"You going to go in?" Danielle asked quietly. She nudged Maggie gently.

"Yeah." Maggie sighed. "Just... not looking forward to this. It's gonna be awkward." But she did open the door and step inside, looking over behind the bar. There was a different peri back there today, so she took a deep breath and headed back.

“I’ll be inside too,” Danielle said. ‘I’ll find myself a seat st the bar or something, so I’ll be close.” She followed Maggie inside.

The perk behind the bar looked up. His brother as mentioned the two from the night before, and they weren’t hard to recognize.

“May I help you?” he asked.

"I'm looking for Ishaiah, I was told he'd be in tonight." Maggie kept her tone mild, putting her hands on the bar. At least the bar was clean.

The peri nodded.

“One moment, please,” he said. He went in the back for a moment, and then came back out. “This way.”

“Go on,” Danielle murmured to Maggie. “I’ll be right out here.”

Maggie took a deep breath and nodded. "See you soon." She followed the other Peri into the back.

Danielle watched Maggie disappear into the back and then settled at the bar to wait.

Ishiah was in the office, working on some paperwork. He paused at the knock on the office door.

"Come in," he said.

Maggie stepped into the office, taking a moment to just look at him. He looked both like and unlike what she'd expected, from what her mother had told her.

"Are you Ishiah?"

“I am,” Ish replied, studying her. She looked familiar in a way he couldn’t place, although he was certain he’d never met her before. “I understand you’ve been asking for me.”

"I have." Maggie took a moment before she spoke again. "You knew my mother, Rose. She asked me to find you and give you this." Reaching into her pocket, she carefully pulled out a necklace with three feathers hanging from it. The feathers were white, barred with gold.

Anything Ish was about to say disappeared when she pulled out the feathers. He would recognize the gold-banded pattern anywhere, and there was no doubt in his mind that those were his own feathers. Slowly, he reached out and took the necklace.

"Where did you say you got this?" he asked after a moment.

"My mother." Maggie gave him a few moments to absorb that knowledge. "She said she only knew you for a few weeks."

"Your mother?" Ish thought about that for a long moment, along with all of its implications. And those implications were threatening to make him start hyperventilating. He looked at her. "If I might ask... how old are you?"

"Twenty-six," Maggie told him evenly. Ah, he was starting to get it, she didn't even have to lead him there. "She always said you were smart."

"I see." Ish thought about it for another moment. "This is certainly something to think about." He looked at the necklace again. He certainly remembered Rose, and this girl was the right age. The pieces were definitely falling into place and he wasn't sure how he felt about the picture they were revealing. He looked at her. "And... your plans now?"

Maggie shrugged. "We've got a hotel room for a few days," she told him. "My step-sister and I. We'll be staying that long, at least. Not sure where we're going after that." She was watching him carefully, waiting to see how he reacted to this new knowledge.

A step-sister. That told him more than it didn't.

"I see," Ish said again. "I believe I need some time to... think things over."

"Of course." Maggie grabbed a pen from his desk and pulled out a receipt, scribbling her number on the back of it. "There. If you decide you want to talk more. If I haven't heard from you in a few days, I'll assume that's a no, and we'll head out of town."

Ish nodded and took the number.

"Feel free to come back at your leisure," he said, albeit a little awkwardly.

Maggie nodded and left him to his thoughts. She'd promised her mother that she'd find him and tell him, nothing more than that.

"Done here, for now," she told Danielle as soon as she was back with her sister.

"That was quick," Danielle replied, blinking. She had a half-full glass in front of her. "I haven't even finished my vodka and coke yet. And there was a surprising lack of... well, anything, coming from the back."

Maggie smiled rather grimly. "I think he's in shock," she murmured. "Too in shock to do any smiting, at least." She shrugged. "Guess Mum was right, he never contacted her again, so he had no idea."

"Guess so," Danielle said. "Well, not being smote is a good thing, right?" She grinned a bit and offered Maggie her glass. "Want some vodka and coke?"

"Sure." Maggie took a swig of it, smiling a bit. "Not being smote is a good thing."

"So what's the plan now?" Danielle asked. "Back to the hotel?"