Twelve Houses
by Sharon Shinn

The book I've waited two decades for... Kirra and Donnal travel to Dorrin Isle, where a colony of sick people has sprouted up that Kirra believes she can heal. On the journey, the two of them take several forms. Kirra switches back to her human form on occasion, Donnal does not. He would - if she asked him to. But she doesn’t. She no longer has the right to ask him for anything. When they arrive at the isle, she shifts back into her human form, shifting clothing for herself as well. Donnal goes from bird to dog, a shape he is very familiar with. Kirra speaks to Eileen, who names herself as magistrate of the town. Kirra’s father, Marlord Malcolm Danalustrous, has paid to have the old barracks on Dorrin Isle turned into an infirmary for those sick with red-horse fever. The town has accepted those that come to seek refuge there. The fever is not contagious, but it’s also not curable. Kirra disagrees. She’s the only mystic to have cured anyone with the fever, but she’s cured two since discovering she has the ability. She explains to Eileen that she is a shifter, though she does have some powers as a healer too. She can shift her own shape and the shape of any item she touches. She is also the only mystic she knows that can change the shape of someone else, a skill she only recently discovered and one that understandably will scare people. But by shifting the sick into the shape of a dog or horse, the red-horse fever can be cured with an herbal medicine that does not help humans but cures dogs and horses. It takes about a week, then she can shift them back the now healthy patients back to their human form. She’s already done it twice, with a Danalustrous boy named Davie and the Rappengrass Marlady’s granddaughter, Lyrie. Kirra would like Eileen’s help convincing the nineteen patients here, and their families, to let her help them. Eileen takes Kirra and Donnal to a little cottage reserved for traveling mystics and healers and gives them the lay of the land. Donnal watches as Kirra lights a fire in the grate. She’s so sad. Her heart is broken since she just gave up the man she loves - Romar Brendyn, married regent of Gillengaria. She has broken off their affair and broken both of their hearts in the process. And Donnal doesn’t know how to help her, not with his own heart just as broken. Because Kirra is a serramarra, a noblewoman, and he is a pheasant’s son. He always knew that, but it wasn’t until he saw Kirra fall for Romar that he realized how in love with Kirra he was. He can’t have her, but he can never leave her either. He has already tried. And failed. Now here they are, barely communicating, both grieving. Kirra lays down next to the fire and after she’s asleep, Donnal goes to lay near her feet - still in his dog form. In her sleep, she stretches out until her toes are just touching him, and he falls asleep too. Donnal sees that the townspeople have brought them food and clothes, including clothes for him. He hasn’t been in a man’s shape in some time. Not since the day he and Kirra traveled with the royal caravan as it visited the Twelve Houses. He and Kirra ran through the woods as the rest of their caravan stayed in the road. They had turned from dogs into humans, and he had looked at her. He kissed her for the first time and told her that he was leaving. Had told her that he loved her. He meant everything he’d said and did not plan to return to her, leaving that moment as a bird and flying north. But at one point, he couldn’t force himself to go any further. Being with Kirra and watching her be with someone else, to love another man, with was torture. But he couldn’t live without her. So, he had returned but did not tell anyone. He just circled the caravan as an animal, though his friends eventually figured it out. Then when Kirra had left Romar and flown off herself, he joined her again. But they haven’t spoken at all. What do you say to someone after you tell them you love them? But if Donnal is not in his human form, Kirra may be in danger and may not be able to stop it. So, he bathes and puts the clothes on, keeping his human shape. When he returns, he doesn’t see Kirra sleeping any longer and he goes off to find her. He has followed her from the moment they met but the distance between them now is different, separated by two broken hearts. It’s probably easier if they don’t talk. He doesn’t know how they can keep traveling together, but he can’t stand to leave her. She’s looking for him when he finds her, but she doesn’t recognize him at first. She’s looking for a different shape. When she realizes, she acts as if nothing has changed between them - so he does to. He hopes they don’t have to stay too long on the isle. The village is small and they both love to wander. But that all depends on how many people take Kirra up on her offer. Later, Eileen introduces Kirra to the families of the ill. Kirra explains what she can do and how she