Miryo realized her breathing was quickening. Concentrating, she forced herself to calm down, and looked around the Hall.

It was a work of breathtaking beauty. Crafted from silvery stone, the Hall soared upward on impossibly slender supports, until it seemed to be reaching for the very stars it was dedicated to. Graceful rib-vaulting made a delicate pattern across the ceiling, fanning out across the bays, until at the crossing it leapt even farther upward, into a blackness the witchlights could not even touch. The crossing was devoted to the Void.

The four arms of the Hall, by contrast, were a riot of color. Each was built of the same silvery stone, clean and unadorned by even the simplest sculpture, but the walls between the piers of the arches were almost nonexistent, replaced instead by rank upon rank of exquisite stained-glass windows. In the west, where Miryo had entered, the colors of Air were all of the most delicate hues, barely even detectable, but the light that came through them turned everything sharp-edged and preternaturally distinct. She wondered what spell managed that. It was full dark outside, yet somehow the windows still shed light, still touched the silvery marble with their colors.

In the south, the hall of Fire was colored in all the hues of its namesake, red and orange and gold, until the light falling on the floor seemed to be pure fire itself. North was Earth, resplendent in rich greens and warm ambers; East was Water, all shifting blues.

And in the crossing itselfa"

The heart of Star Hall, dedicated to the untouchable emptiness of the Void, defied all the laws of nature. Somehow the color of the four branches, their light, their life, did not reach here. The air was peculiarly gray and washed-out, and the arches soared upward from the clerestory level into blackness. In the four arms, the windows depicted symbols of their Elements; in the center, Miryo could not even make out the windows, despite her best efforts. They faded away in an odd and disquieting manner, although she was sure they were there.

She shivered and looked away.

They wanted her to meditate on her future. What a wonderful idea that is. All I can think about is what might go wrong.

As far as she knew, there were two ways to fail the test. She didn't know how either of them happeneda"just the results.

She might die. It wasn't common, but it did happen, and supposedly in a variety of ways. Though that might just be student rumor. Certainly Hinusoka had died.

The other possibility would make her a Cousin.

Most of those who served the witches had never been witch-students. They were the children of other Cousins, as Miryo was the child of a witch. Mostly daughters; a rare scattering of sons, which was more than the witches had, but not many. But ultimately they were all descended from failed students, and sometimesa"when something went wrong in the testa"new ones joined them.

Eikyo feared that more than death. Miryo wasn't sure which way to feel. If you ended up a Cousin, you didn't remember anything, which presumably meant you didn't care about your failure. But there was something appalling about the thought, about losing your minda"

Miryo's breathing had sped up, and she forced herself to calm down. Don't think about that. Maybe fear is how it happens.

You'll find out soon enough.

She concentrated on her breathing, focusing her mind, slipping into a light meditative trance where she thought about nothing at all. And, without her being aware of it, time passed.

Between one heartbeat and the next, they were there.

Miryo's breath caught in her throat. The five Primes had appeared silently, simultaneously; they might have been statues were it not for their glittering eyes.

Satomi was on the dais with her. The others stood at four points around the dais, each on a circular patch of floor inlaid with the color of her Element. In wordless unison, without so much as a sound to direct their power, they began to rise, until they reached the level of the dais, each standing on a coruscating column of Elemental light.

"Who comes?"

The sung phrase, five voices blending as one, broke the crystalline silence.

"A sister." The solo response came from Arinei-nayo, the Fire Prime.

"Who comes?"

"A student." This time the Air Prime, Shimi-kane, answered.

"Who comes?"

"A daughter." That was the Water Prime, Rana-mari.

"Who comes?"

"A candidate." Koika-chashi, the Earth Prime.

"Who comes?"

"One of ours, who is not one of us; one who would join us under the stars, who has not been tried." Satomi's voice rendered the peculiar intervals of her response without hesitation; the words floated upward to be swallowed by the blackness above.

