Mia stepped forward on instinct, like she always did, and Ethan felt a reflexive soften in his chest before he could stop it. Mia had been loud and sharp long before she'd been royal-adjacent. The palace hadn't changed her; it had just given her better knives.
Then Lucius moved, calm and seamless, and wrapped an arm around her waist before she could close the distance.
"You can greet him from here," Lucius said softly, but firm enough that it wasn't negotiable. "There's no need to hug him in an official setting."
Mia blinked once, then settled back against him with exaggerated innocence. "Protective much?"
"Always," Lucius replied, and it wasn't possessive so much as practical. "Especially when people are watching."
Ethan gave Lucius a mild look. "I wasn't going to bite her."
"That's not the point," Lucius said, still polite. "This crowd doesn't understand boundaries unless they're printed on banners and enforced with guards."
