Only the mad would think to come at Gunnar Drake from behind at all. He had the reflexes of a vampiric animal, making him that much more dangerous than his closest brethern. Despite the fact that he seemed very much the pussy cat, he had, on more than one occasion, outright ripped the limbs off of an opponent with an almost negligently happy air about him. It wasn't exactly the kind of behavior one expected from the royal consort, if you took him only at face value. He was a smiling man, one who seemed as if there was never anything that could possibly upset him. Those who thought that way were very very wrong. However, Lydia was his little girl. Born of his blood and the daughter of his love, she was really quite safe. Besides, he had known she was there before she covered the distance across the room toward him.
Gunnar could hear most of the household from his chair. It was something he put to his advantage whenever possible. However, just because he could hear, and even smell, his youngest daughter as she wandered in from her night did not make him move. The half-smile which always seemed to quirk the edges of his lips deepened into true pleasure. Lydia. The baby of his girls.
Of which one of his three was dead. Despite the fact that for him there was true grief, he did not let his smile fade even a moment.
An amused humming was his only true response to that as he pressed his forehead to his child. It was good to be close to his child again, and he looked forward to eventually speaking with all of his children and of course the woman who held his hand in her small cold grip. He rubbed her arms with one hand.
"Yes, I'm back." His voice was a soft purr of sound. Gunnar Drake was what some would call soft spoken under most circumstances. "You smell of blood, little Liddy, did you have to hurt someone?" His tone held a note of teasing.
It wasn't Drake blood he smelled, so it wasn't likely it was her blood. However, he had to ask where the blood came from. If it was something requiring his involvement, heads would roll. Not just the one who offended her, but those who stood by and did nothing to correct the situation at the time. Gunnar was not forgiving when it came to protecting those things he thought were important to him.