“Konarot, stop,” Adam said, shocked by her behaviour. “He’s your… uncle’s grandfather.”

Konarot stood on Adam’s lap, her arms spread wide to protect her siblings, all the while she growled at Jarot.

Adam reached over to brush her hair. “Calm down, little Kana.” Adam slowly coaxed her to sit back on his lap. “Sorry, I haven’t actually spent much time with them…”

“What a fierce little girl she is,” Jarot said, grinning wide. “She will grow big and strong.”

“No,” Adam refuted. “She will stay small and cute forever. All my children will stay cute and small forever.” Adam embraced them all tight.

Mulrot, not for the first time, wondered if Jarot had an Elvish lover when he had left. No, there was no way. It had taken her so long to try and bed him when he was a man who only lusted for blood.

“That is fine too,” Jarot admitted. “They should remain small and cute forever, and should not leave our arms.”

Adam smiled, and for a moment, wondered if the pair were truly related. “Yeah…”

“They must grow big and strong for the Rot family,” Jurot said, feeling their glares across his skin. He did not care, still believing he was right about the matter.

“It is a great honour for the Rot family to have Dragons among them,” Mulrot said.

“Well…” Adam began, wondering if he should continue. “I have two more children.”

Mulrot slowly nodded her head.

“They’re Goblins.”

Tarot blinked, looking to his wife, wondering if he had heard correctly. She threw him a look too. Sarot remained silent.

“Goblins?” Jarot asked.

“Yes.”

“Your children?”

“Yes.”

A long, painful silence followed.

“We came across them on the way back,” Adam said. “They were quite feral, and, well, the children’s mother had died. The Goblins had all basically starved to death, and their mother had been half eaten. Thankfully, somehow, the children were still fortunate enough to survive. We managed to bring them back, and I adopted them. They’re really cute. There’s a boy, Jarot, and a girl, Jirot.”

Mulrot remained silent, wondering if Adam would ask them to accept the Goblins into the family too. She wasn’t sure how the rest of the family would take it.

Jarot remained quiet, thinking about how a Goblin child had been named after him.

“It is one thing to adopt Dragons, but it is another to adopt Goblins,” Mulrot said.

Jarot’s eyes darkened, before realising what he had thought too. ‘Have I grown so old?’

‘What?’ Jurot thought, sitting beside Adam silently.

“I have accepted them as my children, regardless of how little blood they share with me,” Adam said, simply.

“It will be difficult to accept Goblins into our family, Adam,” Mulrot said, reading the rest of the Iyrmen. “I am sorry.”

Adam frowned, but he bowed his head. He knew it was a tall ask, and even Iyrmen would probably have ill feelings to Goblins. He wasn’t sure what to say to them either. Could he try to convince them? Should he? ‘No. That’s all wishful thinking.’

“Why?” Jarot asked.

“They are Goblins,” Mulrot said, looking to her husband. “They may have rapid growth and can breed quickly, but they will be too weak. They will be unable to help the Iyr.”

Adam furrowed his brows, looking down. Though he could feel the rage building within him, but he had no right to try and convince them otherwise.

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“So?” Jarot asked, staring into his wife’s eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“We must take into consideration what is best for the Iyr,” she said. “As the Family Elder, I need to take into consideration what is best for our family too. I am sorry, Adam, but it would be difficult to accept your adopted Goblin children.”

Jurot remained silent, his eyes growing wide. ‘What?’

“I understand,” Adam said, simply. “I’ll speak with Sonarot and I’ll try and figure something out. I wanted them to be accepted by the Rot family, and eventually the Iyr, but I’ve already spoken to the Chief about something. I was planning on making a fort on the edge of the Iyr’s lands. It should be alright if they stay in the shared family estate until then, right?”

“I am certain that Sonarot will not kick them out,” Mulrot replied.

Adam smiled, but it was a tired smile. He brushed his children’s hair, resting his cheek against Konarot’s head. “Yeah.”

“You can feel reassured that Konarot, Kirot, and Karot will be raised well within the Iyr,” Mulrot said.

Jarot’s eyes darkened further, and Jurot crossed his arms. He, like his grandfather, couldn’t believe the sheer audacity of the words.

“What?” Adam asked.

Mulrot paused for a moment, wondering what he was asking about. “Your Dragon children will be taken care of well. We will need to discuss how they will be raised, but they will surely be raised well within the Rot family, and the Iyr.”

