"So what you're saying is that, despite the fact that there are five of you working on this, and that you've managed to locate Lola's morphic signal," Caroline was saying slowly, trying hard not to lose her temper with the poor unfortunate spokesman for the mages she had set this task, "you can't actually tell me where she is, or send anyone to see her for themselves?"
The mage standing with her, a twenty-year-old human named Frederick Holmes who looked as though he would rather face a wild beast than his calm and reasonable employer, fidgeted with his hands and nodded quickly.
"Yes, Miss Granger."
Caroline regarded him for a long moment, her jaw set in the stubborn line that usually meant there was going to be trouble. This was important - there was no one Ollie would rather have at his wedding than his own sister, and she was almost completely out of reach for any of them.
"Alright," she said finally, rubbing her temple. "Can you send a message" Can you guarantee me that any message sent will actually reach her, wherever she is?"
Frederick nodded once again, this time with a good deal more enthusiasm and a lot less fidgeting.
"Absolutely, Miss Granger," he assured her. "We anticipated that this would be your choice, and we have the circle set up already. All you need do is stand in the circle and speak your message - Miss Laura Granger will see a duplicate of yourself speaking to her."
"And she'll know it is definitely from me, yes?" Caroline pressed him, turning to walk along the passage toward the large room where the mages performed most of their more intricate magics.
"Oh, yes, Miss Granger," Frederick insisted. "You share a bloodline, after all, and in such cases, blood truly will make itself known to the recipient."
"Will she have a way of answering via the same spell, or will we still have to wait for her and this Icarus person to make themselves known under their own power?"
"Unfortunately, Miss Granger, this particular spell is only one way," the young mage admitted awkwardly as he pushed open the door to usher her through. "But, as you have said, Miss Laura Granger and her companion have already proved capable of contacting your family at need. We do not anticipate any lessening of their ability to do so."
Caroline sighed, rolling her eyes. She ideally would have liked to have gotten Ollie to do this part, but with all the stresses of imminent husband- and parenthood looming on his horizons, she didn't want to get his hopes up only to see him waste energy on worrying even more.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
The room was sectioned off with various workbenches, with one communal casting area set out by the large fireplace against the far wall. It was to this wide space Caroline was ushered, to stand in the middle of a circle of candles, each of which burned with a flame of different hue. She drew in a slow breath, distrustful of magic on the whole, but willing to chance it this time, swinging her arms nervously back and forth.
The five mages, including Frederick, who had been working on this project for her gathered about the outside of that circle, each standing at a point of an invisible pentagram. They began to chant in low voices, each taking a different stanza of the spell to repeat continuously as the air around Caroline thickened to the consistency of a humid cloud. Then Frederick nodded to her, and she knew she had to make this convincing.
"Lola. Don't panic, it's just me, it's just Caroline. We've been worried sick about you; we haven't heard anything since someone called Icarus sent us all a letter that actually concerned us more. But I'm not here to scold you. I'm here to tell you that you need to come home, even if it's only for a little while. Ollie needs to see you again, and ..."
Caroline paused, uncertain how much she had the right to say. But then, perhaps Lola needed to hear how much the family had moved on in her absence.
"He's getting married, Lola, on September the 10th. Your brother wants you to be there, he wants your blessing. At this point, I don't care what it was that sent you running away from us, nor do I want to know unless you need help. But you can't ignore us forever, Laura. You're family, and we need you."
She couldn't think of anything else to say, nodding quickly to Frederick as she subsided. The chanting around her slowly came to a halt, and in the moment of silence that followed, the air around her became soft and breathable once more. Now all she could do was wait, and hope that at the very least, Lola chose to get in contact with her brother before the wedding.
The mage standing with her, a twenty-year-old human named Frederick Holmes who looked as though he would rather face a wild beast than his calm and reasonable employer, fidgeted with his hands and nodded quickly.
"Yes, Miss Granger."
Caroline regarded him for a long moment, her jaw set in the stubborn line that usually meant there was going to be trouble. This was important - there was no one Ollie would rather have at his wedding than his own sister, and she was almost completely out of reach for any of them.
"Alright," she said finally, rubbing her temple. "Can you send a message" Can you guarantee me that any message sent will actually reach her, wherever she is?"
Frederick nodded once again, this time with a good deal more enthusiasm and a lot less fidgeting.
"Absolutely, Miss Granger," he assured her. "We anticipated that this would be your choice, and we have the circle set up already. All you need do is stand in the circle and speak your message - Miss Laura Granger will see a duplicate of yourself speaking to her."
"And she'll know it is definitely from me, yes?" Caroline pressed him, turning to walk along the passage toward the large room where the mages performed most of their more intricate magics.
"Oh, yes, Miss Granger," Frederick insisted. "You share a bloodline, after all, and in such cases, blood truly will make itself known to the recipient."
"Will she have a way of answering via the same spell, or will we still have to wait for her and this Icarus person to make themselves known under their own power?"
"Unfortunately, Miss Granger, this particular spell is only one way," the young mage admitted awkwardly as he pushed open the door to usher her through. "But, as you have said, Miss Laura Granger and her companion have already proved capable of contacting your family at need. We do not anticipate any lessening of their ability to do so."
Caroline sighed, rolling her eyes. She ideally would have liked to have gotten Ollie to do this part, but with all the stresses of imminent husband- and parenthood looming on his horizons, she didn't want to get his hopes up only to see him waste energy on worrying even more.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
The room was sectioned off with various workbenches, with one communal casting area set out by the large fireplace against the far wall. It was to this wide space Caroline was ushered, to stand in the middle of a circle of candles, each of which burned with a flame of different hue. She drew in a slow breath, distrustful of magic on the whole, but willing to chance it this time, swinging her arms nervously back and forth.
The five mages, including Frederick, who had been working on this project for her gathered about the outside of that circle, each standing at a point of an invisible pentagram. They began to chant in low voices, each taking a different stanza of the spell to repeat continuously as the air around Caroline thickened to the consistency of a humid cloud. Then Frederick nodded to her, and she knew she had to make this convincing.
"Lola. Don't panic, it's just me, it's just Caroline. We've been worried sick about you; we haven't heard anything since someone called Icarus sent us all a letter that actually concerned us more. But I'm not here to scold you. I'm here to tell you that you need to come home, even if it's only for a little while. Ollie needs to see you again, and ..."
Caroline paused, uncertain how much she had the right to say. But then, perhaps Lola needed to hear how much the family had moved on in her absence.
"He's getting married, Lola, on September the 10th. Your brother wants you to be there, he wants your blessing. At this point, I don't care what it was that sent you running away from us, nor do I want to know unless you need help. But you can't ignore us forever, Laura. You're family, and we need you."
She couldn't think of anything else to say, nodding quickly to Frederick as she subsided. The chanting around her slowly came to a halt, and in the moment of silence that followed, the air around her became soft and breathable once more. Now all she could do was wait, and hope that at the very least, Lola chose to get in contact with her brother before the wedding.