Dinner was roasted meat, vegetables, and bread still warm from the oven.
Lita was already talking before she sat down, something about the fire tornado and the ice shards and whether she could eventually combine all four elements at once. Her mother listened with the particular attention she saved for things that actually mattered to her.
Sylana walked in looking like the nap had made things worse. Lita didn't notice. She looked up and her whole face opened. "Sylana! You're awake! Come join us for dinner!"
Sylana dropped into a chair without a word.
Flare moved through the room with the food. Efficient. Quiet. She set plates in front of Lita's mother. In front of Lita. Then she walked past Sylana's chair without stopping, without looking, without hesitation.
Sylana watched her reach the sideboard and start back the other way. "Aren't you going to serve me?"
Flare stopped. Turned. The look she gave Sylana was short and total. "You're not getting any food from me."
"Flare, that's enough. We're all family here."
Sylana's arms crossed. "Family? Is that what we're calling it? You're all so quick to forget."
"Come on, Sylana! Let's just enjoy dinner together! I made some new moves today!" Lita leaned forward across the table, completely oblivious to the current running underneath it, alive with the day's discoveries.
Sylana looked at her. Something in the hard line of her expression shifted, reluctant and real. "Sure, kid. Show me what you've got."
Lita's mother picked up her fork. Said nothing.
The knock came from the window.
Not the door. The window.
Everyone stopped. Lita's mother was standing before her chair finished scraping back, eyes already on the shape outside the glass. A man. Dark cloak. Face mostly hidden, just the lower half visible in the dim light outside.
She crossed the room and opened the window two inches. His voice came through barely above a breath. "Madam. The Northland army is on the move."
The room pulled tight. Lita felt it in her chest before she understood it.
Her mother's face gave nothing. "What do you mean? How many?"
"Enough to raise concerns." His eyes moved briefly to Lita and Sylana, then back. "They could be at our borders within days."
Three full seconds of stillness. Then her mother's voice, quiet and without any give in it: "Prepare for the worst. We need to secure the mansion and ready our defenses."
Lita's throat closed. The fork was still in her hand. "What's happening, Mother?"
"We need to move quickly." The man's voice had gone tighter. "The Northland doesn't wait."
Lita set the fork down on the table.
She didn't ask again.