Across the top, in uneven green letters, Everly had written:
DO GOOD MAGIC
Below that, after what looked like considerable struggle:
DO NOT BLOW UP MARIELLE’S ROOM
At the bottom, smaller:
UNLESS SHE SAYS YES
Serali stared.
Then she looked at Allandra.
Allandra’s mouth was pressed into a very thin line.
“Unless she says yes,” Serali said.
Everly leaned forward. “Do you like it?”
“I do.” Serali touched the stick figure with black lightning. “Is this me?”
“Yes.”
“I look dangerous.”
“You are doing magic.”
“Fair.”
“That one is Mama. She is worried.”
“I see.”
“That one is Daravan. He is also worried but in his beard.”
Serali’s laugh came easier this time.
“That is accurate.”
Serali folded the card carefully and placed it beside the first two on the desk. They had been propped there for days. She had not meant to leave them visible. She simply had not moved them.
Allandra’s eyes touched it briefly.
Serali pretended not to notice.
Everly looked toward the scattered papers. “Are those laws?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Do you like laws?”
“No.”
“Mama likes laws.”
Allandra said, “I like useful laws.”
“She yells at bad ones.”
Allandra sighed, “I do not yell, I speak firmly.”
“That is queen yelling,” Everly said.
Serali nodded gravely. “Ah.”
“I am surrounded,” Allandra said.
“You are queen,” Serali said. “You should be used to it.”
Allandra’s gaze moved to her.
The words had come too easily. Too familiar. Too close to something that belonged in another kind of room.
Everly, mercifully or catastrophically, filled the silence.
“Can you do magic now?”
“No,” Allandra said.
Serali lifted a brow.
Everly deflated. “Why?”
“Because Serali is recovering.”
“I can do a little,” Serali said before she could decide whether she should.
Allandra looked at her sharply.
Serali looked back.
The challenge arrived naturally. Not aggressive. Not quite. Something warmer and more dangerous.
Allandra’s voice was careful. “Only if you wish.”
“I know.”