. They don't appreciate that the dragons have returned from self exile, and that they visit with friends within the Fey Wilds. Other Fey Lords have close ties with them, but the far Queens don't agree with that."

The Cat's tail twitched, twice. Hopefully, he'd gotten what he wanted. Now it was time for me to learn more.

"What do you know about how the Lord was banished?" I asked softly.

"It was my fault." Professor Eiva wrapped her paws around her midsection.

The Cat froze.

"I should have stopped him. My oldest friend. I warned him, but he didn't listen. I should have made him listen."

"Listen to what…"

"That magic wasn't for him. The raw, most potent magic of the leylines themselves is for those Fate Bound: the Travelers, the Wanderers, the Seers, and the like." Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "He protected me and offered me sanctuary from those who hunted my kind, and I failed him."

She sniffed a few times, and all I wanted to do was offer her a hug, but I didn't know her. Warmth blazed from the fireplace, like a sudden gust of wind.

"Betty doesn't want you to be sad," I said, motioning to the shop.

She wiped her eyes and sat up a little straighter. "I apologize for my outburst, I'm not sure where it came from."

I reached out with a hand and set it on the armrest next to her. "You miss your friend. But you shouldn't blame yourself, he made his own decisions."

"But he wouldn't even have thought of it if I hadn't mentioned it."

"He made his own choices, and I doubt he'd want a friend to be weighed down by his decisions." I kept my voice firm, hoping it was the correct thing to say.

The Cat hadn't moved, almost like he couldn't. His tail hung limply down the side of the armrest. His eyes didn't move from the Professor, curled in on herself.

The bells on the door rang as it opened.

My head snapped in that direction to find Lady Twilight entering. Her purple eyes glowed brightly, though her smile fell as she took in the fact that someone else was in the shop with me.

"Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting," she said, stopping once the door closed.

Indigo suddenly appeared, flying out of her hideaway and speaking so fast I couldn't follow the conversation.

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Lady Twilight laughed, sending a feeling of warmth through the room. "Ah, to be that young again, and have such a thirst for knowledge!"

She turned to face me again, this time her eyes landing on Professor Eiva. "My apologies for interrupting your meeting. Usually this sort of thing doesn't happen here."

"I'd think not," said the Cat, drawing the attention of the dragon.

Professor Eiva didn't notice at all.

"Hey, Indigo, how about you show Lady Twilight the solstice tree?" I asked, motioning upstairs.

Indigo's eyes grew wide, and she dashed through the air toward the stairs, directing Lady Twilight to follow.

Her head tilted toward me. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, you're family. You should see the room, it's pretty amazing."

Lady Twilight followed Indigo, stepping around the counter gingerly, almost like she was waiting for something to happen.

The Cat grumbled under his breath, but he appeared more lively than he had for the last little bit, and that mattered.

Then the elder Dragon vanished into the hallway and up the stairs.

Professor Eiva blinked multiple times, her ears twitching back and forth. Her voice came out, barely above a whisper. "That was a dragon…"

"Yes, Indigo's grandmother, kind of. You know what? Close enough. Her grandmother."

Her mouth opened, then shut, and her eyes darted all over the place before settling on me again. "You will make a good student."

"I'll try my best."

"Keep up the practice with the meditation, and I'll come by in a week or so. By then, you should be able to find your source with ease. If not, we'll need to come at this from a different direction." She nodded a few times, like she was thinking about something important. "I'm going to leave you to your guest."

"Well, she's teaching Indigo dragon magic, so she's not really my guest. I didn't think you'd run into her, though."

She stood up, her ears twitching again. "That's okay. You have much to learn, but practice is the first big step."

"Should I do anything with my magic when I can sense it?" I lifted the bracelet up. "I've funneled it through this before."

"You can if you wish, though I'd prefer if you didn't teach yourself any bad habits. Instead, take notes and write down the moments your magic comes to the surface naturally." She gave me a pointed stare. "Every time it appears, write it down. It will help us figure out what direction your magic is inclined to prefer."

"I have a journal I can use." My mind went to the journal my father had gotten me for my birthday. "I can make a list of all the times I remember, too."

"All the times?" asked the Cat.

I ignored him. "Thanks for coming in."

"Of course," she said, bowing in my direction. "I'd hoped to hear more about my friend, but now's not the time."

She got up and hurried to the door, leaving without looking back.

"What other times?" asked the Cat again.

"I told you about them," I muttered, turning toward the counter and heading to join Indigo and Lady Twilight upstairs.

I found her staring out the large windows, with the snow still coming down outside.

"Ah, sorry about that, I didn't realize the shop would let others come in while I was with someone," I said.

Indigo perched on Lady Twilight's shoulder.

"Indigo, can you show me your practice with shadows?" asked Lady Twilight.

Indigo nodded and then dove into Lady Twilight's shadow, vanishing from sight.

"What the…" I mumbled.

"That will only distract her for so long," whispered Lady Twilight, though her lips didn't move at all. "I have a favor to ask."

The Cat rubbed up against my ankle, and I glanced down at him before looking back at the dragon.

"What type of favor?"

"Lord Bennett is struggling with the loss of his daughter, Indigo's mother." She let out a sigh. "All of his descendants are meeting to try to snap him out of the state he's in."

"And you want Indigo to go…"

She nodded.

"Will she come back?" I asked, ignoring the pain inside me.

"We won't stop her. I'll make sure of it, even if Lord Bennett doesn't come back to us."

My eyes opened wide. "It's that bad?"

"Dragons can fade from grief and rejoin the tree…" she explained softly.

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