Blackfeather Woods my life and all seemed turned to clay

cicero arrived, or perhaps his shade. or maybe — maybe she had only fooled herself, and had brought a new horror to reside in blackfeather. yet when the listener looked upon the faces of her daughters, they too had responded to the chill that settled between them. 
if their father was present, relmyna could not see him. but that had not been one of her gifts; it belonged to averna. and the mingling of flesh with spirit was astara's own. how could she doubt them, these melonii children who had been born of the ancient line?
salt upon her lips; she shut her eyes again and continued to murmur him into existence, finding it harder to hold him between the planes.