Chapter 109: Names & Growth

"Thea Draven."

Thea seemed mesmerized by her new name and couldn't help but mutter it out loud.

"Thea.."

"Ah! She spoke!" Mira cried.

Seemingly feeling like she'd made some sort of mistake, she quickly covered her mouth and looked at Exedra with trembling eyes.

"Oh so you finally speak." Exedra patted her head softly and offered her half of the cookie back.

"Don't worry, no one is going to punish you if you talk ,my daughter. You can be as loud as you want, or as silent and I will treat you all the same." Exedra knew her history so he felt it was crucial to reassure her.

The girl seemingly relaxed at his words and hesitantly spoke again.

"Thank you for my name..father."

Now that she'd spoken a full sentence both Mira and Exedra could hear it clearly.

Thea's voice was gentle and timid like that of a field mouse.

While she seemed to have some awkwardness about calling him father, that was to be expected and Exedra knew she'd get more comfortable with time.