The four other Primes sang in return. "Let her be tried; let the testing begin."

There was a pause. Miryo took a deep breath and braced herself.

"Aken, I stand in protest."

The chanted line stopped Miryo's heart. Shimi looked across at her with eyes like chips of palest blue ice; the woman's expression was antagonistic as she addressed the Void Prime in a monotone.

Was this what Ashin feared?

"This student is not fit for testing. She must not be allowed to continue."

"Shimi-kane," Miryo responded before she could think, "the Keys passed me in the primary testing."

The Air Prime gave her a frosty look. "They are Keys, and not Primes." She continued to speak in a single tone; Miryo had unconsciously echoed it. The music was the framework of the ritual, and despite this interruptiona"her heart skipped another beat in horrora"it must not be broken entirely.

"That may be so," she said as steadily as she could. "But the Law of this Hall states that a student who has succeeded in the initial testing is eligible for the final stage. You may not agree with their decision, but the Law grants me the right nevertheless."

"The Law is not supreme. I am the Prime of the Air Ray; I have the power to alter it."

Arinei broke in now. "Sister, do you challenge a Prime?"

Miryo's jaw worked up and down a few times. Contradicting a Prime was unthinkablea"but she couldn't let Shimi destroy her chances! "Arinei-nayo, my apologies, but the Law gives me the right to undergo this testing, and I cannot allow that to be taken from me. I have not come this far to give up."

"As my sister says, it is within the power of a Prime to alter the Law."

"But is now the time to do it?" Miryo shot back. "The ritual has started. It should be finished."

"It is not the place of a student to dictate policy to us, candidate," Koika said in a frigid voice.

Miryo spun to the north to face the Earth Prime, then bowed her head at the rebuke. "I understand, Chashi. But I will not back down from what I believe is right."

"Even though it may bring more trouble than you expect? Even supposing you pass the ritual, I fear my sister may never accept you. You build difficulties for yourself, candidate."

"I hardly expect every witch of the sisterhood to view me as a friend, Koika-chashi." Miryo lifted her chin. "If I cause trouble with authority, so be it; better that than to relinquish my convictions."

"Why do you wish to continue?"

The question, almost whispered in the chant all the Primes and Miryo were continuing to use, echoed fleetingly around the crossing. Miryo shifted to look at Rana.

"If I may be blunt, Rana-mari, I have not spent all twenty-five years of my life studying for nothing."

"You may die."

That short declaration made Miryo's skin crawl. She remembered what little had been left of Hinusoka when the ritual was done, and the other students who had not survived. Her fate might be like that. Or worse.

"Perhaps, Mari," she said quietly. "I am willing to take that chance."

"The Goddess smiles; the ritual continues. The sister, the daughter, the student, the candidate; she has been tried, and not found wanting."

Whata"oh, Misetsu and Menukyo, the rituala"that was it, port of ita"all a testa"

"Let the testing continue," the other four Primes sang in response to Satomi, in melody once again. "Will you begin?"

Miryo just barely remembered her own part. "I stand ready for Earth. May the Goddess as Crone be at my side, and lend me determination."

The Hall disappeared.

A crushing, lethal pressure was on Miryoa"not physically; there was no physical element to this, but it was nevertheless horribly real and present, moving inward, forcing the life out of her. Its strength was terrifying. Miryo shoved back reflexively, trying to fight against the deadly attack.

Determination. Strength. Attributes of Eartha"

Miryo braced herself, no longer trying to push the pressure back, merely concentrating on holding her own. It made the heaviest burden she'd ever shouldered feel light.

Goddess, Crone, I'm not strong enougha"

That defeated thought sparked a sudden reaction in her; perversely, it made her that much less willing to give in. Eikyo had been right. I made it this far; I'm bloody well not going to give up now. She hardened her focus even morea"

The pressure vanished. The Hall reappeared.

