Chapter 48

Alaric stood at the window of the nursery. He was holding Theo and he smiled a little when the boy reached up and pulled on his lip, babbling excitedly. The child was not his, but over the last few moons he had grown very fond of the baby. In time, he suspected he would feel as deeply for Theo as he did for Mirella.

He rested the baby against his shoulder and patted his back as he continued to stare out the window. In the yard below him, Seraphine and Torren were playing some type of game with Mirella that required much shouting and running and hopping.

Mirella had woken this morning feeling as well as she had yesterday, and after much cajoling she had convinced Alaric and Seraphine to allow her outside to play. She was bundled up carefully against the cold and although her nose was running and her cheeks were red, she looked deliriously happy.

Faintly, he could hear her shouting commands to Torren who knelt obligingly on the cold ground so she could climb onto his