This was not the tour of the main house that I had expected when we first arrived.

With my skirts hiked up and tied around my waist, running was possible but uncomfortable. Lady Yevaron kept up surprisingly well for someone who didn't have her skirts tied up at all. 

Thain, Lady Yevaron, and I rushed down a wide corridor. We passed paintings and vases, flowers and statues of horses. On any other day I would have stopped to admire the carvings, exquisite as they were. But we slowed as we reached a crossroads and Lady Yevaron turned to Thain.

"Can you get her things through the service tunnel?" Yevaron asked.

"The one that goes under the house? I can. Wren, what do you need?" Thain asked.

"Um, the pack with the red buckle has my reagents in it, and my mother's book is the light blue one with silver and white flower vines on the front."

"I will bring them," Thain said with a nod, and he went down the right hallway and down a set of stairs. 

"This way," Lady Yevaron said, and I turned and followed her down the corridor we had been running down already. Room after room we passed, and more than once I spotted a servant of the estate running about after something or other, likely preparing for more of the attacks. 

"This one," Lady Yevaron said as she stopped at a plain-looking door and pulled it open. "Straight up, there's a latch to the roof that locks from the inside but not out. Just pull it back, but watch out as it sticks sometimes, and leave the door open behind you."

I looked up in what looked like a closet with a thick ladder running up its back wall.

"Watch the floor," the lady of the house warned. 

Looking down, I could see the part of the floor that was open to the floor below. Looking up, the ceiling was open to the next floor, and the next, and then finally the latched door that would open to the roof. The ladder ran from basement to roof.

"Will you need any other assistance?" Lady Yevaron asked. "Thainalan knows how to get up there, so he will be along shortly. I could stay, or I could send others."

"I don't remember what the spell takes," I admitted. "I'll need to read it again before I know for sure. I think it involved painting somehow."

"Well, then I will wait with you for Thainalan to retrieve your book." Lady Yevaron stood, hands folded in front of her and holding her head high as she watched the corridor behind us where Thian would come from. 

I studied her a moment with envy. She held herself so well, and she wore her beautiful red gown like she wore them every day. I wondered if she did. 

Her golden eyes, eyes just like Eberon, slid to me as she gave me a small assessing stare too. "You have come far, for the little mountain girl who followed my son to Thanantholl. You seem to have grown into a formidable female. I am glad you are on our side."

I blushed. "I believe the same could be said about you, Lady Yevaron."

Her smile turned to one of amusement. "I hope you give Thainalan hell if he messes up. Someone should keep that male on his toes."

I choked on a laugh as I put a hand over my mouth, turning impossibly redder by the second. "I'll... I'll keep that in mind, Lady Yevaron."

"Good. See that you do." She smiled and faced down the corridor again. "And speaking of Thainalan, here he comes."

Thain carried the pack and the book as he ran toward us. I took a few steps to meet him as he handed me Lark's book, and I took it hungrily as I flipped the pages. 

"Where is it... it was near the middle I think," I murmured to myself as I turned the pages, my eyes scanning for the drawings I was looking for.

"My, you need quite a few items to be a witch, don't you?" Yevaron asked as she watched Thain open the pack with my supplies. "Though, I suppose I never really got to know many of them. Secretive types that they are, and they haven't been particularly welcomed here in... well it's been a long time."

"I can only hope others in the Wyldes will be as open to Wren's skills as you, Lady Yevaron," Thain said. 

"Here it is!" I opened to the page where Lark had detailed how to create the protection spell that could help fortify the house.

"What can we do?" Thain asked.

I paled as my eyes scanned the words. "Oh Mother, I forgot this part."

"What is the matter?" Lady Yevaron asked. 

I shook my head. "I can make the paste, a kind of paint actually, but it needs to be spread on every opening to the house."

I looked up to Thain's silver eyes. "That's every door, every window, every chimney here."

"And you need to spell each one?" Thain asked.

"No, the spell is in the paint. Once I make it, it's done."

"And what exactly will the spell do?" Lady Yevaron asked.

"It should hold the structure stronger. The attacks will damage your gardens, but this will help the house stand if something were to hit it," I replied. "Or at least, it will stand a much better chance."

Lady Yevaron nodded. "Then we will find a way. I will gather some of our people now and meet you back here when you're ready."

She took off down the hall, running and yet keeping her graceful movements as she went. 

"And the roof," Thain said. "You needed the roof?"

"I need to make this one outside," I said. "Better the roof than the front lawn."

"Right." Thain nodded. "I'll carry the pack."

Tucking a finger in the pages I needed so as not to lose the place of them again, I closed the book and carried it under one arm. I held Lark's book tight as I entered the closet and carefully stepped over the hole in the floor and onto the ladder. Making slow, firm steps, I climbed upward. Thain was right behind me as I reached the top. I did struggle with the latch for just a moment as Lady Yevaron had warned, but once I figured out how to pull it back, the door was free to swing open and the sunlight fell over me in warm rays. 

The roof was a flat expanse of black clay tiles. Good, it would be easier to work on a flat surface. The edges of it were fenced in decorative iron that would keep someone from falling off while providing a spiked deterrent for intruders trying to climb the walls. I felt bad for whatever fae had to work iron, but it was definitely a good deterrent. 

The roof would do nicely. I set Lark's book down, open to the pages I needed. Climbing out, I turned and took the pack from Thain as he climbed out himself. 

The rumble of another attack shook the house. I held still so I wouldn't fall over until it subsided. Once it did, I sat on the roof and rifled through the pack as I pulled out supplies. Thain went to the far end of the roof. 

"Caw!" I looked up to see a fat black bird making his way directly toward me. 

"Puko! Good boy, you found your way to safety." He landed on the roof and watched me with that blind eye of his. I absently stroked his head feathers as I read the book and then looked for what I would need.

