I have not had much chance to see or speak to Inca lately, so it was a pleasure to come check on Gabrielle and find Inca there with her. I was surprised, however, because Gabrielle was not off on a ski trip or trying to replace the screens in her third-floor window, merely sitting on the sofa, staring at the ceiling with a frown.
“Hello, Asa’el,” Inca said, smiling at me even as she stretched one wing over Gabrielle. She looked me over with her sharp eye. “Something is troubling you.”
It would take an angel much duller than Inca—and one who has not read my writing—to miss that. I sighed. “I am having trouble working with Sabasa recently,” I confessed. I told Inca about our most recent disagreement, and also that Sabasa has been avoiding me since then, when I tried to find her to discuss what we must do next.
“It is so frustrating,” I told Inca, “because with you and with Brid collaboration is easy, and a joy to me. Brid and I work closely, and yes, maybe that is so easy because we have known each other so long and so well. But you and I are far more recent friends, and we have managed to find a balance quite easily, yes? We know when Gabrielle needs each of us, and so we cover for one another.”
Inca had her gaze on Gabrielle, watching over our charge while she listened to me. I had the sense that she was doing both with ease, that neither of us were less in Inca’s thoughts than the other.
I sighed. “Maybe I am wrong. I am the one who is starting all the arguments, after all. Maybe for the sake of peace I should stand back.”
Inca smiled then and crouched down next to Gabrielle.
“The humans have a saying,” she said, and I know now that she was speaking to both of us, for both of us needed to hear it. “Pick your battles, they say. They mean, of course, that one cannot be always fighting. There is far too much wickedness in the world for one person. So you have to look honestly at the path before you, and see what is truly important, and fight for that. Stand back when fierce defense is not necessary, for there may be other ways to get where you want to go. But when a heart or a future or a life is on the line, then you stand firm, and you use all the energy you have saved for that moment.”
It was good advice, and I realized then that Gabrielle had heard it. Her mouth firmed, and she got up and went back to the computer. Into the search bar, she typed “divorce.”
Inca looked at me then, with sympathy in her gaze. “It may not be easy,” she said, “but the best defenders know where they are most needed and take their place there. And Cupid or not, Asa’el, you are one of the best.”
It was a compliment I do not deserve, but one that warmed me. I will take Inca’s advice, I think, and choose my place and my moment carefully. And when the time of battle comes for Gabrielle, too, then I will be there to help her. I think that it will not be long now, for either of us.