has brought herbs with her that can treat the red-horse fever in horse and dogs but are poisonous to humans. She has asked her father to send more herbs, hoping to need them. She answers questions from the crowd but soon, a man in the back announces that he doesn’t trust mystics. Others agree. Mystics prey on those without power, who knows what Kirra will do once their children are turned into animals. Kirra insists that she isn’t forcing her treatment on anyone, only offering it to the willing. Eileen speaks up and tells anyone who doesn’t want to work with a mystic to leave. A few people, including the original man, file out. But a different man whose daughter, Josie, is sick asks Kirra how quickly she can start. When she assures him that she can start right away, and he asks her to come upstairs. Some of the other spectators ask Josie’s dad Carter if he’s scared, or otherwise seem interested in the process, so Kirra suggests that he bring his daughter downstairs instead. His wife Nona comes down too; she’s not as convinced about this treatment. But Carter would rather try this and have it not work then allow his daughter to die without trying. Kirra sends Eileen to mix together the remedy and stir it into some porridge. While Eileen does that, Kirra shifts Josie into a small cream-colored puppy. Now that Josie has changed, Nona fully commits. Josie’s parents start to feed the porridge to Josie, who licks it off her nose without really waking. She hasn’t woken in three days. She’s sicker than either Lyrie or Davie, so Kirra isn’t sure how long it will take until they see results - it may be a few days. She gives Josie’s parents further instructions on when to give the medicine and they take Josie back upstairs. No one else comes forward today. Kirra is already worn out and is told there’s a cot she can rest on in a room of the infirmary. Donnal helps her up and she lays down to rest, asking him not to go far. As if he could. While she’s sleeping, Eileen suggests that he speak to some of the families himself. They may be more accepting of a common man than a serramara. She introduces him to some of the families upstairs. He meets one woman, Maria, whose daughter Lilah is sick. Maria would accept the cure, but she’s not sure Lilah will agree, and she won’t force the girl. Lilah wakes up then and asks who Donnal is. They explain what’s happening and Lilah is not amenable. There’s a boy in her village who everyone likes, but his father hates mystics so he also wears a moonstone - a stone that burns mystics and has been adopted as a symbol of the religious sect that persecutes mystics. His father claims that a mystic sunk his ship, another killed half of his herd, and another stole his wife. Donnal shows Lilah what he can do, explaining what’s it means to be a mystic. He goes from dog to cat to bird, hedgehog, then deer. He shows them that he can understand them while in other forms and his memories remain his own. He tells them that shifting doesn’t hurt. Lilah seems to be coming around but when Maria suggests the treatment, she panics. If she did it, everyone at home would know what she did and would hate her. She would be tainted by magic. Better to be dead than hated by everyone. She’s quick to say that she doesn’t hate Donnal, but who knows what the other mystics are like. But she agrees to let him come visit again the next day. On his way back downstairs, Donnal notes the rooms that he has not yet visited. He counts eighteen families in total, but he was told nineteen patients were in residence. Downstairs, Eileen says the last patient wanted more privacy and stays in a small house nearby. Usually the disease targets children. This patient is older but still has all the symptoms. A Thirteenth House woman named Geena and the woman she travels with. I.e. Geena’s girlfriend, though Eileen doesn’t say as much. Eileen seems a bit judgy about their lifestyle, and their potentially being partners, but sends Donnal to them with some food to introduce himself and Kirra’s plan since neither woman at the meeting earlier. Geena is asleep on the front porch when Donnal arrives, but she quickly wakes up and says she would love some company. She talks about how she grew up in a well to do family and married even better, buts she was miserable the whole time until she met her companion, Bel. Then Geena left her husband, she and Bel been traveling ever since. Geena never says that Bel is her partner, but it’s well implied. She tells Donnal that she got sick a few months ago. She could have stayed with relatives, but they wouldn’t have accepted Bel staying with her so they ended up here instead. Bel is originally from Danalustrous, but Geena is from Kianlever. Geena can tell that Bel is getting antsy from staying in one spot for so long, but she’s agreed to stay until the end. Donnal understands. He can’t stay in one place either but if Kirra were dying, he would stay with her no matter how