He turned away from her and waded out of the water. She watched him put on his robe and walk back up the shore and into the castle.
Life had been erratic in DC since the solstice. Mica’s peaceful gathering was still reverberating through the walls, but her staff lacked concrete direction, so virtually nothing was getting done. Suki’s role had quickly morphed from mapmaker into head of triage, and soon she was fielding questions like a veteran.
Mica stood in the doorway of Operation Liberty Tree. “You’re doing a great job, Suki.”
Suki beamed at the compliment.
“Yes, I see my library is on permanent hold,” Milicent said, walking in. She had taken former-First Lady liberties with Wren and let herself into the Oval Office. Noah was oddly absent.
“Aren’t you taking me up on my offer to come back here?” Mica said.
“Oh no, there’s no way I’m coming back here,” Milicent said.
“Seeing as how you haven’t left here since you got here”—Mica sat on one of the sofas in the center of the office and gestured for the other two women to do the same—“I’d say you’re back here.”
“Fine,” Milicent said, perching on the sofa opposite Mica. “Then give me something good, like secretary of defense or something.”
The door opened and Wren walked in. “Judge, we have more guests.”
Vivienne and Ocean didn’t wait to be announced.
“Fire and Water together again. This must be big,” Milicent said.
Mica got up. “Milicent, this is still my office. I would assume they’re here to see me.”
Suki bounced up. “Do you have news about Skylar?”
“We do,” Ocean said. “She is alive and well. Magus is dead. Crushed by his own ego.” She glanced at Vivienne, who remained stoic. “It would seem we have come to the end of our story.”
“So she’s coming home!” Suki was so excited that she rushed Ocean and hugged her before she could stop herself.
“Well, not quite,” Ocean said.
“Why? What’s left?” Suki asked.
Milicent scoffed. “Oh, please let me tell her,” she said smugly.
The smile on Suki’s face faded.
“You see, trusting Suki, it’s the dirty little secret the good guys neglect to reveal at the beginning of such quests. They tout purpose and nobility and duty and make the whole thing sound so sexy. Most are seduced. Most end up dead. But then there are the few like Skylar. Somewhere along the way, she actually earned my respect. Not that it helps her now. She’s not dead, but her good deed didn’t go unpunished.” She looked at Ocean. “Tell her!” she scolded. “Tell her that our precious heroine can’t come back. That she must stay at the bottom of the sea for eternity, to fulfill her purpose. Forsaking love for honor. Or loyalty.” She spat out the last word.
Vivienne focused her attention on Ocean. “Milicent has a point, Sister,” she said. “Skylar has succeeded in every monumental task given to her, and how do we repay her? By banishing her to the bottom of the sea for eternity, as Milicent put it? I understand that was the deal with Sophia, but it just doesn’t sit well with me. I can only imagine you feel it too.”
Ocean sighed. “I was waiting for you to bring this up. Sophia will not stay another moment. Her reign is over.”
“Child, what would you do if you were me?” Vivienne asked Milicent. “How would you end this quest?”
Surprise washed over Milicent’s face at the question. “You are asking me for the answer?”
“Yes,” Vivienne said.
Milicent paused. “I would make sure everyone involved got what they deserved,” she said emphatically.
“And what do you deserve, child?” Vivienne asked.
Milicent shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Vivienne closed the gap between them and looked into Milicent’s face. “You are my kin, a daughter of the sea, just like Skylar. Yet your history is tarnished with great deceit and self-fulfilling deeds. Tell me when your karma has been cleared.”
Milicent stood silently.
“Right,” Vivienne said. “Your worst crime? Believing you were above the rest, not taking responsibility for your actions because you thought the Universe owed you. The Universe owes you nothing, child. You get what you give.”
Milicent stepped back from Vivienne and leaned on the presidential desk for support. “What are you saying, Grandmother?”
“That you should take Skylar’s place,” Vivienne said.
“That’s absurd.” Milicent’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think that could be done.”
Vivienne looked at Ocean for confirmation. Ocean shrugged and nodded, essentially giving her approval.
“I don’t need a secretary of defense anyway,” Mica said casually. She tapped Suki on the shoulder and they vacated the room, leaving the other three to their conversation.
“Wait.” Milicent bounced off the desk. “That’s it? I don’t get a say in this?”
“Why would we let you have a say?” Ocean said. “Consider this magical justice. And look on the bright side, you’ll get that immortality you’ve been searching for your whole life.”
The idea piqued Milicent’s interest momentarily. While she was mulling it over, Noah burst through the door.
“I’m sorry, Mil, that damn elevator,” he said. “You’d think they would fix that thing, being the White House and all.” He looked around the room. “What’s going on, what’d I miss?”
Ocean and Vivienne were already on their way out. “Tell him about the field trip you’re going on,” Ocean said over her shoulder.
“Can he come?” Milicent asked, warming to the idea by the minute.
Ocean shrugged a why not. “I figure you come as a set anyway.” She and Vivienne left and Milicent was left alone with Noah.
“Where are we going, Mil?” he asked.
“Well, Noah, I figured out what’s next,” she said.
Skylar stood at the water’s edge. She had redressed and fixed her hair herself. She inhaled deeply. The sea was raw magic, but it couldn’t soothe away the reality of her circumstances.
She put one foot in the water; it was warm on her skin. She was now between worlds—one foot on land, one foot in the sea. The soft waves lapped at the hem of her dress. This was her baptism. A rebirth into a new way of being. Argan was yet to come back down after their fight. Although it hadn’t really been a fight, if she thought about it. More of a surrender.
But she was ready to release all that had happened up to this point—all of the mistakes, all of the shame, all of the blame of others for the experiences of her life. Stepping into this water, she was stepping into the unknown and accepting her destiny. The plan that only the Great Mother, greater than the three, knew. It was planted in her heart. She had carried the stone as a representation of the light. It was an embodiment of what cannot be captured within all women, what all keepers of the flame carry—their one wild heart.
She waited for Sophia, but she didn’t come. She didn’t know how long she should stay by the water.