James squatted down and reached his arms in front of him, pushing off the sand and paddling forward.
“Do I have the option of keeping my feet on the ground?” Anna asked.
James flipped over onto his back. “We’re going to start with floating, so that might be difficult. But it feels unbelievably freeing.”
“Floating,” Anna repeated. Her whole body trembled with fear.
“Breathe, Anna. It’s really important.” James stood up. “You’re going to lie on your back, and I’ll place my arms underneath you for support,” he instructed. “May I?” He held his arms out, and Anna nodded as he gently rested them on her back.
“Now lie back like you’re going to fall into the water. I’ve got you.”
Anna eyed him. “You’re sure?”
“I’ve got you,” he repeated.
Anna leaned back, letting him lower her into the ocean. She bent her knees and, feeling the water wet the back of her head, kicked her legs up awkwardly. She felt sure she’d sink if not for James’s arms supporting her.
“I’m going to walk out a little.” James smiled. “You’re tall.” He carried her out deeper, and Anna felt her hair spread around her. She let her muscles relax, losing herself in the warmth of the water and the sun beaming on her skin.
James looked down at her and their eyes met. She stared back up at him and smiled.
“You’re floating,” he whispered.
Anna realized she no longer felt James’s arms against her back. She took a deep breath, her heart beating fast. She was sure she could feel herself sinking, and kicked her legs.
“Can we go back to where I can stand?” she pleaded.
“Whoa,” said James. “If you kick, you’ll sink. Just put your legs down. It’s shallow here.” James held her as her feet found the soft sand.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes.” They stood side by side, the sea stretching out before them, calm and dark teal.
“I think you’re ready to try paddling,” he said.
“Could we stop for the day? I’m scared.”
“Do you know the best way to conquer fear?” James turned to face her in the water.
“Deep breathing?” Anna suggested, thinking of the Hermit.
James laughed. “Well, yes. But another way is to keep doing what you’re afraid of. If you run away now, it will be much harder to get into the water tomorrow. So I’m going to push you.” He paused. “But only if you’re okay with it.”
“Well, you are very pushy, James,” Anna teased. She thought of Ivy and her competence on a horse and in the water. Anna pictured what she would look like flailing around in the sea and groaned. “Let’s get it over with,” Anna conceded.
“I’ll hold my arms out again, but this time in front. You’re going to lie down on them and put your feet up and your arms out to the sides,” James directed.
He walked out farther into the water until it came up to his chest and he bent his arms, palms up. Anna followed and when she felt the water rise over her belly button, she grabbed James by the shoulder. Anna could feel the ripple of his muscles beneath her hand and willed herself not to let her hand travel farther down his arm.
“Okay, breathe.” He pulled her fingers from his shoulder and grabbed her by the waist. His hands were sure and strong, and she felt her stomach flutter pleasantly at his touch.
James helped Anna glide onto his arms. The feel of his skin beneath her stomach made everything in her stir, despite her fear. She took a deep breath.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Now paddle with your arms, like I was doing earlier, and kick your legs as hard as you can.”
Anna waved her arms through the water and kicked her legs violently while James held her in place. She giggled to herself thinking of how she must look, and was thankful for the seclusion of the cove.
She kept going until her muscles burned, and she collapsed onto James’s arms.
“Okay, that’s enough for today,” James finally said.
Anna held on to James’s forearms as they walked back to the shallows. Standing in the water, so clear that she could see her feet and the tiny brightly colored fish swimming around her ankles, felt easy. Even pleasant.
They turned toward the cove and waded out of the sea side by side, hair slicked back from their faces, dripping with seawater.
James gazed at Anna. “You did great.”
She raised one eyebrow.
“You did!” he reassured her. “Same time, same place tomorrow?”
“Yes,” she said reluctantly.
James smiled. “It’s going to get easier, I promise.”
* * *
“Stars, I’m so hungry,” Anna said, tearing into an egg-and-vegetable pie that Lara had placed in front of her. They were sitting at a round table in the villa’s huge, bright kitchen. The table sat in front of a large sea-facing window, and Anna and Lara sat beside each other, enjoying the view.
Anna licked her fingers.
Lara raised her eyebrows. “So, how was it?”
“Hard. Salty. I sort of hated it.”
Lara chuckled. “I mean with James, not the swimming.”
Anna took a sip of a pink frothy juice. “Mmm. What is this?”
“Guava juice.” Lara smiled. “I’ll whip some up for you anytime. You make me feel like I can actually cook!”
“You can!” Anna said through a mouthful of pie.
Lara laughed. “Not like Henry, but I do okay. I think you might just be really hungry.”
“The food I am used to . . .” Anna paused. “In Pentacles, I mean. It was bland and always the same. I had come to think of food as merely sustenance, really.”
Lara wrinkled her nose in sympathy. “That sounds awful.” She took a sip of her own pink juice.
“It was nice with James,” Anna said, returning to Lara’s question. “I really liked talking to him.”
Lara eyed her. “Did he like the suit?”
