“Gosh, mummy, how I be so beautiful?” Jirot asked, as though pgued by a curse. She stared at the mirror, silver polished finely, definitely by the hands of an Iyrman.

  “Would you like me to braid a strand on your hair?” Vonda asked, already parting a small se of the girl’s hair with her finger and thumb. “I part it at the side, like your kako Jaygak likes to sometimes, or I ca-“

  “I want it like kako,” Jirot said, her head darting up to her mother, who brushed her cheek, and began to brush her hair, bad to the left. She pulled the girl’s hair back, sliding a hair band to keep her hair in pce, before slipping a pin within the girl’s hair.

  “Mummy…” Little Jarot stared up at his mother expetly, before he wore a simir band and pin, though mirrored his sister with its pt.

  “You are so handsome,” Jirot said, hugging her brother, kissing his cheek.

  “Kaka, you are so beautiful,” Jarot replied, hugging her sister back.

  “Of cuhs.” Jirot nuzzled her brother’s nose. “e. We must bully daddy.”

  “Just a little bit,” little Jarot firmed.

  “Just a little bit,” Jirot agreed, grabbing her brother’s hand to lead him outside with eager steps. The eagerness ieps began to fade as she approached her father, finding him within his chair, the half elf slumped within, his chest breathing heavily, his skin pale, around the day when he was doh teag. In this moment her father looked so…

  ‘Small,’ Konarot thought, staring at her father from the side, her tail slumped behihough they had pyed with their father over the st few months, he had mostly been too tired, save for a few days each month.

  Virot did not seem to mind, spending most of her time with her mother, whereas Xarot was still too young to truly uand. He had yet to even begin smiling, though his eyes could meet his eldest sister’s gaze, though he still found it hard to track her silver tail.

  “Boo!” Virot barrelled her way towards her mother, who lifted her up, the girl cag delightfully. “Ohbogoboo?”

  “We will eat soon.”

  “Oo!” The girl let out a satisfied sigh, nodding her head, g her hands with satisfa, before throwing them up into the air, screeg lightly.

  Damrot gnced over towards her, before he was swiftly distracted by his mother, who picked him up, and pced a thumb across his cheek, rubbing it gently. She had fotten if she had applied his lotion, but she felt the light yer of softness which remained from the lotion.

  “Papo, daddy is sleeping?” Jirot whispered.

  “He is resting his eyes,” Jurot replied.

  “Is not time for resting, is time for joking.”

  “Shall I wake him?”

  The girl looked to her father, as pale as he was, and ho his features looked pared to usual. “I five daddy, just this once, okay?”

  “Okay,” Jurot replied, reag out to pinch her cheek gently, causing the girl to squeal and dart away to her nano.

  Adam shuddered awake, feeling the chill in the air, before the smell of breakfast awoke him. The half elf’s eyes fluttered slightly, fighting away the sharpness which struck his eyes, rubbing around them, letting out a pained yawn. “Hoi hoi hoi. Seems I’m still tired from all my work. I might just take the day off today, for no reason in particur.”

  Jirot raised her brows towards her father, who mimicked her. The girl’s eyes darted to her mother, before she returned back to her meal, the potato to her brother, and upon his refusal, she bit into it. She k was best to ignore her father at this time.

  Adam stared at the pair for a long moment. He hadn’t joked about not knowing the children for most of the year. He gnced down at his p for a moment, before fighting away the exhaustion. “Jirot. Jarot. e.”

  Jirot gnced over to her father once more, noting how tired he looked. “You e here, daddy!”

  “Fine,” Adam said, hoisting himself up, the half elf almost limping towards his children, before dropping down beside them. “Daddy’s going to give you both a great gift. One of them, I’m already giving you, Jirot. The other, will e soon.”

  “Is my gift?” Jirot asked.

  “Today is the st day daddy o teach you. We’ll py all day, and then I’ll finish the teag with you ter tonight. Jarot…” Adam stared at his boy, feeling the gazes of the other people around. “I’m going to give you both the best gift ever, but you just o wait, okay?”

  “Okay!”

  “Until then, yoing to have to make do with some ambers. I saved the shiny ones for you.” Adam pnted kisses across their foreheads, and refused to let them go.

  Little Jarot turned his head upon his father him jam from the jam doughnut Bam had worked so hard to bake.

