“How many times was that?”

“Twenty-three.”

“It’s an improvement!”

Tamlin Ashowan nodded silently at the praise Eli had heralded, his eyes closed as he rubbed them wearily.

Jeong and Eli stood a short ways back observing him disappearing and reappearing throughout the forest surrounding them while Luca waited even farther away at the camp. He was still within sight, but the lad had to work on his reading abilities with the limited books they had.

After taking a moment to rest, Tam gradually straightened.

Ever since he had recovered some of his stamina, he had been practicing appearing and disappearing into the void, and gradually working at increasing how often he could do so without bringing himself to the point of fainting.

In the beginning it had been only around ten times, and Tam had quickly learned what exactly was the most draining part of using his abilities. It was the entry and exit. It didn’t matter once he was in the void, but it was the process in which he left and re-entered the world that took the most effort.

Though he also discovered that the greater distance he traveled the more tiring it was, and he either had to have been to the place before, or, he had to see where he was going.

At one point he had reappeared at one of their old camps they’d stayed at the night before, but when he returned to the current one, he had gone unconscious instantly and stayed asleep until late the next morning.

“Alright! Eli… You’re up.” Tam pushed himself to a stand once more, though his left knee buckled for a minute, making both Eli and Jeong reach for him out of concern.

He held up a hand, signifying he was fine, then gave a playful half grin at Eli.

“Don’t you want to rest?” she asked while ignoring the mischievous look on his face.

“You’re not getting out of this that easily. We haven’t checked since almost a week ago.” Tam reminded while adding a little more emphasis to his authoritative tone.

This made Eli scowl openly at him. “I doubt they’ve grown!”

“Only one way to find out,” Tam said with a shrug before slipping his hands into his pockets.

Jeong raised his eyebrows at Eli expectantly.

Eli’s eyes narrowed in response, but after a moment of quiet stubbornness, she sidestepped a short way from the two men, and with a tilt of her head and a crack of her neck, the massive black cat surged forward.

While they had successfully kept the fact that Eli was technically Tam’s familiar a secret, Tam had to admit, it was hard to not react when she transformed.

The switch from when she was a human to when she was his familiar felt like suddenly gaining a whole other person that Tam was aware of and that was weirdly a part of himself. He could sense where she was, roughly how she was feeling. While he liked to think he was always aware of Eli because of his romantic interest in her, in her familiar form, it was a whole other matter entirely.

Tam gaped at her form, slowly drawing himself back to the matter at hand.

Eli had grown bigger; she was nearing the size of a pony.

As Tam and Jeong moved up to her shoulders, Tam had to remind himself not to casually pet her again. He had done that once, and when she transformed back she had been wildly indignant.

Leaning closer, Tam and Jeong inspected the fleshy wings on her back, and the two shared a look.

“They are absolutely bigger. Just like the rest of you,” Tam called out to Eli.

“Mrr?!” She turned her great head in his direction, her golden eyes wide.

Tam showed her by the serious look on his face that he was in no way jesting. “I’m going to run my hand down one so you can feel how big, alright?”

Tam hadn’t even known it was possible for a cat-like animal to scowl until that moment. Seeing her reaction, he squared himself to her.

“Do you not want to have a sense how big those things are?”

“Hrrrg.” Eli dropped her head begrudgingly, and so Tam took that as consent as he removed his hand from his pocket, and brushed down the part of the wing that looked like it was growing a bone, or cartilage…

Tam noted that it felt similar to the pads of Eli’s feet that he had been granted permission once to prod.

A low grumble emanated from Eli when Tam finally had worked his way to the tip of the wing.

“I would say these are about three feet long now,” Jeong nodded to himself without disguising the awe he was clearly feeling. “It definitely looks like whatever species of beast you are in this form is supposed to be able to fly. Though I wonder why you are only experiencing the growth now. It makes no sense…” the Zinferan man tilted his head thoughtfully.

Tam cleared his throat while Eli shifted forward to give herself more space from the two men before she shifted back to her human form. “Let’s head back. I’m already feeling drained, and tomorrow is when we get to a town. It’ll be better if I’m rested in case something happens.”

Eli lifted her hand and carefully swept the front of her hair out of her eyes as they moved to return to the camp without comment.

Jeong set off walking at a far brisker place, leaving Eli and Tam behind to talk on their own.

It was something he was doing more and more often, and it was earning all kinds of favorable feelings from Tam.

“Any new theories or developments on understanding your own power?” Tam asked quietly while watching Eli’s profile.

“Not really. I’ve never understood how hard it was to restrain magic. When you initially described your issues, I just assumed it was either because your magic was more powerful, or you simply had poor control.”

Tam’s eyebrow arched as he looked at her with a wry expression.

Eli ignored him. “I’m doubting that I’m a witch. Both my mother and father were quite adamant that neither of them had witches in the family. And though I’ve heard that sometimes the magic is so weak it is undetected, there were other things. You know that every witch has a unique symbol that marks a place or person touched by it?”

“Yes?” Tam nodded. The symbols could only really be seen in most cases by one particular revealing spell a member of the coven could perform. It was the one bit of magic that could be taught, and only selected coven members knew how to wield it

“I never had a symbol.”

