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“What if I can’t?”
“What if you already are?”
I pluck at my bottom lip as I study his reactions. “How will they handle Madigan being here?”
“Depends,” he says, cycling through a dozen emotions before he settles on sincerity. “Some will see her as a threat, thinking they’re unsafe if Shades roam the village. Others will see her and hope for the turmoil to end. Neither will recognize the brewing war we must fight first.”
“And you protect them by keeping the Shades out,” I fill in.
“They don’t come here for a friendly visit, Ada. Madigan may be with us to help fight Nesta, but then what?” He waits for a moment. “What will happen when they adjust to her presence and another war begins?”
“I can’t let her leave without mending our burned bridges,” I state. “It might not make a difference centuries from now, but it also might be the sole action that stops future wars.”
He nods his understanding. “Right now, she’s a bigger issue than the other Shades who’ve been here. For me, at least.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The beasts are attacking more frequently. Cotear is still running from us. There are so many things happening at once…” He sighs, glancing at the jewel-toned sky. “The Shade being here is an extra weight on my shoulders. I can’t keep track of everything that’s going on every minute of the day. I’m just trying to keep some semblance of control. The one thing I have done without fail is keep the Shades out of the village.”
“I get it,” I admit. “But I don’t know that keeping Madigan out of the village is the only way to control the situation we’re in.”
“You want to take her into the middle of our territory?” he asks, though there’s no judgment in his tone. “Expose the people to sights that will make them wonder what we’re doing and bring them closer to potential danger?”
I shake my head. “No. I want to show them that the next generation can be peaceful. Madigan isn’t the problem, Ecaeris. Nesta is. You can’t blame her for things that happened before we got here.”
“There are too many unknowns—”
“This isn’t an unknown,” I cut in, scrunching my face as I struggle to explain. “Try to remove your bias and stop fighting against her. You don’t have to trust her; you only have to trust me.”
“I do trust you,” he tells me, his honesty palpable. “But I don’t trust the people who get their hopes up and then find out we’re going to war against Nesta.”
“Who says they’re going to war?” I challenge. “Who says you’re going to war?”
Ecaeris scoffs. “You think we’ll just let you run off on your own to fight the Shade queen?”
“No,” I concede, battling my rising grin. “I know all four of you will be right there, ready to fight... But I don’t believe you’ll have to. This is between Isolde and Nesta, Madigan and Nesta. Why else would Spiran bring us here, and give us so much power, if it’s not to fight for the people who shouldn’t have to?”
“There’s a word for that,” he mumbles, glancing away from me.
“I’m not trying to be a martyr,” I acquiesce.
He snaps his fingers. “That’s the one.”
“I’m the goddess of water, Ecaeris,” I argue. “Spiran herself told me I’m immortal. I will fight with Nesta before I let her near Isolde.”
“She’s got a thousand years of experience on you,” he points out.
“She may have that,” I agree. “But I’m a goddess for a reason. Spiran is giving me a crash course in all kinds of things. As strange as it is, I’m not worried about Nesta. What I am worried about is the future, the way the Mongrels will look at Shades after all this is in the past. I don’t want them to fear; I want them to coexist.”
He sighs, trying one last time to convince me of anything other than the plan he assumes I have worked out already. I don’t have a plan, though… Just a general feeling that I should follow my intuition.
“I don’t think you understand—”
“I understand the severity of what I’m saying,” I interrupt, standing my ground. “Despite living here your entire life, I’m in a position where I know things you don’t. I’m learning every day, even when I’m doing nothing. Sometimes, I don’t even realize I know it until... I just do. Until I need the information. All I’m asking is for you to trust me and my judgment. I know Madigan, and she’s not Nesta.”
Ecaeris meets my gaze, and I dare say he looks a little proud of my stance. “You want to have alone time with the Shade?”
“Don’t be jealous,” I tease. “I need time with her to mend a bridge and extend an olive branch.”
