“I was trying to find Nochka,” he admitted.
Her eyes widened at this. “You were… Is that… You should have told me!”
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”
“I was hoping anyway,” she said, gripping the sheets tightly in her little fists.
He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace. She was still tense but gradually relaxed and returned his hug.
“I didn’t find her.”
“Well, obviously,” she said, as if it was the most self-evident thing ever. “But you tried. You knew you probably weren’t going to find her, and you still went out and searched for her. You didn’t cry and mope around the house all day like I did.”
Zorian sighed. “Kiri, you’re nine. What else could you have done? You’re being way too hard on yourself.”
She didn’t say anything to that. Eventu
