Harlan needed to get some things together, and while he didn’t like it, Adina wanted to go to school again once the weekend was over.

At breakfast like any other day, a group of girls from Reino arrived to hassle her.

“How are things with that monster husband of yours? Does he take the form of a beast for you?”

She wasn’t entirely sure, but was mostly certain that someone had been sending people like this to provoke her into reacting and getting kicked out.

“Just because your mother breeds with animals doesn’t mean I have any interest. Oh, but by that face, it looks more like the branches of your family tree got a little twisted. Were you that desperate to keep whatever bloodline ability you have because your life has no value otherwise?”

The girl was taken aback. Adina often just told people to leave her alone because they weren’t worth the agitation, she had never gone on the offensive like this.

“It would explain why your face is too large for your head and you have such a misshapen nose.”

“How dare you-”

“How dare I? Coming up to me with a face like that, I thought an orc had gotten free.

If you can afford the academy, surely someone could fix those teeth, mongrel dog.”

She went quiet.

“I do wonder, did you not have make up, or is there simply not enough to cover up those pimples?”

The girl ran away in tears and her group left with her.

Those around the table were in shock, and had stopped eating.

Yara broke the silence.

“What was that?”

Adina put up a veil, uncaring for the social faux pas that it was to do so in public settings.

“Harlan told me why he belittles people sometimes, it turns out talking down and insults are great stress relief. There are many times he’s avoided murder by instead killing with words.”

“You’ve been strange since the weekend.”

“I killed a man, I didn’t mean to do it, but I lost my temper and with my new self that is very dangerous.

He wasn’t a good man, and I’m not in trouble, but I’m not good at handling this.”

“Are you alright? I don’t mean did you get hurt, I mean, are you ok to be here?”

“I am. Harlan spent a good part of yesterday telling me the ways he keeps calm, and taught me how to look at people and read what they are most likely to be insecure about so I can attack them with that.”

“But she looked completely normal.”

“If you drew a perfect painting, but there was a single small smudge on it, then that is all the artist is going to see. She was beautiful, I’m not going to pretend she isn’t, but I can tell she puts quite a bit of effort into elevating her natural beauty. So me pointing out that little smudge was enough to make her crack.”

“I know she was provoking you, but that was… it was really quite intense.”

“I wanted her to suffer, and I want to send a message with her suffering. The ideal outcome is that my words spread and she becomes a shut-in whose idea of that small flaw grows so large she cannot bear it anymore.”

“Now you do sound like Harlan.”

“Oh how good it feels to just unleash every nasty little thought about someone after how all of the other students from Reino treated me.”

Adina returned to eating, and though she said nothing, Claudia was a little proud of her.

After classes were done of the day, as every day, Adina went to see Hellon.

But along the way Cato and a few others appeared from around the corner.

Adina got out one of the weapons Harlan made for her, but didn’t activate it.

“Come no further.”

“Or what?”

“I have no idea what this will do, but I’m certain that you won’t like the effects of it.”

“I simply had a few questions.”

“Then ask from there, shout if you need to.”

“That girl who you had a conversation with at breakfast.”

“The one who insulted me and who I put in her place?”

“She’s taken her own life, I wanted to ascertain any possible motives.”

“I don’t have time for your games. Move to the right side of the hall, and I will move along the left, if any of you come near me I’ll activate whatever this is.”

“HA, I wouldn’t think you could call my bluff so quickly. But I will need to ask for you to not do something like that again, it is bad for the health of the students to have someone so abrasive around.”

“Tell your dogs to bark up another tree then you hognosed fool. How many years are they going to hold you back? Or are you staying here because you know you’d never amount to anything outside of a school where you can intimidate children?”

“I will be seeing you again.”

“The only downside to not being blind anymore is that I had to see you look just as bad as your breath implied you did.”

His veins bulged and the other members of the ethics council held him back, but what really prevented him from attacking her was the black orb the size of her head that she kept pointed at him.

The elder Cato shook off the others and kept walking, the smug face Adina had and her quiet giggles etched into his mind, nothing like the scared girl she was before, the one who he thought she should be.

Adina made her way into Hellon’s office.

“You are late.”

