The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The thought of dying and leaving Luna makes Xan despondent. Antain senses that the swallow is unwell and talks to her as he cooks a meal. Antain is also very sad, and Xan tries to comfort him as best she can. Crying, Antain tells Xan about Ethyne and how “she makes everything beautiful. Even me” (303). Xan feels that Antain is broken inside, and she peers into his heart to find the cause. To her dismay, she sees an image of a woman clinging to the ceiling of a home, holding a baby with a crescent moon birthmark. Antain describes the yearly Day of Sacrifice.

Xan is horrified that she hadn’t looked past the sorrow in the Protectorate to see what was really going on. She knows the babies she rescued had happy lives but feels terrible for the parents who lost their children. Xan sees how guilty and ashamed Antain feels about his part in taking the madwoman’s baby. She wishes she could transform and tell him that the babies are all happy and safe. Xan wonders how this terrible practice of sacrifices started and remembers the echo of “something quiet, predatory, and terrifying” (305). Knowing how dangerous sorrow is, Xan pushes her own sadness deep down inside.

Antain reveals that he is in the woods because his own baby boy is next in line to be sacrificed. He worries that if their child is taken, it would kill Ethyne, a “tender soul” who might go insane with sorrow. Even though Antain has “never harmed any creature” (305), he loves his family and will do anything to protect them—including killing the Witch.

Ethyne remembers her mother’s stories about the Witch. When Ethyne learned that her older brother was one of the sacrificial babies, she asked her mother lots of questions. Unfortunately, Ethyne’s curiosity drove her mother to fixate on the Witch. Ethyne’s mother died when Ethyne was 16, prompting Ethyne to join the Sisters and learn the truth. But Ethyne discovered that no one in the Tower would talk about the Witch.

Ethyne visits the Sisters and tells them the truth: Sister Ignatia made up all the stories about the “baby-eating Witch” (311) so she could eat everyone’s sorrows. Now that the sun is shining, Ethyne says she “can see clearly” (312) and calls on the Sisters to leave the Tower with her. Antain’s youngest brother, Wyn, helps Ethyne by locking the novitiate and the Sisters who don’t follow Ethyne in their rooms. Ethyne and Wyn free all the Tower prisoners and open all the doors.

Since Sister Ignatia left, the mothers who sacrificed babies are having visions. They see their children growing up in other families and having families of their own. They feel as if they have just lost their children again. At the same time, as the fog lifts, they feel hope and joy. Families wonder and question whether their babies are really dead. A crowd, holding signs and giving speeches, gathers in front of the Tower.

The Elders are alarmed at the sudden uprising. They blame Grand Elder Gherland, since Ethyne, the “rabble-rouser,” and Antain are his family. Gherland assures them that these difficulties are temporary, that their lives will go back to normal when Sister Ignatia returns and Antain is dead. At that moment, the volcano rumbles and threatens to erupt.

Luna feels energized by the moon, which is about to rise. She feels like her love and knowledge are drawing her toward her grandmother.

Meanwhile, Fyrian is growing, unevenly and piece by piece. Fyrian, thinking he is already Simply Enormous, is excited to be even bigger. Glerk struggles to diplomatically tell Fyrian that he has not always been huge, and was, in fact, tiny. But Glerk assures Fyrian that his heart has always been Simply Enormous. Glerk finally admits that neither he nor Xan have understood what is going on with Fyrian or why he stayed in his babyhood for 500 years. Glerk vows to support Fyrian through all his changes.

Glerk spies Luna’s magic and knows she is “turning into a grown-up. And a witch. Both at the same time” (323). Glerk also sees Xan’s magic and worries she doesn’t have enough to transform. Fyrian fears that the volcano is about to erupt: It feels the same as it did just before his mother died. Fyrian and Glerk hurry to warn Xan about the impending eruption.

After hearing Antain’s story, Xan is tormented with self-recrimination. While she knows she saved all the babies from starvation or being eaten by animals, she feels that she should have done more to stop the sacrifices. When the moon rises, Xan plans to gather moonlight, transform out of her swallow form, and magically send Antain safely home. Antain and Xan hear people approaching. Xan spots the signature silver and blue of Luna’s magic, and Antain prepares to slit the witch’s throat.

At Xan’s home, the madwoman wears the Seven League Boots. Sister Ignatia arrives and orders her to remove them. The madwoman refuses; the boots make her feel strong and light and alive. She feels magic everywhere around her, and so does Sister Ignatia. Both women gather up as much magic as they can, and the madwoman understands how to find Luna.

Smoke billows from one of the volcano’s craters, and Sister Ignatia knows it is about to erupt. She offers to take the madwoman back to the Tower in return for the boots. The madwoman knows she is lying. The madwoman has a vision of Sister Ignatia long ago, taking the boots and leaving all the magicians to die. The madwoman calls Sister Ignatia “Tiger’s Heart,” which upsets the Sister. The madwoman says everybody has heard the story about the Witch who ate a tiger’s heart. Sister Ignatia angrily denies that there is any story like that, and she should know because she started them all. The madwoman insinuates that the other Sisters in the Tower talk about Sister Ignatia. When Sister Ignatia says that is impossible, the madwoman counters that lots of things that seem impossible—like flying on paper birds and Luna being alive—are true.

Sister Ignatia attacks the madwoman, who avoids her magically flying knives. The madwoman runs away in the Seven League Boots to find Luna. Sister Ignatia follows swiftly behind.