Her chest tightened as she looked down at the hopeful child with the toy in her hand. Harmonia wasn't afraid, she was overwhelmed. Out for the first time in months, surrounded by people that were staring at her, and being addressed by a small child. Lottie was talking but she wasn't hearing it completely. Harmonia just looked down at the child and tried to breathe while deciding her next move.
All of which boiled down to not only how she wanted things to get back to her husband, but at what kind of leader she wanted to be.
She could easily shoo the child away, tell her to seek audience in the proper way... through appointment or the proper channels. But that would make her cold, unapproachable and probably unloved in the long run. People would fear her, like many feared Hera. Or she could be kind and thank the child, take the toy and be seen as a kind and generous Queen who loved her people and was loved by her people. As Harmonia looked around at all the hopeful eyes, she knew that she wanted to be loved. If she was stuck here, if this was to be her life now... she would be the kind of ruler she wanted to be.
There was no way she could do it all at once, face all her challenges of accepting the life she'd been stuffed into and embrace them. No, Harmonia would have to take it one step at a time. The first step had been leaving her rooms even if Philotes had been the impetus for that. The next step was going to be addressing the child that was looking at Lottie and then to herself.
Harmonia took a deep breath and smiled down at the child. “It is very nice of you, thank you.” One hand reached down to take the offered toy as she smiled, but it stopped short and not for any reason that the child caused. She swallowed and her hands went to her belly instead. The look of sudden surprise on her face had the child retract the offered toy a bit, thinking she'd offended the Queen somehow. The tension among the people watching was almost palatable.
Noticing the recoil and afraid the girl and the people got the wrong idea, Harmonia tried to smile again. She wanted to be loved. If she was stuck here, she wanted to be loved. “Feisty today,” she said and rubbed her belly. Then an idea struck her, one that would reassure the child and hopefully help her ease her way into interacting with the people. “I can't squat or kneel but,” she looked to Lottie for her own bit of reassurance and the back to the child. “If you give me your hand... I'll let you feel the baby kick. It's very active today.” Harmonia looked at Philotes again, hoped this was an alright thing to do, and smiled back at the child. It was a soft, unsure smile, but more genuine than the earlier one.