Konarot remained deep in thought as she stared at the board before her. This time, Jarot had decided to play dragon chess with her. The one armed Iyrman’s play was slow against her, taking his time thinking about moving the pieces, and also moving the pieces themselves.

Konarot held her chin, hiding her lip, the way her baba did. Her eyes scanned the battlefield on the board. Her greatfather played differently to Tonagek, the old man making less than optimal moves, allowing her to press forward, though he was still an adult who had played at least a hundred games, and so didn’t make it too easy for the girl.

“Which piece would you like to move?” Jarot asked.

“The priest,” Konarot said, pointing to the priest and then to where she wants to put it.

“It is a good move to make, but will it be protected?” Jarot asked.

“Knight can protect,” Konarot said.

Jarot grinned wide. “My greatdaughter is so smart! Hmm! Can babo threaten the priest?”

“Yes,” the girl said, pointing to the knight on his board.

“So I will take your priest with my knight and you can take my knight?”

Konarot nodded and reached for her piece, while Jarot reached for her hair to brush it behind her head.

“You will lose your priest and I will lose my knight, but which is more important?” Jarot asked, brushing the girl’s cheek, feeling how cool her skin was compared to her younger siblings.

Konarot placed down the piece and looked up towards her greatfather, furrowing her brows in thought. “Which?”

“There are four knights and two priests. If I lose one knight, I have three knights. If you lose one priest, there is one priest left. I will have many knights, but you will only have one priest.” Jarot took the priest with his knight, before the girl used her knight to take his knight. “It is a better trade for me.”

The girl placed her finger over her mouth once more, falling back into thought. “It is bad trade?”

“It is not a good trade, but my greatdaughter cannot make bad trades!” Jarot replied, ruffling her hair before brushing her forehead with his thumb tenderly.

Konarot’s lips formed a shy smile, squirming slightly against his touch, before giving in with her head, allowing him to rub her head. When they had first met, the girl had been so aggressive towards him, ready to fight him, but now she was so meek at his touch.

“You are spoiling her too much,” Mulrot called, holding a sleepy Jirot and Jarot within her arms. Upon seeing their grandfather, the waking children smiled, rubbing their eyes lightly. They waited to be dropped so they could go and hug their greatfather’s side.

“This cannot be true, I am their greatfather!” His lips formed a wild grin before he pulled the sleepy twins against himself.

“Babo!” Jirot called, with little Jarot calling for him a moment later.

“Did you miss your greatfather?”

“No!” the pair replied before cackling.

“Hmph!” Jarot replied before brushing their hair, allowing them to settle themselves on his lap. “Where is my Larot?”

“Sleeping peacefully.”

“Who cannot sleep peacefully within the Iyr?” Jarot almost cackled, before noting Kirot and Karot had approached, awaiting his affection. He reached out to rub their heads and their hair too.

“Babo! You are playing chess?” Jirot asked, leaning over his arm, her eyes squinting towards the pieces.

“Yes.”

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“I am playing too.”

“Okay, you may play,” Jarot replied, watching the girl as she picked up the piece.

“This is priest?” the girl asked, picking up the piece.

“Yes.”

“Is Suh Vonda?”

“Perhaps it is?”

“Hmmm.” Jirot stared at the board but then clutched the priest in hand. “Suh Vonda is playing with me now.”

“I see.”

“Lucy?” Little Jarot asked, picking up a soldier piece.

“Perhaps it is?”

Little Jarot blinked, before clutching the piece tight in hand. “We are playing now.”

“I see…” The older Jarot smiled. “Konarot, I will withdraw this time.”

“I win?” Konarot asked, her brows raising almost to her horns.

“Yes.”

Konarot let out a satisfied snort. “Yes.” She hopped off her seat and rushed to her greatfather’s side, embracing him tight.

Jarot returned the embrace, allowing his greatchildren to completely drown him in their affection. His heart melted within his chest, and he thought about going to slay another dragon for them.

Jirot and Jarot slipped away to play with the dragonchess board pieces, and Karot followed after them. Konarot and Kirot abandoned their greatfather soon after to play too.

Mulrot resigned herself beside her husband, pouring him warm tea. “Will Jurot return with a child?”

