They had nearly reached the birthing houses by the time Leela had gotten to the part about the High Priestess’s circlet. Estelle placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Never have I met a Cerulean as brave as you,” she said.

Leela’s cheeks warmed. “Sera is braver. And I could not have done half of what I have without Elorin. But we must be quiet now. Kandra is in the last house, farthest from the path.”

Leela paid no mind to the sacred circle of white and blue pebbles, crossing over them without a second thought. The birthing houses were deathly silent. The garlands of flowers strung among them were leeched of color in the moonlight and the obelisk was a mere ghost in the darkness. Leela and Estelle crept forward, quiet and alert. They reached the last house and Leela gripped the knob, gave Estelle a bracing look, and turned it.

This birthing house was much the same as the one Kandra had shown her the first time they had met here—a single room, round and domed, with a bed, a table with a pitcher and basin, and a bassinet to one side. Kandra was lying on the bed and Leela assumed she was sleeping until she sat up abruptly.

“Who’s there?” she called. But her voice was small and sad and flat, as if she did not really care that strangers were coming into her room in the middle of the night.

Estelle let out a strangled sob and stumbled forward. “Kandra,” she said. “Kandra, it’s me.”

There was the sound of a match striking and then a flame glowed inside a glass lantern. For several long moments Kandra and Estelle stared at each other. Leela did not dare to move for fear she would break the moment.

Very slowly, Kandra stood. “Are you real?”

Tears were falling thick down Estelle’s cheeks. “Yes,” she said. “I’m real.”

Then the two women fell into each other’s arms, and Leela felt tears well in her own eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Kandra said over and over as Estelle murmured the same thing.

“I ran away,” Kandra said, pulling back and wiping her nose on her sleeve. “I should never have left you. I didn’t believe it was really you but it was. Oh, Estelle, I’m so sorry.”

“Shhhh,” Estelle said. “It is all right. You have nothing to be sorry for. You thought I was dead. I’m sorry that I did not tend to our friendship as I should have. You got married and I felt like I had no place in your life. I drifted away out of fear and in doing so, I lost my best friend.”

But Kandra was shaking her head. “That was not your fault. I should have been more attentive to all my relationships, not just my wives. You never lost me, not for one moment.”

And then they were embracing again.