"Few concepts manage to transcend the difference of species, but amongst those that did, Familial affection is probably the most commonly found one." - Attributed to an unknown philosopher from early history.

When they rode closer to the mansion, Aideen saw that their arrival had been expected. People dressed like servants of the house had formed two lines that bracketed the main double door of the mansion, where several therians - and one human - in nicer clothes had awaited them.

The servants gave a polite bow as the procession dismounted from their horses - the guards brought the horses to the nearby stables, which left just Aideen with Artair and Zoya on their own - and walked towards the people that awaited them by the house.

As they drew closer, Aideen took note of the people ahead of them - all of them women, it seemed -, two older therian women, a younger one, and a human woman probably in her thirties with a young half-breed girl, maybe ten or so, who held her hand tightly beside her.

"Mother," Aideen heard Zoya say as she walked forward and embraced the therian woman on the left, who did resemble her a lot, other than her smaller build and lack of saber-like fangs. Aideen kept her ears open as Zoya greeted the rest in turn.

"Second mother, fourth mother," said the therian woman as she hugged the other two older women. Only then did she hug the younger therian woman - she looked similar to Zoya, but much slimmer in build, and her tawny fur had spots of black fur on it - "Heya Taty, how's life been for you and little Maria?"

"First mother, second mother, fourth mother," Artair said as he made the same greetings to the older therian women. She noticed that while there might not be that much attachment in the looks they exchanged, the care in their eyes seemed genuine. He also hugged the other therian woman and lifted the half-breed girl in his arms. "Good to be home again."

"Dear, these are my first, second, and fourth mothers," explained Artair when Aideen gave him a questioning glance. She exchanged polite greetings with the three women, as Artair explained to her that they usually call their father's wife and concubines by their order of arrival. Artair's mother had been the third back then. "That's my sister Tatyana, and this little one is Maria."

Aideen greeted them as well. Tatyana was also a mixed breed therian like Artair, as evidenced by her slim, graceful mother who had tawny hair with black spots. Compared to her siblings, the therian woman - Artair said she was only a year older than him - was far slimmer, one built more for speed than power, though she shared their features and had the same oversized fangs.

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The youngest girl, Maria, was half a human, and her therian features were naturally less pronounced, though she still bore a resemblance to the rest of her family. As Aideen looked at the girl's mother, she finally understood all too well what Artair once said, that humans and therians had beauty standards that greatly differed.

Aideen was tall for a female human, as tall as most men at a meter eighty, but Artair's fourth mother had at least half a head of height on her, and was built heroically with broad shoulders, something that was not uncommon amongst easterners, as far as she knew. She had a broad face with rather flat nose and freckles that just made her look more brutish for most humans, but apparently those same features made her relatively attractive - for a human - to therians.

"Grig and Marek aren't home? The kids too?" Aideen heard Zoya ask as the women welcomed them into the mansion itself. She knew that Zoya had a husband and two young children, and that her eldest brother was also married with children, since the therian woman had told her.

"They went out to patrol the west border just a day before your letter reached home, brought Nina and all the kids with them," replied Zoya's mother to her question. At first Aideen thought it a bit reckless to bring kids along in a patrol, but when she considered just how peaceful the region was, and that the populace positively venerated the ducal family, she had nothing to say. "They should be back around tomorrow, I think."

"Oh well, and here I was thinking to introduce her to the kids," lamented Zoya as she heard that. When Aideen thought of how often the therian woman talked about her kids during the trip, she was not surprised. In some ways, she too had looked forward to it. While she could never have kids of her own, there was no reason not to have fun with some nieces and nephews. "Guess that'll have to wait till they come back, then. I'm sure Grig would've been ecstatic too."

"Why so?" asked Aideen. Neither Zoya nor Artair had spoken of their eldest brother that much, beyond that he was a bit of a meathead and mostly kept busy by his duties as heir to the duchy. The way he was always so busy made none of his siblings even envy him for being the heir.

"Ah, you see, eldest brother Grigori has always been a bit of a collector," Artair explained with a grin on his face, a smug one, which pretty much said that he knew something she did not. "In his case, he collected exotic weapons. I do believe, dear, that your weapon would certainly catch his fancy."

"I guess I can't say anything to that," admitted Aideen after she pondered for a moment. She had trained with such a weapon since decades ago, but that sort of weapon was pretty much unheard of in Ur-Teros. It was only because her teacher happened to be from far away and was an expert wielder that she became interested and trained with it. Her modifications to it later on made something that was rather unique indeed.

They were welcomed with a homemade feast after they had a moment to refresh themselves. To Aideen's surprise, Artair's mothers had taken to the kitchen themselves rather than let their servants do the cooking. Apparently his second and fourth mothers were rather proud of their cooking and insisted to do it themselves, and his first mother was infected by them over the years.

It was a hearty meal that was served to them, that everyone ate happily. The table had a harmonious atmosphere to it, as the archduke's wives chatted amicably with them. It surprised Aideen that she was received very warmly by them, as they treated her as if she had always been part of the family. It was a warm, familial feeling she hadn't felt for a while, not since the last of her own direct family passed away.