  “Just a lick,” Adam said, his tired smile radiating downwards over his son.

  Persuasion Check (Advantage)D20 + 6 = 19 (13)D20 = 6 = 23 (17)23!

  Jarot leaned in to lick the spoon, tasting the sweetness. He winced slightly, but Adam quickly distracted him by hugging the boy tight and kissing his face all over.

  “Wow! My son, you eat jam so well!” Adam pnted noisy kisses all over his son’s cheek. “Even though it’s your birthday, yiving me such a good gift? I’m the luckiest father alive!”

  “Daddy…” Jarot flushed, hiding his head against his father’s chest.

  Adam refused to give up his children. He waited for the others to give their gifts, from their aunts and uo their siblings. Konarot, Kirot, and Karot had each painted a pair of stones, and hahem to the twins. Even Adam’s ambers, as shiny as they were, were worth less than such amazing treasures.

  It was only until the old Mad Dog pi the extended family estate did the half elf eventually give them up, napping in the er as the children pyed with their uncles and aunts. When he awoke, Adam noted all the other Iyrmen who were making their way through the Rot family estate, each from different families. Most of them were the Family Elders he had seen before, but some were older Iyrmen who were not Family Elders, but legends who had in dormant in the Iyr siheir retirement.

  “Look! My papo give me dice!” Jirot said, revealing the twe six sided dice, each roughly the size of her fists. Except they were not truly dice, as she pushed against the middle of the five dotted side, and the adjat, sited face, opening up the die to reveal the amber gem. “Is my daddy’s gift.”

  Little Jarot also revealed his own die, but his opened when he pushed opehree sided face, even if the six sided face still opened up.

  ‘Man, Filliam sure knows how to make gifts,’ Adam thought, smiling to himself.

  Lud Mara watched from the side as the children pyed, each having already given their gifts, a pair of patterned scarves for the children, which they currently wore more like sashes around their waists. Each were double sided, two different blues which the children wore the same way. Except for the two symbols he ers, which dehe first sylbles of their hey were identical.

  “Hoi!” Malfev groaned, dropping down beside Adam, leaning back within the chair. “My greatnied greatnephew py so well!”

  “Of course they do, sihey’re my children.”

  “My greatchildren also py well, but you did not see, since you did not e to spoil them.”

  Adam flushed slightly. “Ah, right. My bad. I fot.”

  ‘It must be bad if he has fotten such,’ Malfev thought. “I will five you, since I will run up the walls soon, and you must defend me.”

  “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to defend you, because not even I defeat my daughter’s wicked tongue.”

  “You only o defend me.”

  “You just run away.”

  “If I run, I will not be able to hear her.”

  “Ah, of course.”

  “Babo!” Jirot gasped, seeing the balded fellow with the ly trimmed beard, cut to just above his colr, his moustache thid curly. The girl stormed her way to her babo, her twin brother following after her.

  The old man chuckled, before reag into his tunic. “I was informed it was your birthday today?”

  “Yes! I am four years old!” Jirot decred.

  “Four years old?” Malfev gasped. “You are so big now?”

  “So big,” the girl firmed, wideniahe stance reminded Adam of Taygak, who would stand so fidently when he had first met her.

  “I have brought a gift. you guess?”

  “It is…” Jirot thought deeply.

  “Bracelet?” Little Jarot guessed.

  “Hmm? How did you know?” Malfev asked, pulling out a pair of bracelets.

  The boy bliurning his head to his sister for support, w if she knew how he knew.

  “Jarot know because Jarot is so smart,” Jirot said, hugging her brother close. “Who is smart as my papa?”

  “Daddy is a little smart,” Adam said, causing Jirot to burst into ughter, followed quickly by Jarot and Malfev.

  “Oh my gosh, daddy! You are so funny!”

  Adam slunk ba his chair, feeling the wicked tongue sh against his heart. He peeked open aowards Malfev, who tio chuckle, only to stop upon the half elf’s smirk. ‘My daughter only bullies me like this.’

  ‘…’ Malfev tied the bracelets around the children’s wrists. “I bought these bracelets when I was still travelling the nd, many decades ago. They say the bracelets e from far to the east, from even beyond the federacy.”

  “Wow! So far away!” Jirot gasped. “The federacy is pass Aswadasad!”

