“But . . . are you saying . . . did she just siphon our magic?” She looked down at her hands as if expecting to see magic leaking out of them.
“I believe so,” Leela said gravely. “But she must not take enough to be noticed. We still have healing power. We can still blood bond.”
“But we should be able to do more than that,” Elorin said. “I can read the doors now, and Kandra saw Sera’s name on the obelisk.” She frowned. “But neither of us have eaten the fruit. So how were we able to?”
“Perhaps it is because you two know about the lies,” Leela said. “There is a strength of will in our minds and hearts, not just in our magic. Your eyes are opened. So you are seeing things you never imagined possible.”
Elorin nodded solemnly, but Leela was not finished. She took a deep breath and told Elorin about the dream.
By the end of the tale, Elorin’s mouth was hanging open. “Leela,” she whispered. “That was Moth—”
“Now we know where all the moonstone has gone,” Leela said quickly, because admitting she’d spoken with Mother Sun still felt altogether too overwhelming. “The High Priestess may have bent her circlet to her will, but now I have moonstone too.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the cuff. Elorin marveled at it.
“I can feel the life inside it,” Leela said. “The lives of the other Cerulean who have worn it. It will protect me when I—” She swallowed hard. “When I fall.”
For a moment, Elorin just stared at her. Leela thought she would cry or beg or protest, but when she did at last respond, her voice was steady.
“You are going down onto the planet.”
Leela nodded.
“Are you going to jump off the dais, like Sera did?”
Leela was so relieved she did not have to explain herself. “No,” she said. “That way is not for me.”
She remembered the flash of the tether from her dream. The Sky Gardens were where answers waited for her. It was through the pool that she must go.
“The High Priestess could not destroy the moonstone, so she hid it, in a secret cache,” Leela said. “The fountain is there, and other moonstone as well, jewelry and figurines and all sorts of things. It is all beneath the spire of the temple—there is a hinge at its base. When you think it is safe, go and get a piece for yourself.”
“All right,” Elorin said, though she looked pale as she gazed up at the impressive height of the temple. “When are you going to the planet?”
Leela slipped the cuff on her wrist, the welcoming sensation rippling once again up her arm. “Now,” she said.
Then she held Elorin tight, feeling the girl’s weight and warmth, trying to memorize it in case she never came back. She was too frightened to say goodbye, so she released her and fled through the gardens, the statue of Faesa springing aside before she even reached it, as if it knew, as if it sensed this night was not like other nights.
Down the stairs she ran, and through the paths and past the pools until she came to the tether. It was singing for her tonight as it had once before, the cone of moonstone’s beating red heart aflame with hope, and the song echoed in her veins and gave her courage. She stopped at the water’s edge and stared down at the planet.
A leap of faith, she thought.
Then a voice said, “Good evening, Leela. I was wondering who I might find here.”
From the other side of the pool, the High Priestess emerged. Her face was drawn and terrible. The circlet glowed a sickly green. Leela put her hands behind her back to hide her bracelet.
“I felt a change in my moonstone,” the High Priestess said. “As if another had worn my circlet. But I could not sense who.” She cocked her head. “Impressive, if I’m to be honest, that your magic was able to elude me.”
But Leela had no use for the High Priestess’s praise.
“What you are doing to this City is wrong,” she said.
The High Priestess’s smile was a sharp, jagged thing. “What do you know about right and wrong?” she said. “You have lived such a sheltered life. I have made it that way. It is because of me that this City survives. You could not begin to comprehend the sacrifices I have made to keep it strong and healthy, to keep it protected from the hungry darkness of space and the cruel dangers of the planets.”
“This City is meant to move,” Leela insisted. “And Cerulean are meant to go down onto the planets. It is just as Sera always thought. Is that why you chose her? To silence her?”
“I chose her because her magic was the strongest I have sensed in a century,” the High Priestess said. Then she sniffed the air. “But yours is strong as well. In a different way, a way that I have not seen in even longer. You remind me of Wyllin.”
“I’m not Wyllin,” Leela said. “If she even was your friend, as you claim. You cannot keep stealing Cerulean magic.” She glanced around at the icy circles beneath her and with a start realized a new circle had been added. One whose markings on its surface read Plenna. The High Priestess followed her gaze.
“It had to be done,” she said, and for a moment she almost sounded sad. “Her magic is so much stronger because of the pregnancy. I needed it. The City needs it.”
Leela glowered, her stomach twisting with disgust. “I won’t let you imprison anyone else ever again. We deserve to be free.”
“Freedom comes at a price, Leela, and a far higher one than I’m certain you are willing to pay.” The High Priestess’s voice grew silky. “If you come back to the temple with me, I can tell you all. Secrets of your magic that would open your mind and make you melt with joy. I can show you power that will stun you, power that will thrill and entice. It’s wonderful, Leela. Like nothing you have ever felt or will ever feel again.” Her eyes glowed with enticement. “I will let you return to your mothers and your dwelling if you wish. Or”—her voice turned as cold as the columns around them—“you may become another victim of the sleeping sickness. Tragic in one so young, but Plenna is young too. Young magic is always strongest.” She swept a hand out at the circles dotting the ground. “So that is your choice, Leela. It is up for you to decide which path you will take.”
Leela dared not look down lest she lose her nerve. “I know what path I will take,” she said. “And it is not one you have offered me.”
The High Priestess seemed amused. “And what other path is there?”
The moonstone began to pulse gently against her skin, as if it was saying, go, go, go. Leela steeled herself and looked the High Priestess right in the eye.
“I am going to bring Sera home,” she said.
And then she jumped.
Part Five
The Island of Culinnon, Pelago
and
the Island of Braxos, Pelago
25
Sera
MERTAGS SWARMED THE WATERS AROUND THE GALLEON as the island of Culinnon drew near.
Sera watched as its coastline took form, trees painting its shore like jewels, shimmering in rich colors, richer than Sera had yet seen on this planet. Exquisite blue-green leaves and silvery-white bark that glowed like moonlight.
“They’re Arboreals,” she gasped.