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“One part at a time.” He pointed toward her foot. “Step forward.”
She did.
“Good. Now turn.”
Korinnae turned.
“Now bring your arms around.”
She followed his movement, and this time her feet ended up where they were supposed to be. “I did it!”
“Aye.”
She grinned up at him. “Again.”
He walked her through it several more times until she could manage without his instructions. When she finally put the pieces together on her own, she threw both arms into the air in triumph.
He laughed. “You’ll lose your grip on the labrys if you celebrate like that.”
“I don’t even have a labrys.”
“Right. Imagine the damage when you do.”
She laughed again and returned to the starting position, determined to repeat the sequence without his help. She stepped forward, turned, and brought her arms around before stopping to check her feet.
“Well?” she asked.
He studied her stance. “Not bad.”
“Not bad?”
“For your first lesson.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You could just say I did it right.”
“Aye. You did it right.”
Korinnae grinned and immediately started again. He watched her practice and thought about how different this would have been not long ago. He hadn’t understood why Ria always gave Korinnae another way to participate when the calf couldn’t do something yet. Now he did. Korinnae wasn’t asking him to decide whether she was capable. She was asking him to teach her.
It wasn’t the only thing he’d picked up from Ria. He asked the calf questions now, rather than assuming he knew what she was thinking. He listened to stories about fairs and music groups he’d never heard of because they mattered to her. Somehow, he’d stopped thinking only about how to protect his niece and started learning who she was. He hadn’t realized how much Ria had changed things between them until now. The guilt came with that realization. Korinnae trusted Ria. She sought her out when she was worried, included her in everything, and had grown accustomed to having her nearby. He had been so consumed with what Ria’s leaving meant for him that he’d barely considered what it would mean for his niece.
Korinnae completed the movement again and turned to him with a pleased grin. “Can I show Ria?”
Asterion’s stomach tightened. Of course, that was the first person she wanted to tell.
“Aye, but there’s something you should know.”
Her grin faded. “What?”
He motioned for her to come over, and the calf reluctantly abandoned her practice to stand in front of him.
“Now that you’re healed, Ria doesn’t need to stay in Alindale anymore.”
Korinnae frowned. “I know.”
He hadn’t expected that. “You do?”
“She has work in the Upperworld. She told me before.”
