Hill looked at her and smiled. "I should thank you too, Shar."
Although she had not openly offered Russell and Carpenter protection as Lathander had, Shar had blessed the two children in her own way.
Of course, ordinary people might not understand or even sense such a blessing... in darkness and shadow, those blessed would be harder to detect.
It sounded simple, but for Russell and Carpenter, it was truly powerful protection.
After all, very few people would dare attack the two children openly.
The dangers they were most likely to encounter would lurk in secluded, deserted, shadowy corners.
Yet even Hill could not ensure that the two children would spend their entire lives in the sunlight.
Hill had never expected Shar to grant that Dark Night Blessing in that instant... aside from her handful of Chosen, this was the highest blessing Shar bestowed upon her followers.
What pleased him even more, however, was that when it would have been inappropriate for him to point it out, Russell and Carpenter had sensed it themselves, then confirmed with a quick exchange of glances that the other had felt the same thing.
That was not easy. At the very least, it proved their trust and affection for each other... benefits received in secret often created divisions, even when everyone received them.
If they wanted to keep it secret from each other, they would inevitably drift apart.
Of course, Shar had never intended to sow discord between the two children. There was no reason for her to do so.
Acting silently in the shadows was simply her nature.
Still, seeing the children's unspoken understanding and mutual trust lifted an onlooker's spirits.
Hill understood why Shar thought well of these two children... after all, having just been exposed to a demonic aura, they could