“Cato showed up to threaten me.”

“Which one?”

“The older brother.”

“He should be out of here soon enough.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t tell anyone, and you didn’t hear it from me, but the ethics council has pushed lines too much, and in a more equal academy like your husband helped create, giving one nation a secret police for children has been quite unhealthy. But, we aren’t certain, and the vote hasn’t even started.”

“Can’t Hirum just disband them?”

“While many of our teachers are from Ragne, some are from Reino, and while they claim to have cast aside their nation for the sake of teaching, you can’t be sure how they will react. We’ve already done more than enough to actually start punishing them, and we’ve taken away most of their power, but actually getting rid of the council would be a symbolic blow against the political power of Reino and it might not go quietly.”

“That still wouldn’t really get rid of the elder Cato. He’s here as a student officially.”

“We are putting stricter limits on who can repeat years and take classes. Ragne is richer than ever, and with so many being uplifted it means more people can afford to send their children here.

Cato, having repeated multiple years to remain here for no reason other than to be leader of that sham ethics council, would suddenly be far less appealing to bring back for another year if he failed to graduate all of those other times.”

“That is wonderful news.”

“Yes, but as soon as word spreads, he’ll know, because he is the arm of Reino in this place, and knowing that he can’t stay and it is your final year, something might happen.”

“That’s why I have this.”

She pulled out the void orb.

“And what is that?”

“I don’t really know, Harlan made me a bunch of strange weapons and didn’t tell me what they do, just who to use them against. He knows enough about the Cato family through records he… acquired, that he thinks this thing should be able to hurt him.”

“Hurt or kill?”

“He didn’t tell me that either. Apparently he doesn't want me to be able to say anything specific even if given a truth potion.”

She raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment about reporting the weapon, since there really was no telling what it could do considering Harlan made it specifically for Adina.

It could be a plague bomb that is tied only to certain bloodlines to protect those he liked, it could be a void bomb that would somehow avoid harming her, it could shoot a condensed beam.

But, with the chance that her upsetting Harlan meant she wouldn’t get her youth back, she cast aside the idea.

If someone attacked Adina and died, who was she to decide right or wrong?

When Hellon cast her spells, she also took just a few minutes longer before telling Adina anything.

They’d been through this little dance that it couldn’t be missed, something was different.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s fine, I don’t know that anything is wrong. It’s just that something has changed.”

“What changed? Do you know? What’s wrong with my baby?”

“I’m going to ask for a second opinion, but it doesn’t seem to be malign. I’ve never witnessed a Fomorian pregnancy and with Harlan also being a champion, whatever that actually entails, and both of you having enhanced bodies, whatever that actually entails, it could be nothing but a difference in the way the baby is growing.”

“Do you think it’s healthy though?”

“Yes, almost a little too healthy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I said to expect the baby at seven months, but now I’m not certain, their growth rate is staggering, and it’s pulling more and more energy from your soul and body to build their own.”

“So you’re saying they could come earlier?”

“Maybe, maybe not, but at the rate it is going now, and that it seems to be faster than before, you could give birth at six months or even less. I know you have your wedding date planned out for next month, and surely some of that is also in motion, but I would recommend you move that back until after the baby is born.”

“Or we could move it forward.”

“Also possible, but think about this, if you change the date to the summer, everyone will already be out of the academy, you will be used to having the baby around, and you won’t be so hormonal.”

“I am not hormonal.”

“Then what happened with that girl earlier, what was that?”

“Are you spying on me?”

“Of course I am, Harlan wanted to make sure that you were alright at all times, so I have people report to me about you.”

“He asked you to do it?”

“Harlan recommended the students who are acting as spies right now.”

“That’s so sweet.”

Sweet wasn’t the word she would use to describe his paranoid planning, but she skipped past that.

“Just eat more food to make sure both you and them are not going to be malnourished in any way and keep visiting me.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

With her appointment over and her fears more or less sated, Adina went to the gate office, and was back home.

“How did things go with Hellon?”

“She said the baby is healthy, but growing faster than she thought.”

“Again?”

“She suggested that we push back the wedding until after they are born, but I don’t know.

