A male warlock of sufficient skill is capable of sucking the soul out through the eyes. The best defense against said terror is to not make eye contact. Female warlocks can ensnare a man with the merest glance if she so chooses. If a man has been so ensnared a mixture of seven parts toad spleen and four parts well aged ale will bring him back to himself if given on the first night of the new moon.

Ildri shoved the volume back on the shelf in disgust. Maxine had never taught Ildri to suck out a soul. Who would believe that rot? It was obviously nonsense, and how ridiculous was it to try to stop a witch with a potion? She might have thought many things that were not quite true about witches herself, but this nonsense defied description. Even in her most ignorant days she could not have thought such things.

At least the book was really old and covered in dust. That was encouraging, at least. She picked it up again. She would mention it to Lord Wildwood and perhaps he would decide to get rid of it.

The only other book that she managed to find that mentioned anything by way of potions was an old large volume called An Anthology of Seventeenth Generation Spells. Some of the spells were clearly potions. Perhaps the divide between warlocks and wizards had not been as pronounced in those days.

Ildri's stomach began to rumble unpleasantly and she realized how long she had been in the library for. She figured that it was about time for lunch.

Carrying the large and small volume and with Keziah perched on her shoulder, Ildri made her way back to the kitchen.

"Lunch already?" chef asked as she scurried around the kitchen. "It'll just be a minute, dear. Matt, get some vegetables for the parrot."

"Yes chef," Matt said as he quickly did as he was told.

Ildri looked at him as he brought over a small bowl. "Here you go," he said.

"Matt! You didn't stammer."

"W-what?" he asked.

"I think you're stammering less," Ildri said.

"R-really?" he asked.

Chef nodded. "I've noticed, too. It's mostly just when you're nervous, Matt." She ruffled his hair affectionately before continuing to bustle around the kitchen.

Matt seemed to want to do nothing less than discuss his speech. He glanced at the books on the table. "W-what are those?" he wondered.

"Warlock Fortifications and An Anthology of Seventeenth Generation Spells," she said.

"Oh..." Matt said and he turned his attention back to working on the tasks that chef had set out before him.

Ildri opened Warlock Fortifications and flipped through it while she was waiting.

"A warlock can see through opaque materials if they contain even trace amounts of metal?" she read out. "I didn't know that I could do that."

"Must be trouble if the warlock has a sword coming at him," chef commented.

"Yeah. But this book is full of nonsense like this," Ildri complained. She was going to read some more but the door swung open.

Kallie tumbled inside. "Sorry I'm late, chef," she gasped.

"That's fine, just be on time tomorrow."

"Now that you're gone I'm doing your job and Kallie's my assistant," Matt informed Ildri quietly.

Kallie seemed pale. "I heard that scouts discovered an army marching across the land," she said in a worried voice. "I'm scared."

Chef nodded. "So they're moving openly, now. It's about time, dishonorable louts. Don't worry, Kallie. Wildwood has strong walls and strong people guarding it. You're safe here. Wildwood would be the last place to fall."

Kallie smiled, and asked chef what she wanted her to do. Ildri watched and thought about chef's words.

The last place to fall, but what if it truly came to that? Wildwood seemed impenetrable, yet who was to say that there was not a way?

Ildri would redouble her efforts. Maybe Lord Wildwood would assign someone to help her. She would ask him as soon as she finished eating.

* * * * *

After her noon meal, Ildri made her way directly to Lord Wildwood's study. She knocked on the door and Lady Theresa opened it.

"My lady, is Lord Wildwood here?"

"No, Ildri. He left an hour ago," Lady Theresa said in a very unhappy tone.

Belatedly Ildri realized that Lady Theresa's eyes were red. Had she been crying? Ildri hoped that she had not interrupted her. "I'm sorry, my lady," she said.

Lady Theresa shook her head. "Maybe I can help you, Ildri."

"I had heard that Scelus is marching openly now. I was just thinking if I had an assistant or something I might make better use of my time."

"That seems reasonable," Lady Theresa agreed. "Might you not use the help of one of the twins?"

"Kallie's helping in the kitchen."

"Damani then. He might be useful. Tell him that I said he was to help you. He's made good progress at what I was teaching him, but I'm afraid there's little left that I can do for him. Tell him that once everything settles down my husband will help. In the meantime he's to do as you say and be as helpful as possible. He can read magic texts when he has spare time. Yes, that will do nicely..." she said, trailing off.

"Thank you, my lady."

"Pretty lady," agreed Keziah.

Lady Theresa half smiled and clutched the necklace around her neck absently. "I like your strange bird, Ildri. Now, I'll let you get back to what you were doing. Tell Damani he's not to complain."

Ildri backed out with a respectful nod.

* * * * *

"I don't want to," Damani said with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm aware of that," Ildri said through gritted teeth. "I've already explained it to you."

"But I've come up in the world. I'm a wizard now, not some witch's go for boy."