Adam wasn’t sure what she was getting at. “Well, yeah? They’ll be raised in the Iyr for a bit, and then once the fort’s done, I’ll be raising them there…”

“You will not raise them here?”

“I think we’re misunderstanding one another. All five of my children will remain in the shared family estate, and once the fort is built, I will take them to the fort to raise them there.”

“You will not allow your three children to be raised here?” Mulrot asked. “The Rot family will take good care of them.”

“Konarot is already so fierce, she may become the greatest Rage Dancer in her generation,” Sarot said.

“Even if Karot is meek, he may still grow up to be a great warrior,” Tarot said.

“I will not mind if Kirot remains small and cute forever,” Zirot said.

Adam cleared his throat. “Let’s be very, very clear,” Adam began, trying to keep his voice calm and level. “You will not allow my children to be raised here. It will be difficult for me to raise Half Dragon and Goblin children, yes. However, to raise one group of children under the wealth of the Iyr, and to deny the same rights to my other children…” Adam swallowed. “Do you all view me so terribly that you think I would be such a horrible father?”

“To deny them the right to be raised within the Iyr would be a terrible thing,” Mulrot retorted.

“So what do you want me to do? You want me to condemn my Jarot and Jirot because they were born as the wrong race? Do you want me to hide them away in the shadows while my Half Dragon children can enjoy the Iyr’s sun?”

Adam sat up straighter, trying to keep his voice level, but they could see his veins bulging around his forehead. “My children will grow up together. It would have been best if they had a decent relationship with the extended Rot family, but they will be happy enough with Jurot and my Aunt. Our lovely Turot here will also treat them well, won’t you?”

Turot sat up straighter, glancing around at the adults. He had felt something was off about this entire conversation. It wasn’t something he had thought Iyrmen would talk about. “I will look after my little nieces and nephews.”

Adam smiled. “That’s right. Our little Turot is such a great little young man.”

“Adam is very strong, very handsome,” Turot said, nodding his head.

The Iyrmen were taken aback by Turot’s words, but quickly returned their attention back to Adam and his Half Dragon children, who were clutching at him so eagerly.

“We should discuss the matter of Kona, Ki, and Ka in the future, when we are all with calmer minds,” Mulrot said.

“No,” Adam replied, simply, before standing. “I’ll leave you to your dinner.”

Mulrot sighed, but bowed her head, letting him go.

Jurot stood, making to leave too, finding that he could not open his mouth to speak. The shame had overwhelmed him, and he could not fight against it. Turot stood as well, eating some of the bread he had been given by his granduncle.

Jarot, too, stood.

“What are you doing?” Mulrot asked.

“I will see the one known as Jarot,” he replied.

Churot stood too, taking with him his book, and he followed his grandfather out to the shared family estate. The awkwardness hung about them as they entered the shared family estate.

Jarot walked right to the baskets which contained the Goblins. ‘They are kept with the other children.’ Jarot stared down at the pair of tiny babes, both with greenish skin. “This one is Jarot?”

Adam stood beside the old man awkwardly, his Half Dragon children hanging around him. “The names aren’t final,” he said, finally. “If you don’t like him being called Jarot, it can be changed.”

It was one thing for Mulrot not to like them, and any of the other family members, but if it was Jarot, it felt different.

“Why would I not like it?” Jarot asked. He continued to stare at the babies. “He is cute. His sister is cute too.”

Adam sighed with relief, feeling the weight escape his shoulders, though his children continued to clutch against them. He went to eat with his children, who eagerly ate from his fingers. “Daddy needs to eat too, you silly babies.”

Konarot brought a fruit up to his lips, shoving it into his mouth.

“You’re so smart, aren’t you?” Adam smiled, chewing the fruit. He kissed his Half Dragon children across their foreheads. ‘Is it because they’ve got Dragon blood?’

“Do you wish to stay here for the night?” Sonarot asked.

“How can I go back to a place which smells of such shamelessness?” Jarot asked. ‘Goblin children? It is no matter if they are Goblins or Dragons. This is not the way of the Iyr. To refuse the Goblins such a decent life, but to choose the Half Dragons to add to our honour.’

Sonarot stared up at her father, seeing him deep in thought while he remained fixated on the Goblin children.

“When did we become so Aldish?”

Churot looked up at his grandfather in shock after hearing the words, before quickly returning back to his equations, not wanting to think about what he had just heard.