Childermass supposes he should have anticipated that much. He wants to go with. Of course, because what good child wouldn't want to save their father? Even so, he'll have to push back, saying as gently — and that alone is a very sudden and strange shit in demeanor and tone, one he isn't prone to showing — as possible, "No, Steven. Your father would want you to stay here, where you're safe. If we fail, then all your future will be is living in a cage again, right next to him."

If he's lucky. The Rose Queen may keep them apart indefinitely, for all they know. That sort of cruelty isn't something he would put beyond her.