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Despite the late hour, children were still running joyously around the outskirts of the adults, playing hide and seek, and chasey. Creaking Bough detached herself from the main party and rounded up Trickling Stream and Rain on Water, ready to put them to bed. When she raised her eyebrows at Midnight to ask whether he too was ready for bed, he beamed at her and shook his head. But a few minutes later, when Sparrow wandered over to sit on her father’s knee, Midnight’s mood suddenly flipped, as moods sometimes do near the end of parties, from happiness to loneliness. After a few moments, he drew a breath to steady himself and followed Sparrow to sit himself quietly in Tarkyn’s lap between Waterstone and Danton.
Tarkyn was chatting and absent-mindedly gave the little boy a hug as he arriv
