Mikelle's eyes fluttered open, immediately seeking hers."Kalana, I'm sorry," she whispered, her hand tightening around the head seer’s."I didn't mean to?—"
"There is nothing to forgive," she interrupted, putting gentle steel in her voice.She needed to eliminate any doubt about this, both for Mikelle's sake and for the stability of their order."The Aumahnee share their sight as they will, not as we expect them to.They are not bound by our traditions, however ancient and sacred they may be."
She accompanied her words with a reassuring smile, and after a moment of searching her face, Mikelle relaxed.Her desperate grip on her hand gentled.
"What did you see?"she asked."Can you share it with us?"
She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts."Yes.I remember it clearly."
"Please, sit if you can manage it."
She helped Mikelle to a seated position, then gestured for the other seers to return to their places around the circle.The fire had burned lower but still provided warm, steady light.Some of her seers continued to wring their hands or murmur quiet prayers, their distress evident.
This wouldn't do.They needed to hear Mikelle's account and restore some sense of order to their sacred space.She needed to guide them back from fear to understanding, to help them see this as revelation rather than catastrophe.
Once everyone had settled, Mikelle began her account.She described the figures in the mist—two of them, she was certain, though neither human nor divine.Their faces had remained hidden, their gender and race impossible to determine.What was clear was their otherness, their fundamental difference from anything in the natural or supernatural realms the seers understood.
"They were strangers in the truest sense," Mikelle said, her voice growing stronger as she spoke."Beings from beyond our world, our understanding.The first carried a weapon—not just a sword, but something that seemed to cut through reality itself.The second..."She paused, pressing fingers to her temples."The second was offering something.A choice, perhaps, or a gift.I couldn't see what, but the weight of it was enormous."
She recounted the prophecy she had spoken, the words flowing from her with the same precision they had carried in her vision state.Young Berin looked up from her parchment and nodded to confirm she had recorded everything accurately.
"Thank you, Mikelle."Kalana's voice carried across the circle with quiet authority."You have served both the vision and our order with honor tonight.The revelation has been preserved, and though we could not share the sight with you as is our usual blessing, we have been given the wisdom through your voice.For this, we are grateful."
She looked around the circle, noting the gradual relaxation in her seers' postures as familiar ritual restored their sense of stability.This had been unprecedented, yes, but not destructive.Perhaps even necessary.
Perhaps this is how the Aumahnee mean to prepare us for change,she mused.Perhaps they are showing me who will lead when my time in this circle ends.
"Let us close the circle," she said.
At her quiet words, all the seers rose.Mikelle stood with them, steadier now, and they arranged themselves around the fire pit.Together they extended their hands toward the flames, calling down the gentle rain that would end their ceremony.Water fell from the clear night sky in silver drops, hissing against the burning wood until only glowing coals remained, then cooling even those to ash and memory.
The sweet smoke of the quickening herbs lingered in the air like incense, a reminder of the sacred space they had shared.
Kalana looked around the circle one final time.Tonight had shaken them all, herself included, but they had weathered it together.She would remain watchful for other signs of change, but she would not allow her seers to be crippled by fear of the unknown.
"So we are shown," she said, infusing her voice with warmth and confidence.
Around the circle, fourteen voices responded in perfect unison: "So shall it be."
As the seers began to disperse, returning to their separate paths through the forest, Kalana remained beside the cooling fire.The prophecy echoed in her mind:Peace will prevail when ruled by one name...Let three become one.
Whatever was coming, whatever those mysterious strangers represented, the Aumahnee had seen fit to warn them.
She would be ready.
Chapter One
Marigold
The Human Realm
* * *
Ishould have known something was brewing when Calyx asked me to spend the night last night.She didn't normally ask that of me—she knew better than anyone that things between Mother and me were...intense, to put it lightly.Our family home had become a minefield over the years, each room holding memories of slights and disappointments that cut deeper than I would ever admit out loud.The grand foyer where Mother had once told me my magic was "disappointingly weak" for a Blaine.The library where she'd compared my spell-casting unfavorably to Calyx's natural talent.Even the kitchen, where I'd overheard her telling a friend that she "worried about Marigold's future prospects."
"I know it's your birthday, and I know Mom can be a pain, but I'm here, and we're the best of family, so you have to come!"Calyx's voice bubbled through the phone with that particular enthusiasm she got when she was trying to convince me of something.
The phrasebest of familywas her spin on ‘best of friends,’ only better.She sounded so earnest it was impossible to refuse."And happy almost-twenty-one!Please, Marigold?I want to celebrate your big one with you before you move away forever and I never see you again!"