long it took. He knows that Kirra would do the same for him, even with everything they’re going through now. He wants to tell Geena about Kirra’s treatment, but Geena already knows. Apparently, Bel was at the meeting though Eileen didn’t see her. And Geena doesn’t think she’ll take the offer. Not because she has a problem with mystics, she’s actually rather liked the ones she’s met, but she doesn’t think anyone would really understand her reason for turning the cure down. Donnal doesn’t pry further. A tabby cat comes to sit next to Geena, eyeing Donnal with suspicion - which is weird since animals usually like him. He leaves Geena to rest but offers to come back the next day. When he gets back, Kirra is awake and starving and she asks what he’s been doing while she was asleep. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to shift more than a couple of people a day, but the additional supplies arrived today so they’ll be ready if anybody else wants care. Pretty soon, a woman from the island, Cloris, approaches Kirra. Her husband has had a cough for a while, and she wants to know if Kirra will take a look at it. Kirra has been blessed with two different mystic powers, shifting and healing, and she’s happy to visit Cloris’ husband. While she’s working, Donnal cleans up their cottage and brings some firewood in for a fire. But when Kirra returns, she’s disappointed to see him back in the shape of a dog. He found it hard to be around her as a man even with people nearby. He couldn’t bear it if they were alone. Kirra sleeps next to the fire, and next to Donnal, again that night but they avoid each other again in the morning. When they go to check on Josie, she is much improved already. Still tired and weak, but she has an appetite again and her eyes are bright. Kirra says it will still be days before the disease is gone. A woman steps forward and asks Kirra to look at her ten-year-old, Benjy. He may be her sickest patient yet. Kirra shifts him and gives his mother Darcy the same instructions as Josie’s parents. She turns to find another woman waiting, asking Kirra to see her son Will. After changing the two boys, Kirra needs to rest and Donnal helps her to the cot in the little side room where she’d slept the day before. He visits the families again, this time answering a lot of questions about what will come next for Josie. There are far more interested families this time, but still a few who want to see Josie change back before taking the risk. Donnal goes to see Lilah again, but she hasn’t changed her mind about the treatment. She says she’s terrified of it, which Donnal can understand. But her mother explains that Lilah can do hard things. She herself was terrified of having a baby. Her best friend died in childbirth and her own mother nearly died having her. She thought for sure she would be next, but she wasn’t, and having Lilah was the best decision she ever made. She leaves unsaid how devastated she would be to lose Lilah. Lilah asks if there is anything Donnal is terrified of and he can only think of one thing, though he doesn’t tell the girl. To tell Kirra that he loves her. He did it once before and didn’t think he’d ever have the chance to do it again. The world will end before he finds that kind of courage again. As it is, they’re both pretending he never said it at all. Pretending that it’s not true. Pretending it hasn’t always been true. Donnal asks Lilah for a few days to think about his answer. Kirra is still sleeping when he’s done visiting, so he changes into a bird and flies until he finds a small village and decides to look around. He has lunch and buys a pack of apples, dropping them off on Geena’s front porch since the woman had complained of having nothing to eat but vegetables and chicken. He goes back to where he left Kirra, but Cloris tells him she’s already back at the cottage. Her husband is doing very well since Kirra visited him, Cloris makes sure to tell Donnal. He’s back in dog form by the time he gets to the cottage himself. They’re more comfortable around each other when he’s in this shape. Kirra speaks her own thoughts out loud a lot of the time when he’s in this form. She says that Josie seems even more improved tonight, and Will could be slightly improved already. And Benjy is not any worse. She is so happy that families are agreeing to the treatment. She was worried she’d get here with the knowledge, and no one would let her treat them, that it would all go to waste. And she had hoped that at least one of them could be helped, a light against all the darkness right now. But so many of them are willing! Donnal doesn’t know how to tell her that she is the light. She is the only light in front of him. She wraps her arms around his dog neck and hugs him for a very long time. Changing a child into a dog each day is starting to wear on Kirra, so Donnal spends his days close by, in case she needs him. She agrees to change no more than two people