‘Five times I was visited by the gods,’ Vika had said. ‘Five times, and then no more. Can you imagine that? To be so blessed and then … not to be?’ ‘I have never seen them,’ said Agalie. ‘Only their signs and agents. Be grateful for what grace was given you. We are each tested in our own way.’ She heard the rank ingratitude in her words, to complain that she’d only been visited five times by the Aspects, when Agalie kept iron faith on much slimmer evidence. We are each tested in our own way. ‘If the Aspects are silent,’ Agalie had said, ‘it is because we have forgotten how to listen.’
