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had been easy!
Seychella then got to her feet and, carrying a deep bowl of water between her two hands, crossed the pentagram to where Isabeau sat, careful not to step outside the lines. She placed the bowl on the ground before her. Isabeau was surprised to see the witch's hands were now laden with rings. It was always possible to judge a witch's strengths by the number of rings, and the order in which they were worn, Meghan had once explained. On the middle finger of Seychella's right hand was the moonstone that was the reward for passing the Second Test of Power. On her heart finger was the blue topaz, showing her strongest element was air, and on her second finger a garnet, showing she had also mastered the element of Fire. On her left hand, Seychella wore a sapphire on her heart finger, indicating she had passed the Sorceress Test of Air. Seychella was therefore a powerful sorceress—many witches never earned more than one or two rings. Only rarely was a witch powerful enough to earn all ten rings, and even Tabithas had only won seven.
Meghan and the silver-haired witch also rose and came to where they could see the bucket of water. Isabeau had time to notice their hands were also laden with rings before Seychella intoned, "The Trial o' Water." Immediately Isabeau focused all her energies on the bowl, trying not to move a finger. It was somehow easier to use the One Power if you could use gestures, but Meghan said that was the sign of a novice: real witches could exert the One Power even if their hands and feet were bound. Isabeau had never found the element of water very easy, and though she strained, there was no response from the bowl. Exerting every ounce of her strength she willed the water to move. At last it began to lurch about in the bowl, slopping from side to side, splashing over the rim.
"Control," Meghan said, and gradually the water quietened until it was gently lapping the sides of the bowl.
"Isabeau the Foundling has passed the Trial o' Water— the ebb and flow o' water contained," Seychella said. "Drink deeply o' the good water, lassie, and good wish the rivers and seas o' the world, for without water we should die."
Isabeau gratefully drank from the bowl before her, for she was very thirsty. The water tasted clear and fresh and rushed through her like rain through the dry bed of a burn. Meghan went back to her position where she picked up a pot of soil and three twists of bark. Isabeau sat back confidently, and when her guardian brought over the clay pot, looked carefully at her hands. She could hardly contain a gasp when she saw that Meghan wore seven rings—a moonstone, garnet, jade, turquoise and blue topaz on her right hand that proclaimed her as master of all five of the elements, and on her left hand, an emerald, the highest level in the Element of Earth, and an opal, sorceress ring of the Element of Spirit.
"Meghan, are ye ... ye must be ... Meghan, are ye a sorceress?"
"How can ye no' ken!" Seychella scolded. "Ye live for sixteen years with a Sorceress o' the first order, and ye do no' guess?"
"Peace, Seychella. The lass has known no witch but me, how was she to ken? All her learning has come from books and from mimicking me—she has never seen the rings afore, they are too precious for bairns to play with and too dangerous for me to wear. How was she to ken?"
"But—" Isabeau began.
"No' now, lass. I will answer your questions later. Now I want ye to undertake the Trial o' Earth."
With shaking hands, Isabeau undid the first twist of bark. She could hardly believe Meghan was a sorceress— and of seven rings! Her dear old grumbly guardian, who limped about the steep meadows as nimbly as Isabeau herself, and knew more about the creatures of the field and forest than anyone Isabeau had ever met. It made everything Isabeau knew suddenly shift out of place, and she shivered a little.
Inside the twist of bark was a collection of seeds, all different shapes and sizes. One by one she held the seeds