As dinner came to an end and the older children started to clear the tables, Sleeping Willow got up from her usual place, grabbed a stool, and tapped Deer Foot on the shoulder.

"Can I scoot in for a minute? I have some rather important news the King needs to hear."

"When you say it that way, yes, of course," Deer Foot slid left and the tall healer sat down.

Storm Eagle, the King, was an elven warrior of great renown and prowess. He was also an acclaimed hunter. As is often the case with those talented at feats of arms, his magic skills were only rudimentary. His bluff fighter exterior hid the fact that he was keenly intelligent. He was also a talented farmer, which was his profession before he became king.

"This is unusual," Storm Eagle remarked, shifting his attention from making small talk with his mother, Bright Stream. "What has happened? You have that important news look on your face, cousin."

"Our Divine Beast guest can do magic," she said in her usual forthright way.

"That's...That's rather amazing," he replied. "How did you discover this?"

"By accident," she stretched her legs out. "Fuzzy has been reciting the words to the spells in her head as Cat Rider chanted them during our lessons. Today, while chanting the spell for using oneself as a source of light, she lit herself up."

"Oh, I want to see this," Deer Foot exclaimed.

"Me too," Storm eagle nodded his head. "Can we get her over to show us?"

"No, wait," Sleeping Willow held up a hand, "there's more. I ran her through all the spells that Cat Rider has learned, and she can cast all of them. She can't levitate very much weight, and I needed to walk her through the steps for lighting a candle, but the girl can do magic. Given she's a real Divine Beast, she may be able to master mind talking."

"Now wouldn't that be something," Storm Eagle said, looking off into the distance, pondering the possibilities. "It suggests that boy of hers may have an interesting destiny."

"That boy of hers is an extremely talented student mage," Sleeping Willow remarked. "He can already do healing of minor cuts and wounds. Do me the favor of not telling him how astounding that is. He thinks he has a lot of catching up to do in terms of learning magic. He's very motivated right now."

"That's evil of you," Storm Eagle laughed. "That poor boy. You really could use a bit less pressure on him."

"Storm Eagle, he spent two years of being packed in combed fleece and treated like he would break, with no one expecting anything of him --- and he took it to heart. Don't you dare cozen him. That's the last thing he needs. He's just beginning to believe he can achieve things despite his disabilities. We need to keep him on that path. He needs to find his ambition. If you asked Fuzzy, she would agree with me."

"How does his friendship with Motley Owl play into that?" Deer Foot asked. "I would think having a big strong boy like Motley Owl around would leave Cat Rider feeling inadequate."

"Motley Owl is good for Cat Rider," Sleeping Willow stated. "He doesn't let Cat Rider indulge in feeling sorry for himself, and he's rather good at distracting the boy and cheering him up when he gets depressed. Besides, Fuzzy approves of Motley Owl."

"How can you tell?" Bright Stream asked, silently following the conversation up to now.

"If you have Fuzzy's favor, she'll let you scratch her tummy."

"Who does she favor?" Deer Foot wanted to know.

"Cat Rider, of course, Myself, Motley Owl, your difficult daughter, Roaming Wren, Little Deer, and Cloud Eye," Sleeping Willow rattled off the names. She paused and looked thoughtful. "Before I forget to mention this, I do need to warn you that Cloud Eye has made some additional rather special glass eyes for Cat Rider, though don't spread it around because I think he wants to surprise Roaming Wren."

"Why do I feel a sudden sense of dread," Storm Eagle groaned.

"How does the mother's curse go again?" Deer Foot asked rhetorically.

"May you have children just like you," Bright Stream helpfully answered, with a smile ripe with schadenfreude.

---

I was returning from helping hunt down a bear who had been causing trouble for a village in Chief Sharp Turtle's territory, trotting up the south trail carrying a package of bear loin as my reward for killing the creature when I saw two of the border sentries escorting what looked like an older human between them. From the back, the human didn't look well. He was limping and not able to go as fast as the sentries wanted. They looked annoyed when I caught up with them. When I passed them and looked back, I was startled to see the human was Father Garshom.

I circled back and stopped in front of him. Dropping my package of bear meat, I started purring loudly and rubbing up against his thighs.

"Do you know this person, Lady Fuzzy?" one of the sentries asked.

I nodded and looked up into Father Garshom's amazed face. He fell to his knees, hugged me, and started weeping. Something bad must have happened for him to be here and in such a state. I rubbed the side of his head with mine and kept purring. He seemed like he needed the reassurance.

It took him a minute to collect himself, "I'm sorry, my lady. It's been difficult for me for the last several days. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you here. I have been almost at the end of my hope. It's been so..." he slumped over on me. It appeared that he was also at the end of his endurance.

"Nesselblatt," the sentry on the right addressed his partner in arms, "I think we overestimated this human's ability to walk three leagues.

"Hawk Eye, from the look the Divine Beast is giving us, I think we may be in a bit of trouble."