Dressed in an embroidered dressing gown and a cloak, Klia sat in a rocker by the sitting room hearth, where a bowl of lightstones glowed instead of a fire in deference to Mourning Night custom. She was singing softly to the swaddled infant in her arms but looked up as they came in. Like Alec and Mika, she was still a little thinner than she used to be; her smile as they joined her, however, was as lovely and warm as ever.

Seregil leaned down and kissed her cheek, then gazed at the tiny face framed in the soft knitted blanket. The baby had only a dusting of dark hair, but he could already make out the hint of a widow’s peak, and the lashes against her cheeks were already long and thick like her mother’s.

“She’s lovely!” Alec whispered.

“Clearly takes after the maternal side,” Seregil observed.

“I agree,” Thero said, sitting down in the chair beside Klia’s without assistance. “Mika, you must tell our friends the great honor our lady bestowed on you.”

Mika stood proudly between his master and Klia. “Klia made me one of the baby’s guardians.”

Klia placed the infant in Alec’s arms. “We’d like you and Seregil to be guardians, as well. We’ve already asked Micum and he accepted. If it weren’t for all of you—”

“Of course,” said Seregil. This was not a mere favor she was asking, but a bestowal of a serious royal charge.

“I’d be honored,” Alec replied. “But you haven’t told us her name.”

“We thought a lot about that,” said Thero. “We settled at last on Tamír.”

“The Third?” asked Alec.

“No, that would only be the case if she were in line for the throne,” Klia told him. “Our girl is just Tamír ä Klia Idrilain Elesthera, our little duchess.”

“Is she wizard-born?” asked Seregil.

Thero smiled fondly in the direction of his daughter. “Oh, yes.”

They sat taking turns holding the baby, laughing and admiring the soft knitted goods Kari and Micum had brought, until little Tamír began to whimper and nuzzle at the front of Klia’s gown. Seregil rose and kissed Klia again. “A thousand blessings from all the Four on you and your family, dear cousin.”

“A thousand and one,” Alec added with a smile.

“I’ll walk out with you. Stay here with Klia, Mika. I can find my way back.” Thero rose and held out his hand for Seregil’s.

They went to the salon, and Thero stopped.

“So what do the queen and the royal aunt and uncle think of Tamír?” asked Seregil.

“Korathan and Queen Elani are thrilled. The queen’s mother? Less so. She made a bit of a fuss over the choice of name since it belonged to queens.”

Seregil snorted. “Aralain has always been a jealous bitch.”