The shock of Silas speaking hung in the air for a long moment, warm and heavy. Primrose kissed the Panther cub's forehead, wiping a fresh tear from her cheek.
"I missed you too, Silas," she whispered. "And your voice... it's perfect."
Silas nodded once, his eyes glowing with quiet satisfaction, before he slipped out of her grip and climbed back onto his shelf to watch the room from above.
Primrose stood up, composing herself. She smoothed her oversized green kelp-robe. She looked around the room, doing a final headcount. Her eyes landed on the one face she didn't recognize—the fox boy with the patched cap standing next to Jax.
"And who," Primrose asked, her voice returning to its gentle but authoritative Head Chef tone, "is this handsome gentleman?"
Jax stepped forward, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"This is Finn," Jax said, his voice unusually soft. "He's my little brother. And... if it's okay with the Boss... he's a new admission."