Tam straightened and blinked at this. “Huh.”

“What does yours look like?” Eli asked interestedly.

Tam moved his hands through the air haltingly. “Lots of whirls, and… Flowing… Flowing lines… I can try to draw it for you?” Tam squinted one eye as his voice jumped up dubiously.

“I take it you are not artistically inclined?”

Tam blew out a long breath. “Erm… Luca is already a lot better than I am at that kind of thing.”

Eli smiled and looked at the ground as they slowed their pace even more. “Here I was beginning to worry you didn’t have enough flaws.”

Snorting in disbelief and surprise, Tam looked at Eli more directly, his face practically aching from the smile he wore. “The socially awkward man who had to be reminded by a child to compliment you? I don’t have enough flaws?”

“I mean… you’re the idyllic employer.”

“Very romantic,” Tam teased, making Eli laugh.

“You’re respectful, and attractive. You’re intelligent, you read a lot, you aren’t the worst at brewing tea.”

“I’m glad you’ve forgiven my coffee habit.”

“I’ll break you one day,” Eli added quite seriously.

The intensity of the look in her eyes had Tam faltering in his steps before giving a tentative chortle.

“I’m terrible at idle conversation with strangers, I have an illegitimate son, I’m not artistically gifted-”

“Tam?” Eli cut him off abruptly while her hands started to fidget in front of herself nervously.

Tam had noticed that she had fidgeted less when she had been wearing skirts, but since they were traveling and she was once again wearing pants, the habit became far more pronounced.

“Yes?”

“What should I… We… What should I call what we are?”

Tam blinked, dumfounded. “Er. That is… I… Well I did say that you can… It’s up to you how fast you’d like us to go.”

“So you’re saying if I wanted us to get married right away you would?” Eli challenged next, sounding far more like herself once the skepticism entered her tone.

“I mean… Back before I left Daxaria my da made a point of having me promise him I wouldn’t get married without him or my mother there… But if you wanted to when we got back–”

“You already think we’ll get married soon?” Eli burst out.

Tam leaned back. “Did you think we were having a fling…?”

“No, I… I guess I did know that you were serious about where it’d end up. It just… It feels big, and… This is my fault. I asked. I asked and I’m the one who wanted to go slow, you’ve always been clear about where you’re feelings are at. I guess I’m–”

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“Eli? Eli, Eli.” Tam reached over and grasped her upper arms, cutting off her spiraling tangent. “We are going to move at whatever pace you want.”

“I just don’t know what to call you! That’s all! I… I suppose we’re technically courting, but then people would say you’re my intended? Gods that sounds awful though. And strange. And–”

Tam quieted Eli by pulling her into himself, wrapping his arms around her, and slowly rocking side to side as he did this.

“What do you want to call me?” He could feel her rapid heartbeat with her chest pressed against him. Which temporarily gave him very improper thoughts that he had to battle back to stay focused on the moment.

“I don’t know… You’re… Not my friend. But I don’t know that I want to agree to marrying you. I hate when people say that they have a lover.”

“Then make up a new word.”

“No one will know what it means though.”

“Who are you talking to about me that doesn’t know our situation?” Tam wondered with a laugh before leaning back to stare down at Eli better.

“Well, eventually I will!”

Letting out a breath, Tam proceeded to pluck up Eli’s left hand and tap the gold band she still wore on her ring.

“How about while you’re here in Zinfera, I’m still your husband, and when we’re on our way back to Daxaria we revisit this.”

Eli stared up at him, her expression unreadable. “That’s stupid.”

“Yeah, but it isn’t making you as uncomfortable as calling me lover or intended or betrothed.”

“Ugh!” Eli cringed away from Tam—or rather she tried to. He gripped her harder and lowered his face to hers, making her laugh and blush.

Cupping her face, Tam proceeded to kiss Eli soundly. Upon doing so, she stopped squirming, and instead leaned back into him.

The kiss was turning deeper, and Tam discovered that by the time he felt Eli’s tongue over his bottom lip, he didn’t have any thoughts to spare.

Time blurred away, and at one point or another, Tam found the bark of a tree underneath his hand, Eli pinned beneath him, which was when he started feeling encumbered by clothes…

“Dad?”

Luca’s small voice was the equivalent in that moment to a bucket of icy water getting dumped on both Tam and Eli as they sprung apart. Tam’s breath was a little uneven, and his hair that had just before had Eli’s hands running through it, was looking incredibly unkempt.

“Ah, yes? Yes, Luca? Everything alright?” Tam cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck while Eli wiped at her mouth with the back of her wrist and then rubbed her palms on her black pant legs awkwardly.

Luca stared up at them skeptically.

First he looked at Eli, then his father. “Am I going to get a little brother or sister?”

Tam choked, then proceeded to cough as Eli covered her face as her cheeks burned red and let out a soft groan.

“Luca that… This wasn’t how… Why do you ask?” Tam placed his hands on his hips and tried to school his expression to be more calm and collected.

