The return trip home had been a rather giddy one, filled with laughter and uplifted spirits. Upon exiting the office of Gortimer, both Anna and Nelson had been slightly wary of running into Lucar and his crew, but they had experienced no such trouble. It seemed the bullies had moved on to another area in their pursuit, or perhaps they had just wandered off somewhere for Lucar to lick his wounds while his friends consoled him. Though the Sol Regnum shone brightly above as always, Anna had the feeling that it was getting to be quite late in the evening. They had been gone for much longer than they had originally planned. The two bound up the front steps of their home, Nelson doing a wonderfully accurate reenactment of Lucar’s face upon its meeting with Anna’s fist, when Freyas spoke to them.

“There you two are, finally. Broderick’s in an awful state at your prolonged absence,” Freyas barked.

The pair stopped their raucous laughter and looked up at the lion’s head door knocker.

“What do you mean?” Nelson asked, “we were only gone for a few hours.”

“I don’t know,” Freyas responded, “go in and see for yourself. All I know is he was discussing with Misaada about sending a search party out for you two. By all the ruckus inside, you’d think you had someone after your head or something.”

Anna and Nelson exchanged concerned looks.

“Let us in please,” Anna asked Freyas.

“Sure thing, just tell the old man to quiet down a bit. I’m trying to sleep and it’s near impossible with all of his loud pacing and nervous chatter.”

The door clicked obligingly and Anna hurried to push it open. Neither Broderick nor Misaada were in the front room, but the door to the workshop was open and they could hear noises emanating from its bowels. They made their way quickly to the descending staircase.

“Broderick, is everything ok?” Anna called down as her and Nelson hastened down the stairs.

As they arrived at the bottom, a cry of relief greeted them.

“Thank goodness, thank goodness,” Broderick said, almost hysterically.

He was crouched on the floor with some kind of strange, polished black disk in front of him and the workshop was in a very messy state. Drawers and cabinets were yanked open haphazardly, and different objects and papers were scattered about the floor. Misaada’s feathers were also strewn among the mess.

“What on earth happened here?” Nelson asked.

“We will be asking the questions,” Misaada demanded as she came storming out of one of the side rooms.

“Where have you two been? I’ve been worried sick,” Broderick said in a voice that was a mixture of exasperation and relief.

He stood up, still clutching the disc, and rushed over to them.

“We- well, we got a little hung up,” Anna said nervously, “I just got a little over excited at all the sights of Monsadasia.”

“Yeah, c’mon Broderick, we were only gone a few hours,” Nelson chimed in.

“Yes, exactly!” Broderick cried, “I sent you to the market for a few supplies. It should have only taken you an hour, two tops. You’ve been gone for nearly six hours!”

“I don’t see what the big-” Nelson started, but Misaada spoke up.

“Be quiet, Nelson,” she snapped, and he shut up immediately.

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to let you out of the house without me,” Broderick said, “Anna don’t you get it?”

Anna did not answer. She thought she knew where this was going and the first inklings of shame were beginning to creep up inside her.

“You are not safe, in your world or this one,” Broderick told her, “the assassin who killed Gwen, the others, and who tried to kill you is still out there. He is still pursuing you, even if he has chosen to lay low for a while. This house has many protective charms and artifacts that protect you while you’re inside these walls, but there is still a great danger in you wandering off in the kingdom.”

“We didn’t wander off,” Anna said, somewhat defensively, “we were in the market, surrounded by people. Surely this assassin wouldn’t be so brash as to try and murder me there would he?”

“Wouldn’t he,” Broderick responded, looking at her with pity, “no one would have thought that this person would kill a council member, or be able to kill Gwen, yet here we are. I let you go out, against my better judgement, and anything could have happened.”

“Broderick, it’s my fault,” Nelson said.

“No, it’s mine,” Anna contradicted, “I was the one who held us up. Nelson had nothing to do with it.”

“You are both to blame equally,” Misaada chided, though her tone had softened somewhat.

“All three of you convinced me to let her go,” Broderick said, his gaze jumping between each of them.

Anna and Nelson looked down in shame and Misaada scratched the floor nervously. Broderick closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

After a moment, he spoke, and his voice was much more controlled, “You are safe, and that is what truly matters. I didn't mean to overreact, but you must understand Anna. You are in my care, you are my responsibility.”