each day. So far, there have been five children in four days, and each is improving. Josie now spends her days running through the halls. Donnal continues to visit Lilah, who has discovered that he’s been to the palace and wants to know all the royal gossip. Her mother asks if it’s true war is coming and Donnal says it’s possible. There have been attempts to take the throne, for Marlords and Marladies to amass more power, and people are killing innocent mystics. This shocks Lilah. Magic scares her but she doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She just doesn’t want them to hurt her either. The next day, Kirra changes two more patients and then she’s out for the afternoon, resting. Donnal takes his chance to visit Geena again, who thanks him for the apples and introduces him to Bel. He’s looking at Geena when Bel comes out and he doesn’t miss the second of surprise on her face when she sees Bel. She looks like a middle-aged working-class woman, but she has the accent and delivery of the nobility. Donnal’s interest is piqued. He tells them both about Kirra and her father Malcolm, which leads to how they met Senneth Brassenthwaite. Talk turns to Malcolm potentially wanting to use Kirra to make an alliance with another of the houses, and suddenly Donnal cannot get away fast enough. The last thing he wants to think about is Kirra’s marriage prospects. The next day, Josie’s parents think it is time to change Josie back, but it’s only been six days. Kirra has never changed someone back in less than a full week and the parents agree to wait the extra day. Two people ask Kirra to change their children and on her way downstairs to the room she rests in, another man has brought his son to her. Gregor, who Donnal thought would refuse treatment for his son, has brought Emmet because the boy is barely still alive. Gregor is desperate. Emmet made a strange sound in the night and hasn’t moved since. Kirra knows Emmet won’t make it through the night and she shifts him, even though she’s already worn out. They’re able to get Emmet to start eating the medical porridge when they hear a terrible yell from upstairs. A child has died - this one belonging to Frank, who has been vocally against Kirra’s help from the very first day. Even though he has never asked Kirra for her treatment, he still blames her for his son’s death and attacks her. Donnal changes into wolf form and stands between them, but Frank will not be deterred. He keeps trying to get to Kirra and Donnal is forced to bite Frank’s leg to delay him long enough for other men to pin him down. It’s the first time that most of these people have realized that Donnal is also a shape shifter, and some of them are suspicious. Geena and Cloris stick up for him – they both knew! He shifts back into a man and carries Kirra to bed. Kirra falls asleep, but the unnatural sleep of one who is exhausted. He sits in a chair next to her. He thought once that he wouldn’t be able to stay next to her, it’s why he left, but now the thought of leaving her unprotected terrifies him. Thank goodness he was there today; she was too weak to protect herself. He remembers she mentioned that their friend Cammon was able to transfer some of his energy to her through a little charm she keeps in her pocket. It gave her the strength to try to shift someone other than herself. Donnal tries to do the same thing. He would give Kirra absolutely anything. He’s not sure it works, but he likes to think it did at least a little. Kirra doesn’t wake until that evening and after eating, asks to go back to the cottage. She asks Donnal to sit with her for a while before they go to sleep. Sit with her as a man. She thinks the next day will be wonderful. She will change Josie back and the patients will come clamoring. Donnal thinks all but three families will ask for help. There’s the grandmother of a three-year-old boy who won’t even let Donnal see him, she is of the religious sect that hates mystics and is dripping in moonstones; Lilah, who Donnal thinks is too afraid of the transformation right now, but might change her mind if Kirra speaks to her; and Geena, who he admits he doesn’t understand. He asks Kirra to promise not to take any chances with her own health, but she is already asleep. He decides to stay in human form in case she needs anything in the night and stretches out next to her, the way they’ve slept countless times before. Back before she fell in love with someone else and the fire in his chest guttered out. Kirra wakes up around midnight, startling awake disoriented. She calls out for him and he answers her, soothing her. He gives her more food and she decides to go back to sleep. He lays down next to her and puts his arm over her waist. She grabs his hand and entwines their fingers, saying that she’s missed it. The next morning, Donnal sneaks off to get water and breakfast before Kirra wakes up. By the time he returns, she’s up and dressed, both a