"And now?" Flowua asked, her voice soft and gentle. "What do you see now?"
Xerosis looked around at her cousins, their forms bathed in the warm light of the hearth. "Now," she said, a sense of belonging settling in her heart, "I see family."
Ursula's figure took hold of her hand as she walked towards the hearth. "I have invited our parents and a few others. For now, we are discussing the changes that came with our ascension."
Xerosis, hearing that their parents were also invited, had her heart skip a beat. Finally, she would meet him, her uncle Crepuscular. A wave of anticipation washed over her, quickly followed by a chilling dread. She thought of her new form, the form without eyes. Will he detest me? she wondered. I am no longer the woman he fell for. The trial has changed me, but it never changed the way I felt about him.
