"How did it go?" Trixie demanded the moment Emerick stepped back through the door later that evening.
He had intended to share the news brought by the courier with Trixie much sooner, but he had been roped into assisting with Arnwald's departure. Against what Emerick had felt were impossible odds, Arnwald had actually managed to meet Esmyria's midday deadline, though his mother had taken a rather vindictive approach. Instead of sending Arnwald, Liliana, Lyra, and his sister Evelyne by coach, Esmyria had Arnwald take his dragon form, the saddled and packed him like a pack-horse so that Lyra and Liliana, who could not transform due to her pregnancy and the danger to the baby, were able to ride on his back along with their belongings.
