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“Kids don’t just want someone to tell them what to do. They want someone to listen to what they have to say, even when it sounds silly.”
He frowned thoughtfully. “So…fewer orders.”
“Much fewer.”
“And more talking.”
“More conversations.”
“What’s the difference?”
She smiled. “A conversation goes both ways.”
Asterion considered that. “I’ve spent most of my life giving orders.”
“I noticed.”
“It worked.”
“On fully grown warriors.”
“Fair point.” He couldn’t help smiling.
Ria leaned back in her chair. “Find something the two of you genuinely enjoy doing together. It doesn’t have to be important. Read a story. Cook. Build something. Take a walk. Let her show you her favorite game, even if it makes absolutely no sense to you.”
“It probably won’t.”
“It definitely won’t,” Ria corrected with a grin. “But that’s not the point.”
“What is?”
“The point is that she’ll know you’re interested because she’s interested. Children remember those moments. They remember when the adults in their lives stop trying to teach them long enough to simply spend time with them.”
Asterion was quiet for a long while. “I’ve been trying hard to keep her alive…”
Ria’s expression softened. “I know.”
“…that I forgot she still needs to be a child.”
“Exactly.” She nodded.
He looked toward the window, where he could just make out Korinnae running across the yard, chasing a ball in circles. For the first time in days, he wondered if perhaps protecting her meant more than keeping her safe. Maybe it also meant letting her laugh.
Ria let the silence settle before speaking again. “I know this is a sensitive topic for you…”
He sighed.
“…but magic.”
He closed his eyes for the briefest moment. He should have known they couldn’t go an entire conversation without circling back to it.
“Korinnae obviously has magic,” she said gently.
Asterion didn’t answer. He couldn’t. The truth of her words brought him back to that terrible day when Korinnae’s magic had erupted without warning, tearing through the hunters who had attacked them. She hadn’t known what she was doing. She had been terrified, and he could still remember the look on her face afterward, confused and frightened by what she had done. He couldn’t deny it anymore. Korinnae had magic, whether he liked it or not. Ria seemed to recognize the memories crossing his face and waited a moment before continuing.
“And for you to keep telling her—or even showing her—that magic isn’t okay…It will affect her.”
His brows drew together. “I’ve never said that to her.”
