Elian did not cry after the first day.
He did not babble or coo like other infants. Instead, he watched with unsettling stillness, his mismatched eyes following every movement as if reading the world itself.
Lucien kept a dagger hidden in his sleeve at all times.
Aurelia, though shaken, refused to believe the boy was anything other than what he should be.
"He's listening," she said, rocking him gently. "He's waiting." "For what?" Lucien asked.
"For us to stop fearing him."