“Come now, Ilianne,” her green mother said, “let her walk with you to the forest at least. Leela would not disturb anyone, nor would she ever threaten the sanctity of the birthing houses.”
Her purple mother hesitated and a moment passed between her two mothers where Leela felt like they were having a silent conversation.
“All right,” her purple mother said at last. “I cannot argue with you both. We will not stay long, though. And you will have to wait outside the sacred circle. I shall ask after Plenna for you.”
Leela’s spirits soared—she could not believe her luck. “I swear I will do as you ask. Oh, thank you, Purple Mother!”
Her mothers exchanged a pleased glance and Leela knew they were happy to see her returning to her old self, not the raw angry girl she’d been in the days after Sera’s sacrifice. And she was happy they were happy, even as she hated being untruthful to them.
Though she was not hungry at all, she forced herself to eat some toast with pine nuts and blackberry jam, then changed into a fresh dress and waited while her purple mother poured the stew she’d made into a ceramic bowl, covering it with a length of cheesecloth.
“Are you ready?” she asked. Leela nodded and kissed her green mother on the cheek.
“It is so good to see you becoming yourself again,” her green mother said, smoothing back her hair. Leela hid her guilt beneath a smile.
She and her purple mother took the path that wound its way past the Aviary, birds chirping cheerfully, then followed the line of the Great Estuary, dipping through the orchards and the seresheep meadows before they came to the Western Bridge. It was the same path Leela had taken to meet Kandra for so many nights, when they would sit by the obelisk at the birthing houses in the moonlight and talk of Sera and Estelle or muse over the High Priestess’s motivations.
Kandra had also known of the High Priestess’s falsity—she had just been tricked into forgetting it. Years ago, she had thought her friend Estelle was dead until she saw her one evening by the obelisk. Frightened, she had run away and confided to the High Priestess, who had placed her hands on Kandra’s head and told her not to worry. After that, the memory of Estelle had faded from Kandra’s mind—until Sera had fallen. The loss of her daughter had broken whatever spell the High Priestess had cast. And so Kandra and Leela would meet in the Forest of Dawn and puzzle over what to do. The High Priestess needed to be stopped, but how?
The Forest of Dawn was so different in daylight with her purple mother beside her. It made all those other nights feel like something out of a dream. Or perhaps this was the dream. With so many new mysteries, her world felt as upside down as the dying gardens beneath the City that grew from the ceiling.
They met Olfa, another purple mother, as they entered the forest, an empty basket in her hands.
“Good morning, Ilianne,” she said to Leela’s purple mother. “My goodness, that smells wonderful.”
“It is my famous carrot stew,” she replied, beaming.
“I’m sure the purple mothers will appreciate it,” Olfa said. “I was just bringing another batch of fruit from the orchards, but I must return the basket to Freeda.” She eyed Leela with an expression of polite confusion. “Good morning, Leela.”
“Good morning, Purple Mother,” Leela said.
“Leela is hoping to hear news of Plenna,” her purple mother explained. “I told her she may accompany me to the forest but she must wait outside the sacred circle.”
Olfa looked relieved. “Well, I’m sure Plenna will be happy to hear she has a friend who cares so much. I can report that she is most impatient to become pregnant.”
Leela’s purple mother and Olfa traded knowing smiles.
“I won’t keep you,” Olfa said, and she waved goodbye and left Leela and her mother to make their way through the forest. The familiar smell of magnolia and crabapple filled Leela’s nose as they walked, bees humming pleasantly in the background. Morning sunlight dappled the ground through leaves of brilliant green.
They were about thirty feet away from the birthing houses when her purple mother stopped. Leela could not see their small domes through the trees but she could faintly hear voices and occasional laughter. “This is as far as you can go, my love,” her purple mother said, gesturing to the ground. White and blue pebbles were scattered to form a line that stretched out in both directions. Leela had not seen this yesterday when she had come to see Kandra and tell her about the moonstone necklace she had given to Sera and how she had heard Sera’s voice coming from Aila’s statue. Kandra had not wanted her to go beneath the City, thinking it too dangerous. And she had warned Leela to stay away from the birthing houses and not do anything foolish. And now Leela was back again to see her. But she had to. Kandra needed to know.
“The birthing houses are all filled now,” her purple mother said. “Lyron Sunbringer arrived this morning, and she is the last one. There will not be another Cerulean blessed to have a child until one of the waiting mothers becomes pregnant. Then she will leave the houses to make room for a new purple mother, returning to her own dwelling until her time draws close. She will only come back to these houses to give birth.”
Leela felt a tug of selfish joy that Kandra would be allowed to leave at some point, followed by a pang of sadness that it would come at the cost of bearing another child so soon after losing Sera.
But she has not lost Sera, Leela thought fiercely. And I will find a way to tell her that.
“You will wait here for me,” her purple mother said, and Leela nodded. But as soon as her mother was out of sight through the trees, Leela began to follow the line of stones. Even if she had not been so familiar with this part of the forest already, the voices that grew louder were a beacon calling to her. Finally she stopped. She could not see the houses but she knew where she needed to go. And she would not be afraid of breaking the rules anymore. If the High Priestess could lie, and sacrifice Sera, and trap Cerulean in stalactites, then surely Mother Sun would forgive Leela for this infraction.
She took a breath and stepped over the line. When nothing happened except a sparrow singing loudly in a nearby birch, Leela let out a light-headed giggle. She was not sure what she had expected—a lightning bolt, perhaps, or a sun flare? She marched forward, feeling braver than she ever had, or maybe simply accepting her bravery in a way she hadn’t before.
But being brave did not mean being rash, and she slowed her pace when the first domed house came into view, flitting from tree to tree to stay hidden.
The birthing houses looked the same as they had yesterday, rounded one-room dwellings made of sunglass, but the clearing with the moonstone obelisk was changed. Garlands of flowers had been strung from its tip to the doors of each house, daisy chains and ropes of fire lilies and strings of silvery moonflowers. Bouquets of forget-me-nots and tulips and chrysanthemum were piled high around its base. Tables had been set up on the grass and Leela saw Treena and a few of the older midwives stitching together a canopy to prop over them. There were a handful of purple mothers bringing food, and Leela caught sight of her own mother talking with Plenna. Of Kandra, however, she saw no sign.
Quick as a sunlizard, she darted to hide behind another tree, then another, letting her intuition guide her. She found Kandra sitting at the foot of an old spruce between two houses, her head leaning against its trunk, a length of blue seresheep wool in her hands. It looked as though she had been trying to sew something and given up halfway through.