Lilette stared blankly at it, fighting the grogginess of the sleeping potion. “What am I supposed to do?”
Jolin planted both hands on Lilette’s back and pushed her forward. “I wondered the same thing after my mother left, but I just knew. How long to boil it and exactly what plants in exactly what quantity. I don’t know how, but I did. And so will you.”
Lilette picked up the pieces. They were hot in her hands and smelled of sweet resin. She shot a helpless glance at Doranna—surely she understood that this was madness. But the woman only stared back.
“It’s like we were guided,” Doranna said. “Like our minds didn’t know what our bodies were doing. They just did it.” Jolin shook her head in amazement, as if she still couldn’t believe what had happened.
She and Doranna watched Lilette, waiting. Lilette shifted her weight uncomfortably, and then she closed her eyes as she’d seen Bethel do. She tried listening to the stone. Nothing happened.
But then something did. An image came to her mind, of resin seeping from the trunk of an ancient tree, hardening under the sun and wind until it became stone. All of the four sisters were present in this little weight on Lilette’s palm. It had been one piece for thousands of years, until one sliver had been cut away. The pieces needed to be rejoined.
The comparison brought her sister to mind, and Lilette’s eyes pricked with tears as she sang.
Lost and lonely, you’ve gone astray,
A part of you has been cut away.
Until you find the other side,
Peace and belonging will never abide.
A song and vibration awaken your soul,
Heal what’s been broken and let it be whole.
Lilette knew she didn’t need to sing the song three times, just as she knew the two pieces of amber would now find each other. “It’s done.”
Jolin didn’t question her. She simply took the pieces of stone from her and set them on the table. She tapped the crescent with a fork. It slid across the table of its own accord and fit neatly against the other piece.
Jolin gasped with delight. She shook her fist triumphantly to the ceiling. “I did it! After all these years and all the doubters, I’ve finally done it!” She spun in a circle, the amber clenched to her chest. “They will have to make me Head of Earth now!”
“Well, you had some help,” Doranna muttered.
Jolin laughed and kissed her full on the mouth. Doranna’s eyes went wide in shock. Jolin whirled and zeroed in on Lilette. She tried to sidestep her friend, but Jolin’s exuberance was greater, and Lilette too was kissed. “My friends, this is just the beginning,” Jolin said. “Soon, kings will commission witches to sing them stone castles and ramparts. Soldiers will wish for our swords and bows. History shall never forget us and what we have done! We shall be written in the annuals of the keepers as the greatest, most advanced witches to have ever sung the songs.”
Lilette’s heart shrank away from such words. It was just too much power. Not wanting to ruin Jolin’s happiness, she curled her arms around herself and said, “I think I’ll go back to bed.”
Jolin was already piling more leaves and roots onto the table. “Fine. Yes. Doranna, find me more amber.”
Doranna rose slowly. “It’s the middle of the night. There is no amber on this island.”
Jolin paused before snatching a knife and slicing a root. “Ask my mother. She could find a diamond on the seashore.”
As she left, Doranna grumbled something about going to bed and how Jolin could dig her own amber mine.
Lilette climbed under the cold blankets and lay awake as the hassacre throbbed around her. Sash and the others were counter-singing. It was the only explanation for why the singing had gone on for as long as it had. Was Chen torturing the witches? Had he already taken them as his concubines?
Lilette watched the shadows slink away from the morning light as the bustle continued beyond her door. When she came out for breakfast, everything tasted like ash. Instead of going to class, she turned toward the cliffs. She was done waiting for Merlay and the keepers to save her sister. She was going to do something about it herself. And that meant she had to find Bethel.
***
Lilette followed the edge of the cliffs, her fingers skimming over the sculptures that seemed to be coming out of the rocks. Five stories high, they were mostly of women, but also some guardians. Their faces were so lifelike. She passed a group of four, their arms clasped and their mouths open in song. They were obviously part of a circle.
Next was a woman holding a perfect circle in her cupped hands. But no, the circle had a curved line through it. It looked like Lilette’s pendant. Her gaze traveled up, resting on the woman’s face. Lilette gasped and stepped back.