You seemed to be really happy to be planning so much with me and I know you already set things up.”

“And it would really put a damper on everything if you collapsed and I had to deliver our child at the altar.”

“That isn’t going to happen.”

“But it could. So we’ll push it back, I’ll start making calls tomorrow. How far back do we want to push this?”

“7th month?”

“What day?”

“The 23rd day of the 7th month. If I give birth after just six months, then they would be about a month old, give or take.”

“Or sooner.”

She rubbed her belly, feeling them kick around her stomach, and forcing her to go to the bathroom again when they pushed on her bladder.

When she got out Harlan had a basket packed with food, more than even both of them could eat.

“Are you ready?”

“For what?”

“I thought I said I had something planned for tonight, didn’t I?”

She tightly closed her eyes.

“Shit, sorry, I forgot.”

“No problem, I just thought a romantic picnic would be good for us to talk, and we can meet with a friend who I haven’t had the chance to see much in too long.”

“Oh, who?”

“Well it isn’t a surprise if I tell you now, but they’ll be there in an hour, I wanted to set the stage so to speak. You can stay here if you want, I’ll just be working.”

“I love to watch you work, getting all sweaty and-”

“We aren’t doing anything there before our guests arrive.”

“I didn’t say we would.”

Harlan just gave her a look, and she gave him one.

It was an empty clearing other than a hill with a single tree on it and a sizable pond.

Harlan’s preparation was to cut down a tree and bend it into shape, using his nature magic to ensure it wasn’t going to break as he made four near quarter circles that would allow people to get in or out without too much climbing over others.

Turning them from bent logs into benches was as simple as removing a large piece from them and then carving out the insides, leaving about half of the total wood remaining,

Harlan then pulled out the sap, quickly drying the wood, and finally carving in some enchantments that would passively keep it free from rot as it would remain outside.

The final touch was to grow the tree again, weaving branches together as a sort of spring cushion.

For the table he uprooted a tree, placing it in the center of these two benches and growing out the branches into a shelf of sorts where one could put their plate and silverware and such.

Then he put a barrier around the pond along with changing the shape so there weren't any sudden drops or holes, along with him cleaning the water and moving the few turtles and fish to a second pond that surrounded the first like a moat.

Suddenly the small clearing seemed more like a private getaway.

Harlan was huffing and puffing by the time he finally sat down.

Working with plants was rather hard, even though he had some experience already, and making them grow into different shapes that were unnatural without them being damaged had been even harder despite him already having plans for this place.

“That was a lot of work for somewhere that isn’t yours, I assume we aren’t far from the house?

“The house is five miles that way, a good walk, but not very far. I’ll set up a small train to run between these places so you can come out here whenever you want since I know you have been cooped up inside because I’ve been too busy to take us anywhere and I’m too scared to let you go alone.”

She gave him a peck on the cheek, the idea was nice, but she really didn’t care much about being inside so often. Just sitting on the porch let her experience and nice breeze and it was the smell of flowers.

There was a time that being inside wasn’t something she liked, yet now that prison she grew up in was nothing but the past, this place here was the house she and Harlan made a home.

“That pond looks nice, how deep is it? I don’t want to end up with water in my nose.”

“It starts at three feet, but at the deepest parts it’s six feet deep. I hardened the dirt and put a protective spell on it to prevent erosion, so don’t worry about a muddy butt if we sit in at the edges of it.”

“You’re a muddy butt.”

“No need to get offensive.”

Just as they kissed, Harlan got a call, he needed to open a gate for his guests.

Selen and Wulrun stepped through with their own picnic basket.

“Oh, I thought I was bringing food.”

“No worries, leftovers don’t last long with her eating for three.”

“You’re having twins?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Adina wanted to smack Harlan in the back of the head like she normally would, but she was afraid of hurting him.

“That isn’t very funny.”

Wulrun looked out from behind Selen, but considering how much he had grown, it was hard to hide behind her anymore.

“You’ve gotten a lot bigger.”

Harlan lifted him like it was nothing, but Wulrun was almost 200 pounds already and nearly 5 and a half feet tall despite barely starting his growth spurt.

