Sanria had enough time to check in with Leandra, who had been staying at the cavern alone with her husband, Askari and their baby, when Orn's voice sounded in her mind. "Leandra, can you watch Nioma while I check in with your brother?"
"How long are you going to be?" Leandra asked, hand on her hip.
"I... please? It shouldn't be long."
"Yeah, sure." Leandra took Nioma into her arms with a nod. "You gotta be sure you're back soon, though. I know how Orn is and how he thinks he's like, the most important thing on the planet."
"Leandra-"
"I know, I know. He still gets on my nerves."
Sanria arrived in her office to find Orn already waiting. She had a feeling, that could only be described as a curling cold in her stomach. When Orn pulled the note she had written to the clan from his pocket, her worst thoughts were confirmed. Everything in her wanted to send him out of the office right then, but she would have to listen. She tried to turn off her own motherly instincts, her face going authoritative to hear what she knew was coming: "I got the missive. And I want to help."
"Alright," Sanria said, leaning on her desk. "What was it that you wanted to do?"
"Reggie and I, we can help to free Westbridge."
"And... how are you wanting to do this?"
"These Radiant Heart people... they are supposed to be helping to liberate the city, right?"
"Yes, they will be doing the fighting. Not us." The look on Orn's face gave away the fact he had caught her in her own lie. "But you said they need help."
"We don't know what they need just yet."
"Then why did you ask for people to help if you don't want them to sign up to help?"
She couldn't keep up her facade, and her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. She would have to come clean with her desire. "I... I can't have you putting yourself in that position."
"What? Mom. And if Kineada or Kronk were to come and say he was going to help them fight, would you tell him that you don't want him doing that?"
"No. I wouldn't. But he's experienced in fighting and he's not my s..."
"Mom, I didn't join the clan so I could be treated differently because I'm your son."
"Orn... I can't have you fighting. Please... if there's something else, anything else..."
"Mom. I know how to fight. Dad taught me a lot... before... and it's not exactly like they need someone to gather intelligence from trees."
"You're not my little boy anymore."
"No Mom, I'm not."
"Then what more can I say?"
"That you believe in me?"
The statement left Sanria speechless for a few moments. She did believe in him, but he was also her child, and she couldn't shake the feeling that Colin would be of the same mindset. Still, it was this moment she also realized that the child she and so many others had protected was as much a man as the men of her clan. She watched Orn go, promising to let Radiant know they could count on him, and felt the overwhelming need to get home. There, she could let herself feel in privacy. There, she wasn't a leader, but a mother who had just promised her son in battle.
