"Be careful with Azerius, though," she mentions a moment later. "I may not know him as well as my siblings do, but he is the most hated person in Aperion, and for good reason."

"I've gathered that," I mumble dryly.

"He's also the most powerful person I know. Rumors say he's more powerful than the Supremes."

My eyes widen at that.

"Really?"

She nods thoughtfully.

"So that begs the question... What could he want with a human?" She muses quietly, though the glint in her eyes tells me she's skeptical about my acquaintance with Ze.

A loud noise erupts in the air, distracting us and saving me from having to reply—thank God, for even I do not know what Ze would want with a human.

Wyn nods to me to get up and head toward the center where all the other recruits are congregating. The priestesses from the pavilion are also closing ranks and surrounding us from all sides. A loud voice calls to attention from the base of the mountain, but there are too many people for me to make out who's speaking.

"Count to ten, and then each number line up in a queue in front of the fountain," the voice intones.

We do as told, and when our turn comes, Wyn is five and I am six, after which we're separated into different queues. She gives me a smile, whispering a quiet, "Good luck," as I move away from her to stand in my own line.

I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. Although seeing that I've already been recognized by someone, it's pretty clear I'm not cut out for this James Bond stuff.

All the girls take their spots, and ten lines queue up in front of the fountain. It's only when we're more ordered that I finally see who was speaking.

She's the only woman wearing a wine-colored dress, her face painted white and red.

"Gazes to the floor. The high priestess will assess you," another priestess calls out from behind, and all the women tip their heads down.

I focus on the floor as my ears tune in to the click of heels as they tread closer and closer. Out of the corner of my eye, I make out the high priestess as she walks toward us, heading to the far left side where line one begins. She stops for a second in front of each woman, her gaze quickly flickering over them. A few girls are told to move to the side, though it's not explained why. The high priestess does the same to lines two through five, stalling when she stops in front of Wyn. She tilts her chin with her finger, looking her straight in the eye. With a satisfied smile, she nods before she goes to the next girl. She chooses another girl to look up at her before she switches to line six.