The next morning, after a late breakfast, I saw Rathina off for her return home. “Summon me again sometime soon, OK?” I nodded and gave her a quick kiss. “As often as you’d like.” She pulled me into a hug and a kiss of her own. “I’ll hold you to that.” She stepped into the summoning circle and with a word of banishment from me she was sent back home.

  I took a deep breath and headed back into the living room. Soot was on the mantelpiece chatting with Nettle. Jaira was patting Midnight, who was lying in her lap, purring up a storm. Winter was napping on her roost, and Meleri was out doing her lessons with Bahruun and Millid. “Alright guys, just a quick heads-up, because of the path the ice storm took I’m going to take a quick trip over to Nekkal and Appleridge. I want to be certain that nothing too bad happened. If you have left before I return, Nettle, I wish you a safe trip home.” She gave me a friendly wave. “Thanks. Safe travels.” I went outside and took a deep breath. The winter air was fresh and crisp.

  I went over to the landing and pulled out my broom. As I began my ascent, I saw what Meleri and Bahruun were working on a literal tower of conjured ice and snow. Quite the elaborate construction at that, with crenelations, ice gargoyles, animated ones, and battlements. I flew over. “Oy, are you going to make a permanent home in the practice clearing or something?” Meleri popped her head out of one window. “Oh, this little thing, nah. It’ll be gone come tomorrow since it’s all conjured.” All of it, well, that meant she was currently further along with conjuring than I. “I’ll hold you to it. Anyhow, I’ll be heading over to Nekkal to check if the storm survived all the way there. I shouldn’t be gone for more than a few hours at most.”

  “Alright, sis. See you later… Hmm? Yes, Bahruun it’s Morgana… Yes, yes, I’ll stop slacking off. Gotta go.” She disappeared back inside and up the stairs, if her faint outline through the ice was any indication. I turned the broom towards Nekkal and set off at full speed. The cold air was one heck of a pick-me-up, and I quickly put up a windshield enchantment, I would make that a permanent feature, but that would make flying during hot summer days absolutely intolerable.

  As I entered the valley leading to Nekkal, I could see clear traces of the ice storms passing with icicles and shards sticking out of the snow. As I neared Nekkal itself, I could see work on the walls. I came in for landing. “Ice storm hit hard I see.” The gate guard looked up at me. “Could have been worse, as it hit just before sundown. We got people off the streets before it hit, thankfully. I looked up at the wall. “So only infrastructure?” The guards looked at each other and shrugged. “A few minor injuries here and there from people who got too close to the windows, but nothing major.”

  That was reassuring to hear. “I see, thanks for the info.” I hopped off the broom and entered the city itself. It was a pincushion. Broken windows, holes in doors and walls that was potmarked by the ice embedded in the wood. My destination was Ser Grünwald’s Finest Honey, I was finally running low. As I opened the door, I found Arthur talking to his wife, Bethany. She was a portly woman with shoulder-length honey-colored hair, brown eyes, dressed in a flowered dress that matched her usually cheerful demeanor. She and Arthur were, in my opinion, a match made in heaven.“… No, Darling, I am sure that- oh! Speak of the devil, Ms. Morgana. See Pumpkin? She’s fine.”

  I kicked the snow off my shoes before entering and closed the door behind me. “Arthur, Bethany, good morning. I hope the ice storm wasn’t too terrible.” Arthur shook his head as his usual jovial smile appeared. “Not terrible, no, though a bunch of ice is stuck in the bakery’s chimney, and until they can dislodge it Beth can’t get to work. Much to the chagrin of the town’s residents.” Ah. Well, that explained why she was here. “I see, I can fix that if you’d like, wouldn’t even be that difficult.”

  Bethany hesitated. “If you feel bad about it, give me some pastries of my choice on the house next time I come around.” She hesitated for a few moments longer. I could see warring with the practicality of what I was suggesting and her personal aversion to giving away free goods. There was a simple solution her conundrum. “If it helps solidify your choice, think of it as my payment for services rendered.” Bethany bit her lip for a moment, then with a deep breath threw her hands out. “Fine, but only one for each member of your residence.” I blinked in surprise. “Well, that was quite generous of you, considering my household has expanded over the past few months. Something I am sure your husband would have mentioned.”

  Bethany glanced over at Arthur. “He mentioned your sister…” I nodded. “There is her, yes, and her two familiars. That’s three. And my daughter is staying over the winter, her Caravan should be around here somewhere still. That’s four. And it would be cruel to leave my sister’s teacher and his familiar out of this as well. That’s six. Then we have my three familiars and myself. For a grand total of ten pastries of my choice. Don’t worry I won’t take anything big or expensive.”

