"Obviously the children understand what's really important." Flattery? Maybe. But there's a genuineness in her expression that says the added sweetness is just something she's used to doing in the presence of new company.

It helps too when the new someone is an enthusiastic storyteller. And Hilda is nothing if not a rapt listener. The mention of the sea beast has her eyes going wide and a delighted gasp follows it. "It could be a sea dragon of some kind. We saw a flying serpent in Luna that rose out of the water so effortlessly. Maybe they're distantly related somehow."

The idea of a sea in the Nether difficult for her to imagine when everything around them is bubbling lava pits and warmth. Then again she had heard that the Draconae at least ventured forth past their homes unlike the fey they had encountered several months prior. "Was it a sea beyond the Nether?"