“I need to change these men like they asked. That is what happens next. Then I need to talk to my mother and grandfather in private to prepare them for what is after that. I know you want to be there,” she said, looking at Leodos when he went to speak. “This is Tempris business. If my mother chooses to tell you what was discussed, I won’t stop her. She will be very busy in the upcoming days.”
Lisana refused to discuss anything further. She joined the circle with the four human men and sat in the middle. She told all of them to place their hands on her. She didn’t tell them to stand back this time because of the heat and he wasn’t sure if they should. Unlike when Esylle made the heart flower, he could see the Myalis flower start glowing where her heart would be. Her eyes changed to the glowing white he saw on the throne before he had to take Esylle away. Unlike when she changed Gritt and he ended up in her lap, he could see the air vibrate around the four men, but they didn’t grow larger or change into beasts in the middle of the bedroom.
He watched as her breathing changed and the glowing red in her chest went away. Her eyes changed back to violet and she looked at all four men.
“Go find your kings and tribes. They need to do their ceremony for your new form. It will be done properly now.”
Whatever she had done to them, they seemed to be shocked and moving slowly as they shuffled out of the room to go to their new tribe. Before Leodos could speak, Sono was on her.
“How did you do that? It wasn’t like that when I watched you change the man who wanted to kill you.”
“I didn’t know what I was doing when I changed Tollam. I changed him, but it was not done properly. What flowed through me in the chair and the heart flower my mother taught me allowed me to change these men the right way, so they are not hurt.”
Leodos looked at her again and missed the confused girl she used to be a little. If she only changed them now because she knew that she could do it without hurting them, maybe she still didn’t want to hurt anyone and he didn’t need to worry about what change she was bringing that someone could overpower Esylle and Joron now.
“I need to be alone with my mother and grandfather,” she said, commanding everyone to leave the bedroom.
Leodos hoped whatever was said, Esylle would have enough time to tell him, since Lisana said whatever she was doing would have her busy. He wanted her to have her answers, but he wasn’t sure he liked seeing the almost cold girl in front of him rather than the girl who was just warming up to him and relaxed in his arms. He hoped this didn’t change the girl she had grown into.
Terros
Terros was furious with his son. Oris refused to tell him what had happened with the girl the night he took her and said the same thing the tall man told him; she didn’t want to choose. Oris kept arguing with his father if they tried to choose for her, she would just go back to Idric and they wouldn’t be able to bring her back. Terros had been hoping when he took the girl away and spent the night with her, he would be able to convince her to become the Theran queen.
Their argument was interrupted when one of the humans came in the room in a daze. Terros had already told him they would accept him and teach him as they had done Gritt. Kibal had a look on his face of sheer bliss and was not walking in a straight line. For a moment, Terros wondered if he was drunk and all these humans did was drink and give spirits to young girls who should be learning instead of drinking.
Kibal approached him and placed his hands on his shoulders. “I don’t know how she did it, but she changed us. She did it in a way that I still feel good. She said to find you and do the ceremony to choose a form. I will be whatever form you choose for me. I just feel so happy right now. I can’t explain it. I could feel something flowing through me that made my entire body tingle. Then she stopped and told me I was changed. Whatever happened in that chair, she can do more than she could before.”
Terros was no longer angry. He was relieved. She had done what she was created to do and somehow managed to do it in a way that made Kibal feel good. He was no longer upset they had come to Inanos. He had agreed to it, but thought it was a bad idea the entire walk. Watching her at the doors, he was sure it was a mistake and they should leave. Being around the white light in the chair did not make him feel any better, nor did watching her slumped in the chair after they could look at her again.
He forgot all of that as the rest of the Theran began to overhear and come over to Kibal. He was less uncomfortable than the girl was when they began to stroke his face and arms. Everyone was talking at once, asking which form he would take and some of the women of age were wanting him for their partner. Terros knew they needed warriors now. He told Kibal he would allow him to choose his own form, but it needed to be something that could fight in the upcoming battles.
He led everyone outside to perform the ceremony. The girl had told them all that the weather would be getting bad soon, but he wasn’t expecting the biting cold and strong wind when they opened the doors to go outside. Oria was by his side, as she normally was, and she grabbed his arm as a strong gust blew through the door and kicked up sand.
“Should we do it inside?” she yelled in his ear over the wind. They couldn’t make a fire in this wind.
Terros slammed the door shut. “It’s always been done in open air. This has never been done before and I’m not sure if it’s safe for him to wait.”
Before Oria could reply, the Tarks and the Farkhi started spilling into the corridor. They had the other three humans with them and both of them had the same look on the faces that Kibal did and the tribe members were whispering among themselves. Volaris and Fluvis both came over and asked why they saw him shut the door. When he explained about the weather, Fluvis said they could do their ceremony in the water, as they always had done.
