“Ah.”
I needed to give her something, though.
“I… I won’t hurt you,” I said slowly. “I… don’twantto hurt you.”
I didn’t. She was different from any other woman I’d ever met, both powerful and caring. And that didn’t make any sense to me, but I wanted to find out more. “But I also won’t let you control me.”
There. Maybe that would do it? It was as much as I would admit here and now.
“What makes you think I want to control you?” she asked, sounding confused.
I blinked.
Then I laughed.
“Sometimes I forget you didn’t grow up in this world. Any elf who had… would want control.”
“That’s not true. The elf who taught me to use my powers, Lhorine, she’s a good woman.”
“Then she’s the only one, perhaps… one in a million.”
Izzy sighed heavily. “Given Saldrea and most of the others I’ve met… I can’t say you’re wrong.” Another heavy breath. “But look, Idon’twant to control you. And I also don’t want you to control me. I’m all about freedom, so everyone can live their lives in peace.”
I’d heard her say it enough times, but it still hadn’t sunk in for me.
“Could be the long con,” I said, but my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t think Izzy was that deceptive.
“Yes, make everyone free and equal so that I could what…? Take control and piss them all off so they’d rise up and dethrone me?”
Yeah, it didn’t make much sense.
“It may… take me some time to get use to you then,” I said.
She harrumphed. “That’s the problem. We don’t have time!”
She was right.
“I need you to trust me so we can go face the titans together and convince them to join us.”
Face the titans… together?
“They’d never listen to you.”
“Because I’m an elf, yes, I know, and yet they’recurrentlylistening to an elf, now, aren’t they?”
Huh… she was right about that too.
“What would you tell them?” I asked, curious.
“I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet. I was hoping you’d help with that.”
My shoulders slumped. I’d run out of arguments.
“I’ll help you,” I said, voice barely audible, but elves had good ears.
“Wow… ah… thanks,” she said, surprised. Then she blew out a breath. Koar’ll be here in a second. Why don’t we pick this up later?”
I nodded to that. “Yeah sure.”