Ildri scowled. She doubted dealing with the obnoxious boy was worth it. "Fine. Go tell Lady Theresa that you refuse to follow her order."

"I didn't say that," Damani said in arrogant tone. "I never said that I wouldn't do it. I just said that it was beneath my dignity."

"It is not beneath your dignity."

"Witches and war—"

"Seriously, Damani? Your sister is a witch. The line between witchery and wizardry is apparently fuzzy at best. If you were really as accomplished as you think you are you'd see that. Instead I think you've just absorbed that wizard attitude so that your ego is bigger than it ever was. Where you fit it in that scrawny body, I don't know. If Anya were here..."

"I don't think she could have told him any better than you did," Kallie piped up.

"Where did you come from?" Damani demanded, glaring at his sister. "Women, ganging up on me like wolves..." he muttered.

"Actually, chef said that I should help too," Kallie said. "Since I'm experienced in helping Anya."

"Thank you," Ildri said, although she could only imagine how the two were going to bicker the whole time they were supposed to be helping her.

"Bloody mess," Keziah said, and for once Ildri definitely agreed with her. It really would be a bloody mess indeed.

* * * * *

Potion making went considerably faster with help. Ildri did not have the necessary supplies for a number of potions but the ones she did were produced with an afternoon's work. Kallie was particularly helpful, she even knew how to draw the magic on a number of potions.

"You're practically a witch yourself," Ildri pointed out.

"Not really. I've never made any of these before. I just watched Anya."

"You've been very helpful."

"As opposed to me?" Damani said from a small stool in the corner.

Kallie rolled her eyes. "You're as helpful as you ever were."

"I've been working," he protested.

"You've been reading wizardry books in the corner all afternoon."

"So? You'll be thanking me when soldiers from Scelus break down the door and I save you with my impenetrable spells," he pointed out.

"You'll be thanking me when all the soldiers from Scelus are rolling around on the ground outside, on fire," Kallie shot back.

Damani turned his back on his sister. "Maybe I won't bother to save you. If they cut out your tongue you won't be able to nag me anymore."

Kallie glared at Damani's back. "I didn't think you could anyway. You'll be too busy off saving Lady Theresa," she said mockingly.

"Shut up!" Damani snapped as he whirled around.

"Or maybe that maid... Oh what was her name...? Harriet? Juliet? Or are there two maids, or maybe three? What a fickle heart my brother has..."

"Shut up, Kallie!" Damani's face was a bit flushed as he said it.

Kallie looked at him with wide eyed innocence. For some reason it reminded Ildri of her parrot. "I'm only speaking the truth."

Damani narrowed his eyes. "Or what about Matt?

Kallie's face went very pale. "Shut up, Damani!"

Damani made his voice go unnaturally high. "Oh, Matt. You're so cute when you beat me at chess. And I love the way you slice vegetables... It's so manly! Ooh!"

Keziah had been cheerfully watching the twins argue but seemed to feel that her input was suddenly of vital importance to the situation. "Bloody shut up."

Or maybe she just enjoyed sparking more chaos.

Ildri thought about how chef might handle the twins. Ildri caught each of the twins' eyes in turn. "Both of you be quiet before you never speak to each other again. You can leave anyway, I think we've done enough for the day."

"Thanks Ildri," Kallie said sweetly before she swept from the room. Ildri did not fail to notice as Kallie stick out her tongue as she passed Damani.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kallie," she said to the girl's retreating back. She turned to Damani. "I've decided that I only need one of you at a time. It makes more sense because you can continue to work on your wizardry on off days and Kallie can help in the kitchen every other day."

"Not to mention that we won't fight if we aren't together," Damani added unapologetically.

"That too. I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

Damani gave a saucy little salute. Ildri ignored it and pretended that she had not noticed because she was too tired to deal with his attitude. Really, the children were too flippant for words. She had not been like that. What was the next generation coming to?

Ildri closed up her workroom and carried Keziah to her cage. "You've got some food from earlier," Ildri said. "You can eat that if you're hungry. I'm exhausted."

Ildri lay down on her bed and tried to will herself to sleep. Her body and mind were both tired, but her thoughts resisted rest.

While Ildri had been aware of the threat of invasion from Scelus it still did not seem real that they were finally moving in the open. They operated in the shadows for so long that Ildri had begun to imagine that subterfuge was the only method they might use. She could not imagine them meeting soldiers from her own country on a battlefield, in clean open combat.

It probably would not be clean though. Men would lose their lives. Certainly men would anyway. What did it matter to Ildri if nameless, faceless people fell to a war that she had no control over?

But it was not just nameless people who had been lost. Ty was gone and they had tried to have Lord Wildwood killed. She did not want to lose anyone else to the reckless nonsense. She would redouble her efforts the next day.

But she still could not sleep. She rolled around until long after Keziah had closed her eyes. The sky was dark outside.