Oria pulled Volaris and Terros aside and asked how they were supposed to do their ceremonies inside. Both the Farkhi and the Theran did theirs in front of a fire and always had. Their camps were further into the woods and not near the coast. The weather did not get like this so far into the mainland and they had always been able to light fires. Volaris mentioned the garden he found and there may be enough space there for a small fire. Terros knew she had only been able to change the men the way she had because of Inanos, but was wishing they hadn’t had to spend so much time running after her when she disappeared and gotten here before the weather changed. If she was already learning this soon, if they had gotten here earlier, he wouldn’t be trying to find the proper place for the ceremony.
He noticed the room got silent as he was getting frustrated with the girl again. He looked around and noticed everyone was staring at the end of the corridor, where the throne was. The girl had appeared with Joron and Esylle and was walking towards them. Whatever happened to her in the chair, her face no longer upset him. She still looked young, but the look in her eyes now was intense and a little frightening. She now looked the way she was promised. She walked towards them with Esylle and Joron trailing her heels. He didn’t know if something was said to them or if it was how she looked, but both of them were watching her back with concern.
When she approached Volaris and Terros, the resin smell on her was even stronger than before. “Why is everyone here instead of performing the ceremony for these two men?”
Her voice was deeper than it was before and the small, confused girl that had made Terros so angry was gone. He was a little unsure about telling her they didn’t know how to perform the ceremony without being able to make a fire outside because he didn’t want to anger her. Volaris explained before Terros could speak. She didn’t get angry. Her face remained smooth and intense as she led Volaris, Terros, and Oria to the center of the wide corridor. Sono and Oris followed, but did not flock around her like they normally did. They seemed unsure about this change in her.
She led them to the very center of the room, where there was a large circle and abstract carvings into the floor. The carvings were divided into four sections and were old and unknown to them. “You
need to perform the ceremony in this circle. This is where it was done before. These were your symbols before Essos gave you new ones. Do you see those curved lines that join?” she asked, pointing. “Those are wings and that is where he need to stand to choose his form. That symbol there is for the Theran and where Kibal needs to stand. Where are Fluvis and the rest of the Tarks?”
“They went to the water to do their ceremony,” Terros finally said, hoping he wouldn’t anger her.
“Your men just need to stand on the symbol and you need to sing your words. It will be the same as the fire that Essos started since he could no longer use this. After they are changed, I need Fluvis to come back in and I need the other three kings here sitting in the circle for what comes next. Then I need the princes after you.”
He could see Volaris was looking at her, puzzled, like he wanted to ask what she intended to do with him. Terros wanted to ask as well, but he didn’t think he could. She was different now than she was before and he didn’t know how she would react. Volaris opened his mouth like he would risk asking, but she spoke first and said they should start the ceremony and that both of them could be done at the same time. This had never been done before and Terros thought it was a bad idea as he went and got Kibal.
Both Volaris and Terros brought their men over and had them sit in the circle where she said they should sit. She said they should all began and both the Farkhi and the Theran began to sing. He had not seen she had brought the Vudos flute. He was surprised when the Theran and the Farkhi song intertwined like they were meant to be sung together. She was playing a soaring melody on her flute above the singing. They all kept their distance from the men in the circle, but Terros watched as Kibal became a large beast with two horns and leathered skin. He had chosen well. Bastan turned into a hawk and began to soar into the rafters.
As the songs died down, he watched the girl put her flute in her pocket and walk over to Kibal. She touched his horn and looked at him gently. She looked a little like the girl she was before she sat in the chair.
“If you want to go outside and run, this skin will keep you warm.” She led him to the doors and the cold air that blew in didn’t seem to bother her as she let him out. Terros remembered where she grew up. When she approached them again, she told Sono to go to Bastan in the air and teach him what she needed to know. She needed to be alone with the four kings now. Terros didn’t know what she wanted and hoped she didn’t hurt them.
Joron
Joron didn’t like the change in the girl as he watched her look on as everyone started leaving the corridor. When she pulled Joron and Esylle in private and told them what she intended on doing, she was no longer the shy girl who seemed uncomfortable around them now that she knew they were her family. She did not address them like her family and almost seemed cold towards them. She wasn’t smiling at them while she told them what she intended on doing and her face seemed to be made of pale white marble. He tried to joke with her and she didn’t smile. She acted towards him the way he did when he needed to punish someone as king.
She told both of them what she intended on doing and as they walked behind her, Esylle and Joron were whispering where she couldn’t hear. Neither of them liked what she was doing, nor did they understand what she said when she told both of them they would be changed as well. He knew Esylle just wanted her to go back to the way she was before.
When it was just the three kings, eventually the Tarks came back and Mafir looked like he had just experienced something quite wonderful. Lisana went to Fluvis and soon, it was just the four kings. Esylle sat off to the side and Lisana didn’t make her leave. Joron knew why. She gathered all of them in the circle they had performed the ceremony for the two men at. Volaris and Terros knew where to sit, but she instructed Joron to sit on a carving that reminded him of flames and Fluvis took the other spot. They all looked at each other in confusion.