At this, Anna felt a bit stung. Broderick was only upset because he felt as if he had some duty or burden to care for her. For some reason, this hurt Anna, but then Broderick continued.

“I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. You are part of this family now and it is my job to take care of you and keep you safe.”

Her hurt was quickly replaced by more shame. She was so quick to believe that Broderick did not actually care for her and she now realized that it was quite the opposite.

“I’m sorry,” she said weakly.

“It’s okay,” Broderick replied, “just please try not to make me worry like that again. And I will try my best to not overreact. We just have to keep you safe until this murderer can be brought to justice.”

Nelson had begun picking up the random discarded objects and putting them back in place. As he shuffled some pieces of parchment together, he looked around curiously.

“What exactly were you doing down here,” he asked Broderick.

“Oh, this mess?” Broderick said, looking around at the rather wrecked workshop, “I was looking for a scrying mirror. I was trying to check up on you two before I resorted to going to the kingdom guards and creating unnecessary trouble.”

“Like these?” Nelson asked, picking up two polished discs just like the one Broderick still held in his hand.

“None of them work,” Misaada told them, “We even tried a fourth one. I think Broderick tossed it into the library out of frustration.”

She waddled off towards that direction, presumably to fetch the thrown mirror. She returned moments later with a jade green disc in her beak. There was a large chunk missing from one of its edges where it had cracked upon impact.

“I don’t understand,” Anna said, “what’s a scrying mirror?”

Broderick made his way over to the set of chairs he and Anna so often sat at and took a seat. He placed his mirror upon the table before answering.

“It is a magical tool used to view places and people. The distance it allows you to look is finite, usually no more than a few miles depending on the mirror, but any of mine should have been plenty sufficient to find you two. It was… Rather infuriating that they were not working.”

“Now I’m not getting it,” Nelson said, a look of confusion on his face, “I’ve seen you use those mirrors a dozen times at least. Why would they stop working now?”

“Truthfully, I haven’t the slightest clue,” Broderick replied with a sigh, “as you know, Nelson, their powers are limited. Most high profile sorcerers will have wards against them, but there is no reason I can think as to why scrying would not work on you two. As you can imagine, the fact that they weren’t working did a number to increase my worries.”

Nelson nodded in understanding. As Anna looked at Broderick, who looked somehow older than he usually did, her eyes fell upon the mirror now sitting on the table. It was situated right next to a small pile of black seeds. Anna felt a bit of excitement rise inside of her. In all the commotion upon their arrival, she had completely forgotten why she had been so eager to return home in the first place. Now that things were dying down, however, the memory of her accomplishment came rushing back to her. She hesitated for a moment, afraid that the mood had not quite settled enough to try and demonstrate her new skill to Broderick, but her enthusiasm won out in the end.

“Broderick, I want to show you something,” she said warily, taking the seat across from him.

“What’s that my dear?” he asked, looking at her with interest.

She grinned at him and picked a seed up from the table.

“It’s okay, Anna, we can just eat dinner and rest for the night. We can resume practice tomorrow. It’s been a long enough day,” he said.

“Just watch,” Nelson told him.

Anna shut her eyes and clutched the seed. She took slow, measured breaths, just as she had with Nelson. She felt the same wriggling and moving in her hand as before, and she heard both Broderick and Misaada gasp in surprise. She opened her eyes to a healthy, full bloomed flower in her hand. She held it out to Broderick, who was looking at her mouth agape. He took it from her slowly.

“I thought you might want to see that,” she told him, trying to contain her excitement.

For a moment he stared at the flower before finally looking up at Anna with a smile of his own.

“Tonight, we feast. Tomorrow, your real training begins.”

And so it did. The days turned into weeks. As time passed, Anna was presented with a new set of challenges and training regimens. Of course, there was the workings of magic and spellcraft, but there was so much more than that than Anna had ever expected. First, she had to learn to manipulate the four cardinal elements: earth, wind, fire and water. The day following her showcase of her flower growing abilities to Broderick, she came down to the workshop to find a new sight at their usual table. A pile of dirt.

“Watch closely,” Broderick told her.

