Oh, his poor little sister.
She had spent the entire day helping him fight, exhausted herself doing it, and now she was standing in front of him asking whether he could spare her a few minutes. He wanted to gather her up immediately.
When he looked toward Nyx, she was already lifting her feet from his lap.
"Go, Kai. I'll wait for you."
He smiled at her gratefully before getting up, then offered Alice his hand.
"You can have considerably more than a few minutes."
Her fingers closed around his at once.
"Really?"
"Really. Though we might be walking rather slowly. Your big brother's legs are making some complaints."
"Mine too," she admitted, smiling up at him.
"Then we'll get along beautifully."
Alice held his hand with both of hers as they left the lounge, quite content to have his attention to herself.
...
