Lanarot let out a sigh as she finished her cup of juice, holding up the cup towards her mother with both hands. “Mama, more peas, mama. Mama, more peas, mama.”

“Okay,” Sonarot replied, wiping the girl’s face with her sleeve, before pouring holding the girl’s cup and pouring more juice into it.

“Thakh you,” the girl said before sipping her juice.

Konarot’s nose twitched as she smelled a familiar form, glancing over to the entrance of the shared estate. There, an Iyrman appeared, with pale skin tinged with grey, dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a long fur cloak over his thick clothing, also dark. At his back was a greatsword, like a handle stuck to a giant slab of metal.

The Elder smiled at the children, who stared at him with awe. His eyes fell to Citool, who stepped aside to speak with the Elder.

“I have come to collect the sheets,” Zijin said.

Citool waited to see what else he wanted, but after a moment she nodded, stepping away to collect the sheets for the Elder.

Zijin stepped towards the central fire, his eyes passing along the children, flashing them another warm smile. Sonarot sent her eldest granddaughter to hand the Elder some fruit, the girl placing them down into his large hand.

“Thank you,” the Elder said, eating them one by one.

“Okay,” the girl replied, before retreating away from the Elder. She glanced back towards the Elder, before she returned back to eating herself, her tail swaying behind her lightly.

Citool returned with the sheets, the Elder glancing over them quickly in front of them, before slipping them into his book.

“Okay?” Citool asked.

“Okay,” the Elder replied. He glanced down towards the children once more, from Inakan to Konarot. His eyes then fell to the napping babies to one side, where Gurot and Shikan sat, eating silently, while keeping an eye on the children. They kept to themselves and their thoughts.

“It is Elder Zijin?” Jirot whispered to her grandmother.

“It is.”

“Is… is Majin’s daddy?”

“No, he is not.”

“No?”

“Majin’s father is Tijin. Elder Zijin is his cousin.”

Jirot slowly nodded. “Papo Saygak is papo Raygak’s cousin.”

“That is right.”

“I am not papo’s cousin, I am niece.”

“That is right.” Sonarot brushed the girl’s hair gently.

“I am daddy’s dohta.”

“That is right.”

“That is wight,” the girl replied, slowly nodding her head, before smirking towards her grandmother. “I am not daddy’s dohta.” She cackled, before being distracted by the hand on her head, glancing up.

“Your father will be sad if he hears such,” Elder Zijin said.

Jirot flushed and retreated back to her grandmother’s leg, Jarot following after her.

“It is not good,” Konarot said, wagging her finger at her sister.

“Are you behaving?” Zijin asked.

“Yes,” the eldest daughter replied.

“You must be sensible. If you cause as much trouble as your father, I will grow old too quickly.”

“I am not twouble.” Konarot pouted.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Zijin chuckled. “I have heard only one of the children is trouble…” Then his eyes fell to the red skinned baby to one side, snoozing lightly. ‘…’

Jirot hid her head beside her grandmother’s leg, one eye peeking out towards the Elder, though she glanced away once more when the Elder glanced her way.

“I will leave you to eat,” the Elder said, noting the eyes of the other children. He waved towards them, before stepping away, feeling the gazes of the children against his back. He could hear the older children chattering away about him as he left.

Sonarot thought little of why the Elder had spent so much time with them. If it was something she needed to know, he would have informed them.

Zijin let out a sigh, reaching for the book, slipping out the sheets once more. While he stared at them, barely reading them, his thoughts fell to his recent dream. ‘They are growing well…’ His eyes fell towards the darkening sky. ‘If I am receiving such dreams, Adam must be causing much trouble.’

Once Zijin returned back to the central estate, he noted the young boy who was currently checking the equations. Churot ticked off several of the boxes, before writing down the range of how long the supplies were to last, depending on the average estimates he had calculated for the Iyr.

“Churot, you are working well,” Zijin said, dropping down in his chair, before pulling out a small tray of snacks. “Next month you may return to your family. Your grandfather misses you.” The Elder tapped the book against his chest, where one of the sheets had contained the strongly worded letter from a certain Iyrman by the epithet of Mad Dog.

