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It struck me that there Del stood, giving Liam and me this time together when I knew she had a hundred other tasks to complete in preparation for the coronation.
When Liam nodded at the idea, Del’s umber eyes met mine again. I held them, willing her to know how much I appreciated this because there were no words. “I’d like that,” I said.
Her lips pursed and curved into a watery smile. “Then I’ll go let the kitchen know,” she offered, and I knew this was her gift to me—time alone with Liam.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” she said, barely having to look down at him; it wouldn’t be long before Liam was as tall as she was.
When he met her gaze, I saw strength in him. With quiet stoicism, Liam wordlessly reassured his mother that everything would be all right, and I nearly smiled with pride at that.
Pride for what, I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t raised him. I hadn’t been around for a single moment of his life, and as grateful as I was to be there with him after years apart, that reality still stung.
“All right then,” Del breathed. She looked at me again. “I’ll be right back.”
I dipped my head, and she made her way back to Garath. I’d never wanted time to slow down as much as I did at that moment, knowing being here with Del and Liam would pass far too quickly. But I refused to think of that right now.
“It was you a couple of days ago,” Liam said, drawing my attention back to him. “In the crow’s mind,” he clarified.
“It was,” I said, following him to the birdhouses. Finches chirped and hopped from the feeder to the bath. “Does that bother you?”
Liam shook his head. “No. I’m glad it was you.”
I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “You are?”
Liam nodded and held his finger out to a finch that hopped onto it. “Your mind feels...right,” he explained.
“So does yours,” I admitted. “I’ve never felt that with a person before—that sort of connectedness.”
Liam looked at me with a hint of a smile. “Me either.”
Tick trotted by, returning to the sun patch in the grass to roll around again. “Where is your raven friend from the other day?” I asked him.
“Nyx? Probably harassing Cook in the kitchen with Sid.” A grin engulfed Liam’s face, and I couldn’t help a smile of my own.
“Yes,” I said with a chuckle. “I remember how she felt about animals in the kitchen last time I was here. I would’ve loved to have seen her face when she woke the next morning to find the remnants of Beast’s lamb shank.”
“Beast?”
“My companion at the time—a cougar I’d had since I was your age. Cook should have been grateful, really. We made sure he licked the water pot impeccably clean when he finished it.”
Liam laughed, and the finch on his finger flitted back with the others.
“You look like your mother,” I thought aloud, which earned me a confused look.
“Everyone thinks I look like you.”
My brow lifted as I studied his features, seeing so much of Del in him, even if he couldn’t. “You have your mother’s nose and smile. And something tells me you have her strength too.”
Liam seemed to appreciate that, but his expression sobered as he scuffed his shoe on the pavement. “I asked her about you, you know.”
Flexing my hands, I watched him from the corner of my eye and cleared my throat. “You did?”
Liam’s head bobbed slightly, but it was hesitant.
“And what did she tell you?”
He shrugged as he stepped onto the grass. “That she loved you,” he admitted. “But you were gone when she found out she was going to have me.”
My stomach dropped twice in the span of a single second. “Liam, I didn’t know—”