  “That is right.” Malfev rubbed the girl’s cheek gently.

  “It is so far away, but Miss Jasmine is from federacy, and Siten, and Bil is from Aswadasad, and so is Manager Dunes!”

  Malfev lifted the children up into his arms, holding them close to his chest, taken aback by how adorable they were. He noted his sister’s look, and he pced them down. “Yreatuncle has bee so old. He must go sit down.”

  “Babo, you are okay?” Jirot asked, reag up for his hand.

  Malfev’s jaw ched slightly, allowing the girl to lead him to the side. “I am okay, I just o sit.”

  “You must be fortable, babo.” Jirot brushed the back of his haly.

  Malfev smiled wider, reag down to brush her cheek, before doing the same for Jarot, whht him a small b. “Thank you both so much.”

  “Babo, you are fortable?”

  “I am.”

  Jirot pat his knee gently. “You call me if you are not, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Nano you are fortable too?” Jirot asked.

  “I am,” Mulrot firmed.

  “You must call me, okay?”

  “I will.”

  Jirot pat her knee gently too, before the girl waddled away with her brother in tow, the girl g her hands behind her back like she was an old man.

  “Should I give up my position too?” Malfev joked.

  “That is not your role,” Mulrot replied simply.

  Malfev smiled sadly. “What sweet children yreatchildren are.”

  “They have learned well,” Mulrot said, watg over the twins as they tio py with their retives.

  “Larot is still quiet?”

  “He is still quiet.”

  “Virot walks so well,” Malfev said, pointing out the girl, who waddled over to her mother, with a cup within her hand. She held it up for her mother, pining for a drink.

  “Sonarot says she walks too mud tires herself.”

  “She must sleep well.”

  Mulrot smiled. “She does.”

  A silence fell between the pair for a moment. Malfev reached up to his beard, rubbing it gently. “I am ready.”

  “Okay.”

  It was ter in the evening when Adam began the first of the two sittings with his daughter, filling with a deep exhaustion, a he still had another sitting to go.

  “What’s all this?” Adam asked, coughily, before furrowing his brows at the rge pouch.

  “Gifts for the twins,” Vonda expined, feeding Xarot to one side. “The business sent them over.”

  Adam peeked within, noting all the handmade bracelets, the scales, and all the little notes of the children’s drawings. The half elf’s lips trembled into a smile. “What adorable kids we picked up, huh?”

  “They are very cute,” Vonda agreed, the young woman brushing along her son’s forehead gently.

  Adam stared down at the gifts for a long while, before Jurot sat beside him, carrying a tired Lanarot, who climbed onto Adam to hug him. Adam held the girl within his arms, the pair rubbing their cheeks together, before Vonda finally stepped away, taking the girl with her, who awoke upon hearing the mention of jam doughnuts.

  “Are they asleep?” Adam asked.

  “Yes,” Jurot firmed, having used his abilities on Damrot and Virot.

  “One month,” Adam whispered. “Just one more month.”

  “If we leave soon, we return before their birthdays,” Jurot offered.

  Adam smiled, before catg Jurot’s steely gaze, the half elf’s smile dropping. He swallowed, gng to the side. His heart beat quicker, his body fshing cold, then hot, then cold. “Yeah.”

  “I will bring Jirot and Jarot.”

  “Okay.”

  That evening, Adam held his twins close to him. Gangak waited with the half elf, while Jarot and Otkan remained just outside their .

  “Did you have fun today?”

  “So much fun,” Jirot replied, rubbing her eyes.

  “I py with Jitool,” Jarot said, smiling tiredly.

  “Today is the st day of this teag, and then, daddy will o rest.” Adam kissed their cheeks. “So you ot bully daddy for a few days while he rests, okay?”

  “Just a little bit?” Jirot asked.

  “Just a little bit,” Adam surrendered, beginning to take off her top. Again, he looked away from her torso, holdio his bare chest, and finished his st sitting with her, Awakening the magical and enting abilities within her.

  As the children were whisked away, and before Adam felt the darkness around his eyes swarm his vision, the half elf saw the scar on the girl’s back, small and round, where the crossbow bolt had struck against her gut.

  The sight of the scar killed the hesitation within the half elf, who faded into the void of slumber.

  Uh oh.