Page 57 of Mama Si's Paradise

“Oh,” Mama Si whispered. “You’d have to be brought in front of our people and proposed as a suitable candidate. You’d have to willingly allow Ennaris to test you, to see if you are worthy. To see if it will accept you in its embrace—it’s a whole process, Fall Doll.” She suddenly looked distressed.

“But it has been done before,” I said, just to make sure I was hearing right.

“Yes, of course. It’s actually done every year,” said Mama Si.

Every year.“Andyou’vedone it before. Personally.”

She raised her chin like my statement offended her. “Fall Doll, you have no idea whom you’re talking to, so I’ll forgive your ignorance, but yes, I have. Plenty of times.”

“And did it work?”

“Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Mama Si said. “I wouldn’t takejustanyoneto the rituals, of course, so the Whispering Woods hasn’t rejected my offerings often.” She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “But it has. Very recently, in fact.”

“What’s the Whispering Woods?” Was that the name of the forest I’d spent almost every night in?

“It’s an Isle, just like my Burrow,” Mama Si said. “Far away from here.”

I shook my head, trying not to be so damn in awe of the fact that there were more places like the Blood Burrow. More places where the trees were alive and the ground knew your deepest desires.Moreof this magic.

“So, what’s it like? How does it even work? What…what doesit mean?”

Mama Si must have understood how overwhelming this whole thing was for me, which is why she grabbed my hand in hers, her skin warm, her glove gone. I didn’t bother to check or to wonderwhenshe’d taken it off—magic. She could literally do magic, and I’d witnessed it firsthand.

So, I let her guide me back to the armchairs, and when we sat down, she didn’t let go of me. I was glad for it.

“Ennaris will allow us to sort ofinvitepeople from the outside world into ours, if we find them worthy. There’s a ritual that’s held in the waters of the Whispering Woods, one of the Seven Isles, and they decide whether whatwe,leaders of the other Isles, are offering are fit to become part of it. Part of the magic. Part of the network. It’s not complicated—but the leader must truly feel that the candidate is worthy, and thecandidate must agree to be subjected to the test willingly. One hundred percent willingly for it to work.”

“And?” I said, holding onto her hand so tightly it was a miracle she wasn’t jerking it away.

But Mama Si only smiled. “And if you’re found worthy, Ennaris gives you the gift of magic. Makes you an Enchanted,” she explained. “Once you are an Enchanted, you are tied to the Seven Isles,not the outside world anymore.” She leaned in closer, her eyes full of colors, full of life, and she whispered, “Once you are an Enchanted, you belong to Ennaris forever.”

Not tied to the outside world.

Funny how that was the one thing I’d wanted before I ever set foot in the Paradise.

My eyes closed and I stood perfectly still as I tried to process her words for a moment.

“Fall Doll,” Mama Si called my name again.

She still sat across from me, her hand in mine, warm and comforting and possibly the realest thing I’d ever experienced in my life so far.

“Sorry,” I muttered and let go of her, leaning back in the armchair. “There’s just a lot on my mind.”

It didn’t surprise her.

“Understandable, and I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but…” She stopped speaking, lips opening and closing a couple of times in silence before she said, “Would you actually consider becoming part of Ennaris, Fall Doll?”

Consider?

I felt like it was the only thing that mattered to me right now. I felt like all my stars had finally aligned. I felt like I was meant to get here all along.

“Yes.” My voice came out so breathless it was impossible to pretend like I wasn’t about to lose my fucking mind over this.

Impossible,my mind whispered.No such thing! Not real!

Except I’d seen all of it with my own eyes already.

“Oh, dear,” Mama Si then said, putting a hand over her chest, her eyes moving to the floor as her smile fell.

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