“Look, is my name, babo,” Jirot said, pointing down onto the page with her tiny chubby finger. “Ji. Woh.”

“Do you already recognise your own name, my Jirot?” Jarot asked, pulling her a little closer with his arm.

“I know it, I know. Look, is my name, but I am not in the book, it is different,” the girl said.

“That is right, it is your name, but it is not you,” Jarot confirmed, kissing the top of her head, while her brother sucked his thumb, resting up against the old man’s chest, barely able to remain awake. It was tiring work to keep up with his elder sister, so his greatfather couldn’t blame the boy for being so tired. “It is time to nap, Jirot.”

“No! I am not tired,” the girl replied, before immediately yawning. “No.”

“Your babo will sleep with you.”

“Okay!” the girl replied, before hopping onto her feet, falling down almost immediately from the force, while Jarot grabbed her by the back of her clothes, stopping the fall. “I’m okay!”

“Yes,” the old man replied, refraining from grunting as his back cracked lightly, before setting her free.

“No,” the girl replied, smirking slightly, before cackling and rushing away, before returning back to her babo to grab his hand to lead him to nap.

Jarot spotted the triplets, who were lazing around in the shade, not enjoying how hot noonval was. They were silver scaled half dragons, so they preferred the cold to the heat, though to Jarot, they were each Iyrmen, for they were his greatchildren.

Murot twitched lightly in his sleep, sucking away at his little dummy. The boy had grown so much bigger, and was certainly his brother’s brother, for he was growing as well as Gurot. The boy would crawl almost everywhere, even Jarot was having trouble keeping up with him, but thankfully Konarot assisted the boy.

‘My greatchildren are too wise,’ he thought. He thought about how much trouble Jirot was already causing with her swiftness and the chaos she brought with destruction, though she was slowly growing out of that phase.

“Babo,” the girl whispered, grabbing a blanket which her grandmother had knitted, the spirals of colour sometimes causing the girl to stare at it for minutes. She held it up, allowing her greatfather to settle between them, before covering his chest with it, though pulled it slightly off him so she could be covered by the heavy knitted blanket. “You must be quiet, okay? Babies are sleeping, you cannot be loud.” She wagged her finger towards her greatfather seriously.

“Yes,” Jarot replied, smiling towards the little girl, who then quietened herself by sucking her thumb. He let out a soft sigh as he stared at the sky, before hearing the girl quietly shooshing him, her finger pointing at him threateningly, her eyes daring him to act up in front of her. He smiled and kissed her forehead, before brushing little Jarot’s head, the boy already fallen into a deep sleep.

‘Jurot, when will you give me such cute greatchildren?’

While the old man thought about his grandsons, he had no idea that the most outrageous one was currently in the middle of something so… Adam.

The silence in the air beat against them, while they remained frozen, staring at the scene before them. Just like that, a boy had walked up to stab Adam in the gut. The guards had eyed up the boy for a moment, but had been more focused on the heavily armoured warriors nearby, and the half elf who seemed intent on causing them bother.

The members of United Kindom had been mostly focused on watching the scene play out, also looking out towards the group of a half dozen or so guards who were there to take away some random child Adam had met earlier in the morning that day, and yet he was so focused on keeping the child safe.

Adventuring with Adam had made the impossible seem possible, and yet a child stabbing him wasn’t something any of them expected. Gods causing Adam trouble? That made sense. A child trying to assassinate Adam? That didn’t seem right, but it was exactly because it didn’t seem right, which made it plausible.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Aren’t you too young to be an assassin?” Adam asked, reaching for the boy’s hand, while the boy twisted the dagger within Adam.

Health: 82 -> 76

Athletics Check (Strength)

D20 + 8 = 27 (19)

Adam let out another gasp of pain, before he pulled the boy’s hands away, along with the dagger, feeling the heat of blood pooling at his tunic.

Sir Olivia Seahill remained silent, taken aback by the fact the young man had been stabbed by a random dirty urchin off the road. ‘Is this some kind of ploy?’

Adam reached to his side, soothing himself with his magic.

Lay on Hands: 33 -> 23

Health: 76 -> 86

‘Eh?’ Adam thought, staring down at the boy. Even though he had been hurt quite bad, through the blue and black Adam was fairly certain he recognised the boy.