little disappointed they didn’t get to wake up together slowly before starting the day. There is a crowd waiting for them to change Josie back when they arrive, including all of the parents of the children already shifted. Josie is dashing around happily, and Donnal helps her to stay still for Kirra. Her mother cries when Kirra changes her back to a girl. Everyone else cries when Josie speaks to her mother - a healthy little girl. The rest of the parents of the sick are in a hurry for their children to be changed after seeing proof that Kirra’s plan works, and the parents of those already changed are in a hurry to have their kids back, so Donnal gets help from Eileen and they make a schedule so that Kirra limits herself to two patient shifts a day and will not be too worn out. While Kirra rests, Donnal visits the patients and then goes to see Geena and Bel. They discuss Kirra’s success and then her father Malcolm Danalustrous. The citizens of Danalustrous are generally very loyal to Malcolm because he is a just Marlord who puts the good of his people and his land before everything else. The only people who are critical of him, really, are the ones who know him personally. Bel is critical, as if she knows him. Geena suggests that Bel take a walk since she’s getting antsy and Donnal agrees to keep Geena company. He realizes that Bel is a shapeshifter. That’s how she stays unnoticed but very in the know of what’s happening at the infirmary. Geena says that Bel has lived quite a life, but she’s not the reason that Geena won’t get changed. She can tell that Bel is growing tired of her. Restless in a deeper way. She was likely looking for a way to end their relationship when Geena got sick. Geena would not have killed herself if Bel left, but she wouldn’t have wanted to keep on living either. This way, neither of them have to choose. When Donnal gets back for the infirmary, Kirra is already awake and eating. And she’s restless, she wants to go for a walk. She thinks it takes less effort to change the children back to their human forms since that is the shape their bodies want to be anyway. They go for a walk on the beach, Kirra plans to change all the sick children that are willing in the next two days (there are only four right now) and only then start changing kids back. After they’re done here, she has been summoned to Ghosenhall to meet her father, the King has called a meeting of all the Marlords and Marladies. She thinks the rest of their friends will be there too. So that’s where she and Donnal will go next, followed by wherever they want. Donnal convinces her to come back to the cottage; she’s still tiring quickly. This is the longest amount of time they’ve spent together, and awake, in their human bodies since he left her. He walks behind her to the cottage and somewhere along the way he changes back into a dog. When she notices, she takes a deep breath, disappointed, before going into the cottage. Kirra changes two more children the next day, leaving her so tired that Donnal has the day to himself again. He visits the people who still refuse the treatment. Lilah is still not willing to do it, even after seeing Josie, but Donnal hopes meeting Kirra and seeing more children cured will change her mind. He goes back to the small village to buy apples and candies for Geena; he finds Bel on the porch when he drops the food off. She knows that he knows that she’s a shifter. He tells her Geena only wants to die because she knows Bel is going to leave. She doesn’t deny it and she won’t change her mind either. She does promise to stay until Geena’s death, even if it takes a month, but Donnal doesn’t think she will last longer than a week. He thinks she’s incredibly selfish and wishes that Geena would give life a chance, see what the future might hold for her. He learns that Bel has not seen her family for thirty years. They weren’t sorry to see her go, not because she was a mystic but because she was difficult and unkind. They probably think she’s dead now. But she won’t tell Donnal any of her stories today. That night he spends as a dog next to Kirra; in the morning she changes Benjy and Will back to healthy little boys. She doesn’t feel too tired and decides to visit Lilah instead of resting. Kirra charms the girl, bonding over their love of jewelry. Kirra takes a button from Donnal’s shirt and changes it into a ruby ring for the girl to remember her by. It goes without saying that Lilah won’t remember anything if she doesn’t stay alive. Donnal convinces Kirra to rest then, catching her when she sways on her feet, which Lilah definitely notices. The next morning, the first patient is changed back easily but the second, a teenaged girl named Doreen, takes a lot more effort. There was a point when Donnal wasn’t sure it would happen, but Doreen is finally changed back - and complaining that something hurts. Kirra learns that the girl had another sickness just as likely to kill her