I write to discover what I know.

  Pre-Fall author

  Letter from Elena Worchester to Billy Jo Weirky

  Letter from Elena Worchester to Sandra Frederick-Muriel, Current editor of the Mages of America

  Letter from Elena Worchester to Lord Warden Edgard Maistry

  Edgard Maistry, Warden of the Montana, winced. He hadn’t known her that angry since… well, never. She was usually more unflappable.

  But I’m ahead of you, Elena.

  He looked up to Adjutant Agnello. His friend’s face was composed and unreadable, full diplomat mode engaged.

  “She IS pissed.”

  “It was a good idea,” was Agnello’s only comment.

  “From her tone, you’d think she was the Warden, not me,” Edgard laughed.

  “She did save you against those assassins on the road. There are people who think that makes her responsible for whatever you do after that.”

  “And for all she points me to Anna, it was her who gave me the idea, after all. After Jory and Karl, there were enough Maistrys around. Even with primogeniture, it could become a problem, and Anna’s ancestors always had half a dozen kids or more every generation.”

  The Warden folded his Sorceress’ letter and dumped it on his desk.

  “The corpse hint should be good. Send a courier to the expedition.”

  “Am I your secretary?”

  “Okay. Let him send that courier. I’m not asking you to do it yourself.”

  “Actually, I’m inclined to jump on the saddle and take command at Valetta,” Agnello said.

  “Could be useful.”

  “With their desertion, I can even promise things like amnesty and similar to get more details from their families. I’m sure they did talk, after all,” the adjutant speculated.

  “As she said, nobody talked about Peter Donnall.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Meanwhile, let’s see what we can do about them.”

  The commander of the wendigo Allied Forces finally admitted defeat.

  “They really aren’t pushing,” Northcome Blauerschnee said.

  “We got reinforced just in time, and they are probably aware of that,” another wendigo said.

  “And I did tell you there’s only one sorcerer mana plume showing at the main garrison,” Snowbound Glatteis replied.

  Blauerschnee threw a dark look at the wendigo hero.

  “Your insane stunt worked, you mean.”

  “If it works, it’s not…”

  “It is. Even if it works.”

  Glatteis waved dismissively.

  “Thankfully, none of the tribes have heard of your improvised trick.”

  “You may tell them that their absence for…” Glatteis made quote gestures “reasons is confirmed, and we do not need to fear that fire-throwing sorceress or her dreadful acolyte.”

  “I will definitively not elaborate on that… reason. Lest they ask for your fur.”

  Glatteis frowned.

  “It’s tribesmen, after all. Full scalps and all.”