The boy remained staring at Adam with fury, gritting his teeth, but as the adrenaline ran through him, finally beginning to dissipate, he stared up towards Adam in shock.

Kitool reached down to grab the boy by the scruff of his neck, but Adam raised a hand, causing her to pause.

Lay on Hands: 23 -> 13

Adam placed a hand on the boy, filling him with his divine magic, healing him far beyond what his actual Health would have been. “Kid, what happened to you?”

The kid felt the divine magic rush through, a warmth he had never felt before. His eyes squinted slightly towards the half elf, before he shook and began to cry. As he did, his mouth opened to reveal his tongue had been cut and cauterised.

Adam’s eyes flashed wide for a moment with surprise, before he felt another wave of red heat rush through him. His hands became tense, but he placed them over the child’s shoulders. “Hey, kid. Did those guys cut out your tongue?”

The boy continued to shake and cry, and Adam noted the wetness on the floor, not just from the blood which had fallen with the knife.

“It’s going to be okay,” Adam said, quietly, patting the boy’s head. “Fred, take the kid and get him cleaned up, and get him something to eat.”

“Okay,” Fred replied, his voice filled with confusion.

“The boy is also a VIP. Stay with him, and make sure no one bothers him.”

“Of course,” Fred said, suddenly more alert, guiding the young boy away.

“Cease at once,” Olivia Seahill called out. “You would not be so foolish to harbour criminals in front of me!”

“Criminals? What did he do?”

“Do not play games with me, boy,” the woman almost snarled, though kept her voice in check. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Whatever you saw, you don’t have to worry about,” Adam replied. “I’m the victim, and I’m saying there was no issue.”

“You believe yourself to be above the law?”

“I believe myself to be someone who is fair and just, and there is nothing more fair and just than making sure no one bothers these children,” Adam replied. “If you’re wanting to kidnap them out of my security, then you should understand the cost of doing so.”

“So you have finally spoken your true intentions,” the knight said, before motioning a hand to a guard, who stepped forward with a pouch. “Five hundred gold for the boy.”

They tossed the pouch over to Adam, who caught it, feeling the gems within it. Adam inhaled deeply, before tossing the pouch back towards them. He reached into his shirt, pulling out his amulet, the dark obsidian cool to the touch.

“I work for the enchanter, who has showered me in magical weapons, armour, and gold,” the young half elf said, brushing his hand along the cool obsidian. “It is not gold which is the price for the boy, for gold is too cold a price to pay.”

“Executive Adam,” Vonda called, causing the half elf to pause. The release Adam required was that of blood, Vonda was fairly certain of that, but if he spilled their blood here, then the situation would be difficult to resolve. “May I handle this?”

Adam closed his eyes, nodding his head, barely able to keep himself from exploding. It was the sharp pain at his side which had brought him back to reality.

Vonda inhaled for a moment. “I have informed the good Sir of the proper protocols in dealing with this matter. Yet, you have spat upon the order of the Great Mother, offering gold coins for a child’s body. I will inform the Mother Priest of this transgression, and you will need to answer this disrespect.”

“We did not offer the order five hundred gold, but the business which wished to trade gold for the child.”

“We will see if the Mother Priest of Life’s Rose will view it the same way,” Vonda threatened.

“Your order, though holy and well respected, cannot intrude on such matters so lightly. Even if you are a Sister, would you be willing to drag in the order for a simple matter such as this? I do not believe so.”

“I am Sister Vonda of Life’s Rose, and though my name does not hold as much respect as that of Sir Olivia Seahill, I still am a member of the Order of Life’s Rose. I have not yet returned back to my order to claim my rites are complete, and though I speak to you as Sister Vonda, it is not long from now I will claim the title of Mother Vonda, or perhaps a title as one of the Forty Nine Rays.”

“You are still a young woman yet,” Olivia stated. “You are many years from claiming such titles.”

“We will see.”

Adam’s eyes fell to Vonda in surprise, partly because of her words, but also partly because of the look within her eyes, which dared the knight to act up in front of her.

‘She is certainly a Priest…’ Sir Seahill thought. It was rare for a Priest to become a Hope, only the truly most powerful could claim such a title, though it had been generations since, due to the awkward restrictions on the Gates.

The sheer confidence within the woman’s eyes caused him to wonder if she really could claim the title of one of the Forty Nine Rays or the Seven Hopes soon.

How could such a thing be true?