Senna cast outward, listening. The music was strong and steady around them, but beyond was the hollow emptiness—the pain of unhealed lands. “We didn’t heal all of Tarten.”
The Creator shook her head. “No. That would have taxed you too far.”
Senna studied the woman. Without the aura of power she wore like a cloak, she looked very normal. And very young. Senna’s quick eyes picked out distinguishing features. And suddenly she realized who she must be. “You’re Lilette.”
The Creator smiled. “Yes.”
Senna’s mind raced over what Krissin had told her. “You lit up like a newborn star. When the light faded, you were gone.”
Lilette nodded. “It is what the Caldash Witches are saying of you back on the Nefalien shore.”
Senna shook her head in disbelief. She had lit up before she left to ride the winds? “Am I dead?”
“You are more than dead. You are transformed. You have been judged worthy to become a Creator.” Lilette took her hand and suddenly they were in a castle made of stone that seemed to have grown from the earth. Intricate stone branches and leaves climbed the walls.
Senna placed her palm on a stone plant. It was warm, thrumming with song. “It’s alive,” she breathed.
“More alive,” Lilette corrected. “We woke it up. As a Creator, you can do the same. Build your own worlds and populate them with your people. Or stay here with us and keep this world beautiful.”
Senna couldn’t begin to comprehend the enormity of Lilette’s offer.
“Come. I have something to show you.”
Trailing after her, Senna ran her fingers along a vine so intricate she felt the tiny veins. Stars grew out of the ceiling, diamonds and sapphires glittering from their centers. Lilette stepped out onto a garden balcony and pulled apart some of the branches to reveal a small pool with water as clear as the finest glass.
“See for yourself.”
Senna moved to the edge and leaned over to look at her reflection. What she saw shocked her to stillness. Shining like polished gold, her hair flared like flames around her head. Her dress shifted with the blood orange of coals, and her skin shimmered.
Hesitantly, she touched the fabric of her dress. Her hands sank into fire and ashes. It wasn’t fabric at all, but real fire. It felt pleasantly warm and full of power.
“Let your aura go,” Lilette whispered.
The sweet seduction in Lilette’s voice made it easy to obey. Senna relaxed. Light flared from her skin. It curled at the edges, a delicate filigree of song made visible. “I’m a Sunlight Creator.” A God with the power of creation in her body.
Lilette laughed. “That’s why I’m here with you and not one of the others. You shall be my Apprentice.”
Senna had trouble forming coherent thoughts. “But I never chose my Discipline.”
Lilette tipped her face toward the light that drenched everything in gold. “Sunlight chose you. It has been fusing with you ever since my lips touched yours. The process of transforming a mortal into a Creator must be slow and steady so as not to overwhelm your weak flesh—though you’ve no doubt noted that at times the power flared more strongly than others.”
When Senna had heard the Four Sisters’ songs for the first time. When she’d sung her own circles. When she’d nearly lit the Caldashan boat on fire. And finally, when she’d moved the island.
Lilette took a deep breath. “And so I will offer you the same choice that was once mine. Spare yourself the pain and hurt of mortality. Come with us and dance on the wind, sleep deep in the earth, swim in the seas, and grow gardens of such beauty as to make mankind weep.”
Senna closed her eyes and felt the music strumming inside her. Joy sang through her, but there was also a hard kernel of sadness. Her mother, truly alone in the world. “You left your Witches behind,” Senna said. “They needed you.”
Lilette inclined her head. “Yes. After I moved them, I created a barrier so Haven could do no more harm. I hoped that with time, they could become something better. When I met you, I thought perhaps you could bring them together. Apparently, that was not to be.”
“So I failed.”
Lilette smiled gently. “No. They failed. Not you.”
Senna stared up at the impossibly blue sky. “Why did you stay?”
“My love was here. It made the decision easy.”
Senna closed her eyes. Joshen—she’d tried to save him, but what chance did that little boat have? And there were others. Cord. Her father and sister. “Can I see them?”
Lilette gestured gracefully beyond the balcony. Senna stepped closer. Below was an entire city made of the same living stone. Trees and flowers and plants mixed among them like old friends. And there were people. Hundreds of them.