“It is Adam who will return with another child,” the old man replied, chuckling lightly.

“That does not need to be said,” Mulrot joked. “How many children will he bring?”

“It should be at least four, so that I have ten greatchildren,” Jarot said.

“I will bet less than four.”

Jarot grinned wide. “Okay.”

There were two things one could bet on Adam for. Trouble and children. The bets for trouble were too easy, so now the bets have become about the children, and the new children Adam would bring back.

‘What kind of trouble will you cause this year?’ the old Iyrman thought.

‘Quite the order,’ Adam thought as the pair rode back from their meeting with the Duchess. ‘It’s not like we had brought gifts to meet her, so it’s a pretty solid order. We should enchant something small as a gift once we’re done with her order.’

Kitool decided against asking Adam what he was thinking about, leaving the young man to his thoughts while there were still ears glued to their conversation. Her eyes fell to Sir Vonda, who remained eerily silent.

‘…’ Vonda’s thoughts were focused on a single thought, the thought which had plagued her for some time. She pushed away the thought, leaning back to notice Adam was once more thinking deeply.

“What trouble are you thinking of now?” Vonda joked, before her brows raised in alarm at her own words.

“I’m just thinking about how the business should reward the Duchess for her patronage,” Adam replied. ‘Plus, there’s so much more to do this year when it comes to enchanting.’

“The Duchess will surely appreciate whatever the Enchanter will do.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, cutting himself off from saying any more.

“…”

“What’s wrong?” Adam asked, his eyes falling over Vonda. She seemed to be taken by her thoughts constantly, something Adam wasn’t used to.

“…” Vonda remained silent for a long moment, before inhaling deeply. “Will you both assist me tomorrow morning?”

“Sure,” Adam replied, glancing over to Kitool, who bowed her head. “What do you need to do?”

“I wish to meet my family.”

“The Eastlakes?”

Vonda nodded, her eyes staring through the carriage, looking off to another time.

Adam tried to recall what he knew of the Eastlake family, but realised hadn’t heard much from the woman herself. ‘It’s not like I give her enough time to talk about her family when I’m always droning on about mine…’ Although Adam’s joke ran through his mind, he could feel the heaviness within the air.

When they finally returned to the guild, Adam slumped within the corner, letting out a soft sigh. He rubbed his stomach, remembering the taste of all the desserts and cheese he had consumed within the Duchess’ estate. ‘All those cakes, man. How is she not fat? Does she have her own gym or something?’

“You’ve returned,” Dunes called, noting the young half elf in the corner as he returned from his own business. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Next time I’ll try and take you with me,” Adam said. “She has someone from Aswadasad who makes desserts and they’re so good.”

“Do they sprinkle coconuts across the cakes and call them Aswadian?” Dunes replied, taking his place opposite Adam.

“No, no, well, yes, but they have legitimate desserts too, apparently. There’s this thick, dense, dessert with coconut flakes all across the cake. It’s messy, got some kind of syrup, but damn, it’s so good.”

“Kalum?”

“Whatever it is, it’s delicious,” Adam said, trying not to drool.

“One day, when we travel through Aswadasad, I will take you to the Dakun Manzil, and there you will see what Aswadasad can truly offer.”

“Dakun Manzil? That’s the…”

“The Great House.”

“That’s the one.” Adam slowly nodded his head. “One day we’ll pass through Aswadasad and we can head to the Dakun Manzil. I’ve heard only good things about it.”

“It is a place which treachery dares not to step foot within,” Dunes said, almost smiling. “When we go, I will pay for drinks.”

“Pay for drinks? Pay for the dessert!”

Dunes chuckled. “You can pay for the dessert, since you will eat so much.”

“They’re that good?”

Dunes bowed his head gently. “You will see whether I speak any lies.”

“My expectations have been raised.”

Dunes chuckled once more. His eyes fell across the rest of the party, before he leaned in. “How did the business with the Duchess go?”

“Well enough,” Adam replied. “She made quite the order.”

Dunes raised his brows.

“I’ll tell you another time,” Adam said, glancing around the guild, where people were no doubt pretending not to listen. ‘I hope we can head back soon.’ His eyes then fell to Vonda, who had yet to tell them what she really needed help with.