He moved his hands over the pile, making strange waving motions. Slowly, the dirt separated into two piles. One was still dirt, but the other seemed to be made of sand. Anna watched in amazement as Broderick made more gestures and the sand seemed to become soaked with water. Without touching it, he forced it to shape into a ball, the sand holding its shape fairly well since it was wet. Once he had a crude ball formed, he held both hands above it and Anna could feel the heat radiating from between them. The ball began to glow a bright red. Broderick pointed with two fingers at the ball. A small, concentrated gust of wind erupted from them, cooling the glowing ball of sand. When he was finished, a smooth, round sphere of glass sat between them.

“That was amazing,” Anna said quietly.

“That was nothing,” Broderick said, though he sounded rather proud, “it is a simple exercise I have devised for learning to work each of the elements. You control the earth to separate it from the sand. You then pull the moisture from the air to make the sand easier to work with. Using the fury and rage of the fire element, you glaze the ball into glass. Finally, you summon a small gust of wind to cool it down quickly. Now you try.”

This was the most arcane part of Anna’s training, but there was much more to learn than the actual practice of magic. For one, there was the history of Monsadasia and the five kingdoms. The best part about this was that Anna finally began to understand what the painting in her prison cell represented. She finally learned what, or who, the Source was.

“Magic has been the foundation of the five kingdoms for centuries,” Broderick explained during one of their lessons.

“Where did the kingdoms get their magic?” Anna asked in her usual curious fashion.

“Ah, I’m glad you asked,” Broderick replied, looking excited, “that is exactly the point of today’s lesson. Today, you shall learn of the source of all magic.”

“I keep hearing that word, ‘the source’,” Anna said, “what does it mean?”

“It is the cornerstone of our entire civilisation, or rather, she is the entire cornerstone. The foundation upon which each of the kingdoms was founded. And the reason that we have had peace for so long between us.”

Broderick led Anna into the library. He pulled an extremely old and well-read book from one of the shelves. Nelson was in here as well, and upon Broderick and Anna’s appearance, he watched them curiously. After realizing what book Broderick had grabbed, his interest piqued.

“Mind if I listen?” he asked, “I love this story.”

“Not at all,” Broderick said jovially.

He cracked the book open to the first few pages. A cloud of dust erupted as the spine split open. As Broderick opened it, Anna was just able to make out the words on the cover, embroidered in fancy gold lettering: The Five Tribes, a History.

The three of them went back to the main room of the workshop. Nelson pulled a chair from one of the desks and joined Anna and Broderick’s usual seating arrangement. Misaada, who had been sleeping in her nest, was awoken by the scraping sound of Nelson dragging his chair on the floor. She cursed at Nelson, but upon realizing what book Broderick was holding, fell silent.

“This tale is centuries old,” Broderick began, “and guides us even to this day. It is the basis for all we do and all that we have.”

Anna sat with suspense, ready for the lesson to really begin. Even though Nelson had clearly heard this story before, he looked excited as well.

“No one is really sure of the date,” Broderick continued, “but all of the kingdoms are sure of one thing” a teardrop fell from the stars.”

“The stars cried?” Anna scoffed.

“Shhh!” Nelson and Misaada both scolded at the same time.

“Yes, a teardrop from the stars,” Broderick confirmed, smiling, “at least that’s what the historical records tell us. Anyways, the teardrop fell, and created quite a commotion when it landed. The force of it shook the entire planet. At the time, five small tribes lived in the area. They were separate from each other, but close enough to know of the rest of their existences. When the teardrop fell, each tribe was terrified. It seemed as if the heavens were raining down upon them. But after a day or two, and the world not ending, each of the tribes decided to investigate the site of the impact.”

“What did they find?” Anna asked excitedly.

“A woman,” Broderick answered.

“More beautiful and resplendent than any who ever existed,” Nelson recited, as if from memory.

“Right,” Broderick said, “and she was hurt. Her fall from above had damaged her greatly and the five tribes questioned whether she would live or die. And so they intervened. Working together, they brought her what she requested and, in time, nursed her back to a stable state. But then the conflict began.”

“Why would there be conflict,” Anna questioned, “if they were working together to heal her?”

“Because the tribes could sense the power she held. And though they were mostly a peaceful people, the power that she held was invasive, enthralling, all powerful. No single mortal could hope to resist the temptation that her power inflicted. Each of the tribes thought that they could use her power as their own. And though their reasons for wanting it differed, their conclusion was the same. Her power belonged to them, and none of the others. And so the wars began.”

