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"You do not trust me," she says.
*I didn't say that."
She pivots her enormous green head in the direction of the garden, where my friends are dancing in the sweet grass. "Things are changing. You cannot stop the change."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You will have to make a choice, and soon, I fear."
I stand, brushing the grass from my skirt. "I know you helped slaughter members of the Order. You didn't warn us when the water nymphs were near. For all I know, you could be part of the Winterlands. Why should I listen to anything you have to say?"
"I was bound by magic to speak truth and do no harm to your kind."
Once.
I turn to leave."As you said, things are changing."
We return to the empty box of the Royal Opera House just as the curtain falls for the intermission. We're carrying magic with us. It clings to my body in a way that makes me aware of everything. The slow hiss of the gaslamp mounted on the edge of the private box roars in my head. The rising lights sting my eyes. And people's thoughts rush through me till I feel I'll go mad.
"Gemma? Are you all right?" Ann asks.
"Don't you feel that?" I gasp.
"Feel what?" Felicity says, irritated.
"The magic. It's too much." I put my hands to my ears as if that will stop things. Ann and Felicity do not seem bothered at all. "Try to do something magical--make a grasshopper or a ruby." Felicity closes her eyes and holds out her palm. Something flickers there for a moment, but then it fades."Why couldn't I make it happen?"
"I don't know," I say. I can scarcely catch my breath. "You try, Ann."
Ann cups her hands together and concentrates. She's wishing for a diamond crown. I can feel her wish surging inside me. In a moment she stops trying."I don't understand," she says.
"It's as if all your magic is in me," I say, shivering."As if I have it threefold."
Felicity peeks over the top of the lip of the box. "They've left their seats! They'll be looking for us! We've got to go to them. Gemma, can you stand?"
My legs are like a new colt's. Felicity and Ann flank me, our hands locked. We fall in behind a man and his wife. He's having an affair with her sister. He plans to meet her tonight after the opera. His secrets rush through my veins, poisoning me.
"Oh," I gasp, shaking my head to rid myself of his thoughts.
"This is awful. I can hear and feel everything. I can't stop it.
How shall I get through this evening?"
Felicity guides me down the stairs. "We'll get you to the dressing room and tell your grandmother that you are indisposed. She'll take you home."
"But then I shall miss my evening with Simon!" I wail.
"Do you want Simon to see you like this?" Felicity whispers.
"N-no," I say, tears slipping down my cheeks.
"Come on, then."
Ann's humming softly. It's a nervous habit of hers, but it's soothing somehow, and if I listen only to her voice, I find I can walk and look reasonably fit.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs and the grand foyer, Tom's there, looking for me. Ann stops humming, and I'm assaulted by the din of everyone's secrets. Concentrate, Gemma. Turn them out. Choose one.
Ann. I feel her heart beating in rhythm with mine. She's imagining herself dancing in Tom's arms, him looking adoringly at her.