“I don’t know,” Anna said. “I kept the dress on.”
Lara laughed. “You’re so modest, Anna.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “But I guess if I hadn’t lived my whole life in bare feet and a swimsuit, I might be more modest too.”
Anna shrugged. “Can I have one of those dates?” She pointed to a bright orange ceramic bowl filled with them. Lara passed them over.
“You should only do what you’re comfortable with,” Lara assured her. “I think it’s very sweet how James has gone out of his way to be with you.”
“Maybe he just feels responsible for me since he found me. And what about Ivy? You said to watch out for her when it came to him.”
“I think that’s over.” Lara sighed. “They’re kind of on-again, off-again. Either way, he is clearly taken with you.” Lara popped a date into her mouth. “I think she and James have messed around because it’s easy, but I don’t think she’s exactly his soul mate.”
“Oh. I get it.” The thought of James and Ivy messing around made Anna’s stomach clench. Why did she care so much? She had only just met him. But that smile. He was gorgeous and strong and so sure of himself. And kind. He’d found her and brought her home with him. He’d persisted in giving her swim lessons and helping her acclimate to life in Cups.
Anna looked up at Lara. “It’s nice to be able to talk with you like this.” Anna grinned. Lara reached for her hand. “I never got to know my mom, and I feel like—I just wonder what she would’ve taught me, what she would’ve shown me, if she’d had the chance.”
Lara tucked her legs up under her skirt and hugged her knees.
“Well, that makes two of us. No mom for me, either.” She smiled sadly. “You can always ask me anything.”
Anna squeezed Lara’s hand. “Where are they? The parents and the babies?”
; Lara shrugged. “They’re just not part of our culture. No one really knows where we came from. Some of us believe in a Goddess creator; some think we were just born of the earth. So I get what it’s like not having a mother. I think I’m the closest thing to a mother any of these kids have.”
“It’s strange.” Anna rested her chin on her hand. “If not for the simple clothing and the warmer weather, I might have thought I was just in another corner of Pentacles. I had read about people from other lands looking different from the few people I knew back home, but maybe the inhabitants of Pentacles originally came from the Goddess as well. In any case, I think the people of Cups are very lucky,” Anna said sincerely. “To have you.”
“That may be so, but sometimes it feels like an enormous pressure. On Daniel too. Sometimes things go wrong here; people get into fights or someone doesn’t do their share. As free and unrestricted as life is here, there are still consequences to people’s actions. I think people forget that, and it’s really fallen upon Daniel and me to remind them.” She threw her hands up. “Keep order, if you will.”
That sounded like an immense responsibility to Anna. She had never been responsible to or for anyone. Lara and Daniel had an island full of young people looking to them for guidance, and they could hardly be considered their elders.
Anna thought about the Hierophant King and his fixed fates. How he always claimed that order and rules kept the peace. There was no doubt in her mind that the people of Cups would feel absolutely choked under his rules.
But maybe nowhere was perfect.
“One more date. I think dates and coffee are my new favorite things,” Anna said, breaking their thoughtful silence.
“That woman in Pentacles kept you pretty isolated, didn’t she? No dates? No coffee?”
“You have no idea,” Anna said, chewing.
Lara dropped her knees and leaned across the table, resting her chin on her hands. She narrowed her eyes conspiratorially at Anna. “How would you like to help me plan the Full Moon Festival this month?”
“Full moon? That sounds magical.” Anna swallowed the last of her juice.
“It’s how we celebrate the twelve cycles of the Moon. A giant party with an equally giant feast.” She pointed at Anna. “You are going to love it!” Then she took Anna’s shoulders and shook them lightly. “We eat on the beach beneath the stars. There’s music and dancing and we paint our faces and bodies, like we’re creatures who live on the Moon.”
Anna sat up straighter. “That sounds amazing.” Chills erupted through her body, and the hairs on her arms stood up. “Maybe I could weave costumes,” Anna said, feeling inspired.
“Of course!” Lara looked out the window over the ocean, at the blazing midday sun. “I’m so glad you’re here, Anna. I don’t think I realized it until now, but I needed someone to talk to too.” The girls squeezed hands and smiled at each other.
The Minister of War was an intimidating figure. He was a pale, hulking man named Barda, who stood at a solid six feet two inches, with a barrel chest and not an inch of fat on his frame. He had short white-blond hair, and his eyes were such a light shade of blue, they almost looked clear.
Now he stood in the King’s meeting room, towering over the Magician’s wand and a large crate full of her supplies as if he were guarding a lit cannon. The crate contained glass jars of powders in every color of the rainbow, along with vials of liquids, firmly corked and thick with dust after being locked up for sixteen years.
It was early evening, and darkness had fallen outside the windows. The room was dimly lit with candles.
The Magician stood in the doorway, watching him.
“Enter,” he said to her without looking up.
The Magician walked toward him, nearly salivating at the sight of her things, her most precious things, just sitting there on the table, unlocked.
