Yesterday had been an absolute disaster. Bringing three six-year-old girls and a toddler boy to an egg hunt in Falconwing Square had been an idiotic idea, Melisande acknowledged. The cranky, tired tears of her charges and chocolate smears all over her person had been proof.
The youngest of the Heart of the Raven's wards had other ideas, however. “Oh Miss Melisande, can we go again? Please pleeeeease? It's the most fun I've ever had.”
They were in the newly-rejiggered bunk room where the children stayed now. All the others had flown off to their respective favorite places: the eldest to Naz’s smithy, the twins to Shade's house, the middle boy down to the kitchens to assist Mao, who could be relied upon for coppers, kindness,...
A late night at the Darkmoon Faire had ensured it. Not that she wouldn’t do it again, given the chance. There’d been a soft sprinkle of compliments, like a misty rain, and a few furtive touches that made her heart gallop a little too hard if she thought of them. He’d been…a little secretive, perhaps, but thoughtful. Always with something to say but never pushy about it. She liked that.
She smiled to herself briefly at the thought of...