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“You are not welcome here, Priestess,” Philon shouts.
“I have just come from the Temple. You burned it!”
Philon stands imperiously. “So it is.”
“Why?” I ask, because I can think of no truer question.
“They took one of our own! Would you deny us justice?”
“And so you took twenty of theirs? How is this justice?”
Asha stands feebly. She clutches the ship’s railing. “We did not kill the centaur.”
“So you say,” Philon thunders. “Then who did?”
“Look within for the answer,” Asha replies cryptically.
Neela throws a rock at us. It lands in the water, spraying the side of the ship. “We’ll have no more of your lies! Be gone!”
She throws another and it narrowly misses me, landing on the deck. On impulse, I grab the rock, feeling its weight in my hand.
Asha stays my arm. “Retaliation is a dog chasing its tail.”
There is wisdom in what she says, but I want to throw the rock, and it takes every bit of strength to hold it firmly in my palm.
“Philon, did you stop to consider this: How will we join hands in an alliance now that you have burned the Temple?”
A ripple passes through the assembled folk. And for a moment, I see a hint of doubt in Philon’s cool eyes. “The time for alliances is past. Let the magic take its own course now. We shall see who stands in the end.”
“But I need your help! The Winterlands creatures are plotting against us! Circe has gone to them—”
“More lies!” Neela shouts, and the forest folk turn away.
“Come, Most High,” Gorgon says. “We have done all there is to do here.” She steers us away from the shore, but it is not until we are well past the golden veil that I am able to loosen my grip on the rock. I drop it into the river, where it makes not a single sound.
Ann takes my arm. Her face is grim. “We must find Felicity.”
We find Pippa and the girls in the castle, drinking wine and playing. Dusky light coats the chapel in a pretty gloom. Bessie pulls the wings from a dragonfly, and she and Mae laugh as it hops about on the floor, desperate to fly away. Pippa sits on the throne, eating berries from a golden chalice till her lips are a deep shade of blue. Platters and goblets are stacked high with the fruit.
“Where is Fee?” I ask. “Have you seen her?”
“I’m here.” Felicity waltzes in, outfitted in her warrior chain mail, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright. “What do you want?”
“Fee, you can’t stay here,” I say.
She takes a seat beside Pip. “Why not?”
“The realms are falling to chaos. The tribes are at war, the Temple’s been razed, and Circe has gone to the Winterlands to join with the creatures.”
“Nothing has touched us here,” Pip says, gesturing to the chapel walls. “Now, shall we have another ball this evening?”
“Pippa,” I say, incredulous. “We can’t have a party.”
Pippa’s laughter is light and girlish. “Let the creatures have at each other. They’re no match for me.”
She lowers a berry onto her tongue and licks her fingers.
“That’s right,” Bessie agrees. “Miss Pippa will serve notice.”
