Empress of All Seasons

“I wish we could go back to how it was.”

“But we can’t. We’ve learned the truth about the world, and now we must speak it. Silence is the cousin of invisibility. I want to be seen. Don’t you?”

“They don’t get to decide that,” he said.

“What? Who?” Mari asked. They’d come to the end of the path. Tsuma’s gate squeaked in the wind.

“The Animal Wives, anyone. They don’t get to decide whether you’re beautiful or not,” Hiro said.

“Who does, then?” Mari asked.

Hiro looked down at Mari. “You, I suppose.”

“Why are you not angry with me?” Mari asked.

Akira said nothing for a long time. “It seems as if you are angry enough at yourself. We are our own worst punishers.”

“Do not cling to the hand that holds you down,” Hanako whispered, and scooted from the cave. “Let it go.”

“Sorrow can become a sickness,” Sei said. Akira saw the Hook Girl shift, almost imperceptibly, to the right.

Satoshi nodded, considering. “Yes. So can hope.”

“Do not let your fear decide your fate.”

“I think you guard your heart. Perhaps you’ve built your walls so high, it’s impossible for people to even see it anymore.”

I want to be different. And I think I could be, with you by my side. You make me want to be . . . better.”

She pursed her lips before answering. “You should want to be better for yourself, not for someone else.”

Tami had dusted the girls with perfumes and powders and imparted advice: Men like the smell of self-worth, confidence. You must know your mind and speak it, but not too often. Men fear intelligent women. It means they are capable of anything. You must laugh, but not be funny. You must be spirited, but not strong . . .

Do not lead with your heart, her mother had said. Lead with your head.