"Thank you for meeting with us General Ronin," the woman shook Ronin's hand, "I'm Jori."
"I'm Raze," the man shook his hand as well.
"I'm glad we could find a time to meet," Ronin sat down across the table from them, "has Glory kept you up to date?"
"The last report we got from Glory said Nod appeared to have regressed to the state he was in when he was first found," Jori nodded, "that was a little over a week ago though, and you've been home with him the last week, right?"
"That's right," Ronin nodded, "he's improving, and he's been signing a little bit, but he's still not talking. Depending on how he does with me being gone this afternoon, I'll be trying to go back on duty in the next two or three days."
"That's good that he's improving," Jori said, "we'd like to meet him eventually, once you feel like he's up to interacting with strangers again. We don't want to cause him any more stress right now."
"I can't really give you a time frame on that," Ronin shrugged, "if it was before all this happened, he probably would have been fine, but right now he's not happy even with people he does know. The only person he's excited to see is his friend Eben."
"Is Eben his age?" Raze asked curiously.
"Yeah," Ronin nodded, "he's Captain Finn's younger brother. They became friends before the incident with Barnet, and he's been over to play the last few afternoons. It's been good for Nod. It's gotten him to start signing a little bit more."
"That's really excellent that he's playing with someone his age and having fun," Raze grinned, "playing is a great way to help kids improve their communication skills."
"Well, he seems to be trying to teach Eben to speak chickadee if that counts," Ronin smiled dryly.
Raze laughed.
"We can meet Nod whenever you feel like he's ready," Jori said, "we agree with your assessment that moving slowly will be the best way to minimize the stress on him. I know that having him has hampered your ability to be on duty, general. What sort of time frame were you expecting in terms of having him placed with someone else?"
In some ways, Ronin had been expecting that question, but there was still an unexpected tightness in his chest at the thought of Nod leaving. He had pushed to have Nod placed with someone else early on, and right up until he saw how much anxiety it had caused Nod to be moved, he would have said the sooner he could be put with someone who could give him the attention he needed, the better. Right now though, Ronin didn't think that was what would be best for him.
"There have been difficulties with having him," Ronin admitted, "but so far, we've been able to make it work. It's not ideal, and I can't give him as much attention as he probably needs, but given the amount of anxiety just being told he was going to live with someone else caused him, never mind the mess Barnet made of everything when it actually happened, I don't think he should be moved again for a while, not until he's stable and talking again, and can really understand what's happening. And even then, he shouldn't be moved more than once. The next place he's moved to should be his permanent home."
"And you're alright with that possibly taking four or five months, maybe longer?" Jori asked.
"I am," Ronin said without hesitation, although he hoped for Nod's sake it wouldn't take that long.
Nod deserved to have a permanent home and a family as soon as they could find one that would suit him.
"Alright," Jori nodded, noting it on the file in front of her, "well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Lord Barnet has been declared an unfit guardian and no longer has any say in anything concerning Nod."
"Good," Ronin's hands tightened briefly into fists, then he forced himself to relax.
"They haven't decided yet if they should press neglect charges," Raze put in, "we'll keep you posted on what they decide. If they do press charges, Nod will need to give a statement to a court official to be notarized, so they're weighing pressing charges against the stress it might cause Nod."
"It's not going to be possible for Nod to give a statement for a while," Ronin shook his head.
Ronin found himself feeling a bit torn about the issue. On the one hand, he wanted Barnet to be punished for hurting Nod so badly and doing so much damage. On the other hand, he didn't want to put Nod through having to give a statement. On the rare occasion that the courts did need witnesses from children, they were allowed to dictate their statement to a court official instead of having to be at the actual trial, but even that would be hard on Nod.
"That's fine," Jori assured him, "there's no rush. I doubt Barnet is going to suddenly disappear."
"In the mean time though," Raze said, "we want to know what you think we should be looking for in parents for Nod. You know him better than anyone, so we really want your input on what kind of family you think would be best for him."
"Let me think about that for a little bit so I can give you a more thorough answer," Ronin said.
