"Mama, where did papa go?"
“Visiting–and old friend of his…”
She hated to lie, or even to hide the truth from her son, but that was all the information she’d be willing to share with her son. Too young to be troubled by such matters he was–besides, if everything was to work out right with Vlad’s negotiation with his former ‘brother’, that was all the more reason to keep her concerns far away from the child.
Wrapping his tiny torso into her arms, Mirena placed a gentle kiss on his forehead–hoping to avoid his gaze so the worry she had in her eyes would go amiss.
“He will soon come home to us.”