Sawtooth Spire i'm ephemera, see my 'use by' date

If it was a year ago and it was Tiercel waking her up just to say her eyes were beautiful, Wylla would've opened up a can of whoop ass just to hide how much the compliment tickled her. However, Phaedra was not Tiercel. She often had to remind herself of the fact, but the pale girl was both kinder and potentially more frail than her spunky older sister, and not as likely to respond well to Wylla's crude humour. She allowed a rare warm smile to unfurl, here where only her daughter could see it, and murmured, thank you, baby.

It absolutely wasn't play time, but how could she let Phaedra down after a greeting like that? Astraeus and Thade were both fast asleep and unlikely to wake, so Wylla began the arduous process of extracting herself from them while Phaedra shared her news. She froze in place when Mahler came up—she'd known it was inevitable and she could never be prepared for the questions that would follow, but she hoped for a little more time before the kids noticed. She could veritably smell the shift in Phaedra's mood as it went from sunny to dour, and her heart sank when the cherub loosed a sob.

With a few more deft movements, she separated herself from Thade and Astraeus and swept Phaedra into something resembling an embrace, but with the purpose of shepherding her away from the sleeping boys. Of course we can cuddle, she soothed, hoping to lead Phaedra out into the morning sun so they could do so out of earshot. Phaedra was perceptive and had noticed Mahler's absence, after all. She only hoped she could keep the girl's voice from alerting Thade and Astraeus, as well.

Papa didn't forget you, she said in a hushed voice, settling herself in the grass and splaying her forelegs to make room for Phaedra, if she still wanted it. Papa made a really bad mistake and now he's in big trouble and has to take care of it for a bit. He could never forget you. Sometimes daddies make really stupid choices and they can't always be here, but he'll be back. I promise.