29

Calliope's delicate fingers flipped through the loose, yellowed pages in the dark cabin, lit only by the sunlight streaming through the dusty window. Scribbled ink marked and outlined each page with a variety of directions and notes. She found potions and spells that caught her eye; she studied the notes, eager to try each one for herself.

Mido watched her eyes light up and took the page from her hands. His eyes scanned the document for a moment before he tossed it into the cold fireplace.

"No," he said simply. Calliope pouted at him.

"Calli, be reasonable. No spells."

Calliope let herself fall against the wall, sliding down and onto the cold floor.

"Stop being melodramatic."

"We've been searching for weeks and found nothing," she said.

Mido scanned through a stack of papers in his hand. "Maybe it's better that way," he said. His eyes darted across page after page. "There's no reason for you to use magic, anyway. Especially since it's the only thing keeping you alive."

Calliope let her gaze fall to her feet. "All I've ever done was use magic," she said.

"Yeah, to attack us," Mido reminded her. He lifted his gaze from the papers to look at her. When Calliope met his gaze, he gave her a wink.

Calliope sighed. She waited until Mido turned his back to her and let her hand hover over a hole in the floor. She wiggled her fingers playfully and smiled as a tree sprout emerged. She stole a glance towards Mido, his back still turned. She wiggled her fingers once more and watched in delight as the sprout grew into a sapling, the floorboards cracking as it grew. Mido spun around to see a small tree in the middle of the room.

"Calli!" he barked at her. Calliope grinned. She stood and let her hands run over the rough bark and played with the crisp green leaves. Mido sighed and tossed the papers he held back onto the table where he found them. He walked to Calliope's side and admired the tree.

"Humans are boring," she said.

"Well, then, why don't you go make some little witch friends and do weird magic stuff together?"

"If I could make little witch friends, Mido," she began, narrowing her eyes at him. "then I wouldn't be hanging out with you."

Mido clutched at his heart as if a dagger pierced him and stumbled backwards. "Ouch."

Calliope smiled as she looked upon her tree. "And what if they turn against me? Like I did to Scarletta?"

"What if they force you to turn against the kingdom?"

Calliope turned to her friend, smiling wickedly. "What if?"

Mido rolled his eyes. "I guess it's a good thing you can't make little witch friends."

"I guess I'm doomed to be a lonely witch who can never have any fun."

"You don't need magic to have fun."

"Says the man that's never had the privilege of being a wizard."

"C'mon," he said, taking her hand and pulling her out of the abandoned house. Lily waited outside, grazing peacefully. She lifted her head and nickered as her master approached her. Mido mounted the mare and pulled Calliope up behind him. Calliope wrapped her arms around his waist and Mido kicked the horse forward into a gallop. They ran across the rolling hills of Librona as the sun began to set behind the distant mountains. The dense forest that separated Scarletta from the kingdom passed by to their right. Maybe Scarletta had something that could be of use to her, if anything remained in the castle's ruins.

Lily slowed beneath them as Mido pulled her to a stop beside the river that split the kingdom. She slid off the horse's back and sat on the river bank, dipping her toes in the cold water. Mido slid Lily's bridle off and she wandered away to graze on her own. Mido sat beside Calliope, leaning back on his hands.

"Maybe there's something at Scarletta's," Calliope said. Mido shrugged.

"Why are you so concerned about it? There's no need for you to use magic. It will only draw unwanted attention."

"What if something happens?"

"What on Earth is going to happen?"

"War?"

"War? With who? Scarletta is gone. Librona has no enemies."

Calliope watched the water ripple away from her feet.

"War could happen. And I want to help if it does."

"You won't."

"You can't stop me."

Mido sat up and leaned towards her. "Oh, yeah?"

Calliope met his gaze. "Yeah."

They stared at each other for a moment before Mido turned back towards the river and smiled.

"Okay," he said simply.

"Okay?" Calliope raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Sure. There won't be any war for you to fight in, anyway."

Calliope turned back to the river. She wanted to believe what he said was true, but a feeling sat heavy in the pit of her stomach. Something was coming. She didn't know what it was or what she would do, but the feeling made her uneasy.

Mido watched her expression change. "What's wrong?"

Calliope shook her head and smiled. "Nothing." She shrugged. "Thanks for being a friend."

Mido scoffed. "If I weren't your friend, you'd have none at all."

"Maybe I'd have a nicer friend," Calliope mumbled, shooting him a dirty look.

Mido smiled and gave her another one of his famous winks. The last of the sun's rays stretched across the sky. The sky melted from yellows to purples. Tiny stars began to dot the sky. Mido bridled Lily once more. The mare carried them quietly back towards Alryn for the night.