Redhawk Caldera n e s s o

Mama Maia! Ani cried as soon as she spotted the Auspex ahead. Racing toward her, she hollered, Guess what! I met a boy! And I want to marry him and have his babies! She braked to a halt in Maia’s path and added a bit more breathlessly, Like they do in the fairy tales.

But she was old enough to know that life wasn’t a fairy tale. Sure, some amazing things happened—like any adventure she went on with Chickadee, for instance—but logic and reason were part of the real world. Surely she couldn’t or at least shouldn’t just run off with some boy she’d just met and expect to live happily ever after.

After catching her breath, Ani tacked on one last and significantly less exclamatory statement: I don’t know how any of this works. I was hoping we could talk about it.