Still, I pulled it on and then Mother Hailey brushed my hair and put a ribbon around it. I looked like a child.
"Mother Hailey," I murmured as she ran her hands through my hair, "can I still call you Mother?"
She was quiet for a moment before she said gently, "No, Eden. You'll be my mother in a few months now. You must simply call me Hailey."
Tears gathered in my eyes and Hailey turned me toward her and led me to the bed where we both sat down, and she grasped my hands in hers. "Eden, you don't need to be scared. Hector is a very kind husband. And if you're lucky, you'll be pregnant with Hector's child before the great floods come. And picture it now, the two of you leading us all into Elysium, a blessed child in your womb." She smiled warmly, squeezing my hands in hers.
"A child wasn't part of the prophecy," I murmured.
"No, but the gods can't send every detail, I don't imagine. That wouldn't be practical."
I didn't try to imagine how all that might work, but the thought of making a child with Hector filled me with dread. And it made the reality of what I'd be expected to do with him even more vivid. I wasn't sure what "that" was precisely, but I knew it involved things I had no desire whatsoever to do with Hector. He had raised me, for all intents and purposes. I thought of him as my father. I tried to swallow down the bile that rose up in my throat.
"Hailey," I finally managed, keeping my eyes cast downward, "are you happy? Don't you ever want someone just for you?" I brought my eyes to hers.
She was quiet for several beats, but I swore I saw sorrow in her eyes. "Sacrifice is what makes us the blessed people of the gods," she answered. "It's human nature to be selfish, but we must fight against that sin. It's what sets us apart from the people of the big community." I let out a breath. She was simply paraphrasing from Hector's Holy Book.
"What sacrifices does Hector make?" I asked boldly.
She tilted her head and took a deep breath, and reached out to bring my hair over my shoulder. "Hector makes many sacrifices. His life is lived with all of us in mind. Everything he does is for us. None of it is for him. For over twenty years, he's built Acadia, built our family, kept us strong and balanced."
"What if . . . what if I loved someone other than Hector? What if I wished to marry someone else?" I asked softly.
Hailey let go of my hands and put one finger under my chin, tilting my face up so she was looking into my eyes.
"That's not what the foretelling says, Eden. You must obey the foretelling."
I looked away. "The gods can't send every detail, I don't imagine," I repeated, picturing Calder bursting into the Temple to interrupt my marriage to Hector, scooping me up, and carrying me away. To where? That was the problem.
"Eden—" Hailey started, a warning sound in her voice.
"Don't worry, Hailey," I interrupted. "I'm always very obedient."
She narrowed her eyes at me. She knew better than that. "Where do you go while I'm schooling the boys? I know you leave the lodge."
I stood up and went to study my hair in the mirror, pretending to smooth it into place. The truth was, I couldn't care less what my hair looked like. "Just up into the hills to lie in the sun." I turned to her. "All my life, I've felt like a china doll sitting up on a dusty shelf. The sunshine makes me feel half alive."
Hailey studied me for a minute. "Eden, I moved to the main lodge with Hector when I was nineteen years old. He's the only man I've ever been with. He's given me four boys and a life of peace. I have a role here, too. If a meaningful life is a measure of happiness, then yes, I'm happy," she said, answering my earlier question.
"But who judges whether your life has meaning?" I asked boldly. "You or Hector?" I had never asked Hailey what her life had been like before she lived in Acadia and she had never offered that information.
A door slammed below, and Hailey smiled and stood up. "He's here. Come, put a smile on your face and come downstairs to greet him. All your doubts will melt away when you see the adoration on his face." Hailey smiled reassuringly and took my hand, and together we walked down the main staircase. If Hailey herself felt anything other than adoration, she didn't show it.
We turned into the large two-story foyer and there he was. He turned toward us, and although he was still the same large, broad-shouldered man he'd always been, something about him looked older, more haggard than when he'd left. And I noticed that he looked softer around the middle, his shirt stretched over a small paunch. His smile was radiant, though, when he saw us.
"Eden, Hailey, my loves," he greeted us, opening his arms wide and walking toward us.