He nodded, gently so as not to disturb the little one’s head. “It comes with the role; spending time with the Merrow community. That includes the youths and babes.”
“Right,” she said. She reached out to stroke the baby’s downy hair, mostly giving herself a reason to drop Kai’s gaze; she couldveryeasily say something stupid if she let herself sink too deep into that warmth.
Donotask him if he wants his own someday.
Do not.
But she made the mistake of looking up again, and when she did, he tilted his head at her in that tender way that made her want to split her own chest open and hand him everything she was and would ever be. Daughters help her, hiseyes.
Don’t do it.
“Do you think,” she heard herself say, “you’d ever want—”
Adeline was saved from herself when a huff of exerted breath snatched at their attention. She was slow to look toward the ship’s edge, but when she was done scolding herself, she hurried over to glance down the ladder. Eda scaled the side of the ship, her grey head bobbing closer in time with the small dinghy that bobbed on the water’s surface below. Adeline called out, and at the sound of her name, Eda reached up gratefully to accept an outstretched hand. Helping her over the railing, Adeline braced a hand under one frail elbow while Eda found her feet. She gripped Adeline’s arm as she caught her bearings, glancing around the ship with a twinkling smile.
“You run a fine nursery, Your Highness.”
“They’ve been a pleasure,” said Adeline. They had been, hair loss notwithstanding. The Merrow children were everything she admired about Kai’s people: warm, and spirited, and remarkably amiable, gracing her with their trust from the moment they stepped aboard theArabidae.
And, of course, they’d kept her tired mind occupied.
Eda’s smile spread at that, but when her gaze shifted to Kai, the deep brackets of her mouth fell flat. He held the now sleeping infant, rocking slightly from side-to-side and absently patting the baby’s small back, eyes lit by his own withheld laughter as they darted back and forth in time with the patter of children’s feet running over the deck. Their squeals reached a fever pitch, and he chuckled at whatever new mischief they’d uncovered.
Eda turned from him and fixed Adeline with a look that was all tenderness.
“He’ll miss this,” she said, a little sadly.
“He can hear you,” said Kai, but his smile remained. “And yes. Yes, he will.”
“Well,” said Eda, planting her hands on her hips, “hecan help me round up the young’uns. Their mammies and daddies are waiting on the other ship.”
Kai nodded, but added, “We’ll let them have one more round.”
Eda followed his gaze, a curious frown flickering between her grey brows. “What is it they’re playing?”
“A chasing game of some sort,” said Kai.
“Winds and Waters,” Adeline supplied. “My sister taught them. They’re getting started again, look.”
Colm had taken Adeline’s place at the centre of the Waters team, bracketed by a handful of other children as they faced off their opposition. They stood arm-in-arm, legs wide and little bodies braced.
“Behold the Silver Winds that blow,” cried half the children.
“Where Gilded Waters once did flow,” screamed Colm and the others.
At that, a line of little Merrow burst forth in a stormwind and swept a fresh wave of chaos across the deck. Two little ones got caught up in chasing circles around each other like excitable puppies, and a particularly spry toddler dove between Colm’s legs as he made a comical swipe at the empty air.
Adeline laughed, and the weight of Kai’s gaze landed on her as sure as a warm touch. He shot her a grin that had her heart briefly bouncing in her chest—briefly, because when she turned to find Eda, her buoyant heart plummeted.
“Eda?”
The old woman was pale as snow.
“Your sister taught them?”
“Yes …?” Adeline said uncertainly, though she wasn’t sure Eda even heard her.
She was breathing too deeply, one withered hand coming up to rest over her heart, her other hand searching blindly for Kai. He sidestepped closer at once, shifting the sleeping baby into the crook of his arm so he could gather Eda to his side.
