Dinner was as unfamiliar as breakfast though at least this time the unfamiliarity was mitigated by Willow participating in the preparation of the meal. Which went totally fine, and she definitely didn’t almost set her home on fire.

  Instead the main issue was the palpable air of discomfort surrounding the table as Aunt Jieun and her father had not made any attempts to reconcile with one another. The only sounds being made were the clinking of cutlery and the mumbled requests of passing a dish.

  Surprisingly it was Yew that finally broached the topic and broke the silence.

  “Can you two talk about what happened this morning or something?” At his comment the two adults stared at him, and the young teen rubbed his head. “I don’t like that you’re both fighting. Stuff’s already hard with the demon nearby and people leaving. Don’t want family fighting to go along with all of that.” The last was said in almost a mumble as Yew got progressively quieter as his sentences went on.

  The two adults looked at each other, both too stubborn to go first. Willow loudly slurped some soup while looking between them. It was spicier than she was used to but still nice.

  Rowan finally relented. “Jieun, can we please talk after dinner, preferably away from prying eyes.” He gave his two children a look after that statement.

  She nodded with a tense expression on her face. “That would be acceptable.”

  It wasn’t quite what either child was hoping for, but it was definitely a start.

  Everyone finished the meal in slightly less awkward silence. Afterwards the two children started doing the washing up outside, with much grumbling from Yew, and the two adults went to Rowan’s room to talk.

  The large man’s room was only a bit bigger than his eldest’s, with the majority of that space being taken up by his bed. Like the other rooms in the home there were several shelves attached to the walls with various knick knacks and accouterments upon them. There was also a dresser that contained the few outfits he owned inside and a tarnished silver hand mirror resting on top.

  Jieun took note of the mirror but didn’t comment and Rowan sat on his bed with a tired sigh, the two of them now at eye level. The silence between them grew ever more tense until finally Rowan broke it once more.

  “So you had that much of a problem with Willow not getting her mother’s inheritance?” He had decided to start with one of the lesser issues that she had brought up in her tirade so that he could build himself up to the ones that truly hurt.

  Jieun snorted, aware of what he was doing, but willing to go along with it. “It was her dying wish, and a far more suitable path for the child. It was foolish to teach her a binding art if you weren’t going to give her Meteoros straight away. It was even more foolish to not forcibly break the binding she made with that nascent spirit.”

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  Before he could try to defend himself she continued. “And don’t give me that 'she’s too stubborn' crap. You’re her father, not her friend, if the cost for her to have a better future is for her to hate you for a little while then you do what makes her hate you.”

  Rowan just looked tired. “I couldn’t break the binding.”

  Her brows knit together in confusion. “What? But if it was something you taught her…”

  “I didn’t teach her anything.” He said with rueful pride and a light smirk.

  She blinked, and a bit of the mask she constantly wore slipped. Considering what Rowan knew about the woman that was the equivalent of someone else shouting an expletive and looking completely shocked. He took it as a slight victory.

  “That was about my reaction.”

  Jieun thought over the implications. At first she tried to blame it on those two childlike spirits the girl had bound, but the timeline she had been provided didn’t line up. It was many months between when Willow had bound the candle spirit and when the qi exhaustion incident had occurred. Unless the spirit had lied to her, but she didn’t view that as likely, her niece had several tells when she lied and none were exhibited when she corroborated the spirit’s tale afterwards.

  Rowan continued to speak, interrupting her train of thought. “From what little I’ve been able to glean, the binding is quite simple. It doesn’t have any control aspect, or anything that would enhance positive feelings towards her. It simply connects the spirit to her core and provides an internal space for them. Despite the simplicity, or maybe because of it, I dunno, I’m no expert, it was damn near unbreakable when I tried.”

  The fact that he had tried at all was kept secret from both his daughter and the clan boy he shared a drink with. If the boy didn’t know that her bindings were strange, then his family would be less inclined to default to killing his youngest daughter to get at her spirit friends. Not that the clan’s alternatives would be much better, but where there was life there was hope.

  Jieun hummed thoughtfully. “So in addition to her strange sensory abilities she taught herself how to bind spirits on her own. No wonder you were so upset when I accused you of neglect, you’re likely just as upset as I was at the lack of control you have over her path.” She looked a bit like she had bit into a citron. “I… apologize for some of my harsher words.”

  Rowan snorted. “I’m not upset because of the harshness of your words.” That was a lie, the anger and vitriol his friend had sent his way had hurt him quite a bit, but was of less importance. “I’m upset because you spoke those words in front of two of my children. You challenged my competence as a father in front of them in a time where having their trust is crucial.”

  She opened her mouth to refute or excuse herself, but he didn’t want to hear it. “I understand that things are difficult for you right now, your husband and daughter aren’t here, and the differences in how we run our homes are probably grating. But next time you decide I’m a failure of a parent can you at least give me the common courtesy of telling me so away from my children.”

  Jieun’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she started to speak, but thought better of what words she was about to say. Eventually she settled on “...Fine. I could have been more tactful in when and where I expressed my concern. You do at least understand the urgency of the situation after what I saw, correct? You could have warned me.”

  Rowan rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t think she’d show you her spirits the first day you were here. The girl’s a genius, gets that from her mother obviously, but the way she thinks is a mystery to me.” He thinks for a moment with a wistful smile. “Just like her mother then. That woman always kept me guessing.”

  The woman stared at the silver mirror on the dresser. “She’s sorely missed.”

  “That she is.”