Alistar stared at the wide-eyed infant with a tender expression, amazed at how much she'd grown in such a short time. Patricia had given birth to Little Lauren during the week that Alistar's relatives had visited back in the summertime, which put her age at almost six months now that the last of the autumn leaves had fallen from their bleak-bodied perches. She already had a small head of hair that was a similar in shading to her mother's long, sable strands, the two sharing the same dark eyes as well.
Wondering which of his parents he'd resembled more as an infant, he felt a bit of bitterness at the thought that his parents had managed to raise him up from a similar age in the dreaded tunnels of Crystellum. Knowing what sort of hardships they had suffered through in their final years, he could only imagine the strife and struggle that must have gone into keeping him safe and well during his youngest years.