Luca was looking even more dubious when he turned his attention to Eli while wearing the same expression.

“You and Eli are together now. And… And you share a bed at night. I know babies can be born even when people aren’t married. Like me.”

“Right… Uh… Right. So… that isn’t… That isn’t exactly how–”

“A brother would be nice. Sisters could be good, but if it is a sister, I think she’ll need more sisters. If there are a few of them they can play together, which would be good, because I don’t think I’ll want to play with babies, and if it’s just one sister she might be lonely. I mean I was lonely, but–”

“I think I’ll go help Jeong with… Laying out the… The bed rolls,” Eli announced haltingly.

“Coward,” Tam whispered as she started to move away.

She didn’t bother arguing that point and continued heading toward Jeong who was just getting the campfire lit.

Tam knelt down in front of his son, a smile managing to riddle his face. He then proceeded to cast a single, mischievous glance at Eli’s back before saying, “We aren’t having any babies right now, and won’t for a while. Though when we do, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of siblings. Six. Maybe seven, who knows!”

The speed with which Eli rounded back and stalked over to Tam, her eyes wide and wild, almost had him laughing, but he kept his face serious.

Which was perfect because Luca’s wide-eyed response was, “Woah. That would be a lot of babies. Do you know when they’re getting here?”

“If there are babies, there will be one! Only one!” Eli nearly shouted.

“Luca is worried they would be lonely because he’ll be so much older,” Tam pointed out perfectly reasonably. “Besides, just imagine, with nine children, my nephews might actually get tired out.”

“Nine?!” Eli squawked, her expression mortified.

Luca on the other hand seemed to catch on to what his father was doing. “What if we had five boys and five girls? Then I could be the captain of their teams!”

“What teams?” Tam asked good naturedly while Eli became apoplectic behind Luca.

“Snow ball fights… Um. Tag? Hide and seek?”

“Hm, you know, what if you ran multiple games at once? Maybe we should just say twelve siblings and–”

Eli exploded, her hands beating the air adamantly punctuating each word. “Stop raising the number!” Then, when she finally noticed Tam’s glittering eyes, barely suppressed grin, and the way Luca was already giggling, she dropped her hands from the air.

“Luca you might stay an only child.” Turning on her heel, Eli stomped back to the camp without allowing either Tam or Luca to goad her into another reaction.

Ruffling Luca’s hair, Tam decided he probably should take this opportunity to explain a few facts of life to his son. So, he did.

Luckily, Luca was a smart child and grasped the basic understanding of how babies were made, the importance of asking consent, and that neither the man or woman controlled what gender baby they had. Though the poor boy was more than a little horrified when he learned about a woman’s monthly courses.

By the end of the explanation, he looked like he was about to go cross eyed, and with nighttime falling around them, Tam was feeling a whole new level of exhaustion.

The father and son picked their way back to the tents, though during that time, Luca figured out some new questions to ask.

“So it’s impossible that you and Eli could be having a baby right now?”

“Yes.”

“Oh… Just so you know, I’m okay if I stay an only child,” Luca added conversationally.

Stifling a snort, Tam slid a curious glance at his son, right as the first fireflies started to flicker in the greenery around them.

The summer heat had been rising steadily during their journey, but this only helped them as there was more foliage to hide in and behind.

“I thought you said you were lonely growing up?”

“I was, but, but now I have you, Dad. And I already have to share you now with Eli,” there was a faint glum note in Luca’s voice that prompted Tam to frown and face his son directly.

“Luca, am I not spending enough time with you? If so, I’m sorry.”

“I shouldn’t complain! I’m sorry!” Luca burst out suddenly.

Tam’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he recalled that his birth mother, Rosealine Evans, had probably scolded Luca if he tried to ask for more time with her while she worked.

“Luca, it’s okay to tell me if you aren’t happy about something. We can try and find a way to fix it together. Even if I maybe can’t do anything about whatever it is, it’s important that you can still talk to me, alright?”

Luca’s chastened expression shifted to one of uncertainty.

“How about, tomorrow morning, just you and I walk together? Then, when Eli and Jeong go to the village, instead of school work, you and I play games. Would you like that?”

Luca nodded instantly, his smile bright enough that Tam could see it clearly in the night right before his son threw his arms around his waist and hugged him.

Tam embraced him back, and smiled down at the top of Luca’s head.

He felt guilty that he hadn’t been noticing Luca feeling left out, and already started mentally planning ways to avoid it occurring again in the future.

When the hug eventually ended, Luca peeked up at his father with admiration and love bright in his eyes.

“Dad, I-I’m okay if I’m an only child or, or if there is a baby, or even multiple other babies. So do you… Do you want me to start sleeping in Jeong’s tent?”

Mortification and appreciation for his son’s consideration filled Tam.

The embarrassment outweighed the other emotion, sadly, but after a moment of overcoming this terribly uncomfortable moment, Tam managed to reply with, “That’s okay, Luca. I think it’ll be a while before you have a sibling.”

Silently Tam confessed to himself, Though with my family’s tendencies and fertility, it will be entirely in thanks to Eli and her wonderful boundaries.