“Small, though the tribes were,” he continued, “their numbers were fierce and loyal. Blood shed and bodies fell as each of the tribes battled over the fallen star. And then, one day, she had seen enough.”

“This is my favorite part,” Nelson said.

“How did she stop it?” Anna asked Broderick.

“You see, over time, the woman had learned to love each of the tribes. They had helped her when she was hurt, they had brought her gifts to earn her blessing. They had shown her the value and beauty of mankind and she, in turn, had come to value each of them. Both for their positive attributes, and for their flaws. And so she sent out a message to the rulers of the five kingdoms. During the night, they each had a dream,”

“She used magic,” Anna realized.

“Yes, she used the amazing powers that she possessed to speak to each of the rulers in their sleep. She beckoned them to join her where she had fallen. The leaders were wary of coming.”

“Of course they were, they were at war with each other,” Anna surmised.

“Exactly,” Nelson said.

“But they came, all the same,” Broderick continued, “however great their fear was, their love of the fallen star, of The Source, won out over their fear. And so they gathered, the five representatives of the tribes, along with the woman whom they had been warring over for months. And in that place, she put forth an offer they could not refuse. If they would enter into a treaty with one another, she would grant each of their five tribes power unlike any the world had ever known.”

“And they agreed!” Anna said.

“Well, kind of,” Nelson responded.

“Yes, as Nelson indicated, they did agree,” Broderick said, “but the leaders had a burning question: how would they rule their subjects if everyone was on equal footing. But, as always, The Source provided an answer. She agreed to give each of the five rulers unlimited access to her power. Their followers would be allowed to siphon the energy she held, but the rulers alone would be granted permission to use the most ultimate of her power. They would be granted source magic.”

“How is that different from what we can do?” Anna inquired.

“We can use magic. We can pluck and bend the strings of the universe that connect all things in order to bring forth our powers,” Broderick answered, “but source magic, or royal magic as most now call it, is something else completely. It allows you to not just bend the rules of the world, but to change them entirely.”

“That sounds awesome,” Anna exclaimed.

“Indeed,” Broderick responded, “but it came with a caveat. The five tribes had to agree to live in peace from there on out. Each of the rulers had to make a blood promise, meaning they had to physically add their blood to a ritual spell, in order to enact the pact. They had to agree to keep the five tribes at peace, no member of one tribe was allowed to spill the blood of another, lest all five of them lose their powers forever.”

“Seems kind of harsh,” Anna said.

“It was, but it has been the driving force of peace between the five kingdoms for centuries, perhaps even millenia,” Broderick said, “we have had our differences over the years, but we have always managed to resolve them peacefully. After all, none of us wants to go back to a time before we had magic. It would not only be the end of our way of life, but quite possibly the end of our civilizations altogether,” he added darkly, “Magic is so ingrained in our natural systems that to have it removed would likely be fatal.”

A thick silence fell between them for a moment.

“Is that what causes the magic thief’s attacks to be fatal?” Anna inquired.

“Yeah, and the stabbing doesn’t help much,” Nelson said bluntly.

Broderick gave him a scolding tap on the back of the head before continuing, “Yes, despite Nelson’s callousness, the act of stealing magic would likely be deadly, even without the mortal wound. The power provided by the Source is a vital organ to our peoples. And so, The Source is revered above all else. After the original pact of the five tribes, she disappeared into a plane that we can not follow, according to the tales. Her power, though, remained, and has done so unto this day.”

Something occurred to Anna suddenly, "If there was a pact made to prevent violence between the tribes, doesn't the fact that people have been murdered for their magic violate that pact?" She asked.

"Ahhh, the great loophole," Nelson said, sounding slightly amused.

"Unfortunately, as we've learned over the centuries, the pact does not extend to members of the same tribe," Broderick lamented.

"So then the murderer must be someone from Monsadasia," Anna surmised.

"Sadly, that does seem to be the case," Broderick sighed.

Apart from the history of magic and the practical arcane lessons, there was so much more to learn that Anna had never even considered when Broderick had told her that she would learn magic. For one, she had to begin studying latin. According to Broderick, it was not necessary for her to be able to speak it fluently, but she did need a basic grasp of it in order to effectively work verbal spells when the time came to learn them.

“So I take it that the five tribes from the story spoke latin,” Anna observed.

