“But you rose to the choosing. You gave hope to your people. Solved a divine puzzle that was centuries in the making. Defeated our enemies.”

Understanding hits like a rock in my gut, and I gasp just a little. I know God selected me because I needed a push, but Ximena is right, too—I rose to the choosing. I didn’t need faith in God so much as I needed faith in myself.

“Yes, I did all that, didn’t I?” I breathe wonderingly. I loved and lost and survived. Me, not the stone in my navel. I place trembling fingertips to the Godstone.

It pulses with purpose.

God is not done with me yet, and I may be in more danger than ever, now that the whole world knows I bear his stone. But in this moment, I choose to revel in our victory, in the warmth of having made a place for myself, surrounded by friends. For the first time in a long time, I am not afraid.