The first rays of dawnval spread across the land, even daring to peek through to North Aldland, where the jagged mountains were said to be as hardy as their people. The frost endured, for the frost of the North rejects even noonval’s rays, so the commonfolk would state.

The chill seeped through the fort and into Adam’s bones, who sat upright immediately, blinking rapidly. His bones cracked and ached as he hoisted himself up onto his feet, reaching over to his purple armour, made of the Iyr’s puthral, a pale imitation of the elf’s mithril, though a pale imitation of mithril was still greater than most steel. As he lifted his breastplate up, the half elf paused.

“Jurot?”

The Iyrman, tall, lean, handsome, with dark hair which fell down to his shoulders, had been focused upon the ceiling, glanced towards his brother with his dark, knowing, eyes. “Adam.”

“Happy birthday.”

“Happy birthday.”

Adam dropped his breastplate, reaching up to his obsidian amulet, marked with the symbol of Baktu, Lord Sozain. “Want me to send word to Pam?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

Mana: 25 -> 22

Spell: Sending

“Happy birthday, Vonda. Please tell Konarot,” Adam began, feeling the magic course through his veins, and escape through his lips. A thought passed through his mind, but he continued, “Kirot, and Karot, happy birthday too, and send everyone my love. Do you want anything from North Amber? I-”

Adam felt the spell fade from his lips, and he flushed red awkwardly. ‘I should have at least said I love you to her.’

“Happy birthday, darling. I will. I hope you will return home safely soon. Should we expect you in dawnval or noonval? I love you too.”

Adam’s lips twitched into a smile. ‘Good job, Konababy. I knew you’d be able to do it.’ “Jurot, should I tell Vonda if we’re returning in dawnval or noonval?”

Jurot blinked.

“Did I not tell you?”

“No?”

“Oh. I wrote a letter before I left.”

“You did not speak of it.”

“Oh. I thought I did. My bad.” Adam furrowed his brows. ‘I guess we did leave in a rush?’ “Anyway, it’s not that, well, it is important, but isn’t there something more important? Should I also send word to my adorable little babies? I told Vonda, but shouldn’t their father also send them congratulations too?”

“They are too young.”

“Right, they’re too young,” Adam agreed.

Jurot could hear it within his brother’s voice. It was that kind of tone, the tone which implied he would refuse ever acknowledging his children growing up. However, Jurot couldn’t speak up, since Adam was only flirting with being cringe, so he allowed his brother his moment.

The pair quickly donned their gear, Adam in his puthral, Jurot in his thick clothing, and made their way out of their cold stone room. A river of warriors streamed out towards the courtyard of the outpost, many injured, all eager to leave. Adam followed Jurot, his eyes darting around to see if he couldn’t find any familiar faces among them, trying to find Eddard.

“You know…” Lucy said as the pair approached, pulling away from her wolf. “I thought we’d do more during the Twilight Month since everyone was so worried.”

“Lucy, stop trying to tempt things like that,” Adam said. ‘Especially since you’re you, you can’t be saying things like that.’

“You got to fight in the tournament,” the demon replied, frowning. “I thought the North would allow me to act up a little.” She could feel it even now, the glares from the various Orders around them. Fortunately for her, she stood beside a particular pair of Iyrmen, from Jaygak, who was red of skin and horned like her, though tattooed with the symbols of her family, and then there was Kitool, an Iyrman too, though she looked like Jurot, that was to say, not red of skin, and hornless. Humans, as fools would say.

“We should leave the fort,” Jaygak said, glancing aside towards the various figures of the Orders, each keeping a keen eye upon the group, specifically the pair of horned ones within their group. “We shouldn’t keep the Marshal waiting.”

“Marshal?” Adam asked, his mind going to Lord Benjamin, before recalling the figure who had accompanied them all this way. “Oh, right. Won’t they be annoyed that we’re leaving like this?”

“We haven’t been asked to remain so we can leave,” Jaygak said. “The Orders will remain to watch over the labourers, but if we help out, there will be less work for the workers, who will wish to fill their pouches of silver.”

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“Should we go greet our friends before leaving?” Adam asked. “Plus, we should probably greet the Princess before we leave.”

“Adam?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” Jaygak asked, frowning slightly.

“I’m fine?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t sound certain.”

“I’m fine.”

“If you’re not being an idiot then something must be wrong.”

“Jaygak, do you want me to beat you up ag-,”

“Kavgak,” Jaygak began causing Adam to pause, the half elf suddenly standing at attention, “must miss me so much, so we should return back quickly.”

Adam looked towards Jurot for support, but he and Kitool exchanged glances, sighing. “You think just because-,”

“Maygak,” Jaygak said, cutting Adam off.

“Alright, alright!” Adam huffed, feeling the need to beat her rise. ‘Just you wait until Jirot hears…’ Adam’s thought fell away, since she adored her aunt so much. ‘I’ll tell Ja-, Konarot, you need to bully your aunt for me, okay?’

The Princess stood proudly to one side, seeing how easily the Iyrman dealt with the half elf. Sir Wick stood like a statue beside her, adorned in his full plate, carrying a blade at his side. There were times she had wished to step forward, but due to the pair acting like such utter fools, she remained near the wall. Her heart sighed. ‘Iyrmen.’

