Chapter Sixteen
Will you deny her? Will you deny her, daughter of Ventra?
Red diamond blazes upon your breast,
Daughter of Sernia; warrioress of Verna.
Can you deny any longer that which flows in blood and bone?
Reborn in the sìochair's black water.
Daughter of empresses.
Blessed by goddesses.
Claim your birthright.
-Daughter of Sernia; Kyia Kossi
Three dark forms crawled from the still pond, leaving shiny black trails of slimy mud behind them. The earth smelled of water, dirt and cool grass. The cold air, much colder than a summer's dawn should be, immediately wrapped its frosty tentacles around them, turning their nervous breath to mist, but all were too lost in the moment to realize.
Rhiannon's heart pounded loudly in an anxious rhythm as blood rushed noisily through her ears
