The Twenty Seven

Chapter 23

"Do you have everything?" Es stands in the doorway to Owen's room, her own bag slung over her shoulder. "Not that you had much to begin with."

He gives her a toothy grin. "I have the clothes Ty let me borrow. And the--" He's about to continue but catches himself when he sees Ty standing behind Es, dragging a finger across her neck. "And that's it!"

Es rolls her eyes but lets it go. "Everyone else is downstairs. Come on."

As the last three descend, Eira is crouching before the front door with Ic. "See this one? It keeps us invisible."

"So you need a different one for each of the senses? I guess that does make sense--"

"Is the lesson over?" Ty asks. "I'm ready to go home and take a shower with my own stuff."

Both of them stand, Ic giving Ty a sheepish smile while Eira gives her a friendly glare. "Yeah, yeah. At least most of us get to go home."

Ty's mouth opens and she blinks for a second, not having considered that Eira might have second thoughts about going to Crann. She's about to respond, but Nes beats her to it. "Are you ready? Eira, you'll need to take my arm. Owen, hold on to Es." She gives a curt nod and all at once the room blurs into a blinding white. Eira closes her eyes, but it's too late; when the light dissipates, her vision is covered in black spots.

There's clapping coming from all around her and when she can finally see again she realizes that the people surrounding them are greeting the Cenns. Owen looks just as lost as she is, standing closer to her. After a few moments, Nes takes a step away from what she can only assume to be members of the Twenty Seven. "Everyone, we have two new people with us. Ei, a Tochais and the Twenty Seventh Ritire of the Twenty Seven." She waits until another round of applause dies down before continuing. "And Owen Sullivan, a promising young Sruth."

The next few hours pass in a blur for Eira as various strangers help her prepare for the coming ceremony. "Your hair is gorgeous," a woman says as she helps her put it up in some traditional style. It's complex with various braids running throughout. "Do you use anything special?"

Before she can even comprehend the question -- much less answer it -- there's someone else talking to her. It's a man. "We don't have Tochaisi often around here. Which color would you prefer? Usually it goes by--" Eira can't hear the rest of what he's saying over the blood pumping in her ears. The man gives up trying to get to her, leaving and returning with a sandy uniform.

Once the people are finished with her, she gets taken to a room with a large group of girls. She searches for any of the Cenns, but can't find them. She takes a seat by the door, trying to calm herself. As she runs a hand over her eyes -- a hand that was freshly bandaged and dressed -- she feels someone sit beside her.

"It can be a little stressful, can't it?" Eira looks up to find a small girl with dark brown hair and eyes. She gives her a forced smile and nods, but the girl just shakes her head. "Don't feel like you have to put on an act for me. Or any of us here." She holds out her hand. "I'm Marilou -- Lou, now. And you're Ei, right?"

"Yeah," Eira says, shaking her hand.

"I don't know how much I like the nicknames -- Lou definitely wouldn't have been my first choice if I could have picked -- but, you know what they say." Despite obviously not knowing what they say, Eira nods. "I'm just glad that we're finally going to be Ritires, you know? It's been dangling in front of us for so long I didn't think it'd actually happen; but here we are! It's like a dream come true."

"I guess it is."

"You don't talk much, do you? I've been told I talk too much; but, I guess it can't be helped." She gives Eira a smile that has a glint of something else beneath the surface. She can't quite tell what it is, but she finds Lou that much more tolerable. "It's just part of my charm."