Free Doppelganger by Marie Brennan Page A

witch-students. They were the children of other Cousins, as Miryo was the child of a witch. Mostly daughters; a rare scattering of sons, which was more than the witches had, but not many. But ultimately they were all descended from failed students, and sometimes—when something went wrong in the test—new ones joined them.
    Eikyo feared that more than death. Miryo wasn't sure which way to feel. If you ended up a Cousin, you didn't remember anything, which presumably meant you didn't care about your failure. But there was something appalling about the thought, about losing your mind—
    Miryo's breathing had sped up, and she forced herself to calm down.
Don't think about that. Maybe fear is how it happens
.
    You'll find out soon enough.
    She concentrated on her breathing, focusing her mind, slipping into a light meditative trance where she thought about nothing at all. And, without her being aware of it, time passed.
    Between one heartbeat and the next, they were there.
    Miryo's breath caught in her throat. The five Primes had appeared silently, simultaneously; they might have been statues were it not for their glittering eyes.
    Satomi was on the dais with her. The others stood at four points around the dais, each on a circular patch of floor inlaid with the color of her Element. In wordless unison, without so much as a sound to direct their power, they began to rise, until they reached the level of the dais, each standing on a coruscating column of Elemental light.
    "Who comes?"
    The sung phrase, five voices blending as one, broke the crystalline silence.
    "A sister." The solo response came from Arinei-nayo, the Fire Prime.
    "Who comes?"
    "A student." This time the Air Prime, Shimi-kane, answered.
    "Who comes?"
    "A daughter." That was the Water Prime, Rana-mari.
    "Who comes?"
    "A candidate." Koika-chashi, the Earth Prime.
    "Who comes?"
    "One of ours, who is not one of us; one who would join us under the stars, who has not been tried." Satomi's voice rendered the peculiar intervals of her response without hesitation; the words floated upward to be swallowed by the blackness above.
    The four other Primes sang in return. "Let her be tried; let the testing begin."
    There was a pause. Miryo took a deep breath and braced herself.
    "Aken, I stand in protest."
    The chanted line stopped Miryo's heart. Shimi looked across at her with eyes like chips of palest blue ice; the woman's expression was antagonistic as she addressed the Void Prime in a monotone.
    Was this what Ashin feared?
    "This student is not fit for testing. She must not be allowed to continue."
    "Shimi-kane," Miryo responded before she could think, "the Keys passed me in the primary testing."
    The Air Prime gave her a frosty look. "They are Keys, and not Primes." She continued to speak in a single tone; Miryo had unconsciously echoed it. The music was the framework of the ritual, and despite this interruption—her heart skipped another beat in horror—it must not be broken entirely.
    "That may be so," she said as steadily as she could. "But the Law of this Hall states that a student who has succeeded in the initial testing is eligible for the final stage. You may not agree with their decision, but the Law grants me the right nevertheless."
    "The Law is not supreme. I am the Prime of the Air Ray; I have the power to alter it."
    Arinei broke in now. "Sister, do you challenge a Prime?"
    Miryo's jaw worked up and down a few times. Contradicting a Prime was unthinkable—but she couldn't let Shimi destroy her chances! "Arinei-nayo, my apologies, but the Law gives me the right to undergo this testing, and I cannot allow that to be taken from me. I have not come this far to give up."
    "As my sister says, it is within the power of a Prime to alter the Law."
    "But is now the time to do it?" Miryo shot back. "The ritual has started. It should be finished."
    "It is not the place of a student to dictate policy to us, candidate," Koika said in a frigid voice.
    Miryo spun to the