as the red-horse fever. Kirra, as a healer, finds a malignancy in Doreen’s womb. It takes a bit of time, but Kirra is able to get rid of it. Doreen will live - but she may not be able to have children after the illness damaged her womb. Doreen’s mother is just happy to have her daughter back. Donnal takes Kirra to rest, and she presses his hand to her cheek. She doesn’t know what she would do without him. Lilah is waiting for Donnal when he arrives in her room, accusing him of being in love with Kirra. Just like a romance novel, the peasant boy who doesn’t think he’s worthy and does not confess his feelings to the serramara. He laughs, telling her she’s read too many novels. She still won’t consent to being changed. Kirra can’t stay indoors any longer and they decide to have dinner on the beach. Donnal thinks she’s done too much, healing Doreen’s illness on top of two changes. Kirra says it wasn’t too bad; she healed that illness once before in Ghosenhall, when Donnal was away. He admits that he missed a lot in that time and Kirra tells him that she not only cured Lyrie but also uncovered a rebellion plot. The plot included her mother’s brother Berric, who Kirra had been quite close to. Berric had lied to her for her entire life, saying he had no mystic power like she did - but at the meeting he was disguised as someone else. The world is full of betrayals. Donnal points out that it’s not just betrayals. Her friends and sister are very loyal to her. He doesn’t mention his own inability to leave even if he wanted to. He tells Kirra that he’s sorry about Berric and she responds that she’s sorry about a lot that has happened. They’re told in the morning that the little boy with the religious grandmother died in the night. Donnal thought for a moment it was Lilah, and as relieved when it as not. Then he feels guilty, the boy was only three and his grandmother refused to save him. While Kirra rests after shifting patients back to human, Donnal visits Lilah - who is doing very poorly. She’s stopped eating and coughs incessantly. He tries to convince her again to do the treatment but she’s so scared. He walks her through what will happen, that she will still remember who everyone is and will still be herself but in a different body. She’s afraid she will die while she does it, but Donnal points out that she will do if she doesn’t. She asks him if he would do the scariest thing to him. Would he tell Kirra he loves her? He agrees to tell Kirra if Lilah agrees to the treatment. Kirra has already left the infirmary. All the way back to the cottage, Donnal tries to find the correct words to tell Kirra as he promised Lilah, but when he gets there Kirra is gone. In fact, she’s gone so long that he begins to worry. She returns and says she’s growing restless, especially since she’s only eating and sleeping. Luckily there’s only a few more days of work to do. Donnal breaks the news that Lilah will do the treatment and Kirra is delighted, even though it will delay their leaving for a week. He tells her Lilah agreed as long as Donnal did something she asked of him. Kirra scoffs, if only she had known it was so easy to get Donnal to do something. He’s taken aback and the truth comes pouring out of Kirra. He is further away from her now than ever before and she doesn’t know if they can go on this way. All her life, she imagined she would have to do things for her father and her house. Politicking. Schmoozing. Honestly, she’s very good at both. But she also thought she could be wild when it suited her. She thought she could have both worlds, even though she had a vague idea that she might have to marry at some point. But even with that notion, Donnal was always in her visions of her wild future. Donnal admits he also imagined her married and what he would do then. Maybe be a groom, follow her as a hawk when she went riding. But then Kirra met Romar Brendyn and everything changed. She has done nothing but hurt people for months. She broke Donnal’s heart and this treatment is what she deserves, but she can’t take it any longer. She might never stop loving Romar, but she gave him up. She could have kept him. She could have been his mistress, taking whatever shape she wanted to be with him. She could even have been his wife. His wife was sick and came to Kirra for healing, she had the same illness that Doreen had. Kirra chose to save her; she would have been dead in less than a year and Romar would be free to wed again. But Kirra will always be wild, and Romar cannot have a wild wife. But more than that, Kirra can and will learn to live with Romar, she cannot live without Donnal. But she has nothing to offer to Donnal. She cannot renounce her house and family, but she would not subject Donnal to the stares and whispers of the nobility. But she cannot lose him. She asks if there is a way they can make this work and Donnal is on fire with possibility. He sweeps her into her arms as she starts to cry, and