‘I wonder what the next year will hold for us,’ said Rose after a while.
‘Peace, I hope,’ said Wren.
‘I hope so, too.’
They watched the sky a while, until a flock of starcrests came from the east, soaring over the distant forest and casting silver pinwheels across the horizon. Perhaps it was Rose’s imagination, but she thought the birds seemed happier than usual, freer.
She studied their shapes in the sky, frowning as she tried to divine their meaning. ‘What do you suppose they’re saying?’ she asked Wren. ‘I can’t seem to figure it out.’
Wren was smiling at the birds. ‘That’s because they’re not prophesising. They’re playing.’
‘Oh.’ Rose closed her eyes, overcome by a burgeoning sense of relief. She loved the starcrests of Eana just as she loved all its creatures, but for the first time in her life, she was happy not to know what lay beyond the full moon. For Rose, the future was finally unwritten and she found she liked it that way.
By the serene look on Wren’s face, she knew her sister felt the same way. They lay there for another hour, talking and laughing as the starcrests danced above them and the moon bathed the kingdom in its soft and steady glow.
‘Do you think we’ll still do this when we’re old and grey?’ said Wren.
‘Of course we will,’ said Rose, feeling the sureness in her bones. ‘In fact, I think we should do this every full moon, so that no matter what happens in our lives or how they might expand to welcome new love and in time, new family, we’ll never stray too far from each other again. What do you think?’
‘I think I’d like that,’ said Wren, with quiet relief. ‘So long as there are snacks.’
‘There will be so many snacks,’ said Rose, solemnly.
‘Good.’
Yes, thought Rose. The plan was good. Theirlifewas good.
As the wind stirred and the night grew colder, the starcrests scattered into the west. Exhaustion tugged at Rose. It was approaching midnight and tomorrow she meant to rise at dawn. After all, she had a kingdom to run. Two kingdoms.
Wren yawned as she sat up. ‘We should head inside.’
‘Good idea,’ said Rose, casting off their blanket.
They were just about to crawl back into the palace when a new gust stirred, and a shadow moved in front of the moon. Rose looked up, her breath catching in her throat. There was an enormous bird gliding above them. Its wings were as large as Rose and Wren, its feathers a perfect mix of tawny and gold, aside from its tail, which was a magnificent emerald green.
‘Stars above!’ she cried, leaping to her feet. ‘It’s a green-tailed hawk!’
Wren stood up to get a better look at the creature. It possessed a magic all of its own, like something from a fairy tale or a bedtime story of old. But Rose knew it was even more ancient than that. Long ago, when the earth was young and still unformed, Eana the first witch had left the stars on the back of a green-tailed hawk and come to land in the sea, where the creature changed and grew to become the very country in which they now stood. If Eana was the creator of this kingdom, then her magical green-tailed hawk was the very heart of it.
And now, after thousands of years, another hawk had come.
‘It’s incredible,’ said Wren, unable to tear her gaze from the bird. They watched in muted wonder as it came to land on a nearby turret.It turned its head, gazing at them with its large golden eyes. ‘What do you think this means?’
‘It must be a sign from Eana, our ancestor,’ said Rose.
Wren turned back to her, excitement catching in her voice. ‘Do you think she’s smiling down on us?’
Rose nodded, her grin spreading to match her sister’s. ‘Yes, I do.’
The two sisters leaned against each other, like mirror images, and watched the hawk lift into flight, soaring through the sky, towards tomorrow.
