This was something different. Skoll liked to think that he was grown, just shy of a year old, but he didn’t have the experience he might have hoped he’d had. He didn’t know how to comfort someone who was grieving, or hurt; the Kingdom was not a place where that often happened. And yet here they were; he had to do something.
The words coming out of his mouth surprised him just as much as his actions did. No matter what he pretended, he was still a boy, and he hadn’t taken a young woman into his arms yet. Even as his strong arms tightened around her solid frame, he was afraid she would push him away, and he prepared for that.
What he didn’t prepare for was the soft shaking of her shoulders as she cried into his fur. His ears fell back against his blond mane uncertainly before he hugged her a little tighter, nuzzling her ear and licking the top of her head tenderly.
“Your grandpa’s in a better place now,” Skoll whispered, still not knowing where the words were coming from. “He’s a warrior, right? He’s up there on a battlefield, where he can fight all he wants, but he never hurts and he never gets tired and he’s just as strong as he when he was young like us.” He got choked up imagining this scenario for her, mostly because he was thinking of his own kingly father, his aged mother. His voice thickened, deepened. “He’s still watching over you, and I’m sure he’s proud of you. You can pick up where he left off, Adelle. You’re an amazing girl, okay? You’re strong enough to do this on your own—but you don’t have to be alone.”
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