The next morning arrived with gold-streaked skies and Kaelith's bright voice echoing through the halls.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!"
Elysia didn't bother trying to stop her. Kaelith was too excited, too proud, and far too enchanted with the word she'd unlocked like a secret door.
She repeated it constantly every time she saw Elysia, every time she tripped over her own feet, every time she discovered a new texture in the castle gardens.
Even now, as they entered the temporary reception hall—newly enchanted and hastily decorated with celestial symbols to honor their arriving guests.
Kaelith was bouncing in Elysia's arms, grinning wildly and chirping, "Mama!" at everything from a curtain tassel to the fruit bowl.
Malvoria sighed, not unhappily, and muttered, "She's going to drive us all into a blessed coma."
Elysia just kissed Kaelith's forehead. "Let her enjoy it. She earned the chaos."
