Hannah Sorenson’s Reviews > A Branch of Silver, a Branch of Gold > Status Update

^Before there can be a beginning, there must first be an end. So let the cursebreaker live out her end with courage and with hope ever shining in her heart! Thank you, child, for your sacrifice. Thank you, sisters three, for your three-fold bond of love, hope, and strength.

Thank you, Song Giver, for the new song we sing.^

^With those words, she pulled Mother into the dance with her. The dance which was not Le Sacre. For where Le Sacre took life, this dance gave life. Though her voice was ugly with mortality, Heloise sang to the new rhythm in which she moved:

"Beyond the Final Water falling,
The Songs of Spheres recalling,
When the sun descends behind the twilit sky,
Think again of me."^

^An inspiration took hold of her, an inspiration so strong, she wondered that she had not felt it before. Heloise, following the new song in her head, raised her unlovely voice and sang as loudly as she could:

"Different as they'll ever be
Yet springing from a single tree.
‘Tis more than thee, 'tis more than me.
Now set the captives flying FREE!"^

^Le Sacre sang in desperation:

"Shadows of the Night,
Dance with me,
Dance with your arms entwined.
Shadows of the Night,
Sing with me,
Sing with yours voices combined."

But as one voice, the twelve maidens and the cursebreaker sang in response:

”Beyond the Final Water falling,
The Songs of Spheres recalling,
When all around you is the emptiness of Night,
Won't you dance with me?"^

cont’d

“I did try," Heloise said. "I . . . I tried to dance Le Sacre. I tried to save our sister. I wasn't strong enough."

"Of course not. A branch alone will bend and break. It is the branch of three parts that you need.”^

Me: oh! 💡 why did I not figure out the Biblical reference much earlier??? 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

^"I was sent from the Farthestshore to meet you here, to show you the truth you have overlooked because you could not help but overlook it. And that's all right, Heloise. You're not expected to save the day. You're only expected to try and try and, when all else fails, to try again.”

^She squeezed Heloise's fingers, urging her to an understanding she could not grasp. "Before there can be a Beginning, Heloise, there must first be an End. I’ve suffered my End. I've entered into my Beginning."^

cont’d

How could there be a sacrifice without the whole of the heart and soul involved?^

^She realized suddenly that she had never before heard this song. Not truly, not completely. Her reflection had heard it only the night before, but that time had not been so . . . so real. So ancient and so compelling. She knew then how wrong she had been to think, even to imagine that dancing Le Sacre in her reflected form would suffice! How could she truly dance when she could not truly feel?

^"Shadows of the Night,
Dance with me,
Dance with your arms entwined.
Shadows of the Night,
Sing with me,
Sing with your voices combined."^