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  Bethany blinked a few times. Then she burst out laughing. “Fine, fine I know when I’ve been beat. Never accept what seems a good deal from a witch, my mum always said, and look where it got me to give you the benefit of the doubt.” There was no spite in her words, and she was smiling as she spoke, just a friend making a jab at my expense. I gave a crooked grin in return. “Well, you didn’t ask how many people were in my household now you only assumed it was one more, so that’s on you, not me.” She threw her arms out and shook her head. “Got me there. Jests aside, Ms. Morgana, how did your home fare?”

  Ah, so that’s what they were talking about before I arrived. “The storm thankfully missed it, though I will admit I still needed to weather it, and in a cave no less, since I was on my way to a fae gathering. But, as you can see, I am no worse for wear from it.” Bethany’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, really? And what about your shoulder?” Right, Bethany was a clairvoyant, albeit a weak one. She would get flashes now and then, but nothing that would last long enough to get the full picture. “My sister’s teacher is a light sorcerer. So while the wound was nasty, it healed up with no issues at all, as I am certain you can see.” For emphasis, I rolled the shoulder. “The worst I got out of it was a better appetite during that night’s dinner.” Bethany was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Well, it seems like you’re fine, so I’ll take your word for it.”

  I nodded. “Now then, time for business, have you gotten another shipment of honey in?” Arthur perked up. “That I have, it’s in the backroom, just give me a moment... “Peter, come down here and help me get Ms. Morgana’s shipment!” There was a noise from above. Then Peter came thundering down the stairs and out from the back of the store.

  He was a tower of a man with a show bowl cut, with the same honey-colored hair as his mother, a large potato nose, friendly brown eyes, and a build that would make professional bodybuilders weep with envy. The epitome of a gentle giant. “Hello, Ms. Morgana.” He scratched the back of his head and gave me a friendly smile. “Glad to see you were alright, Mom has been a bit of a worrywart.” I glanced over at Bethany with a knowing smile. She was staring daggers at the back of her son. “So I realized earlier, how’s Sofie?” Peter perked up immediately. “Great! She’s doing great. We’re looking to get a house of our own soon, and the ceremony will be this spring!” Well, now.

  “I’m delighted to hear that, congratulations.” His wide grin was the picture of his father. “Oh, you’re invited, of course! You and anyone else you feel like bringing along! Sofie would kill me if I didn’t.” I gave him a nod. “Just give me more details when the day is set and things are clearer. I’ll be there barring unforeseen circumstances I have to take care of.” Arthur cleared his throat from the door to the storage. Peter blinked a few times. “Oh, right, the honey! Sorry.” He disappeared into storage, past Arthur. Good kid, easily distracted, but good.

  Bethany looked in Peter’s direction as he disappeared into the storage room. “The boy was a nervous wreck for a week before he finally manned up to ask for her hand. Honestly, if it were up to me, the two should have been married a year ago. They are made for one another, I’m sure of it.” Well, I didn’t disagree with that assessment. They were dating for the 3rd year onward now, and as far as I knew never even quarreled once, so it was about time.

  As I was about to reply, Peter and Arthur returned. Peter put the largest of the jars next to me. “Here is your honey, Ms. Morgana.” I nodded and pulled out my pouch. “That it is, now then, here you are.” I paid the worth of the jars. “I would love to stay and chat, but I have to check on Appleridge, so I’ll fix the chimney on the way to the gate.”

  I stashed the honey and exited the store. Then headed across the street to the bakery. Once there, I could see people on the roof, scratching their heads as they were looking at a massive piece of ice lodged in the chimney. I hopped up the ladder next to the wall and got a better look at the conundrum. It wasn’t so much a single massive ice slab as so many small ones they’d essentially fused into one mass.

  No wonder they were having trouble. “How in the world did that happen?” the people on the roof finally noticed me. “What? Lady Morgana. Oh, err... Well, it’s like this for essentially every damn chimney, my guess is that one got stuck, which made it easier of the next, and so on.” All of them, damn. Ugh, that’s no good. I ran the calculations and concluded that I was going to hate myself tomorrow. “Nekkal’s chimneys need to be cleaned it seem, so turn the ice blocking them into steam.” Not exactly grammatically correct, but that mattered less than the rhyme itself. The effect was immediate, as the ice began to make a hissing sound and began to evaporate.

  I could feel the drain, as the spell was city wide. Yeah, I was definitely going to hate myself tomorrow. Or maybe even a few hours. “That should take care of that.” I turned back to the ladder, ever so slightly unsteady, and got myself off the roof again. Once back on the ground, I reached into my pouch and pulled out a mana potion and a stamina potion. The potion sickness was gonna suck, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about that now, as it was either that or passing out. “Note to self, don’t do citywide spells. Your magic reserves will hate you for it.” With the potions quaffed, I turned towards the main gate. I still needed to check on Appleridge. If I were lucky, the fauns got everyone inside safely, though only time would tell. With that sobering thought, I hopped on my broom and flew off.