‘I guess they’re here for the Reavers?’ Adam thought, but within his heart, there was a grain of doubt. The st time he had seen all these figures together, the likes of the Mad Dog Jarot, Butcher Marmak, Duteous Dogek, Bearded Dragon Rajin, and even Silver Sword of the Wastes Shagek, he was surrounded by the Orders, seds away from death.

  Then the Iyrmen began to greet the Bear Mother, and Adam let out a soft sigh with a deep relief entering him. ‘Oh! Of course! It’s the Bear Mother!’

  Towards the evening, more Iyrmen began to arrive into the business, many Adam had only met once or twice. They each approached the Bear Mother to greet her and began to tell her of their tales, greeting the other Order members, those which Sonarot had invited inside.

  Lucy stared out towards all the muscled hunks. As much as it was a feast for her eyes, she could feel her hair stand on end. She swallowed, her eyes going to meet Adam’s, but the half elf picked up his you daughter and bullied her stomach by blowing against it, the girl squealing and g out in delight. Her eyes theo Jirot and Jarot, who were currently being spoiled by all the older Iyrmen who had arrived.

  “Do you remember me?” an Iyrman asked.

  “I remember! You are Vovol! You shot the arrow at the big rukh!”

  Vovol smiled wide, her eyes darting to the one armed Jarot. “What a great memory yreatdaughter has!”

  “You and nano were in Aswadasad, and wheold nano to leave, you were travelling the caravan and you saw Veisswing flying and you said hello and he gave you a quill because you are Vol and yreat great babo from all the time ago helped when Veisswing was just a little boy!” Jirot said, giggling at the old woman.

  “Yes?” Vovol asked, narrowed her eyes, before her eyes fell to Gangak. Gangak narrowed her eyes to to recall how long ago she had been forced away from Aswadasad, while Vovol also tried to remember when she had met the dragon. She recalled the quill, but she was certain she hadn’t told that story to the girl, only the story where she shot the rukh. “How do you know about Veisswing giftihe quill?”

  “I read it to Virot,” Jirot replied, smiling shtly towards the old woman.

  “My Jirot is so smart,” the old Jarot cackled, pulling the girl closer to his chest, nuzzling into her hair. “You will make a great Scribe Mage, like your papo Churot. He is your favourite papo, yes?”

  Jirot gnced around, trying to spot Jurot, before she leaned in to whisper. “Yes.”

  The trio cackled, while the older Iyrmen around grew green with envy. Somehow the old man had mao catch himself quite the grandson, but the childrehe greatest treasures of all.

  The Bear Mother was surprised by the reception, speaking with all the Iyrmen. However, knowing that they were on their way, she couldn’t help but think these Iyrmen were for a different Grand ander.

  Dunes kept an eye on the se before him. All the Iyrmen who had arrived in the evening. ‘It is not just those with ties to Adam. It must be due to the Bear Mother, or the Reavers have arrived? No, if the Reavers had e, they would have said suo. It may not be due to Adam. Not everything is because of him.’

  Meanwhile, Tanagek was trying to uand the most pressing situation.

  ‘For Duteos Dogek to give up his position as Family Elder to bee one of the Ten Paragons, it is uandable…’ Tahought. However, there roblem.

  “I have deyed taking the position,” Duteous Dogek stated, as though he was the kind of Iyrman to speak of deying his duties.

  A deep chill grew within Tanagek, freezing his heart with a darkness he hought ossible. His granduncle had cimed the title of Duteous after his own grandfather, Tahe Dutiful. Tanagek had been named after him, but it was Dogek who had taken after the old man, the legendary Iyrman who would made the Mad Dog look like a puppy.

  The older Tanagek had made the Mad Dog look like a puppy before the young Iyrman had been born.

  Yt, that Duteous Dogek eaking of deying his duty?

  Whatever was happening to the Iyr, Tanagek did not like it.

  The m, Dunes came to the uanding how the situation could be because of Adam.

  “We probably ’t gift a Legendary Enhanced ht?” Adam asked, reading through his notes. “We ’t gift a Legendary oher, probably. A nice Greater Enhanced on? Something really nice. I don’t know…”

  “I am certain whichever Greater Enhanced on you gift the King, it will turn out well,” Dunes assured.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right about that.” Adam reached up to his forehead. ‘As much as his ego probably wasn’t hurt, I did end up causing a mess for him. I o show him that I wasn’t trying to cause a mess for him specifically, but that things ended up that way because of bad luck.’

  “You are thinking too deeply. All Kings are pleased receiving such fine gifts, even if it is the wreater Enhanced sword. Except for those which are cursed.” Dunes’ eyes twi the half elf, the pair ughing.

  A knock at the door distracted them.

  “Executive Adam, your triplets wish to see you,” Jonn said.

  “e in,” Adam called, pulling ba his seat as Jonn opehe door and Konarot rushed in, with Kirot and Karot following after her. As Taried to step inside, Jonn blocked his path.

  “You would stop me?” Tanagek asked, though the threat was clearer than the sky that day.

  “Jonn,” Adam called, lifting up his eldest daughter, pnting a kiss on her head. “Let them in.”

  Jonn stepped aside, allowing Tanagek and Chosen step inside, while Haytam stood outside, arms crossed as she stared out to the courtyard. Jonn shut the door and f opposite Haytam oside, allowing them to speak privately.

  “Yht your papos here?” Adam asked, lifting up his triplets one by one, kissing his children’s heads as they kissed his head iurn.

  “Daddy,” Konarot called, holding up a piece of paper to her father.

  “What is this? Did you draw me something?” Adam asked, before accepting the letter from his daughter. “A letter from mummy?”

