“It sounds as if you already have a theory, daughter,” I say. “So tell me—what do you think is happening?”
She strokes her tiny chin with an equally small hand, twisting her mouth in thought. “Well, it isn’t that hard to figure out.”
“Is that so?”
She nods. “Lyn was here when I got to Mythara last week. And she was here last night.”
I nod. “And your proof?”
She points over my shoulder.
I turn to see Flicker sitting on the sofa, shredding the silk scarf Lyn wore in her hair when she got here last night.
I close my eyes and heave a sigh.
“Solvi…”
“Baba, I know she’s not going to be my new Mata or anything,” Solvi interrupts. “Wulfric isn’t my Baba. He isn’t you.”
“If you tell me he's better, youwillbreak my heart,” I tease.
What actually breaks my heart is that she can immediately tell I'm joking—a cognitive function difficult for children, showing just how grown up she is.
“Only at some things,” she says. “Like piggyback rides.”
“Well, he is enormous.”
“Exactly.”
She chews her food thoughtfully, swallows, then hums to herself.
“Will you tell me why you like Lyn now?*
I frown. “Why are you so keen to know?”
“Because,” she shrugs. “It's romantic.”
I chuckle, because what we did last night didn't feel romantic at all…but the question stirs something deep in my chest.
Even if I wish it were…this is not just sex.
Not that I could explain that to my eleven-year-old anyway.
“Lyn is…” I pause, tapping my fingers against the table in a rhythmic thrum. “Sometimes you meet someone who matches you. Something in their mind.” I tap my temple. “And it’s not that you always agree, or that it’s easy. But it’s…resonant. Like the same frequency, even if the notes are all wrong.”
Solvi tilts her head. “So, like, soulmates?”
I blink. “Where did you hear that word?”
She grins. “Manga.”
“Ah.”
She leans forward, elbows on the table. “So is she your soulmate?”
“That’s…not a thing we’re putting labels on right now,” I say, and it’s mostly true. I’m not prepared to define this—not for myself, let alone for Solvi.
She narrows her eyes, then says, “Sheispretty.”