“Things will change now,” she said, walking around the circle. “Belisarus told me I would bring gifts to the tribes and I’m bringing them to you now. My mother doesn’t understand what I need to learn here and my grandfather refused to stop her. None of you can get near them the way you are now. I will be changing some things today. It won’t hurt you and I think the way I do it will feel good for you. I saw the looks on the human’s faces when I changed them. Please sit still and stay calm,” she said, walking to the center of the circle.
Unlike before, when she changed the men and had them lay hands on her, she placed her hands in the very center of the carvings. She gave another warning to stay calm as the kings drew back when a white light glowed from her hands and began to fill out the carvings of the floor. Joron could no longer see the other men. He could feel something warm and comforting running through him. It was similar to the heart flower, but without heat. It reminded him of being a child, when his mother would hold him as he fell asleep. The warm feeling continued to rush through his veins and he felt like he was floating and being lifted up from the ground.
He looked around, confused as the light trickled out of him. The other three kings seemed to be feeling what he was feeling and also confused that the feeling stopped. He knew what she was doing to the other three kings, but all she had told him was that she would be changing him and he didn’t know how. He didn’t think he could speak to ask. Volaris was the first to speak.
“What did you do?” he gasped.
“The three of you have Tempris gifts now. My grandfather can change like me, but doesn’t have some of the gifts I have. All of you need to go with him. My grandfather needs to learn from you and you need to learn from him. I will need my mother briefly, then she will teach you what it is like to be Tempris and you will teach her how to use your gifts. If you all have Tempris abilities, you can stop her when she tries to go to me when I’m learning. I did not change you to stop her. This is what happens next.”
“Child, what happened to you?” Volaris asked her sadly, reaching for her.
She stood up and walked away, rather coldly. “You’ve been after me to learn. I’m learning. You wanted me to change things. I changed the humans and I changed you. I will change the princes next.”
“I didn’t mean for you to change too,” he said. “You are not as gentle as you were before.”
Joron saw the girl he had initially met as annoyance passed over her face and she got upset again. “What do you want from me?” she cried. “You push me to learn and when I do in a way that doesn’t hurt you, you get upset with me because I’m not the same as I was before. You always yelled at me for disappearing and now you’re upset with me that I’m not anymore. Can I do nothing right for you?”
Volaris got to his feet slowly and seemed surprised the heat coming from her no longer bothered him. Joron saw the girl he first met as she stood there angry with her fists at her sides. Joron realized for a moment what she had done. She hadn’t just made Esylle and Joron unable to use their Tempris gifts against the other three kings. She had also made herself unable to use them as well. Joron knew she thought that was supposed to happen next, but had no idea what went on in the chair to make her do this. The only reason she had the other three kings ripping their hair out was because they couldn’t get near her when she used her fire to disappear again.
She looked uncomfortable and unsure of herself again when he embraced her. She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t return the embrace.
“You came this way for a reason. You might not know why yet, but we have all gotten to know the girl you appeared as. We want you to do what you were created for, but we don’t want to lose the girl we know. I’m glad you’ve gifted us the ability to be near you when you’re using your fire.”
Joron thought she may soften and start acting as she was before, but her face became stone again and she pushed him away. “The white light can kill you. It would have killed my mother if I hadn’t woken up and gotten to her in time. It can heal you and I can make it feel good when I change you, but I could easily kill you with it.”
Volaris looked at her sadly. “What happened to you in that chair to make you like this? Are you doing this because you think we want it? You just threatened to kill me and I remember our conversation where you were so worried you would hurt someone doing what you are here to do. I told you I thought you would come up with a way without hurting anyone. What changed?”
“Nothing changed,” she said, looking like the young girl Joron knew again. “I was given this light and shown what to do with it. It hurt my mother when she came to me while it was filling me. If it hadn’t healed me and woken me up in time to heal her, she would have died. That would have hurt everyone here and I don’t want to see Leodos upset. I saw how he was looking at her when I woke up. When I lost control with fire, I could have killed you, but I had been working with it long enough to try to control it, even though I was angry. This light, I don’t know what happens if I lose control. I don’t know if I could kill an entire room if I used it while angry. I need to be this way because I don’t know what this is. I don’t want to hurt anyone, the same as I did before.”
“Maybe the throne has more answers for you and more gifts. What you did to us, gifting us Tempris abilities, I’ve never felt anything like that before. You were able to use it in a way that made us all feel good. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think and you’ll get more answers if you sit again.”
“I know I will get them if I sit again, but there are things that must be done first. You must go with Joron and learn from him how to be Tempris. Joron is now also Farkhi, Tark, and Theran, as I am. He must learn from you as you learn from him. I need the princes now and my mother to stay.”
“What do you intend to do to my son?” Terros demanded. He had looked as if he was almost frightened of her since she appeared, but appeared to have relaxed now that she looked upset and had the face they knew. “He cannot be more than Theran. It’s a part of who he is. If you refused to choose and be the Theran queen, you can’t change him and leave like you say you want to. I didn’t ask you to change me either.”
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