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“Yes, I like that,” Ann says.
“Oh, honestly, Gemma! You’ve the whole of the Temple inside you. Do whatever you wish!”
“All right,” I say. There’s a small rock at my feet. “Hmmm, I’ll, um, I’ll just turn this into a…a…”
“Falcon!” Felicity shouts as Ann says, “Prince!”
I touch the rock, and for a moment, I feel as if we are one and the same; I’m part of the land. Something slimy bumps against my palm with a loud ribbet. The frog looks about with big eyes, as if shocked to discover that he is no longer a rock.
Ann grimaces. “I’d hoped for a prince.”
“You could always kiss him,” I offer, and Fee laughs.
Ann pulls up a daisy and plucks its petals one by one. “If you hold all the power, Gemma, what does that mean for us?”
Felicity stops laughing. “We’ll have none of our own.”
“Once we make an alliance with the other tribes in the realms and join hands, we’ll share the magic—”
“Yes, but that could take months,” Felicity argues. “What about now?”
Ann cradles the mangled daisy in her lap. She won’t even look at me. A moment ago I was overjoyed. Now I feel terribly guilty that I have this power and my friends do not.
“If I am the Temple with all its magic,” I say, haltingly, “then I should be able to give some to you as the Temple has always given it to us.”
“I want to try,” Felicity says. She puts a hand to my arm. Her craving warms the skin beneath my sleeve, and I want to shake it off. For if I give it to her, will I be left with less? Will she have more?
“Gemma?” Felicity says. Her eyes are so very hopeful, and I’m a rotten friend for thinking of denying her.
“Give me your hands,” I say. Within seconds, we are joined. There’s a sharp pull, almost an exquisite pain. It’s as if we’re the same person for a moment. I can hear echoes of her wishes inside my head. Freedom. Power. Pippa. Pippa is the strongest wish, and I feel Fee’s ache for our missing friend like a deep wound. We break apart, and I have to steady myself against a tree for a second.
Fee sports a huge grin. “I feel it. I feel it!”
As I watch, a shimmering breastplate appears over her nightclothes. Her hair hangs long and free. Strapped to her arm is a crossbow. On the other is a falcon. “Oh, if those dowagers could see me now!” She adopts an imperious tone. “I’m afraid, Lady Ramsbottom, that if you should sneer at me once more, I shall have to allow my falcon to eat you.”
Ann looks at me hopefully.
“Here, give me your hands,” I say.
A moment later, Ann holds her arms out in front of her as if she can’t believe the miracle of her own skin. Tears stream down her face.
“I feel alive again,” she says, laughing through them. “I was so dead inside, but now…Oh, don’t you feel it?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say, thrilled. “Yes!”
Ann gives herself a medieval gown of spun gold. She looks the part of a princess in a fairy tale.
“Ann, you’re beautiful!” I call. I never want this night to end.
Felicity lets the falcon go. It soars higher and higher, making daring loops. It is free, and even the sky cannot stop it.
The river announces the arrival of something new. A great ship creaks upon the water. Along the bow is a massive fearsome creature with a green face, yellow eyes, and a head full of hissing snakes. The gorgon! I run to greet her, waving wildly.
“Gorgon!” I call. “Gorgon, it is I, Gemma! We’ve returned!”
“Greetings, Most High,” she answers in her slithery, whisper-thick voice. Her eyes register neither surprise nor happiness. She nestles into the grassy shore and lowers her plank, allowing me to clamber on board. The ship’s planks are a seaworn gray. Along the sides hang nets of silver and a tangle of ropes. The boat is large but dingy. Centuries ago, the once-proud warrior was joined to this ship as punishment for her part in a rebellion against the Order. She is free to leave it now, but she hasn’t yet. “We had expected you sooner.”
“I’ve not been able to enter the realms since I saw you last. I feared I’d never return. But we’re here now, and oh, Gorgon, you’re well? Of course you’re well!” I’m overcome with happiness, for the magic has returned to me. I feel it setting my blood aflame. Yes, we’ve come back to the realms at last. We’ve come home.
