"Serena Marie Carver, if you track mud across my hand-woven carpets one more time, you will be scrubbing the cellar floor with a toothbrush!" Aunt Cordelia's voice boomed down the front hallway like a thunderclap.
Serena gasped, her eyes going wide with pure panic. "Duty calls! Coming, Aunt Cordelia! I'm taking off my boots right now!"
She scrambled backward out of the parlor so fast she nearly tripped over the doorframe, vanishing toward the kitchen before any of us could say a word.
"Well," Pearl muttered, brushing pine needles off her sleeve. "That takes care of the noise."
I let out a breath I felt like I'd been holding since the mountain trail. "Right. Before anyone else bursts through a door, we should probably do this properly." I gestured toward our guest, who was still standing quietly near the tall windows. "Orisyl, this is Malachi, Pearl, and Des. You saw them fighting out on the road. And this is Kai. He helps keep watch over the manor."
