“Don’t look down, sweetie. And I’ve got you covered. I’m anchoring you in like a beast. I promise you won’t fall far if you slip, and it will hold ten times your plummet weight.”

He nodded as she double-checked his knot and belay. “My mother blames every bit of the fall on Dancer. She said my father was the best climber she’d ever seen.”

Sumi took a quick drink of water before she prepared to climb ahead. “Don’t think about it, Darice.”

But he continued to fret as she moved forward.

All of a sudden, he lost his foothold and slipped. Falling only a few inches, he screamed out until he realized he was safe and firmly anchored.

“It’s all right, sweetie. I told you that I have you.” She paused for him to get his bearings.

Instead of resuming his stance, he clung to the wall in terror.

“Darice? You can do this. I know you can.”

He shook his head forcefully. “No, I can’t! I don’t want to die!”

“You’re not going to die, baby. I won’t let you.”

Tears flowed down his cheeks as he stared up at her. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“I’ve had to scale glass buildings a lot higher than this. As has your uncle. And he’s already fallen without an anchor. If he can manage to continue to climb after the fall he took when he was your age, you can, too.”

Still, he didn’t move. He continued to hug the wall.

“Do you want to go back down?”

His lips quivered before he wiped at his eyes. “You promise I won’t die?”

“On my own life.”

He drew a ragged breath before he returned to his belay position. “Sumi?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, baby. Just breathe easy. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

He paused to meet her gaze. “I know why Dancer loves you…” He smiled at her. “I love you, too.”

Her own tears welled as those words touched her heart. “I love you, sweetie.”

With a tenuous smile for her, he fed her slack to climb. Sumi watched as he grew more confident right before her eyes. It was incredible to see the boy taking these first steps into adulthood. No wonder Andarions did this for their young. She totally understood it now.

But it broke her heart that Dancer’s journey had been ruined. That he hadn’t been allowed to grow up slowly. Rather it’d been shoved down his throat.

Like hers.

Not wanting to think about it, she stayed focused on Darice and their climb until they finally reached a small nest. She let Darice take lead for the last forty feet so that he’d reach the nest first.