Re: { --- }
“There will always be uncouth talk, Your Grace.” He had endured enough of it himself. Anyone worth talking about had. Still, he was sympathetic to her plight with Jeffrey. There was no easy answer and any road she chose could end in disaster for the child. He was a comely child and would have had an easy time within the common caste, but he had been born with all those strengths which demanded he be more whether he willed it or not.
“Shayleiah will be warned where her behavior will land her if it continues. She is too old for displays like that one.” He was annoyed with it, but amused as well. And above all else, he was sorry that it was indeed time for his little girl to grow up. His eyes kept wandering back to her dancing. She was just a child, but every day brought them closer to that being over. Some day she might advise Queens. “As a rule, our children are sorely lacking in companionship of their own age. If it is a luxury I can provide her, it seems cruel not to do so. I never second-guess myself in the Courtroom, but as a parent it is constant. I love that she is so bold.”
He smiled with exasperation. “I love that she will stand up to anyone. But I must somehow teach her to be humble on occasion without crushing that spirit of hers. She needs boundaries, but I am never sure where to set them. I will scold her for this and she will say that she is sorry. And she will mean it. Yet I suspect it will not stay her hand if there is a next time. Everyone says that little girls look just like their mother, but Shay… She does, more and more. But she does not take after either of us in her demeanor. If she does choose to become your Justice one day, I wager you will come to miss the simplicity of your time with me."