"That's why God Father is away too?"
Eastiel nodded patiently to Rinne. Perhaps, the patience of a predator teaching its cub, not the impatience of a king dismissing a child. "Yes. Now that you understand, please help us take care of Cecilia, alright?"
"How?" The question was immediate, earnest. Rinne would do anything. Move mountains. Swim oceans. Sit through a thousand boring council meetings if that was what it took.
"The way you already did." Eastiel shrugged, the motion casual, but his eyes, those golden, piercing eyes, held something warm beneath their usual sharpness. "Report when something's amiss. Observe everything. And make sure no one can bully Cecilia behind our back and emerge without a scratch."
Rinne's eyes widened.
Eastiel noticed.
Yes. Yes, Rinne had been observing. For weeks now, ever since his Lord Father had returned, ever since Cecilia had become a presence in their lives, Rinne had watched.
