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“Thank you.” I heaved a relieved sigh before letting the girls lead me away.
“Don’t you love our nursery?” Aurora asked as the girls led me back to their room.
“Isn’t it big?” Ember added.
I looked around the nursery once more. Some of the toys on the shelves had shifted, and I noticed several of the dolls had been moved to one of the beds or else were sitting on the low chairs at the long table in the center of the room.
“Look at our bed, Auntie!” Aurora squealed, flying on top of the bed as if she had wings. It took me a moment to realize she’d teleported there.
Ember scooted a stool toward the bed and grunted as she climbed up and crawled next to her sister. “Mrs. Euphemia says we may sleep here tonight.” Ember pointed to the other canopy bed across from hers. “And she will sleep in that bed.”
I lowered myself onto a rocking chair, wincing when a toy squeaked beneath me. I pulled out a soft little stuffed rabbit with buttons for eyes. “You don’t want to sleep with me?” I asked, doing my best to keep the tremors from my voice. How was I supposed to sleep with them in another room? I wouldn’t be able to protect them if the castle was attacked.
The girls shared a long look before Aurora turned to me, her brow creased. “It smells in your bed.”
“And look at our pretty bed,” Ember added, smoothing her hand across the pink satin blanket. “It’s smooth, just like our new dresses.”
I swallowed at that, averting my gaze. They were growing up and didn’t need me treating them like babies anymore, but I couldn’t help but worry.
“Look at all these books with color pictures.”
I gave a start when Aurora appeared behind me, a book in her hands.
Ember grunted again while climbing down from the bed. “Mrs. Euphemia is going to teach us how to read them,” she said as she joined her sister.
Aurora turned the page, revealing a family of smiling dragons blowing puffballs of smoke while frolicking in the clouds. I doubted any dragon families were truly so congenial. My parents had told me dragons were known for their quick tempers and sullen natures.
Aurora leaned against me, resting her elbows on my leg. “She says we don’t have to do lessons until we’re settled.”
Ember thrust a doll with shimmery white hair and a deep blue satin dress into my lap. “Do you like our dolls?”
“Yes,” I answered, gently stroking her face. “They are very pretty, but not as pretty as you girls.”
Both girls giggled and climbed into my lap. I held them to my chest, cherishing our moment together. There were times like this I never wanted them to grow up. I wanted them to stay little forever, so I would always be able to keep them close.
Two servants entered the room, pushing a cart with steaming tea and fragrant smelling pastries. After they laid out the spread on the table, I instructed them to take some food to Mrs. Euphemia. They obediently nodded and slipped out of the room.
I let the girls take my hands and lead me to the table. The servants had left a steaming pearl-colored carafe with yellow and blue flowers and a two-tiered tray of tarts, savory on the bottom and sweet on the top. The children instructed me where to sit, at the head of the table, in a chair that was much too small and much too low to the ground, but I didn’t complain.
“Kylar and Isabeau are going to take tea with us, if that’s okay,” Ember said, pointing to a stuffed wolf and a doll with dark hair in tight ringlets at the other end of the table.
Kylar and Isabeau? Why did those names sound familiar?
Then I suddenly remembered. “Kylar?” I asked Ember as I poured each of us tea. “That was your other wolf pappo’s name.”
“I know.” She sat in a chair next to me, her legs swinging back and forth. “He told me.”
I nearly spilled the tea. “Is-is he here now?”
“He’s always with me, Auntie.” She scooped up a spoonful of sugar, spilling half of it onto the table before the spoon made it to her tea. “He’s one of my friends.”
“And Isabeau, too?” I asked as I looked around the room for any sign of the old wolf’s spirit.
“Yes, my other auntie,” she said as she attempted to pour the cream, “though she’s not big like you.”
I regained enough of my senses to help her steady the saucer and pour enough into her cup that it didn’t spill over. I remembered Tari telling me her mates had a little sister. Isabeau? I repeated the name in my head. Yes, that was her name, wasn’t it? Elements! How had I not realized her ‘friends’ were her actual dead relations?
Ember giggled while taking a sip of her tea. “They think it’s funny I named our dolls after them.”
