If she were being honest, Ciara would have to say there was a new crack in her heart when Ned turned her offer of staying at her home overnight was turned down. She wanted him back so much, but she also knew it was safer if he were here for as little time as possible. She supposed staying the night was asking for trouble, really. Plus, hard as it hurt to be rejected by her own son, he seemed to have some instincts in self-preservation. Those had to have come from his father.

She exhaled softly and let her arm wrap gently around his shoulders as they sat and he talked about home. Mallos not being around was rather frustrating since he was meant to be keeping Ned safe. Given the pirates’ involvement in the usurpation of the throne, Ciara wasn’t sure she trusted the sun god’s consort, but she had little choice. Arthur trusted her father, her father trusted Croe. Ciara, well, Ciara trusted Arthur and his judgment. It was also possible some of the mistrust was out of jealousy rather than reason, as her little boy referred to the (former?) pirate as Mama.

“That’s silly,” she said, pushing a smile back to her thoughts and face. Even if he had to go back, she had him at least for the moment. She was going to enjoy it. “Shaman is, or at least, was the best country in the whole wide world! Lots of space, great knights in tournaments, magic animals. But then, I’ve never been to Spain.”

She stopped as the horse was pulled from her and she watched the emotions flicker through the boy’s eyes.

Nalani, she called to her familiar who turned from the clearing masses and the completed fight, take this to Archibald and ask him to trace its origin? Then I need three hop loops. Two there and… and one back. The bird nodded and flew down toward the bench. She gave the boy as close to a nuzzle as she could, rubbing the feathers of her face against his cheek and then bumping her beak against him softly before grabbing the loop and flying off with it.

As soon as the dull ring was gone, Ciara gave Alfonso a soft scratch on the head with her freed hand, and hugged Ned a little closer to her. He seemed like such a good boy, though there was no telling how that happened with the chaos of his existence filled everything around him. She was glad he was though.

“I know just the place, and it isn’t very far,” she said, rising and offering an arm to her valiant knights and their trusty steed. She led the way through the thinned crowds, avoiding the area where there were likely undertakers clearing the aftermath of the attempted robbery. On the way, she picked up the basket she had dropped when first spotting Ned, and the items that had bounced free and were still whole. The destroyed eggs she left to the street animals who might need some nourishment that night. Then, she led the way to her small cottage at the edge of the woods, where the trees shifted to hide their secret. She hoped they wouldn’t mind keeping her secret hidden too.

When the door was unlocked and opened, Ciara let Ned go into the warmth first and pointed him toward a sitting room in the sun, with soft blankets on each piece of furniture.

“Make yourself at home,” she said, turning to put her shopping in the kitchen and started to prepare the cocoa. “Does Sir Hugs want a cup as well?”