His limbs had grown longer, giving him a more gangly appearance that was only balanced out by the muscles he got from his constant training.

“I’m not a kid anymore, don’t pick me up like that.”

“Don’t rush into being an adult, it’s terrible, everyone has all these expectations and you need to worry about all kinds of crazy stuff.”

“I’m almost as old now as you were when we met, and you were acting like that already.”

“Yeah, but I’m a freak, you’re just a kid.”

Harlan set him down.

“Feel free to swim, it will be a bit before dinner is done.”

“Selen, swim with me.”

“Just a minute, I need to change out of my teacher's uniform. And I want to talk with Harlan for a little bit.”

Harlan had set up a simple hut made of stone where one could use the bathroom or get changed.

The ceiling had simple soulsmithed lights set up so there wouldn’t be an windows which one might accidentally reveal themselves.

She stepped out wearing a light and tight unitard with extra fabric which reached halfway to her knees to avoid showing off her crotch.

Wulrun meanwhile just stripped down to his underwear and hopped in.

“I expected something else when you said you had a bathing suit already.”

“What did you expect?”

“I just didn’t think you were so modest. Adina’s suit is almost like that, but with a little more padding and some sleeves.”

“Why wouldn’t I be modest? I’m an old fashioned woman.”

“I guess I don’t know, I just assume since you are so casual with me and so beautiful that you’d be one to show off when outside of a uniform.”

“Thank you, I think.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything untoward.”

“Untoward? You can drop the noble speech around me.”

“I’ve been slipping into it more, I’m not sure if its from spending so much more time at the castle or just from growing up.”

She looked at the firepit, surrounded by simple stump chairs, and Harlan throwing meats on it.

“If you are hungry, I could throw some of the faster cooking things on early, and I’ve had beans cooking for most of the day, and there are cold salads-”

“No, I just didn’t see you as much of a cook.”

“I’m an alchemist, at least a middling one, but since I started cooking for Adina, I’ve gotten much better at both. These meats are things I got from someone I know, a nice old man named Thomas.

No matter what I offer he won’t give me the recipes for these marinades.”

“Well, they do smell wonderful.”

“Should I leave them a little bloody for you? Put some of them on indirect heat?”

“Drinking blood has never bothered me, so I’d rather that my food is fully cooked.

But not the steaks.”

“I wasn’t going to throw those on for a little while anyway, more of a nightcap.”

She got up from the stump.

“I suppose I should go, he was quite excited when you invited us.”

“I’ll join in a bit, some of these things will cook quickly, but most of it only needs to be checked on every 10 minutes or so.”

Adina came out of the changing room and sat by Harlan.

“Is this fine? I feel so exposed in this.”

She saw him smirk.

“This isn’t funny, I’m bloated and I must look terrible.”

“You aren’t bloated, and I don’t think how you look is what’s really bothering you.”

“Oh, Harlan, the woman whisperer, what wisdom do you have for me now?”

“Well, for starters, you are sitting in a stance to defend your vitals. What is really bothering you is that you aren’t wearing your armor, you feel naked even though you hardly wear anything around the house.”

“Don’t say that so loud, I don’t want people to talk.”

“People? Selen and Wulrun are the only other people here and they certainly aren’t going to spread rumors about you. Do you want to hear compliments? Would that help?”

“I want you to try anyway.”

“Your breasts are getting bigger the longer you are pregnant, you were too skinny for most of the time I knew you, and not a single of your physical traits matter to me, because I love you more than anything in the world for always loving me even when I didn’t think I was worth loving.”

He leaned in for a kiss, and she pushed him back.

“That was a nice attempt, but you just pointed out my flaws.”

“If I just said you are perfect from the start you wouldn’t believe me.”

“That was such an awful line I’m almost sure that you pulled it from a book Yara gave you.”

“I thought I said something sweet.”

“You can’t say the right thing every time, it just wouldn’t be fair for the rest of us.”

Adina swam with Wulrun and Selen.

Eventually he joined them, leaving his armor to watch the food.

“Wulrun, how’s the water?”

“It’s nice here.”

His fur was matted down, revealing how skinny he honestly was despite his muscles.