"I have mastered Earth," Miryo sang unevenly, her voice barely able to render the response. "Its strength is mine."

"The Crone smiles," sang Koika. Did she look pleased? Impossible to tell; the Primes were all impassive.

"Let the testing continue."

Miryo was not ready. She wanted nothing more than a moment to catch her breath, to recover from the ordeal of Earth. But she feared that any hesitation might undo her, might allow the terror to take control.

"I stand ready for Water," she sang before the doubts could rise up further. "May the Goddess as Mother be at my side, and lend me flexibility."

The words were scarcely out of her mouth when the Hall went away.

A fierce wind sprang up, seeking to rend her apart, to snap her in half. Miryo felt like a tree in a hurricane-force gale. Treesa"they broke in storms, they were too stiff. She tried to bend with the wind.

She couldn't make it work. Like a tree, with its grained wood, she could not give way. The wind increased in force, and Miryo felt pain, as though her spine would snap, her branches break off.

Mother, Goddess of Water. I know what I should doa"these tests are, in a way, straightforwarda"but I can't do it!

Slowly, painfully, she relaxed the nonphysical part of herself, moving in the direction the wind drove her. Be a willow, not an oak. It was working. The Goddess was with her.

"I have mastered Water," Miryo sang when the Hall was once more in her vision. "Its flexibility is mine."

"The Mother smiles," Rana sang. Two Primes had passed her; leaving three. And thena"

Don't think about that.

"Let the testing continue."

"I stand ready for Air. May the Goddess as Bride be at my side, and lend me clarity."

This time Miryo was assaulted, not by a wind, but by an unreal barrage ofa"she could not put a word to it. Ideas, images, sounds, all flocked around her, flashing back and forth too rapidly to be comprehended, blurring into a demented collage, a howling demon of chaos.

It began to erode her sanity.

like studyinga"informationa"all those bits and piecesa"all at oncea"too many to control!

The torrent continued. Miryo fought to put the thoughts into order, to force them into some kind of sanity; she fought and failed. Her own mental balance was rapidly disappearing beneath the onslaught.

I have to stay calm!

She felt a scream building in her gut, fought it back. She could not make a sound. It was forbidden to do so, except in the responses. Not just for discipline; any extraneous noise could disrupt the power of the ritual. The wrong sound could be death.

This and a thousand other thoughts flew past in a maddening flood.

And then it was over. Miryo drew a deep breath. "I have mastered Air. Its clarity is mine." Or so I hope. Misetsu's faitha"that was closer than I would have liked.

Shimi appeared to find her performance good enough. "The Bride smiles."

"Let the testing continue."

She feared this one more than all the resta"all the rest save Void. Singing the next lines took more courage than she could have imagined. "I stand ready for Fire. May the Goddess as Maiden be at my side, and lend me courage."

Frigid chill. And a wind, again, this time bringing the ice of the far norm, like a blast of air off a snow-covered mountain peak. Miryo's first instinct was to curl in on herself, pull her insubstantial body into a ball, but it did no good; there was no shelter.

This was not what I expected. Goddess, I'm so cold!

The more she tried to hide, the worse it became. Her bones ached at the cold. It grew steadily more painful; her body was freezing solid, turning her into ice. Miryo huddled in on herself, almost weeping at the cold.

I'm going at it wrong. Obviously. Maiden, Lady of Light, what must I do?

Fighting back at the ordeal of Earth had failed. But Earth was not about fighting; it was about enduring. Fire, on the other handa"that was where you fought.

The fury she had held back, slowly building since Shimi had pretended to deny her right to be here, came bursting forth. It was more than anger, more than determination; it was her burning drive to undergo this ritual, and the dedication that had carried her through twenty-five years of training. To this point. This test.

I'm not going to give up now.

The passion of her emotions flared against the cold, pushing it back. Miryo straightened, lifted her chin. She had barely held on in the trial of Air, but this one was hers.

The Hall appeared once more.