“I hope you would have held to that. I wish I could say you were the first to be dressed up and presented to me in such a way. It was wrong. You know I mean that. I confronted her on it that night. But it is hard to know what we will do for something that runs as deep as duty does in the likes of people like you and I. The position of Chaldean presents complications enough, and now it will be even moreso. I am sure my part in your… Reputation… Did not help matters. But as things stood, I think if I had not shown some interest, she would have found a man who would.” He hadn’t known it then, of course, but in retrospect there had been some luck in their game. In truth, he had been driven by less noble goals—he had let Sidonie think what she might, and felt it justified if it hurt her to believe it.
“Not the tears themselves, but the sentiment behind them. And all that goes with it. She will not always need her father. She will not always run to me or cling to me, and I suppose I am afraid she will stop missing me one day as well.” It was an oddly candid moment, even between them. While he was open enough with her, and took care to be honest, he was not fond of being seen as vulnerable. And yet she had seen it with Shayleiah already, and there was little to be lost now. “I will miss her being a little girl. I miss her stumbling every time she spread her wings in excitement over some small thing. It goes by quickly.”
His eyes flickered upward, exasperation coloring the words, but affectionately. “On the contrary, Lady Chaldean, Ava has always preferred me at a disadvantage.”
“I do not think he knows the meaning of the word “worry” some days.” He knew better, of course. He had seen Andrew and Melisande at their worst point. But that, he hoped, could stay in the past. He had done his part to ensure it. “Certainly not where her interest is concerned. I envy his capacity for such unwavering certainty.”
Now it was his turn to press his lips together, features tense for a moment as he considered Shayleiah’s potential playmate. To his credit, it was not his lack of wings or prominent name that had Mikino hesitating, merely his gender. If he had been a Prince outright, he would have been no less concerned at the idea. They were children yet, but he knew well what such early affection could become. It had not turned into any sort of love story with him and Sidonie… “Do you really suppose she requires the help? It would do well for Shay to have more children to play with, but I doubt it will help with either child’s progress in other areas. He seems to be a studious boy as it stands.”