This caused Sister Madeleine to look at Ava for a long, silent moment. Had the juvenile said something significant, for once? If so, Sister Madeleine didn’t comment on it, and Ava added: “Do you ever see your family? Or any friends you made before you joined the order?”

There was another pause before Sister Madeleine said, “All Sisters are allowed to do that.”

Her voice sounded different for a moment, in a way Hæra couldn’t quite identify. Ava, however, didn’t seem to notice, and it didn’t last; when Sister Madeleine spoke again, she sounded as brisk as she had before. “But not often. As I said, we give up a lot. You usually do when you join an organization that requires absolute devotion.”

“Kind of like the army?”

“Kind of,” Sister Madeleine said dryly. “As I said, it demands strength of character. Although we must never rely on our strength alone. Our best help is in God.”

That was even more confusing. What was this place called “God” in which humans found help? Best to ignore that. It didn’t matter where Sister Madeleine got her strength, so long as she had it.

“Yes, of course,” Ava said. “So living a normal life—I mean, not that your life isn’t normal, but—it’s easier?”

“No. Life isn’t easy for anyone. Some face greater challenges than others, that’s true.” For a moment, Sister Madeleine’s face changed. Hæra recognized the look as one of sorrow. “And we often can’t know what others are struggling with. But a big life change always demands strength and courage from us, if we’re to take that risk.”

Warmth coursed through Hæra’s blood, like the currents from the southern seas she’d heard described. Sister Madeleine was right. Change did require strength. Didn’t Hæra know that all too well? Becoming the first female Stormhorse, changing her life and the herd’s traditions so completely, would require more strength than she’d ever needed before. That must be what “strength of character” was.

It seemed, from this conversation, that Sister Madeleine led a life different from most of her kind. That also needed strength and courage.

“What you want to make sure of,” Sister Madeleine said, “is that you’re not looking to the order as a place to escape anything. It’s a place to engage with the world, not run away from it. Is this something you’re struggling with?”

Ava seemed, somehow, to shrink into herself a little. “What do you mean, Sister?”

“Only that you seem troubled. Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine, Sister. Everything’s, um, great. I’m not running from…anything.”

Hæra didn’t have to be human to smell the falsehood.