Harlan thought back to a diagram he had seen of a bear that had been shaved, he wasn’t small, but comparison almost made him seem so.

“You sure you don’t want me to make you normal again?”

“Would you ever decide to be normal?”

“it’s not like I’m seven feet tall with horns.”

“I guess you aren’t blue either, but we aren’t normal, we never will be, even if we cover it up.”

“It’s been too long since we last spoke if you can string together a sentence like that.”

“Stop joking around for a minute.”

“Sorry.”

“I hated being like this, a constant werewolf, a reminder of what happened to my village.

You… you and Selen, you are both great, you both helped me to gain control back, you both helped me be confident.”

“I didn’t do anything but play with a kid who needed a friend.”

“We’ll pretend that’s all you did for me, because I can see you aren’t comfortable with being complimented.”

“I’m not a good person, it feels strange to have you speak so highly of me when I’ve never really done that much for you.”

“Alright.”

Wulrun had been floating, but he suddenly stood up.

“You gave me that wooden ball that always puts itself back together so I could train my strength and control, you were always there to play when I needed you, and you helped me push my limits because we’re both monstrously strong, and you never punished me for my mistakes. If I had a brother, I’d want him to be just like you.”

Harlan nearly submerged himself, he was proud of Wulrun, and embarrassed himself.

Eventually he replied.

“Thank you, and always remember, if you don’t want to be a Nightwatcher, you’ve got a home with me.”

He sniffed the air.

“It seems some of the food is done now, I hadn’t realized we’d been in the water so long.‘

Wulrun shook himself dry like a dog.

What he said was true, he didn’t mind being what he was now, people looked at him strangely, but most assumed him a beastkin and he could do quite a bit that a normal human couldn’t.

He walked over on all fours, no longer did he force himself to walk on two legs, at least not around people he knew wouldn’t judge him.

Selen ate in a rather reserved manner, she wasn’t slow or dainty, but compared to the others it was shocking to see her finish a drumstick in the time that they would finish several.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s funny?”

“I know about the appetite on both of you, but seeing Adina join in, it’s just not like the shy little girl who I know her as.”

“I don’t mean to be a slob.”

“You aren’t, despite your pace, you still move with grace, which I can’t say for these two.”

“I… thank you.”

Harlan joined in.

“So you are calling us slobs?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean that-”

Wulrun laughed and got another spoonful of beans.

Eventually dusk fell upon them, and after more lighthearted catching up, Selen and Wulrun went home for the night.

As they sat there on the stump chairs around the fire, she was confused.

“I thought I was going to talk with her about what happened? She told you about the world of glass, right?”

“I was going to ask her about it, but she insisted that I talk to you instead, since I knew more about how fragile people are than her.”

“But she’s older than both of us together.”

“I’ve killed many many more men than she ever will.”

Harlan couldn’t meet her gaze any longer.

“I saw the way you looked at yourself. I heard what you said, that it wasn’t something you would do, that it was something I would.

I just want to know, do you look at me like that? Have I just been ignoring it?”

She tried to grab his chin, force him to look at her, but he wouldn’t budge.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you would take it that way.”

She stood up and put his face in her hands, but he still averted his eyes.

“I was shaken, I still am, but that was all it was.

Yes, I thought what I did was wrong, and it was too extreme, but I’m more upset that I killed him before we figured out why he was there and who he was working with. I’ll probably have a few more nightmares about seeing his eye dangling from my fingers or the hole in his face with his brain sticking out.”

“I should’ve explained what-”

“It was an accident, you explained the dangers of what an enhanced body could do, and I knew somewhere along the way how strong I was, but it never really sank in how strong I was and because of the baby I haven't exactly being fighting anything that would make me push myself.”

She finally got him to face her.

“Stop trying to bear everyone else’s sin, just let some of it go, look back at the things that you regret and think about if you would actually change anything. Borden was a shitshow, but you and I both know that you would do everything again.

I love you for you, even if you are a monster that is covered in blood and even if everyone else is afraid of you, I will always love you.

Now what you need to do is to forgive yourself for some of what has happened, because I don’t want you to carry all of that regret around our child.”

“I can honestly say I’ve never been more attracted to you than I am right now.”