“That’s close enough. Sit.” Barda motioned to a chair across the table from him, and the Magician pulled it out and sat. “The senators and His Majesty will be here soon, but I wanted to take a moment to explain how this will work.”
The Magician nodded.
“The King has put me in charge of your tools. When we decree that you need them, we will give them to you. You will do whatever we have asked you to do, and only that.”
The Magician nodded. It took all her strength not to grab her wand and turn him into a rat.
“You will have use of your wand and whatever all of this is.” He waved a hand over the crate dismissively. “And then they will be locked up again, hopefully for good.”
The Magician’s heart dropped. She silently admonished herself for thinking the King would do otherwise.
“Understood?” he asked, as if he were talking to a small child.
“Understood.” She pushed her chair back and stood up. “I’m going to need them now to perform a tracking spell for the King.”
“Of course.” Barda stepped back and gestured for the Magician to approach the crate. As soon as the Magician stood, the King swept into the room, his cloak trailing along the floor behind him.
“You’re looking much better,” he said to the Magician.
“Thank you, Sire.” The Magician smiled wearily.
“Are you ready for this? I’m counting on you.” The King gave her a warm smile.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I just need to gather some supplies.”
“Good.” He walked over to Barda, and the two men became engrossed in conversation.
A small group of people filed into the room, seating themselves around the large table.
Senator Bassett entered, followed by Senator Terrin and Senator Gorvenal and each of their attendants. It made the Magician nervous to have these men so close to her treasures on the table, but they barely seemed to notice them.
“I need a large ceramic bowl filled with water,” the Magician whispered to Senator Terrin’s young attendant, who nodded, eager to please.
“I’ll be right back with it,” the young boy said, and dashed out of the room.
The Hermit and the Fool arrived together.
“How are you?” the Hermit asked the Magician, regarding her with a pinched expression.
“I’m all right,” she whispered.
“And Anna?” the Fool spoke in a low whisper.
The Magician nodded darkly and walked toward her wand and powders. The attendant came rushing back in, sloshing water from the large bowl he carried. He looked to the Magician and waved her over.
The Fool and the Hermit took seats at the table.
The Magician stood at the head and took several jars of powder and a rack that contained vials of fluid in colors ranging from the deepest black to the yellow of a chrysanthemum. She put the rack back into the crate and took out another that held vials filled with matter in various states. One looked like it held smoke, another was completely clear, while yet another looked like silty water.
She chose the silt water and a jar that held a powder of similar color. Finally she gingerly removed a tiny vial that shimmered with golden sparkles.
The Magician cleared her throat loudly, and the men stopped their chatter. They all turned to look at her.
“Ready?” the King boomed.
“I am. This spell will show us a moment in time. From there we’ll have to infer her whereabouts.”
Barda and the King walked over and stood on either side of her.
“Might we get a look too?” asked Senator Bassett.
“Certainly,” said the King. The men pushed their seats back from the table and shuffled over, crowding the Magician in a half circle. The Fool and the Hermit joined, but they were pushed toward the back.
“More light!” the King ordered his servant, who came at once, lighting the unlit lanterns on the table. The servant was tall and slim, and the men watched her as she walked between them. The girl
ignored their stares, and when she finished lighting all of the lanterns, she stood back in the corner of the room.
First the Magician picked up a jar that looked like it contained dried mud. She tossed a few pinches into the bowl of clear water. The Fool and the Hermit inched closer, desperate to see what had become of Anna.
Next, the Magician chose the vial of murky water, and poured half of its contents into the bowl. As it splashed the surface, a loud crack rang out. The men jumped.
The Magician could feel their delight at the sight of real magic, but so could the King. He scowled at the bowl of water, which was now turning a milky white.
Now the Magician grabbed her wand. It was like taking the hand of an old lover. The King fingered his dagger, prepared to act if she became overeager.
She unscrewed the little golden vial and used the tip of her wand to scoop out the slightest bit of the sparkling powder.
“Fool, come help me.” Barda made room for the Fool to move through the throng, pressed shoulder to shoulder in the small space. “Screw this back on as carefully as you can. You must not spill a drop.” The Fool cautiously took the vial from her and did as she asked, then gently placed it back into the rack on the table.
The Magician began to stir the water with the golden-tipped wand. She uttered an incantation, closing her eyes and carefully stirring the milky water.
Suddenly the surface of the water shimmered and everyone gasped, including the Magician. There was Anna, standing on a bridge.
“I don’t recognize that place,” said Senator Bassett, pushing his chin over Barda’s shoulder. Barda winced. “Do you, Sire?” Bassett looked to the King.
“No, I don’t,” the King said, stroking his beard in thought. “I have explored every inch of these woods, and I have never seen a bridge like that.”
“She’s looking for something.” Barda brushed the Magician aside. The room watched in awe as Anna looked around, then threw a rock off the bridge. She took a few steps across and then seemed to disappear.
“Where did she go?” The King gave Barda a sharp look, and he moved aside. He stared into the water.
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