My body trembles, just for a second, but I shove it down.
“Then why?” I demand. “Why help them at all?”
“Because they asked me to.”
A disbelieving sound leaves me, and I throw my hands in the air. I allow my unhinged laughter to pour out of me. It’s better than knocking her teeth down her throat like I’d like.
“That’s it? That’s your justification?” I finally ask.
“It isn’t justification. It’s the truth.”
“That makes it worse.”
“Does it?”
The space shifts again. Not disorienting in more illusions, but layered, like I’m standing in more than one version of this moment at once.
Her reality versus mine.
“I create what is requested,” she continues. “I shape what is needed. I don’t decide how it’s used once it exists.”
“That’s an easy out. A way to alleviate any responsibility and accountability.”
“It’s my boundary.”
Her voice never rises in defense.
She truly believes stayingneutralkeeps the fault off her.
“You’re powerful enough to say no. To refuse. To stop it.”
“Yes.” Her immediate agreement throws me, and my face flinches. “I am. But that would require me to decide who is right and who is wrong. And I don’t do that.”
“People suffer, have suffered because you just do as you’re asked without asking any questions of your own.”
“Yes. I’m aware, unfortunately.”
Unfortunately…
Something in my chest twists. Anger, frustration, and something heavier tangled in between.
I shake my head and fall into the abyss of Ellian’s saddened gaze.
He sees what I see.
“Why did you have a child?”
My swift shift in the conversation seems to take her by surprise, but her face falls, uninterested once again.
“The Goddess of Creation was pleased with some assistance I provided her and asked if I’d like to be blessed with a child. I accepted, just as I’ve always accepted any gifts they offer me.”
Gifts…she says it as though Annalise was nothing more than a piece of fine art given to her to put on display.
The estrangement is completely clear now.
Her answer settles over me. It’s a weightless answer for her, judging by how relaxed she is. Yet it’s suffocating to me. How can she be so…
The realization slaps me in the face.
