“Zia," I said, "that's a goddess. She defeated Bast. What chance do you have?"Zia held up her staff and the carved lion's head burst into flames - a small red fireball so bright, it lit the entire room. "I am a scribe in the House of Life, Sadie Kane. I am trained to fight gods.”

“I woke to a bucket of ice water in my face.“Sadie! Get up,” Zia said.“God!” I yelled. “Was that necessary?”“No,” admitted Zia.”

“Oh, god,” I said. “Sorry, sorry. Do I die now?”--Sadie to Zia”

“Zia turned toward us, her expression grim. “I will show you to your quarters. In the morning, your testing begins. We will see what magic you know, and how you know it.”I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but I exchanged an uneasy look with Sadie.“Sounds fun,” Sadie ventured. “And it we fail this test?”Zia regarded her coldly. “This is not the sort of test you fail, Sadie Kane. You pass or you die.”

“That’s right, Sadie. For our first real date, I picked up Zia in a boat pulled by a deranged griffin. So what? Like your dates aren’t weird?”

“Somewhere behind me, Zia yelled, "Hippo!" Which I thought was a little late.~Carter Kane”