“Hey Rakta, what’s up?” Doh was in the middle of sewing one of Macy’s toys up after a brief snag had shaken some of its stuffing loose.

I nodded, “Lunch is ready. I already told the children. Will Dresden be joining us?”

“Maybe,” She shrugged, “The captain wanted him to help out with some of the training for the new guards from the capital.”

That made sense. With Gelvurt growing larger, more manpower was needed to keep it safe. I didn’t regret making Kingsley the captain after it was clear Captain Barker wouldn’t be returning.

Captain Kingsley Arnet had been doing a fine job of keeping things safe and secure within the growing town.

“And…done!” Doh hopped out of her seat, “Let’s not keep the kiddies waiting any longer, my Lord!”

She wiggled her eyebrows teasingly before passing me into the hallway, heading towards the dining room with a skip in her step.

I shook my head as I followed. Even as a mother, Doh had matured very little. Not to say that she wasn’t a good parent, of course, but she’d certainly not allowed herself to be convinced by time to become a bit more adult.

Even her appearance was the same, something I couldn’t entirely say the same for myself. It hadn’t escaped my notice that I had a few stray gray hairs, perhaps from all the stress of my life.

“Yes, yes,” I put my thoughts of age aside and followed Doh. Zao wouldn’t let anyone eat until everyone was at the table.

----------------------------------------

“Daka, you stink.” Natakia wiped her mouth primly as she shot her sister a look.

“Oh yeah,” Daka sniffed herself, grinning, “I was out training with Dad. We worked up a huge sweat!”

Sitting down to Zao’s delicious meal of sauced meatballs, a specialty from his home in Katung, it didn't take long for my daughter to distract herself from her meal to snipe at her sister.

“I’m sure you did,” Natakia seemed unimpressed, “Maybe you should have sprinted to the bath before coming to the table?”

Daka looked confused, “Dad smells too.”

Natakia glanced at me, my fork of meatball paused an inch away from my mouth, “I noticed, but he’s a man, you’re a lady. You should be more concerned about how you smell.”

“Why?” Daka said, chewing on food, “I’ll just get stinky again training this afternoon.”

I spoke up, swallowing my food, “Daka will take a bath after lunch, I’m sure. And so will I.”

Daka nodded, Natakia not looking quite pleased, but I’d heard this song and dance before. I wasn’t going to stop light teasing between the sisters, but Natakia sometimes got…carried away with her words.

Doh spoke up, cleaning Macy’s mouth of sauce, “So, what did you and your Dad do while training?”

Usually, a question that Daka would love to answer, from the stretches we began with to the spars, but my little warrior gave the maid an uncomfortable look.

“Uh, you know, fighting.” She picked at her food, not seeming enthused to talk about it all of a sudden. She’d never been the fondest of Doh, not like Natakia, who had latched onto the maid and her daughter.

I smiled, picking up my daughter’s slack, “Daka’s Vitae has been building steadily over the last few months, larger than even I had at her age.”

Doh blinked, “Wow, that’s pretty amazing. I mean, you were above the average too, right?”

“Yes, I…trained a lot when I was young,” I said, “It’s all you have to occupy yourself on some days in Rusk.”

Dalton was eating his food silently, his eyes watching the conversation at my side, but otherwise occupied with his thoughts, from what I could tell.

Natakia’s eyes sharpened at my mention of my homeland, “Rusk? Dad, when are we going to visit Rusk? You’ve talked about it so much, the stories made it sound amazing.”

Daka nodded, agreeing with her sister. Gelvurt was so close to the border that the idea of a cross-country trip had always been at the tip of my daughters’ tongues.

“Well, perhaps one day, when you’re all older and I’ve got less work on my plate,” I took another bite of Zao’s delicious food.

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Dalton wiped his mouth, “What would we even go see? I’m sure Father’s stories have done the wonders of Rusk far more justice than actually seeing them would.”

“No!” Daka hmphed, “I mean, yeah, Dad’s stories are great, but I wanna see Brota’s Plateau with my own eyes! I wanna stand where he stood! Move with the wind, speak with the sun!”

“And I would not discount Garrok’s Archives, Dalton.” Natakia spoke up, “It’s said his voice has lived on within its ancient halls, continuing to tell the stories of the ages…It sounds magical.”

My heart warmed at how enthused my daughters were with my land, but a part of me agreed with Dalton. My homeland was rich with history, but that did not mean the people there had taken every lesson of our past to heart.

I chuckled, turning to Doh, “Speaking of training, how has Macy’s come along?”

“Oh, she’s doing great! She’s got her Momma’s talent, that’s for sure,” Doh ruffled her quiet daughter’s hair. The girl squirmed a little, Doh’s smile turning slightly somber, “She’ll remember things I didn’t.”

“I’m sure she will.” I nodded, turning back to my meal. I knew Doh was worried about her daughter’s bloodline eventually awakening. It was comforting to know that she was preparing her for it.

The lunch went on, Daka and Natakia squabbling a bit more, with Macy oftentimes agreeing with Natakia when the young girl motioned her too. Dalton silently observed, looking, at least, somewhat entertained.

It was a shame Dresden couldn’t be here. These meatballs were delicious.

----------------------------------------

As we finished up and let our meal settle, I called my children to my side for a walk around the keep. It was important that we spent time together, I thought. My work could take my time from them for hours, and I knew I did not share as many interests with Natakia and Dalton as I did Daka.

“Children,” I said, “I’d like to play a game.”

Daka immediately looked enthused, “A game! What game?”

I smiled, noticing that Natakia and Dalton were nowhere near as enthused as their sister. Dalton was more fond of puzzles or reading and Natakia, well, she’d much rather spend her time speaking with the various servants and Macy.

Luckily, I had some incentive handy.

“Well,” I said, kneeling to all of them. “As you all know, we’re celebrating your birthday in a few days. Aunt Penny and Uncle Shawn are both coming.”

Dalton blinked, “Uncle Shawn is coming?”

“He had some time away from work,” I said. Although he had been quite adamant that he’d wanted to speak to me about work-related things as well, “Winfred will be coming too.”

“Yeah!” Daka pumped her arms, “Winfred!”

Natakia wasn’t one to get distracted, “And what does this have to do with a game, Dad?”

“Because, I’ve already got your birthday presents picked out and ready for the day,” I said. That got all of their attention, three pairs of interested gazes now at my disposal.

I chuckled, “We’re going to play a game of hide-and-seek. You all have 15 minutes to find a place to hide around Gelvurt. I’ll be searching for you.”

I trusted Gelvurt enough, with Captain Arnet’s measures, to allow my children to roam about the town. At least, while the sun was so high in the sky.

“I’ll have 30 minutes to find you. If I don’t, you win,” I finished my explanation with a simple nod.

“What do we win?” Dalton’s eye was on the prize, this whole game a problem he had to solve now.

“Anyone who I can’t find before the 30 minutes are up, gets their birthday present early.”

My three adorable younglings tensed with excitement, before looking at each other with competition in their eyes. It was adorable, how much they acted like their age sometimes.

I hoped they understood the lesson here. I absently noticed Natakia glance at me, a new glint of something in her eyes.

“The game begins…now.” I sat down on the grass, watching the three split up and begin to run as fast as they could, Daka easily leaving the other two in the dust.

This was going to be a nice day.