he tells her that he loves her. He will take whatever she can give him; he cannot live without her either. Without her he doesn’t exist. All he’s ever wanted is her. The night ends much happier than it began, with both of them staying in human bodies together, naked and occupied. Kirra asks what Lilah asked of him and, laughing, he tells her. When Kirra goes to see Lilah, the girl asks Donnal to hold her hand as she is shifted. He explains every little step to her until she is lying on the bed as a weak puppy. He feeds her the medicine in porridge and she eats every bite. Kirra changes one puppy back to her girl form but can’t manage the second one and has to rest. Donnal flies for a bit while Kirra sleeps, amazed at the way the world has become brighter knowing that Kirra loves him back. He sees Geena walking from the air, feeling stronger today though she knows it’s fleeting. They discuss Bel and Geena admits that she no longer thinks that Bel will wait until she dies to leave. In fact, Bel may already be gone - Geena hasn’t seen her yet that day. Bel always seems aggravated by Geena’s good days. This infuriates Donnal but Geena just says it is who Bel is. An excuse, Donnal says. Donnal tells Geena about Lilah and offers to make Geena the same deal. He will do something for her if Geena gets the treatment. But Geena doesn’t want it. She only asks Donnal to let her go. As the number of patients dwindles, Kirra regains more energy. She asks to go to the mainland one day and buy a dress for Lilah. When they return with the dress and treats for everyone else, there is a small group waiting for them. Bel is gone and Geena is also missing, but there’s a mysterious sickly horse at their cottage. Donnal realizes that Bel must’ve changed Geena before she disappeared and Kirra is astounded that Bel had that much power. Until now, Kirra didn’t know any other mystic who could do it. They mix up a batch of the medicine and find Geena the horse. Kirra explains that it is Geena’s decision to make. She can take the medicine, but she doesn’t have to. Kirra can change her back right now if Geena wants. After several minutes, Geena eats the medicine. A few days later, Lilah is transformed back into a girl but refuses to leave the island until Geena is returned to her form as well. She needs someone for support! That evening, Eileen wants to speak to Kirra privately about some topics to take to her father, and Donnal has some time alone. He flies to where he suspects Bel might be hiding and he finds her there as a hawk. She changes and they discuss Geena. Bel stayed around to see if she would take the medicine. She cares about Geena, but not enough to stay. Donnal has figured something else out as well. He asks how long Bel stayed when Kirra was born. Bel changes into her own skin, she’s been wearing a disguise this whole time, and she looks very much like her daughter - Kirra. She admits she only made it until Kirra was two years old, and she wanted to leave well before that. But she would check on Kirra. At first every few days, then weeks, then months. The spans got longer and longer, but she knew Kirra was cared for and even loved by her father, who Bel didn’t think cared for anyone. But then she shouldn’t have been surprised, Malcolm had made a deal with Bel - who went by the name Balyn at the time. Malcolm saw magic on the rise and wanted a magic child. He married Balyn because of her magic, agreeing that she could be free if she gave him one child. And that’s exactly what she did. Donnal is amazed that such a generous creature as Kirra was created from too of the most selfish people he’s met. Bel asks if Donnal will tell Geena or Kirra about her, but he won’t. If she wants their forgiveness, she will need to ask for it herself. When it’s time for Kirra to change Geena back, a small crowd gathers and Cloris even makes a cake. Once she’s back in her human body, Geena greets Lilah face to face. At dinner, they all eat together and make their plans. Kirra and Donnal will be leaving for Ghosenhall, taking a request for Malcolm to fund an orphanage in place of the infirmary - since it seems like the red-horse fever is burning itself out. They haven’t had new patients here in weeks. Maria and Lilah will return to their farm, and Geena will come to visit them while figuring out what to do with the rest of her, now much longer than expected, life. Geena keeps looking at Kirra, and Donnal knows that Geena knows about Bel, or at least suspects, but she doesn’t say anything and neither does he. That night as Kirra thinks about leaving the people she now considers friends, he suggests she check on them now and then. Flitting in and out as a little bird to watch them from afar and see how they’re doing, but Kirra doesn’t like that idea. So, he suggests she visit them herself every once in a while, and that is something she is much more amenable to. The next day, they leave for Ghosenhall. Together.