Novak stood by the road, Astra perched on his shoulder in her raven form. The morning sun crested the trees, painting the sky in soft golds and oranges. I fought back a yawn. Despite the disaster of a training session last night, I’d managed to fall asleep again—though “restful” wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe it.

  Half-formed nightmares of wolves and knives dripping red had jolted me awake more times than I cared to count, disturbing Time in the process. He’d been a good sport about it, though. Every time I woke him, he made a point of blaming Dominicus—loudly.

  I couldn’t bring myself to mind. It was Dominicus’s fault, and I wasn’t about to absolve him of that. Not that it made the exhaustion any easier to deal with.

  What I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee right now…

  Shaking the longing aside, I turned to Novak. “Have a safe flight.”

  He offered a fleeting smile. “We’ll do our best. Astra, will you be saying goodbye?”

  Astra eyed each of us before purposefully turning away. With a single beat of her wings, she launched into the air, offering no further farewell.

  Novak sighed, shaking his head. “Sisters… what will you do?” Amusement softened his tone for a brief moment, only to fade when he turned to Henry. “We’ll meet you in Latica once we have a better grasp of the situation. May the spirits guide your steps and keep you safe.”

  Henry bowed his head. “And may they do the same for you.”

  In the blink of an eye, Novak shrank into a flurry of black feathers. He spared us one final caw before taking off, Astra following as they disappeared beyond the trees.

  I exhaled, stroking Volpe’s head as I watched them vanish. “Looks like it’s just us again.”

  Henry adjusted his pack, nodding toward the road. “We should get moving. There are Rock Snakes along the main path—we can use them for combat practice.”

  I fell into step beside him, shifting Volpe from my hood to the crook of my arm. He huffed in protest but allowed it. I scratched behind his ear with a laugh.

  “Yeah, yeah. How dare I disturb your lounging. But you won’t want to be there once we start fighting, so you may as well pick another spot.”

  Volpe shot me a decidedly unimpressed look.

  I raised an eyebrow, unfazed as we walked. “Do you really want to be bounced around inside my hood? Because that doesn’t sound fun to me.”

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  The little fox deflated with a reluctant huff.

  Time shook his head, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You have a way with children, I see.”

  I shrugged. “I had a lot of kid patients back home. Hated seeing them upset, so I learned how to talk them down fast.”

  He hummed. “I assume their parents appreciated that?”

  Anna and her father flickered through my mind. I nodded. “Yeah. Some took longer to warm up than others, but I figured it out pretty quickly.”

  It helped that Anna had been so friendly—shy, but friendly. Shaking away the thought, I continued, “Kids are easy to handle once you know what they’re interested in. Get them talking about their favorite thing, and they’ll forget what they were upset about in minutes.”

  Time tilted his head, as if considering my words, but before he could speak, Maya hesitantly stepped out from behind Henry, her eyes locked on Volpe.

  “Can I try to pet him again?” she asked, hopeful.

  I shot Time an amused look before glancing at Volpe. The little fox curled up tighter, making his opinion clear.

  I faced Maya with an apologetic smile. “Doesn’t look like he’s comfortable with that just yet. Give him more time—we have the whole trip to Latica.”

  She pouted, but before it could turn into a full sulk, I put my earlier theory into practice. “Have you thought about what you’ll ask Nature? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, since she created so many creatures.”

  Her expression brightened instantly. “I have! But there are so many things I want to know! Adan says I shouldn’t ask too much, so I need to narrow it down, but that’s so hard! I could ask about fish, or wolves, or birds, or—”

  She launched into an enthusiastic ramble, barely stopping for breath.

  I turned to Time with a satisfied smirk. “Tada.”

  Eleanor chuckled from up ahead. Henry smiled fondly but let his daughter continue.

  At the front of the group, Dominicus kept his distance, still giving me a wide berth after last night.

  Time, for his part, chuckled, though a shadow of something heavier lingered beneath his amusement. “A child’s tendency to ramble… it was one of the many things I was told I would need to grow accustomed to.” His voice dropped, barely above a murmur. “I wish I had the chance to be bothered by it.”

  The raw grief to his tone tugged at my chest and from the corner of my eye, Henry stiffened, understanding and sympathy taking over his expression. When we locked eyes, he grimaced but didn’t say anything.

  I nudged Time’s shoulder lightly. “If you and your wife ever want to try again, you’ll do fine. You’ve pulled me out of more trouble than I care to think about. Taking care of a toddler can’t be harder than traveling with me.”

  He scoffed, a tiny, reluctant smile tugging at his lips. “I doubt I will ever seek out fatherhood again, but… thank you, all the same.”

  I waved off the thanks. “Just stating a fact. I’ve seen enough bad parents to recognize a good one when I see it.”

  His expression darkened slightly—probably thinking about what he knew of my past. To his credit, he didn’t say anything.

  Good. The last thing we needed was to start unpacking that trauma while surrounded by a crowd.