"What do you mean?"
"I've been told that the Rakshana and the Order are not friends at all. The Rakshana only pretend to be their protectors. What they're really after is the Order's power--control of the magic and the realms."
"Who told you such a thing?"
Pippa shrugs."It is well known here. Ask anyone."
"I've never heard that," I say. "Surely my mother would have warned me if that were true."
"Perhaps she never got the chance," Pippa says. "Or perhaps she didn't know everything. We know from the diary that she was only a novice when the fire happened." I start to object, but Pippa stops me. "Poor Gemma. Are you cross that I know more about it than you do now?"
"No, of course not," I say, though it is true."I simply think we should be careful."
"Hush, Gemma. I want to hear all the secrets of the realms," Felicity chides, turning her back on me. Pippa breaks into a gloat of a grin, and I think of what she told me in the ballroom at Spence months ago when I replaced her as Felicity's favorite: Be careful. It's a long way to fall.
Pippa pulls us into one giant embrace and kisses our cheeks with fervor. Her smile is so genuine. "Oh, I have missed you!" A tear trickles over the roses of her cheeks. I am a horrid friend. I have dearly missed Pip too. Here she is, and I'm spoiling the moment with my moodiness. "I am sorry, Pip. Please, do tell us what you know."
"If you insist!" Her smile is dazzling, and we're all laughing as if we've never been apart. The trees rain leaves that float gently down, covering our skirts in the most radiant colors.
"The realms are vast. They seem to have no end. I hear there are wonders such as you cannot imagine. A forest of light-filled trees that glow eternally. Golden mists and winged creatures like fairies. And a ship with the head of a gorgon."
"A gorgon!" Ann says, horrified.
"Oh, yes! I've seen her at night, gliding past in the mist. Such an enormous ship and such a fearsome face," Pippa says.
"How fearsome?" Ann asks, chewing her lip.
"You could die of fright to look in her eyes," Pippa says. Ann looks terrified. Pippa kisses her cheek."Don't worry, Ann, darling. I shall be your protector."
"I don't wish to meet this gorgon."
"They say she was cursed by the Order and bound by their power never to rest and always to tell truth," Pippa says.
"Cursed? Why?" Felicity asks.
"I don't know. It is one of the legends."
"If she must tell truth, then perhaps she can tell us where to find the Temple," I say.
"I shall find her for you," Pippa says quickly.
"Must we?" Ann says.
"Here, Ann, watch this." Pippa takes up a handful of grass, presses it between her palms. When she opens them, a tiny black kitten sits blinking at us.
"Oh!" Ann nuzzles the kitten to her cheek. "There's such fun we shall have now that we are all together again!"
A thorn of concern pricks at my insides. My mother insisted that spirits had to cross over. But what if she was wrong?
I saw her die; I saw her buried. I saw her in my dreams.
"I've been having the most atrocious dreams about you," I say, testing.
Pippa strokes the kitten, turning her orange, then red. "Really? What were they?"
"It was only the last dream I can recall. You came to me and said, 'Careful, Gemma. They're all coming for you.' "
Pippa frowns."Who's coming for you?"
"I don't know. I thought perhaps you were sending me a message."
"Me?" She shakes her head. "I haven't done anything of the sort. Now come with me," she cries like the Pied Piper of merriment."I want to make a Christmas tree."
We stay for what feels like hours. It could be hours, for all we know. No one wants to be the first to say goodbye, and so we keep inventing reasons to stay--more magic tinsel for the tree, another game of hide- and-seek, more searching for the gorgon, who never appears. At last, it is time. We must go.
"Can you come back tomorrow?" Pippa pleads with a pout.
"I'm leaving for London," Felicity says sadly. "And you two had best not come without me!"
"I leave the day after," I say.
Ann is quiet.
"Ann?" Pippa asks.
"I shall stay at Spence and spend Christmas with the servants, as always."
"How long till you're together again?" Pippa asks. "A fortnight," I answer. I hadn't thought about this. How shall we look for the Temple if we are separated for so long?