“Oh, Princess Adda,” Adam called out as the six made their way to leave, only to find the Princess near the entrance, a well practised, coincidental meeting.

“Adam,” the Princess replied, smiling politely. Her grey eyes took in the half elf’s features for a long moment, her black hair sticking to her cool skin, peeking from under her thick fur hat. “Are you planning to leave North Amber soon?”

“Pretty soon, yeah.”

“I am certain the Grand Duchess will wish to meet with you before you leave.”

‘Ah, right.’ Adam blinked. “Are you saying we should go meet her now?”

“It would be best to meet her now,” the Princess confirmed.

‘I don’t want to shirk the Grand Duchess, but…’ “Princess Adda?”

“Yes?”

“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but right now, all I want to do is have a nice hot bath,” the half elf said with such earnestness, the Princess blinked with confusion.

“What Adam is trying to say, is that we would like to look presentable before we meet the Grand Duchess,” Jaygak replied. “If it is acceptable, we can meet at noon.”

“I will inform the Grand Duchess,” Adda replied, still partly taken aback by the half elf. ‘I thought he was joking about the baths.’

The group returned to the inn, the warm air rushing towards them, melting the frost of the Twilight Month from their hearts. After such a Twilight, the inn was near empty, though at the ready for the influx of warriors, and farmers, which would soon return.

Jane glanced at the group as they returned, raising her brows towards them, nodding her head, while the Marshal of East Port sipped his milk, also nodding towards the group.

“How was it?” Marshal Black asked, the figure wearing his chain, though not the rest of his full plate. The sword at his side remained wrapped in a trusty scarf, now blue, having procured a new scarf to wrap his blade within.

“It was fine,” Adam replied, though the pair could see the obvious disappointment upon Lucy’s face.

“I heard it was going to be difficult, but they didn’t ask me for assistance,” Marshal Black said, sipping his milk. ‘That’s the North for you.’

“They did have a bunch of Vice Commanders, the Grave Swords, us, obviously, and even Sir Wick,” Adam said.

‘It makes sense for Sir Wick to have gone since the Princess was there,’ the Marshal thought. “Anything interesting?”

“Just a bone dragon.”

‘Just a bone dragon?’

“Anyway, did you enjoy kicking it on our dime?” Adam asked, flashing a smile towards Jane.

“What?”

“Oh, sorry, I meant… did you enjoy your time here?”

“Yes?”

“Well, we’ll be leaving soon, so did you want to come with us to the business?”

“You’ve treated me right so far, so I’d like to at least visit before I give you a proper answer.”

“Sure, sure,” Adam replied, before yawning. “Alright, I need to go wake up in a bath, then we’ve got a meeting with the-,”

“Adam,” Jurot said, stopping his brother from saying more, such an ability almost as refined as his ability to slaughter beasts.

“What?” Adam replied, oblivious to how close he had come to causing trouble, for he was his daughter’s father.

“We should go bathe.”

“That’s more like it!”

Jaygak exchanged a look with Kitool, the pair understanding they still had so much more work to do to make sure Adam didn’t get himself killed. ‘You can’t just casually mention that the Grand Duchess wants to speak with you.’

The Grand Duchess readied her tea to receive her guests, while Sir Grover cleaned his glave, upon the Grand Duchess’ instruction. The old man stared longingly at the glave he had used for all these decades, dragging a finger along the flat of the blade. His eyes darted to the side as the steps echoed within the manor.

“Did he request to bathe before meeting me?” the Grand Duchess asked.

“… Yes,” Princess Adda replied, staring at the old woman, who commanded more respect than even the King of Aldland.

“He truly is a fool,” the Grand Duchess said, cleaning the cups. “So?”

“He would not wish to marry me.”

“She may not be a Princess, but she is a Ray,” the old woman said, checking the biscuits she had placed within the oven, moving with a careful swiftness, one that was tempered by time. “The Iyr has chained him, the Order of Life’s Rose has managed to place a blade within his bed, all we can do is offer him a rose.”

‘Even this rose has a thorn, Grand Duchess.’

“Did you think I meant you?” the Grand Duchess asked, not even turning back to judge the young woman’s face. “Not a rose, but honey.”

“Honey?”

“What does he want?”

“He wants to impress his daughter.”

“Which daughter?”

“Jirot.”

“What did you learn about her?”

Princess Adda thought about how easily Adam gave up almost everything about his children to her, to the point she was uncertain that anything he said was true. Yet, the Iyrmen had confirmed his words, so she could only believe his words to be true. “She likes to tease him.”

“What else did you learn?”

“She’s smart for her age, and her brother was named after the Mad Dog.”

“I’m sure you’ve learnt more, but everything he has told you, he has already said to me. Even if he is a fool, he has informed me of greater details than he would have revealed to you.”

‘Then why did you send me to-,’

“That boy and his companions are more dangerous than you have realised,” the Grand Duchess said, turning to face the Princess, her grey eyes full of a fierceness that the Princess hadn’t seen in some time. “The Iyrmen are difficult to deal with, and though he is chained by the Iyr, it is a fortune that he is not an Iyrman. I will teach you how to deal with him.”

While the Grand Duchess dealt with how to deal with the brat, that brat enjoyed his time within the baths, unaware of all the blades wishing to point his way, for though many blades could point his way, what was a greater shield than being Jurot’s brother?