“Not exactly,” Broderick told her, “we tend towards latin for a few reasons. For one, it’s not likely to come up in a normal conversation. You wouldn’t want to ask for a glass of water and accidentally produce a jet of water from your wand. Or remark on it being a windy day and accidentally summon a tornado. But more importantly, latin has very deep roots,” he explained.

“It’s the basis for many modern languages, and that gives it a unique power,” Nelson, who often joined their lessons these days, added.

“You see Anna, words have power,” Broderick remarked, “and the history and influence of latin make it a particularly powerful type of language. Think of verbal spells as templates of sorts. You can summon your magic, and you can use it to interact with and mold the energies of the world around you. Verbal spells make that easier to do without so much concentration. And so the long and storied use of latin makes it especially effective for that purpose. Other old languages, such as arabic and gaelic have a similar power, but the kingdom of Monsadasia has gravitated towards mostly latin spellwork.”

Anna, who wasn’t even the most fluent speaker of english, had a lot of trouble with this. The orphanage had never offered classes in a second language and the english classes that the Ladies would sometimes give were sorely lacking. Luckily, Nelson seemed to be a latin wordsmith, and he helped tutor her even when Broderick was busy doing work for the council. Honestly, Anna was surprised that they even found time for lessons. Broderick was often receiving messages and summons to come to the castle for a council meeting. Sometimes these came in the form of a written letter delivered by carrier, and other times his scrying disc would glow and a face would appear in it beckoning him, like some kind of strange phone call. But regardless of his normal work, he still found time almost every night to further Anna’s teachings.

She also took lessons in magical flora and fauna. She was surprised to learn that, due to the magical energies that surrounded and emanated from the five kingdoms, plants and animals had been affected over the centuries. This led to special wildlife evolving that could only be found in or around the kingdoms’ boundaries. One area that Anna found absolutely fascinating was wand lore. After she had been training for a few weeks, she had finally plucked up the courage to ask Broderick if she would be getting her own wand.

“You will be acquiring one eventually, but you must first study the different types of wand wood as well as the magical properties and energies of different crystals,” he told her, “you will need to be decently versed in these matters for when you begin making your wand.”

“I’m going to make my wand,” she said, slightly flabbergasted at the prospect.

“Yes, your first one won’t be perfect by any means, but it will be made by your hand.”

“I figured that would be something we had to buy from the market,” Anna replied.

“We could, there are definitely wand makers and shops in the town market, but I find it’s not quite the same as when you make your own,” Broderick explained, “forging a wand requires magical energy to be poured into a seedling, and the wand works so much better when that magic comes from the individual who does the pouring. We will be making a trip to Bardis and Facetia’s shop to purchase the crystals required, though.”

Anna had heard Nelson mention Bardis and Facetia before, and from what she had gathered, they were miners of sorts. Apparently, they supplied the kingdom with different sorts of magical crystals and gemstones from the mountain. And so she studied the different types of wood; from the finicky acacia, which would only work for it’s true owner and often refused to work for them unless they were exceptionally skilled, to the fibrous and flexible willow which seemed to be particularly effective for healing magics as well as non-verbal spellwork. Anna figured the ability to cast spells quickly without having to rely on words would be very useful whenever dealing with a life threatening injury in which time was of the essence. To complement her wand, she studied the properties of different crystals and jewels. Broderick allowed her to inspect and handle the different gemstones he possessed, and again she was surprised at the perfect roundness of some of them. She had never seen gems come that way.

“That is a Monsadasian specialty,” he had told her when she inquired about it, “we are famous amongst the five kingdoms for our naturally grown round gemstones.”

“These come from the mountain,” Anna stated, rather than asked.

“Precisely,” Broderick said happily, “long ago, our ancestors figured out a way to cause gemstones of all kinds to grow in perfectly round formations. It is a closely guarded secret and a major product we provide to the other kingdoms.”

“Is there a benefit to them being round?” Anna asked him.

“It allows for magic to channel through the wand more efficiently,” Broderick replied.

“Less facets and faces means less interference,” Nelson added.

