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“I should think that is good news.”
“I wonder…,” Gorgon murmurs.
“And what of Pippa?” I ask, out of Fee and Ann’s earshot. “Have you seen her anywhere?”
“No,” Gorgon answers, and I don’t know if I am relieved to hear it—or afraid. “I am ill at ease, Most High. I’ve not passed so many days without a single sign from those creatures.”
The air is scented with blossoms. The river sings pleasantly, as always. The magic sparks in my veins with such sweet ferocity that it is impossible to imagine that anything shall ever be amiss again.
“Perhaps they’ve gone,” I say. “Or crossed over at last.”
The snakes rise and coil atop Gorgon’s massive head, their pink tongues snapping into and out of their small cruel mouths. “I’ve seen no souls crossing the river.”
“That doesn’t mean they didn’t go. And it’s quite possible none needed assistance.”
“Perhaps,” Gorgon hisses, but the worry does not leave her face. “There are other matters at hand. Philon is asking after you. The forest folk have not forgotten your promise to form an alliance with them, to join hands at the Temple and share the magic. Shall I take you to them now?”
I’ve not been in the realms a half hour, and already I am burdened with obligations. “I think…” I look over at my friends scooping up handfuls of flowers and hurling them into the sky, where they fall in flakes of silver. “Not just yet.”
Gorgon’s yellow eyes stare through me. “You do not wish to part with the magic?”
I hop down and gaze at my reflection in the pleasant surface of the river. It stares back at me, waiting. Even it has expectations, it would seem. “Gorgon, I thought I’d lost everything. I’ve only just returned. I need to explore the realms and the magic, to sort out the best course,” I say slowly, thinking out loud. “And I’ve need of it in my world, too. I should like to help my friends, to change our lives while we can.”
“I see,” Gorgon says, and I cannot read her feelings about the matter. The giant beast lowers her voice to a soft growl. “There are other concerns, Most High.”
“What do you mean?”
“No person has ever held all the power. There must be a balance between chaos and order, dark and light. With the Temple magic bound to you, the realms are no longer in balance. The power could change you…and you could change the magic.”
My happiness is evaporating. I drop a small pebble into the river. Ripples move across my reflection, distorting my face till I no longer recognize it. “But if I hold the power, there is no magic for anyone to take,” I say, thinking aloud again as the idea forms in my mind. “The realms might be safe at last. And”—I watch Ann pull a leaf from a tree and turn it into a butterfly with one breath—“I wouldn’t hold it for long.”
“Is that a promise?” Gorgon hisses, her yellow eyes meeting mine.
“I promise.”
Gorgon searches the horizon with an air of unease. “There is much we do not know about the Winterlands, Most High. It is best to make the alliance, and quickly.”
This fear of Gorgon’s is odd. I’ve not seen this side of her before.
“Tell Philon…” I stop. What can I tell Philon? That I need more time? That I’m not sure of anything just now except that I am happy to be in the realms—and I can’t give up that happiness yet? “Tell him we’ll discuss that matter.”
“When?” Gorgon presses.
“Soon,” I say.
“How soon?”
“When I return,” I answer quickly, for I want to join my friends.
“I shall wait for you to return, Most High.” And with that, she closes her haunting eyes and sleeps.
For hours we play, allowing the magic to flower fully within us till we feel that time itself is ours to hold. The hope that has been dormant in each of us blooms again, and we are giddy with the happiness that possibility brings. Felicity lazes in a swing she has fashioned from soft, leafy vines. She lets it cradle her and she drags her toes across the velvety grass.
“If only we could show the world the depth of our power…” Felicity trails off, smiling.
Ann picks a dandelion puff from the tall grass. “I should stand on the stage beside Lily Trimble.”
I correct her. “Lily Trimble should beg to stand beside you!”
