Page 41 of Iron Crown

“Love,” I said, grabbing her by the waist, pulling her away from my cousin. “If he doesn’t get the fluoride-free blueberry toothpaste, you have my permission to geld him when they get back.”

“Bloody hell, Eoghan. So much for family loyalty!” Dairo mocked offense.

I ignored him.

“Let’s say farewell to our son.” This was the part Kira was trying to avoid.

She thought that if she fretted and fussed, maybe the goodbye would never have to come at all.

But it had to happen, and I knew it. That’s why I was allowing it after she and I had fought about this exact topic. She was right about his safety. I was wrong to have doubted her.

Kira looked at me, almost betrayed by my interference, then she nodded.

She knelt before our son, taking his face in her hands.

She pulled him into a tight hug, and he wrapped his arms around her neck, letting out a long, playful, “Squeeeeeeeze!”

Then she kissed his forehead, blinking tears from her rich, brown eyes.

“I love you, my sweet boy.” She kissed his head, lingering in his hair so long that Cillian began to squirm from her hold. “I’ll see you real soon, okay? I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Kira stood up, turning away from him for an instant to wipe her tears away.

“High five, little man?” I said, putting up my palm.

He smacked our hands together, smiling at his accomplishment.

“I love you,” I said to him, and like Kira, kissed his forehead, then embraced him close, putting my nose to the crown of his head, memorizing him with all my senses.

My son would not come to me as a robin redbreast in a casement window,I thought idly.He’d come to me as a great-horned owl.

The thought was so bizarre, but I think the carnivorous owl would suit him. Wise, powerful, but also territorial.Just like his dad…

One day, Cillian would grow up better than my wildest imagination. He would surpass me in every way. I was sure of it. As sure as I was that the sun rose in the west and set in the east.

For now, though, it was clear that Cillian understood nothing of what was happening.

He resisted Aoibheann, who came and took his hand, pulling him toward the plane.

“Come on, little man,” Dairo said, holding a hand out to him.

Cillian looked at me, then back at Dairo, then back at me. He tilted his head to the side, exactly like the great-horned owl, before shrugging and going with Dairo.

I came to my feet, watching them go, before taking Kira in my arms to let her find solace against my chest.

“He’ll be back, Love,” I said over and over again, as I rubbed her back.

“I know,” she said with a swallow, straightening herself back up. When she looked at me, her eyes were dry, though barely.

We watched the plane take off before walking, hand in hand, to the car.

For her part, Kira was admirable in how she held back her tears until we were home, alone in our guest room, at the Vasiliev castle, where our men mingled with the Russians, forming a tighter security around those who remained to fight the war.

She was forlorn. It was written on every single part of her body.

She stared forlornly at the bed, as if he should have been there, sitting in the middle of it all.

“It’s only for a few days, Love.”It had better be no more than a few days, or I would tear my own hair out.

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