CHAPTER TEN
Though it had been four years since I last saw Dad, he looked much the same as I remembered him. He had short gray hair and a close-cropped beard, giving him the appearance of an elder overflowing with wisdom and knowledge from ages past. He wore his usual black mage robes, the edges lined with gold trim, which both emphasized his age and yet made him look younger than he was. He leaned on a tall, crooked staff, which I recognized as the staff that had belonged to Grandpa and had been in the House family for generations. It was a symbol of authority over the family, to be wielded only by the leaders of the family, which Dad was.
“Mr. House,” said Ariana. She gestured sharply at me. “I have captured this intruder and his familiar, who was attempting to storm through the front
