cascade | kotlc

6. The Black Swan's Oath

 "Hello," a voice said from behind her. June almost tumbled off her bed as she caught herself.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," the gnome said. "I'm Calla. I just finished talking with your sister."

June pocketed Glistensteel. "Is she okay?"

"She's doing well, yes. I've planted some reveriebells to keep her nightmares away. She will thrive."

She nodded absentmindedly.

"I came to deliver a package." Calla pulled out a fist-sized black cube. "This is the package you were promised, to swear fealty to the Black Swan. There's a sensor on the top that will respond to your DNA. Only when you truly mean your oath will the latch open."

June nodded again. "I understand. Thank you."
Calla curtsied and left.

June started at the cube, tapping her finger to her tongue, and then to the cube. It flashed with white light and words appeared through the glow, a single sentence written in frills and loops. The oath was far simpler than June imagined, though the meaning was similar.

I will do everything in my power to help my world.

She almost laughed aloud.

Of course. Of course she would.

She already was.

And finally, she completely trusted the Black Swan.

"I will do everything in my power to help my world," she whispered.

A latch on the box snapped open. Inside she found a pendant made of curved black metal, shaped like the sign of the swan. Set into the center was a magnifying glass, glittering in the light, as if balefire waiting to be set alight.

June smiled, almost bittersweetly, as she held the pendant up to examine a tiny piece of paper embedded within it.

Your new spring is coming.

-

"How many times did you have to say the oath before your cube opened?" Biana asked, fiddling with her Black Swan pendant as she followed everyone down to breakfast.

"I think it was my fourth," Della said, lifting the hem of her long black-and-white gown to descend the stairs.

June found shorts in her closet this morning, after she'd turned it upside down, looking for something different to wear, which she was very thankful about. While skirts did offer the perfect mix between beauty and movement, she couldn't exactly backflip in them.

Biana had worn pants too, surprisingly. The tunic she paried with them was embroidered with butterflies and she had jeweled butterflies pinned in her hair. "I got it on my third try," she told them. "What about you?"

"My first," June said proudly. "To be honest, I kind of expected it, at least after what I saw the oath was."

Biana nodded. "Sophie?"

She looked away. "My first."

"I guess I should've figured that," Biana said through a sigh. She held her pendant up like a monocle.

The pendants couldn't be so simple. The magnifying glass inscribed into them couldn't possibly just be for viewing the message. There had to be some other way to use it. Perhaps as a weapon, or a signal.

"Do you have any idea what these do? All my note said was 'to show you the world in new ways.'"

"Mine said, 'For when you need to look closer,'" Della added.