“Okay,” Churot replied, using a small spoon to eat the thinly cut fried dough snacks, not wanting to get his hand dirty while working.

Zijin leaned back in his chair for a moment, letting out a soft sigh. Churot remained silent, noting the sigh, which was a sigh that was becoming familiar to the young boy. It was a sigh about a particular young man…

A particular young man at the gates of East Port.

“It’s our honour to meet you, Fourth Hope,” Jerry said, doing his best to sound more highborn.

“Always a good day when we meet the fine priests of Life’s Rose!” Addler said. He understood they needed to delay the Hope and Rays so the Captain could arrive, but that wasn’t going to be a problem, after all it was a Hope and their Rays! Which guard in East Port didn’t look up to such prestigious fellows, those whose prowess and piety had placed them as a permanent order in the region? While the other orders each had their own villages, this order in particular had an entire town.

“It is our joy that we serve the Good Mother so well,” Hope Willow replied, placing a hand over her heart. “Your words fill my heart with zeal.”

Jerry and Addler flushed, flashing smiles towards the Hope and Rays. It wasn’t rare for a Hope to make their way to East Port, but it was often telegraphed in advance, and the commonfolk would come and watch them enter.

However, for a Hope to come without sending word ahead…

The guards eyes then flashed across the group. Most didn’t seem like members of the order. Addler and Jerry glanced between one another.

‘I think there ain’t gonna be any trouble.’

‘Me neither.’

A small sigh of relief left their lips, before they noted the smile across the Hope’s face.

“Ah, apologies for keeping you here.”

“Are your companions members of the order?” Jerry asked. It was awkward to ask for a gate fee, but he spotted a heavily armoured fellow in purple who was currently palming several gems within his hands.

“We are escorting them through the land,” Willow replied simply.

“Ah, right, of course.” The guard tipped his helmet towards her.

The jangling of armour filled the air before a slightly heavier armoured woman appeared, a woman in her forties, with a scar across her ear. She raised her brows towards the Fourth Hope, who remained mounted.

“Many blessings to you, Hope,” the Captain called, clasping her hands together in prayer.

“Mother’s blessings upon you, Captain,” the Hope said, still sitting tall and proud upon her mount.

“We had no idea we were going to be graced by a Hope tonight, otherwise we would have prepared.”

“There is no need to prepare for our arrival,” Willow replied, smiling towards the Captain. “We are merely escorting this group through the land.”

The Captain glanced towards the party before she blinked. She stared at the figure wearing the purple armour, her mind racing as she tried to recall what she had been told about someone wearing purple armour.

“Excuse me, but are you Adam?” the Captain asked.

A long sigh filled the air.

“Yes,” Adam replied.

“…” The Captain looked towards the Hope. ‘She’s escorting…’

“Is there an issue?”

“We received word that a young half fae by the name of Adam who wore purple armour kidnapped a child from the Marquise’s employ…” The Captain suddenly tensed up, noting the way the Iyrmen shifted their position, some standing taller, pulling their weapons further in front, hands placed over their weapons. Some of them looked to have made it harder to draw their weapon while others seemed to have an easier time.

“Who said what now?”

“…” the Captain could hear something in the purple fellows voice. His voice had trembled in such a way. It was that kind of way. The kind of way which meant he was utterly annoyed by life. It was the kind of voice she heard from those higher up whenever someone bothered them too much about nonsense, from the abuse of their subordinates, to commonfolk who complained about the guards and some of the less savoury actions they took upon them.

“Do you mean to step forward against someone within our protection?” Willow asked.

The Captain’s eyes glanced upwards towards the Hope. “The…” The Captain reached up towards her helmet, dropping her visor. It was obviously threatening, but she bowed her head, staring down at the floor.

Addler and Jerry glanced between one another again, hoping to all the Divine, especially Mother Soza, the Captain wouldn’t say something stupid.

‘You want me to treat him like the worst criminal when he’s being escorted by a Hope?’ the Captain thought, recalling the knight’s words. What else could the Captain do but press the issue? ‘Divine take you!’