"Nassir is building a wall again, and Schula is encasing it in ice," Thain reported. 

"Good, the more defenses the better," I said. "Do you think the Autumn soldiers saw our flare?" 

"We can hope they did, but I never assume backup will come," Thain answered. "The best outcome would be for us to fight back ourselves, and if we can get reinforcements, even better."

I nodded. A warrior's answer.

"Okay," I said. "I think I have most of it."

Thain kneeled on the other side of the book from me, Puko flapping up to sit on his shoulder. "What can I do?"

My eyes scanned the page again, looking at the first illustrated instructions. I pulled my mortar and pestle in front of me and grabbed the first jar of oils I'd need.

"Hand me that crushed ash bark," I said. "And I'm going to need the seeds out of those berries in that bag."

Thain grunted a nod, and together we got to work. 

As he seeded the purple berries, the juice staining his fingers, he plopped the seeds into my bowl for me. I mixed, stirred, and added things in order down the list, and Puko watched intently.

"What next?" Thain asked once the berries were done.

"And... the feather of a corvid." I looked up to Puko who was eyeing me with his good eye from Thain's shoulder.

"Caw!"

"Sorry, Puko," I said reaching out to his back feathers. "I'll take one that's already loose, okay?"

The big black raven nodded, turning his head and showing me a feather that was already sticking up just a bit at the back of his head.

I stared at him for a heartbeat. His intelligence really shouldn't keep surprising me like this, but still, he caught me off guard. I sighed and reached out, plucking the feather from him and stripping bits off of it to mix into my bowl just as Lark's drawings showed.

"I think that's it," I said, wiping my forehead with the back of my wrist. 

I held my hands over the bowl, and said the words in Lark's instructions.

Then, I turned my palms from facing the bowl, to facing the sky.

"Mother, please bless this work and watch your children that stand in this house," I said. 

Looking up at the sky, I wondered if I should ask the same of the ones who made the fae.

"And... Stars watch this house too."

I took my hands away and the bowl of plumb colored goo took a gentle glow to it. My eyes widened a bit, this was more flashy than most witch spells. But once the glow subsided, I could feel the magic radiating off of it.

"Is that it?" Thain asked.

"Yeah, now we smear some over every door and window. The only thing is it has to be on the outside," I said.

Thain nodded. "Then let's get started."

"Wait," I said as I scooped out a little onto my palm. "I'm going to get the four corners of this roof first."

"I can take the bowl to Lady Yevaron," Thain said. 

"We need to try not to spill any if we can help it," I said. "It needs to stretch enough to get every door and window."

Thain nodded and quickly climbed back down the ladder and out of sight. Puko flapped off of his back and landed on mine instead.

I took a deep breath and rushed to the nearest corner. Spearing a line over the edge, I ran to the next.

On the last corner of the roof, I looked down and saw the field by the house. Wreckage of wood, scorched ground, water, ice, and stone littered the ground.

In the distance I could see the lines of Winter creatures, still taking their turned launching attacks, but now they were a small distance closer. They were slowly closing the gap. How long could this house hold out against them?

"Caw!" 

Puko flew from my shoulder and I looked in the direction he went. Laning on the iron fence work to the back side of the estate, I looked over the side and saw what he saw.

"Oh no," I breathed. The trees that made up the orchards next to the horse fields also made good cover for more tree sprites to creep through. Just like the ones that attacked us that night in front of Mila's cabin. 

"No!" I shouted, throwing a fistful of fire down to the boldest sprite that had left the safety of the trees and was coming for the main house. 

The fire hit it, and the thing shrieked. 

"What is it?" Thain called from the opening of the roof.

"More of those dryads and sprites," I said, not taking my eyes off of the back yard of the house. "Did Lady Yevaron-"

"It's handled," Thain promised. "I'm going to get Eberon to help you up here. Those things hate fire."

"Okay," I said. "I'll hold this until you get back."

Thain's eyes lingered on me for a moment before he nodded and sprinted away.

My heart hammered with every sprite that crept from the treeline and made a dash to the house. Would I be fast enough? Could I catch them all? What would I do if one snuck by my defenses?

By the time the ladder to the roof creaked under someone's weight again, I had worked up a sweat. But Thain had brought Eberon, and wordlessly we divided the roofline in two to make it easier to watch.

Eberon was very skilled, from what I could see while dealing with my own side of the roof. His aim was precise, and he managed not to catch any grass or trees with his attacks. 

I bit my lower lip. I had the power, but I didn't have the experience. When this was all done, I needed to beg Eberon for lessons. 

The fight lasted a while, Thain acting as a sentry around the roof and keeping us updated with every action. Nassir and Schula's wall was doing well, but they were also tiering. Spaulder roared out orders as fae threw attacks to the vulnerable enemy just after they loosened their own magic attacks, leaving a small window of vulnerability. And finally once Lady Yevaron was finished getting the spelled paint smeared over every window and door, she joined her son on the roof, and the work lessened even more as we divided the roofline into three.

What started as a lunch with petty bickering ended in an afternoon of fire and war. 

My body was shaking with effort as the sun began to dip low enough to consider evening time. My arms ached as I held them out to loose another blast of fire at a gnarled, black tree creature. It screamed as I let my arms fall for a brief rest before the next intruder.

"They're here," Thain announced.

I was short of breath, but I risked a glance his way. "Who?"

And then I heard it. The softest of sounds. Horns in the distance, and my eyes widened.

"The Autumn warriors," Thain said. "Reinforcements are here."

A blast and a shreik made me turn my head to see Lady Yevaron's latest attack from her corner of the roof.

"Good," she panted. "Let the Winter wretches burn."

The horns sounded again, and I smiled.

Good. Let them burn indeed.