The fact that she would have to make her own wand meant that Anna finally learned what the strange device with the cone and large screw attached to it was. She had seen it during her first trip into the workshop, but it was only after a few weeks that Broderick had informed her of its use. He had dubbed it ‘the magical lathe’. He demonstrated for her how pieces of wood could be attached to the large screw and held in place by the cone on the other end. He then placed his foot into a strange pedal on the floor, etched with different symbols and runes. As he fed magic through this pedal, the wood would spin ridiculously fast. Using various metal tools and chisels, Broderick would then shape the wood into different shapes and sizes, almost like he was making pottery. Anna would have to learn to use the lathe effectively in order to make her own wand. She did not want to tell Broderick that the device gave her no small amount of fear, and so she watched his lessons with feigned interest and earnestness.

On top of all of her studies from books and tomes, Broderick also wanted Anna to begin exercising regularly. Apparently, being in good shape made it easier to cast magic efficiently without it taking too large of a toll on the user's body. Anna, Nelson, and Broderick would frequently go on runs through the forests that surrounded their home and the base of the mountain. Misaada would often follow them, gliding through the air freely and occasionally divebombing a snake or lizard for a mid workout snack. Invariably, Nelson always had trouble keeping up, but Anna was blown away at how physically fit Broderick seemed to be despite his old age. When both she and Nelson were bent over, gasping for air and in desperate need of a rest, he would be jogging in place and chiding them for their lack of motivation.

Running wasn’t the only kind of physical training she partook in though. She also began to practice swordwork on the dummy in the workshop. Despite his rather heavyset appearance and lack of stamina, Nelson was rather good with various types of weapons. He could twirl a pike deftly between his fingers and throw an axe into the dummy from the other side of the room, hitting his target almost every time. Anna was impressed at his level of skill, though she had no interest in learning how to use most of the weapons on display. Upon picking up one of the short swords from the weapons rack though, she found that she quite liked the feel of the blade in her hand. And so Nelson began to teach her different techniques such as how to effectively use the range of her weapon, how to move her feet, and how to focus on different points of attack for the greatest effect. It was not quite the same as bench pressing weights, but the heft of the sword and the rigorousness of Nelson’s lessons left her exhausted and aching all the same.

Things did not always go as planned, unfortunately. At one point, when trying to work the four elements, Anna lost control of herself. A spout of flame erupted from her hands causing her to lose balance and fall backwards. The jet had managed to catch part of the workshop on fire and Anna had, what she felt, was an appropriate hysterical reaction. That is to say, she screamed loudly and began trying to beat the flames with a blanket. Broderick just laughed merrily, pointed his staff at the flames, and shot a spray of water to extinguish them. A few moments later and he had used his staff again to dry the workshop and repair the damage. Anna had been quite disheartened by the entire incident, but neither Broderick nor Nelson seemed to fault her.

“It wasn’t the first time the workshop’s been caught on fire and it won’t be the last,” Nelson said with an amused chuckle.

“Cheer up, my dear,” Broderick said, “the important part is that you summoned and controlled the element. Now we just need to put a little more emphasis on the control part.”

Anna was upset by her loss of control, but there was something else bothering her that she did not want to tell Nelson or Broderick about. A few weeks into her time in Monsadasia, she had begun having a very strange recurring dream. Each night when she fell into a slumber, a woman dressed in all white, who’s face Anna could not see, would speak to her in her sleep. This woman would wave a beckoning hand at Anna, as if calling her forth. Anna could not understand the words the woman said, nor could she ever manage to reach her no matter how hard she ran. Each night, she awoke in a cold sweat and with frustration gripping her. The dream unsettled her, but more than the uneasy feeling it gave her, she desperately wanted to reach the woman. She wanted to know why she was being called to, what the woman wanted so badly to say. But each night, Anna failed to reach her.

Still, she wasn’t about to let a silly dream keep her from progress, and so she did her best to drive it far from her mind. It was hard when she dreamt the same thing every single night, but somehow she managed to keep her head mostly focused during her lessons. The weeks turned to months and once again, Anna found herself sitting with Broderick, the small table between them. He watched her with pride as she moved her hands in a fluid motion over a small pile of dirt. He watched as the sand separated from the dirt. He looked on as Anna wetted the sand and shaped it into a ball without touching it. He smiled with joy as the ball began to glow red hot, followed by a gust of wind cooling it to the touch. Broderick reached out and picked the glass ball up from the table. Nelson and Misaada watched the whole scene as well, barely taking a breath between the two of them. Broderick held the glass ball out to Anna, who took it, feeling her own sense of pride rising.

“I believe, my dear,” Broderick said, “that you are ready to forge your wand.”