Matinus read in the library. He was aware that he was on edge. His mom had suddenly left to go to the castle, saying there was someone there she had to meet. And like that, she was gone. His dad was downstairs, like there was something wrong with him, too.
Matinus sighed deeply. He could see that ever since the family trip, his dad and his mom weren't looking at eachother the same. He tried to keep Nioma entertained, tried to stay out of the way, but he could really feel that something was wrong. They said they loved each other, but he could see on their faces it wasn't love. It was... like.
Still, he held on to the hope that they were going to work it out. Adults worked things out. Then he heardthe woman talking to him, Claire. He knew her voice because his whole body seemed to cry out with joy for a second that his real mom had come home. Then he sat there, frozen. He didn't need his "real" mom, he had a mom. Sanria.
Then his dad called him and he knew he couldn't disobey. He trailed down the steps slow and looked over at the purple lady who stared at him. She tried to be nice and all that, but it scared him. His dad looked at her the way he should be looking at Sanria. It made him mad then. No way was this mom going to take Sanria away from him.
When he tried to run out the front door, his dad sent him to his room with magic. He still snuck out anyway and listened at the top of the stairs to the two of them talking. He never once heard his dad say he loved Sanria. He seemed to care more about Claire. This was wrong, all wrong.
After Claire left, and Matinus was worried she wouldn't, he went downstairs. There was no way he would leaveSanria - if his dad wanted to be with Claire, fine, but Sanria was his mom now. She was a Keeper, she worked in a floating castle full of dragons and silver people, Orn was teaching him adventure stuff when he saw him, and Nioma was his little sister - even if she did get annoying sometimes.
Matinus had his family, and that was the end of it. He remembered the days his dad ignored him completely. He remembered days where he was dirty and Mirin had to tell him to take a bath. He remembered how, when Sanria first came, she asked him if his dad brushed his hair... then she took care of him. If his dad wanted to go back to that... he was going to go alone.
He saw his Dad's face and eyes and could tell his dad was a little scared of what he said. It made him feel a little bad, but he had to tell the truth. The truth was that Sanria loved him, and he could feel it and see it. More than he saw from his dad. He only hoped that some time, sometime soon, Sanria and his dad could look at eachother and feel love. Maybe if he prayed to Lathander really hard... something just might change.
