“I’m not interested.”
Simran makes a small, disbelieving noise. “Think of your son.”
“I am.” Every move he makes feels wrong, but her suggestions are worse.
“Are you?” As if sensing his rapidly souring mood, she pats his hand. “I am trying to help, but you remain obstinate.”
He’s not stubborn. He simply refuses to fall back into old habits, changing himself to fit her expectations.
“I want Antaris to be one less worry for you, which is why I found him a tutor. You had tutors and a proper education. He needs the same. I want him to be a respectable Ellis. I believe extra attention will benefithim until he is ready to go to Arcadia Academy. Besides, Miss Thorne is a Mage sympathetic to Seers. I figured you would approve.”
Talking to his mother is the equivalent of running into a brick wall. Painful and futile. “I’m not sending him to boarding school.”
“Why not? Antaris is a legacy.” Simran frowns at Hiram’s silence. “This brings up another topic of discussion. His surname. Fowler is—”
“His name.”
Masterfully, she suppresses her irritation, but not fast enough. “Antaris should have had our name from the beginning. He is not related to the man whose name he carries.”
“Blood doesn’t make a family. John raised Grace after her father left and her mother died. She took his last name.”
Unsurprisingly, Simran isn’t moved. “I have completed the documentation to correct the error. All it requires is your signature.”
“Absolutely not.”
His mother’s frown deepens. “He isyourson.”
“Does his last name change that?” Hiram doesn’t wait for an answer. “Antaris has been taken away from everything he knows. The last thing he needs is to be suffocated by the new identity you’re rushing to force on him.”
“Not force. He needs structure. All children do. You may not understand why I am so insistent, but I want the best for him. Wemustset expectations.”
Hiram’s chuckle lacks humor. “Shame I never met yours.”
Simran looks close to cracking, but returns to being the vision of poised composure. “I do not wish to argue with you when we are meant to reconcile.”
“That will require compromise from everyone, not just me.”
A quiet part of him still longs for a normal relationship with his parents, one that doesn’t come with strings attached. But doubt clouds every interaction.
“We will finish discussing that later. For now, let us eat.”
Hiram isn’t hungry but forces a few bites. The silence has barely reached tolerable when his mother tsks at a page near the back. “Disaster after disaster. Nothing good. Apparently, Seers are in danger. They arethedanger to society, but who am I to censor the press? For once, I wish to open the newspaper to a palatable story.”
“Forgive the news for not tailoring itself to your specifications.”
She raises a brow as she sips her tea. “You are snippy today.”
“I’m not. If you want, I’ll pre-read the news and highlight only the good parts.” More than anything, Hiram wants to read the article himself to see if it mentions the Botanist.
A skeptical brow rises. “You are not sleeping because Antaris is still not sleeping through the night, is he? I told you that creating boundaries with the talisman I gave you would—”
“I’m not trapping him in his room like an animal.”
“When did I say that? My endless mantra is that you must give Antarisrules.”
“What would you have me do? Ignore him when he’s having nightmares?”
“I would rather you did not reward his behavior.” She laces her fingers together. “Raising a child is difficult, and it is okay to admit it. I would rather spend my time helping you than arguing. You and I have missed so much, and we have lost years with him due to his mother’s alienation. We should not lose more.”
