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He knelt and opened his arms, and she ran into them, burying her face in his neck.
“You scared me,” he admonished, holding her so close he could feel her little heart thrumming like a bird’s.
Her fear and sorrow were washing over him like cold water.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she wailed.
“No more hiding,” he said. “Do I make myself clear? No more hiding.”
“Yes, Daddy,” she said, her sorrow warming into guilt with a tinge of relief.
He glanced up to see the gardener staring at him fearfully.
“I was doing trail maintenance and she came running,” Jenx said, removing his cap and twisting it in his hands. Ba’sh could see the horrible scar on the poor man’s head again. Jenx was also holding a machete. The way he was moving his hands made Ba’sh worry the man might cut himself. “I told her she shouldn’t be out here all alone, but I didn’t want to send her back all by herself either.”
“It’s alright,” Ba’sh told him gently.
“I got an alert on my comms,” Jenx said. “We were heading back toward the palace, but I didn’t want to scare her by rushing. I apologize, My Ruler.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Yasmine said calmly. “You were trying to help her. Thank goodness you were here to be sure she stayed on the trail.”
Pia was still sobbing into his neck, but quietly now.
Ba’sh straightened, lifting her up and cradling her in his arms so she didn’t have to show her face if she didn’t want to.
“Thank you,” he said to Jenx.
“Want me to run ahead?” Yasmine asked softly. “Let everyone know she’s okay and see if we can’t clear out the yard so she doesn’t have to feel like everyone’s looking?”
He could feel her gentle loving nature and the sweetness of her relief pouring into him.
He could live a thousand lifetimes and never see anything as beautiful as her kind eyes.
Put the circlet back on before you do something stupid.
“Wait, I, uh, need to put my circlet back on,” he said. “Pia, can Yasmine hold you for a minute?”
The little face tucked into his shoulder nodded, so he handed her over.
Yasmine pulled the little one tight to her chest and Pia wrapped her limbs around the nanny like a baby monkey.
He could feel Pia’s dismay recede even more as she snuggled into her nanny’s arms and hurriedly slid the circlet back onto his forehead.
The world shifted slightly, taking Pia’s alarm and Yasmine’s relief out of his head, and leaving him with his own gratitude that Pia was okay, and a sort of longing that he really, really didn’t want to associate with Yasmine.
As they stepped out of the trees and into the meadow, a cheer went up from the crowd. Jax ran for Pia faster than Ba’sh had ever seen him move on the ball field.
Ba’sh met Yasmine’s eyes over Pia’s head, and something passed between them that made him feel almost lightheaded.
Whatever the constantly evolving nature of their relationship might be, when it came to the kids, they were in this together.
