up residence there, like a flock of birds lighting in a tree. Then, again, he said, “I’m a magician!”
He was delighted. He’d watched magicians for centuries, marveling at their tricks, the miracles they seemed to create. How much joy and wonder they gave the people who saw them. It felt appropriate to Asa somehow. Was this what was inside him? Was this what he would be if he were human? Asa wasn’t sure. So what could he do now? He thought. Then a new idea dawned on him: With this new human body, what couldn’t he do?
The sanctuary had made me feel small in the past, but now it just felt… empty. No pews, no paintings of Jesus or banners or wall hangings. Those had all been taken down after the walls went up. There weren’t any mandates about it or anything. Mother Morevna wasn’t that kind of leader. But after all that had happened, it just felt so pointless, so silly. And so sad. Now all that was left was the stained glass, the bare, wooden floor, and an enormous stack of water rations waiting to be sent to the northeast families. Images of saints looked down from the windows with expressions of ecstasy or agony.
In the colored light, I paced to and fro, taking deep breaths and trying to keep my hands from shaking. The Dust Soldiers kept rising in my mind, but gradually, they were overshadowed by something else, by a strange, fiery eagerness that had rested in my stomach ever since Mother Morevna called my name. I thought of all the amazing things I had seen Mother Morevna do, realizing for the first time how I had always longed to be able to feel even an ounce of the power, of the confidence that seemed to float around her like perfume.
There was a sound of heels clicking, and I turned just as she stepped in front of the altar, straight-backed and stern, her black dress stiff and immaculate. My teacher.
This woman, said a voice in the most daring part of my mind, this woman can teach me about what I can become. What I am meant to be.
When she spoke, there was a sizzle behind her voice, like gunpowder. “I am sorry you are being forced into this position, my dear. Especially after our… former difficulties.”
I squirmed and felt my face grow hot, amazed by how much meaning she could fit in two words.
“Oh, yes, I was quite surprised that you were the one as well,” she said, reading my expression. “But that is behind us, my dear. I bear you no ill will. You were a child, after all, and unsure of your own powers.”
Powers.
“Um… thank you, ma’am.”
“Jameson spoke to you, I take it,” she said. “About my… condition and his worries about it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “I’m sorry to hear about your health. And I want you to know that I’m willing to learn anything you’ll teach me. Anything that will help Elysium.”
“I’m sure you are,” she said. “Unfortunately, it won’t be necessary.”
“Ma’am?” I asked quietly.
She smiled a wry, pained sort of smile.
“Do you know why I created Elysium, child? Why it is the way it is?” She came toward me, and I could feel the energy, the magic, crackling around her. “I wanted to create a society where things like prejudice and inequality are stamped out, where groups of posturing, truculent men don’t ruin everything. A society that is truly responsible for everyone. I have done so. I was there when the Dust Soldiers came the first time, and I intend to be there when they come again, to win this infernal Game and to connect Elysium to our proper world, once and for all. Unfortunately, events in the past have made me leery of sharing that responsibility with another.” She paused. “Jameson was right about a few things. I believe the visibility of my having a Successor is important in order to bolster the people’s faith in this difficult time, my health being as it is. That is all.”
My heart sank. All my feelings of importance were dissolving like sugar.
“I do appreciate your enthusiasm,” she was saying, “and you will be recognized as my Successor and enjoy all the privileges therein, but I simply cannot take that risk again.” She paused, reading my expression. “You are disappointed. I’d have thought anyone would want to avoid dealing with the Dust Soldiers herself.”
“I think I just… wanted to learn,” I said. “If the… If