Lucius called out happily to Najya, diving down low to tug affectionately at her mane before swooping upwards again. He would come to land on Mesec’s wing later and take a more active role in the reunion but for now he opted to continue his circling of the area - checking to see if there were any more surprises, good or bad.

Although Najya’s scolding was in jest, the guilt that came with the truth of her words stung all the same. He was sure that hurt flickered through his silver eyes before he could clamp down on it, replace it with an easy smile that was more appropriate to the situation.

He didn’t answer her question, not yet, but allowed the conversation to steer towards the beautiful white dragon, introduced as A’mal. The fact that the dragon was almost a year old was a further testament to how much time had passed since Mesec and Najya had spoken, and he felt another twist of the knife in his heart.

Lyra was fast approaching, upset about having been left out of the conversation already, but thrilled that Najya had taken notice of her already - joy surging through their bond in a tidal wave. Lucius had been subtler about his emotions when they had first bonded, Lyra was already a force of nature and she was still young enough to stumble over her feet.

“More than one, actually.” Mesec commented in a low voice, realizing just how much had changed since he had last spoken to Najya. His children had been conceived, born, and seen their first birthday in that stretch of time. “But this is Lyra, she’s only about a season old now.” Lyra had hurried forward and was now standing between Mesec’s front legs, but not for long. When her violet eyes spotted A’mal she bounded forward with a series of yips, delighted to find someone a little closer to her size, and thoroughly unwilling to accept that perhaps the dragon wasn’t as interested in playing as she was.

But Mesec was feeling the smile fading from his face, knowing that he had let her answer of how he had been fade away unanswered in order to talk about A’mal instead. He couldn’t avoid it forever. There was too much to tell her now, to try to explain why he had left the Throat almost a year and a half ago and never returned. Much as he might want to just talk about their companions and pretend that everything was alright, he owed her more than that. So his voice came out as a soft whisper. “I’m so sorry Najya. I didn’t mean to just leave you or the Throat the way I did.”