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I thought about what she said for a moment. “But the unending summer—it’s going to be hard to adapt to that. No autumn, no spring or winter. Just summer forever. I think…I’ll prefer the winter.”
“As my mother said, fire and ice.” Rhia gave me a rueful grin.
“Amber and jet.” I grinned back at her. “Twin cousins…born to a day but to two seasons.” Closing my eyes, I leaned back in the tub. “Eldburry Barrow is beautiful, if stark. I think I can make my home there.”
“Do you feel like you’re changing? Already, I mean?” Rhia’s voice was soft, and when I peeked at her from beneath my lashes, I saw that she had relaxed into the heat of the water, too.
I inhaled a sharp lungful of air and then let it out in a slow stream. Was I changing, already? “The truth? I barely remember a month ago. I barely remember what it was like before I came back and found Grieve again, and Myst…so yes, I think I am.”
And with that, I closed my eyes for real and let the warm sloshing of the water drag me under. I was dozing lightly when Druise and Mayja—Rhia’s lady’s maid—entered the room to dry us off.
“Her Majesty the Lady Lainule requests you come to the throne room,” Druise said, to both of us.
“Can we have a bite to eat first? I’m hungry.” My stomach was rumbling and I wanted nothing more than to gnaw on a chicken leg or something.
“I’m sorry, but she bade you come before you sup.” Druise stared at the towel, and I could tell she was hoping I wouldn’t put up a fuss. Sighing, with my stomach grumbling loudly, I let her dry me off.
The girls dressed us in long, loose robes—Rhia’s was gold, mine was silver. They were shimmering and sheer, but as we moved the light reflected off them, glimmering brightly in the glow of the Fire Elementals. After pulling our hair back with a band, the maids led us through the hallway to the throne room.
There Lainule was seated on her throne, and she motioned for us to approach her. As we did, she gestured for us to kneel on matching pillows that sat at her feet. Lainule had never forced me to kneel in front of her before. Something was up.
I glanced around. Grieve and Chatter stood to the side, at attention, unmoving. Peyton, Luna, and Kaylin were sitting on a bench near one wall. They kept their gazes downward, and none of them looked at us.
Rhiannon and I knelt as Lainule waited. After a moment, she motioned to one of her maidens and the girl picked up a tray and knelt in front of us. On the tray were two chalices—ornate, one silver, one gold. They were foaming over with mist, and the faint scent of mint and chocolate rose from the silver goblet, while the scent of rose petals and honey rose from the gold.
“Tonight, you begin your journey. Tonight, you undergo your initiation.”
Rhiannon gasped at the same time that I did. I knew it would be sometime soon, but Lainule hadn’t given us a firm date. But now, it was here. It was time.
“I ask each of you, and your answer is binding. There will be no return from here out. No second chance either way.” She stood, and—holding her scepter in her hand—said, “Cicely Tuuli Waters, do you accept the challenge to walk this path, to journey to the throne of Snow and Ice and take it firmly to heart until the day you so do die?”
Startled by the swiftness, wondering if this was the initiation itself, I stammered out an answer. “I accept the challenge.”
“Rhiannon Lasair Roland, do you accept the challenge to walk this path, to journey to the throne of Rivers and Rushes and take it firmly to heart until the day you so do die?”
Rhiannon let out a long breath. “I accept.”
“Then drink deep from the Chalices of Seelie and Unseelie.”
As I slowly accepted the silver chalice, and Rhiannon the gold, Lainule spread her hands over our heads. “Drink now, slowly,” she said. And then she began to chant.
From heart to tongue, from skin to bone,
From soul to soul, you now shall roam.
From night to day, from day to night,
From light to dark, from dark to light.
From wind and fire, the spell’s begun,
From sun to moon, from moon to sun.
From fire and wind, we call the years
To wipe away all hope and fear.
To mark the deal as ever done,