  “Mummy said to give you,” Konarot said, climbing up onto the seat beside her father, while Kirot and Karot did the same for the other seats around, while their uood.

  “You smelly… silly childre your papos sit on the chairs, and you sit on my p,” Adam tutted at the children.

  Konarot helped Kirot and Karot sit upon their father’s legs, before realising there was no space for her. Adam lifted the girl up, sitting her oable.

  “Don’t tell mummy I’m letting you sit oable, okay? She’ll tell me off, rightly so, and daddy likes it a little, so actually, maybe you should tell her.” Adam chuckled at his triplets, before holding up the letter between Kirot and Karot, his arms ed around them. “Let’s see. My handsome husband, I hope you are well…”

  “It does not say that, daddy,” Kirot said, notig how the letter began with her father’s name.

  “I know, I was trying to show off in front of uncle Dunes. Do you know how much he shows off about his wife? He keeps telling me how beautiful her skin is, how geous her horns are, and theells me about things she does with her tail that you’re too young to hear.”

  Duurned pletely red, while Chosen choked, tensing up as he tried not to ugh. Tanagek’s brows twitched slightly, taken aback by Adam’s jokes, before he stilled his beati.

  “Do you see how red he’s bee? You’re too young to know about it for now, but remember how embarrassed your uncle is.”

  “You are pying with fire, Adam,” Dunes replied, his cheeks filled with heat. “I say the same about you and your wife.”

  “You wouldn’t say anything poorly about Vonda, I know that for a fact,” Adam retorted.

  “Yes, but I would say things about you.”

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  “You mentioned how you wished for your face to be-,”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Adam replied, his own cheeks filling with heat, the half elf bringing Kirot and Karot to his chest with his biceps, while reag up to cover Konarot’s ears. “That’s messed up, Dunes.”

  “Do you wish to tinue?” Dunes asked, his eyes like a panther, ready to go in for the kill.

  “Goddamn Dunes! I mean, sorry, you know, I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry, from my first world, I mean nd, the gods are far more distant, and sort of…” Adam waved his hand, dismissing his awkward rambling. “My bad. I fot how much stuff I told you. Don’t go milking me for any mold, though. It’s not like I’m the…”

  Dunes sighed, w just how much more Adam was going to give away. He gnced aside to Tanagek and Chosen. Tanagek was Adam’s cousin through Jurot, and Chosen retty much a brother to Tanagek. If they found out, it wouldn’t be a huge issue, if nothing else, Sonarot would deal with them as their aunt.

  Adam read the letter, with Kirot and Karot pointing out their names, causing Adam to fuss over them affeately. “Even when she’s not here, she’s telling me off about w too hard. I haven’t even been w that hard, so let’s tease mummy once we are bae, yeah?”

  “No teasing mummy,” Konarot said. “It is not nice.”

  “Just a little bit of teasing, just like how she teases me,” Adam said, folding the letter into his shirt. “Mummy wrote iter that I should spoil you all a lot. How should I spoil you?”

  “I work?” Konarot asked.

  “You want to work? Oh ho ho! Well, daddy has been thinking about what kind of magical on he should gift King Merryweather in order to apologise for a mess he made. What do you think?”

  “Cold?” Konarot asked.

  “Big sword?” Kirot added, throwing up her arms to show just how big.

  “A big cold sword? We do that. Karot, will you help daddy draw it? Then daddy let the Enter know and they ent it.”

  “Okay,” the boy said, smiling shyly.

  Tahought about the rumours, and the epithet Adam had earned outside of the Iyr. It was beginning to make sense.

  “e on,” Adam said, lifting up his triplets, sneaking more kisses on their heads, before stepping out with his children, leaving Dunes in his peace. “Let’s go steal Ranya too.”

  Ranya looked up towards the half elf as he approached, though she swiftly ran back to her mother. Unfortunately for her, Adam picked her up, groaning loudly.

  “Look at how big you’ve bee, Ranya! I ’t even pick you up!” Adam rocked her from side to side, letting her down to charge her mother, the girl squealing loudly. “Enisa, are you eating properly?”

  The baby girl y on her back, babbling and g quietly, her eyes rolling over to Adam as she took in the sight of the familiar face. Her eyes followed his face as the half elf swayed from side to side, before he grinned wide, causio smile back.

  “If you are so eager to py with her, you may ge her,” Amira said, cheg over the books of the business.

  “I go ge her if you need me to.”

  Amira ughed. “She is your aftel, you may do it.”

  “Aftel?” Adam asked, w why the word sounded so familiar.

  “It means like one’s own child.”

  “She’s cute enough to be my daughter. Her ears are too round, though.” Adam reached down to tickle the girl’s ears, causio ugh again. “I’ll leave you to your work.”

  As the day passed, Adam finalised the on he o craft for the King, but also showed his face around the business. It was during the te afternoon when he walked the walls his daughter within his arms, before notig Bael standing in the vilge.

  “What’s he doing?” Adam asked, trying to dodge his daughter’s hands as she tries to shove her fingers into his mouth.

  Jurot he specific spot Bael was standing in, and then the horizon, where he saw the figures riding on their horses, making their way towards the vilge from the east. Jurot’s eyes narrowed, his entire body itchy with rage. “W.”

  Adam furrowed his brows towards Jurot, before noting the figures on the horizon. Then his eyes fell down to the spot Bael stood, as though g it for himself. His eyes returned back to Jurot, who simmered with rage, and the half elf’s throat clogged up. His jaw ched, while his daughter, grabbed at his ear.

  “Virot,” Adam preteo eat her ears, causio giggle and squeal, while the half elf quickly marched away, making his way down. “We have visitors.”

  What is that I smell on the horizon? Is that... trouble?