Ainsley wiped the crumbs from her face with her sleeve.
“Manners.” He tapped her napkin. “Do you want to see Grammy while I'm in a short meeting?”
“Yes! Now? I want Grammy now!”
“In a few minutes. I'll call the driver. We have a surprise for you.” He helped her down and paused by her little tea table. “A new drawing?”
“That's you, and that's me.” She pointed at a tall stick figure and a small one. “Gram is there. Mommy and Sissy. Ms. Dal-dal.”
Gold lines crossed through the picture of Luke and Ainsley. “It looks like we have something special.”
“Yeah. I got wings, too. Like you.”
Luke bristled but made himself smile. “Lovely.”
His daughter called the golden crest along his shoulder blades his wings, not understanding what the tattoo meant. His children would never wear a soldier's band, and certainly not a crest for how many they killed for the Phaedra. It displeased the emperor that he didn't plan to enroll the girls in the Academy, but he explained he knew his children were better suited for political office one day.
The truth was no one would ever hurt his girls. Look at what the service had done to Zayne. So far, Andi hadn’t suffered so much, but she looked far too young to enter the field next year. His daughters were never fighting in the war. Never facing what Luke and his siblings had. And they weren't growing up in the Phaedra's study, catering to his every whim, with the empire sitting upon their shoulders.
Ainsley didn't need her own wings because he wore them for her. She'd stay pure and innocent while he kept their country safe for her and her sister.
When the driver picked them up to take them to his mother's house, he listened to Ainsley's stories the entire way. Her imagination astounded him. She told him everything she and her dollies had done for the day, which included an adventure through a forest filled with candy, apparently.
Once Luke opened the door to his parents' house, Ainsley sprinted inside, nearly falling.
“Careful,” Luke said. “Please walk.”
She skidded to a stop when Zayne stepped into the hallway.
A loud gasp burst from his daughter. His brother looked just as surprised.
“Uncle Z! Uncle Z!”
Zayne smiled and knelt, catching the girl when she jumped into his arms. “Ainsley.” For a few seconds, he looked more like he had before Dr. Cooper's, when he was still a boy, and not yet so guarded. On breaks from the academy, Andi ran to them like this at Ainsley's age. “You're so tall.”
“You're home, Uncle Z!” Her little feet kicked when Zayne rose with her. “Oh, I missed you!”
The smile started as warmth in Luke's chest at seeing Ainsley so happy. “I told you we had a surprise for you.”
“A big one.” Pulling back, she beamed at her uncle. “Plane time? Please, please, please.”
Zayne chuckled and lifted her above his head. Ainsley squealed so loud, kicking her arms and legs while her uncle spun her in a circle straight up in the air.
“Daddy! Look!”
“I see, darling.”
His brother tossed her and caught her, prying a terrified scream from her, with peeling laughter following.
Down the hall, Kira watched from the doorway, and Luke followed her line of sight to Zayne. If the stubborn fool refused to use all of his resources, then Luke didn't mind doing it for him.
One more toss, and Zayne caught Ainsley against himself. Strands of blonde hair stuck out from her headband, and her blue eyes sparkled. She and her uncle shared a rare grin together.
“You're growing up,” Zayne said.
His brother had always been good with his nieces. Luke liked having one normal thing between them, even if the strain remained beneath what they let the girls see.
It seemed like something the prisoner should witness.
