Rhys pulled out the liquid he found in Vana's room, multiple samples of every herb he could possibly gather, and his recreation of Vana's draught as soon as he got to his quarters. Lian was talking with Theresa and Henna at the table, all three of them drinking the chamomile tea Xavier had given Rhys as a gift for his birthday.

"Lian, did you bring the rose?" He called over the women's chatter.

"It's on top of that book you've been pouring over the past few days."

Rhys plucked a two petals from one of the rose that sat upon the book. He very carefully let a few drops from Vana's dram fall on one petal, and his recreation on the other. "Yarrow." He whispered as he wrote it down in the margins of his book. So far, he had listed the ingredients in the order he found them; Vervain, henbane and hemlock, opium, and now, yarrow. Not enough to be lethal, but enough to be one hell of a sedative.

After mixing in the yarrow, Rhys noticed that his mixture wasn't the vibrant amber of Vana's but a foggy yellow. He gave each a small sniff, and his was still lacking the strength of Vana's.

He set each vial down, switching their positions, thinking that the lighting had something to do with it. His was still more of a general draught than the other.

Zephrine's face appeared in the doorway, without all the powder and lip paint. "Can I come in?"

Rhys waved her in. "Close the door."

"Making prescriptions?" Zephrine gestured to the vials.

"What? Oh, this? Just an experiment. Recreating things."

"Sounds fun."

Henna stood, running to Zephrine. Henna was smaller than Zephrine, the top of her head barely gracing her daughter's chin.

"Zephrine?" Henna grabbed her cheeks, pulling her close. "When did you arrive?"

"Just earlier today." Zephrine's breathing became labored.

"Rhys told me about Eetu."

Zephrine let out a heavy sigh. "I'm really sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, child." Henna grabbed the material of Zephrine's dress in awe. Rhys knew that the time spent making it alone was almost worth much more than anything his family had ever earned.

"Where did you get this? It's beautiful."

"From the prince." Rhys piped in. "What's next? The key to the vaults?"

"Your sarcasm is appreciated, Rhys." Zephrine sighed. "He's actually taking me to the cobbler tomorrow."

"How romantic!" Rhys faked swooning. "When's the wedding?"

"Who's getting married now?" Caius walked in.

"No one." Zephrine glared at Rhys. "Vana wanted me to tell you not to worry about the vial you found and that she wants it back."

"You can tell her I said hell no." Rhys went back to work.

"Well, my job as the Court Pigeon is sure fun today, isn't it? All I wanted to do was go see Seyr. I didn't have to come here."

"Seyr?"

Rhys, Caius, Henna, and the other two women at the table shared confused looks with each other.

"My dragon." Zephrine crossed her arms.

"Dragon?" Henna asked bewilderedly.

"Let's get everyone on the same page. I'm a Dragon Singer."

"She thinks she is." Caius added.

"Fine." Zephrine grabbed her brothers' wrists and pushed them out through the door. "Anyone else want to join us?" When no one answered, she stormed right out, Caius and Rhys in tow.

Zephrine dragged her siblings through the castle, out into the square, and around the back, all without saying a word. Rhys was surprised by the strength she possessed as she pulled two full grown men into an empty field.

"Seyr!" She shouted into the nearby trees.

The first thing Rhys saw was a white, scaly leg that was about as thick as the tree trunks around it, then, a long tail that swept around, coming to a stop inches away from Rhys's feet.

The ground shook as the creature lay on the ground in front of the siblings. Its beautiful red eyes watched the siblings intensely. It let out a sigh that blew Zephrine's cloak way behind her like a sail.

Zephrine said something to the creature, but her voice came out as more of an annoyed, sarcastic growl. Her voice wasn't human anymore.

"Zephrine, you better be listening, because I'm only going to say this once. I was wrong!" Rhys ran his fingers through his hair in amazement.

"What was that? I didn't hear you." Zephrine teased.

"I said only once. I'm never saying it again."

"It sounded like you were saying, 'Zephrine's right.'"

"No, I said I was wrong. And that was your ploy to get me to say it again."

"You bet it was." Zephrine's laugh reverberated in Rhys's chest. He was afraid he'd never get to see her again, never get to hear her laugh. She danced around on the spot, saying her 'I told you so's.

Caius shrugged, joining in with Zephrine, locking his hands in hers and taking the steps to match hers.

"Come on, Rhys! It's a celebration!" Caius held out one of his hands.

"That dragon still has some deer in its teeth, by the way." Rhys took his brother's hand, joining in the jig. "And by 'some,' I mean a whole leg. It's disgusting."

"Seyr says you're welcome to dig it out for her." Zephrine smirked, glancing to her dragon.

"I'd love to take her up on that offer, but the thing is, I actually wouldn't."

"Can't argue with that."

The three siblings said their goodbyes to Seyr, even getting to stroke her snout, during which, Rhys was greeted by the deer leg flying out, landing right at his feet.

"That was revolting, please never do that again." He told her.

Rhys watched as his sister, who he thought had changed irreparably, laughed and joked like she had in Ithia, acting as if she were still twelve.

"Zephrine, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions earlier. You're not a kid anymore, and I need to respect that."

Zephrine almost tackled Rhys to the ground with a hug.

"Is that an 'I forgive you' hug or an 'I'm going to crush your ribs because I hate you' hug?"

"It's an 'I forgive you' hug."

"But if Xavier does anything to hurt you, I will beat his face in. And I'm sure Caius here will help me out."

"Yeah, we'll totally kill him." Caius chimed in.

"You would commit treason for me? That's so sweet!" Zephrine held her hand to her heart, wiping away a fake tear with the other.

"I do kind of want to see what other outfits Princey's got planned for you, though. So we won't kill him until you've got a dresser full." Caius winked.

"Are we calling him Princey now?"

"Don't say it to his face. I called him that once and he threw a goblet at me." Rhys added. "Though he was incredibly drunk. You should have seen the draught I had to give him the next day. I almost gave him Belladonna just so I wouldn't have to deal with him."

At the mention of Belladonna, Rhys's brain clicked into place. He bid his siblings goodnight, racing up the stairs, finally knowing what the missing ingredient in Vana's draught was.