"Mother," Kaiden called out after watching them leave for a few seconds. "Wait."
Vespera stopped without turning.
"I have a question," Kaiden said.
The silence stretched. Alice hung from her mother's grip, feet barely touching the ground, still squirming but quieter now, as if sensing a shift in the air.
"Do you think this is okay?" Kaiden's voice was calm and steady, but there was an edge to it. Not anger, per se - it was something gentler, but no less immovable. "Alice deserves to be comforted. Her very first friend in her whole life is having one of the most emotional moments of her life. Are you sure dragging her away by the collar to be disciplined is the right move?"
Vespera turned. Slowly. Fully.
Her expression was unreadable, carved from stone, but her eyes found his with the kind of focus that could strip a man down to his core. When she spoke, her voice was winter incarnate.
"Are you teaching your mother how to parent?"
Alice froze mid-squirm.