While there were certain things Ronin knew Nod needed, it would take some time to come up with a list of traits and characteristics that would create a home Nod would thrive in, and Ronin was more reassured than he could say that the advocates wanted his input on the issue.
"Well, he's not going to be moved any time soon," Raze shrugged, "we have plenty of time to talk about it. For now, tell us about Nod. What does he like? What doesn't he like? Who are his favorite people, besides you, that is?"
Once Ronin started talking, he found it was easy to list off Nod's likes and dislikes, his favorite foods, his favorite toys, the routine he liked to keep, the way he got cranky when his routine got interrupted. All the little things about Nod that Ronin found so endearing, and all the things Nod struggled with.
Ronin left the meeting feeling confident that he would be able to work with Jori and Raze to find Nod a good home.
"General Ronin," Tara looked up from her desk with a smile when he entered her study, "it seems like it's been a long time since I last saw you. I can't remember the last time we went this long without seeing each other."
Ronin rarely met with the queen in her study. She held all her official audiences in her inner garden so that was where she usually was and why Ronin usually ended up having meetings with her there.
"Not since before you were queen," Ronin bowed.
It was strange to go so long without seeing her, but Nod had been keeping him busy. He knew though that Tara would appreciate an update on Nod, and he might not be able to get away for another few days if Nod hadn't taken him being gone well.
"Come sit down," Tara motioned to the chair in front of her desk, "how have things been going with Nod?"
"Better," Ronin took the offered seat, "I actually got out the door without him screaming."
"I'm sure Orla appreciated that," Tara smiled softly, "has he started talking again yet?"
"No," Ronin shook his head, "he's signing a little bit, and he was getting less clingy, but the last few nights he's woken up crying and refused to let me out of his sight the next morning. I think he's having nightmare."
Ronin had been having the same nightmare all week, but he had managed not to wake Nod up with it after the first night. It happened sometimes that he went through bouts of nightmares. They always passed eventually. He would have been much happier though if it hadn't looked like Nod was struggling with the same problem.
"I wish he was talking so he could tell us what was going on," Tara frowned.
"Yeah," Ronin nodded, "me too."
"I hear from the Child Advocacy Commission," Tara sighed, "they've declared Barnet an unfit guardian."
"I just came from speaking with Jori and Raze," Ronin nodded, "they mentioned they haven't made the decision on whether to press charges yet or not."
"No, they probably won't be able to for a while," Tara wrinkled her nose, "I'm suspending Barnet's Moonhaven merchant's license though."
"Really?" Ronin was almost amused.
"Well, we don't want merchants that aren't trustworthy running around," Tara shrugged.
"Your judgment is excellent as always, your majesty," Ronin grinned.
"I'm reminding you of that next time we have a public function," the queen teased, "what are Raze and Jori's plans for Nod?"
"Nothing right now," Ronin shook his head, "They're going to start considering candidates to adopt him, but they won't be introducing him to any perspective parents until he's recovered more, and their plan is to have him stay with me until he's ready to be placed permanently with his new family."
"That could be a while," Tara folded her hands under her chin.
"I know," Ronin affirmed.
"So, then, what are your plans?" the queen asked.
"If Nod does alright with me being gone this afternoon, I'd like to be back on duty in the next two or three days," Ronin leaned back a little in his chair, "he didn't start crying when I left, so he might be doing okay."
"Well, if it does seem to be causing him stress, you could consider working half days for a while," Tara suggested, "you have plenty of administrative work that has to get done. There's no reason you can't do that from home."
"That could be an option," Ronin nodded slowly.
Paperwork was not something Ronin enjoyed, and he usually tried to split what he could with Finn, both because it was good for Finn to be familiar with that part of the job, and because it gave Ronin time to get out in the field more often. It could be possible to make arrangements with Finn to shift around the work load though so Ronin could work from home part of the day.
Finn would probably jump at the chance to do less paperwork.
"Well, keep me posted," Tara said.
"I will," Ronin stood, "I'll bring Nod to visit as soon as he's feeling less anxious."
"I would love to see him," Tara smiled, "my trinket collection is starting to overflow with no one to hide them for."
Ronin laughed, "I'm sure he'll be excited to add to his stash."