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“We don’t know,” he mutters. “They just show up.”
I furrow my brow. “Indigo isn’t Jade’s baby?”
“Do animals on Earth produce young without the opposite sex?” he counters, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Actually, yes. Some species are asexual. They don’t need the opposite sex to produce young,” I explain, gazing up at him. “But not octopus or squid.”
“How do you know?” he asks, mismatched irises alight under the sinking sun.
“Are you playing the devil’s advocate?”
Ecaeris shakes his head. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Arguing both sides,” I reply, turning over to lie on my stomach. “And I was a marine biology major in college. I’ve studied an octopus or two.”
“And now you have a pair of krakens to study,” he teases.
“I have so many things to study,” I mumble, a frown tugging at my lips. “I’m not sure where to begin.”
He tucks his arms under his head as he observes me. “You say that, but you usually have a good guess.”
His attentiveness causes me to snort in surprise, and I find I’m floundering to articulate a decent reply.
“I’ve been spending so much of my time pouring over the beasts and watching the people, but I’ve realized I don’t know much about either.”
“You’re still worried about the announcement?”
“I haven’t gone back to the village yet,” I confess as I hang my head, swirling my finger through the sand. “It makes me a little nervous. I’m concerned they’ll question me about things I don’t understand or expect me to act differently.”
“Mongrels aren’t complicated creatures, Ada.”
I raise a brow at him. “Really, Mongrel Prince?”
“Okay, I see what you mean,” he says with a grin. “They aren’t all as complicated as me.”
“That’s a relief.” I exaggerate a sigh. “You had me scared for a moment.”
Ecaeris ignores my comment as he continues. “They look to the queen for leadership, stability, and growth. These are all things you’ve helped with already.”
“Helped with and doing them on my own are two totally different things.”
“You won’t have to do them on your own. Isolde does now, but that wasn’t always the case.”
I grimace. “It’s weird to hear you use her name.”
He gives me his signature blank expression. “My point is you’re seeing the end of her reign, not the beginning or even the middle. When she stepped into her role, the Mongrels were a mess, much like the Shades are now. The queen had become tired of her duties, and as a result, she became complacent. My mother has been an active queen for over a millennium, but even she’s grown tired.”
“That’s why you told her not to stress herself when I arrived?” I inquire, swooning just the slightest bit.
“No, I just didn’t want her to go out of her way for a Shade,” he replies, his face scrunching up like he’s confused by my question.
I roll my eyes. “I thought you were being sweet.”
“Have you met me?” he playfully asks. “I’m not sure what that word means.”
“Liar.”
Ecaeris skips a snarky remark, too intent on finishing this conversation. “The Mongrels’ needs and wants normally line up. They want advancement; they need growth. The expectations here are that you will lead them to both.”
