Selestia's tail had gone still.
She turned around without hurrying and looked at Uriel.
"What did you call her?"
Uriel straightened. He didn't look at Ren. "Nothing."
"You said nothing very softly."
This time he didn't say anything at all.
Selestia's eyes left him and came back across the garden to Ren. The smile she had worn all morning was gone. She looked at Ren's red hair, at her face, at her bare feet in the moss and the shell in her hands, slowly, as if she were counting something.
Ren's fingers tightened on the shell. 'Okay. That's new.'
Syris stepped in front of her.
"You were told to get out of my garden."
Selestia leaned to look past his shoulder.
"There is one goddess in this swamp," she said. "And she is not a cook."
Beside her, Uriel's gills opened and shut.
Then the smile came back, all at once.
"Enjoy the mountain, little cook. Do not lose my gift." Her eyes stayed on Ren a moment longer. "Uriel."
