Ann watched out the window while she waited for Andy and Thailyn. It was time for her three-month checkup. She saw Jo head off for the children’s home. This was the first time since the abduction that she’d gone alone and Ann had a feeling, if she checked, she’d see Nim watching out one of his windows. For the first few weeks, Nim wouldn’t let her go anywhere alone. Jo was quite happy to have him nearby. She had not been recovering as well as the rest. Darkham had scried his wives with Ti’s help and asked them to come down. At first, they were reluctant to leave their grandchildren. So Dae took human form and pretended to be Darkham’s new love interest and wanted to know when she was going to meet his other wives. That got their attention and they were there in a week’s time. They worked with Jo and helped her at the home. Between the three of them, they had gotten Krila to start thinking about her baby and his future. Krila decided to allow Rejenn and Cesni to adopt him once he was born. Ann saw Chormi and Ruzi heading toward the wizards’ college. Pt’this had enrolled them both. It was risky since there were elves both teaching and as students but Thorgrey was working with him to help avoid exposure and each day Pt’this cast a glamour on Ruzi to hide his true eyes. The healers did what they could to help repair the damage that was done to them but the outlook was bleak. Nim had taken Ruzi on as an apprentice and Fists had done similar with Chormi although soldiers normally didn’t take on apprentices. Fists didn’t want the boy to hurt someone he shouldn’t and both Pt’this and Remtani wanted him to wait until he was older to enlist. It had taken several days for Thailyn to recover from the attack and Shunati said his heart was looking a little worse for it but he should still live to see his grandchild grow up. Ann heard Mishtali in the next room visiting his son, Wyrm. They were keeping him asleep until they could find a way to help stabilize him. With Shunati’s help, Mishtali could contact him in a similar way to how you could contact someone in a trance. He hoped to help stabilize him and understand what had happened. Jo was also working with him and he had even wanted to speak with Drepal to see if she could help the boy. Cramda had lied extensively to the boy and he was quite confused. Aside from talking with Mishtali, Drepal was staying fairly quiet. She felt that was safest. When they had gone back to retrieve Kortu, they found he’d been killed, violently. No one was confessing to the deed and Remtani wasn’t looking too hard for answers, either. Chances were good he would’ve been executed anyhow. Several of those involved would be. Thailyn entered the room. “Good morning.” He smiled cheerfully. “Good morning. Andy’s not here yet,” Ann’s said. “No, I asked him to come later. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about privately.” “Is something wrong?” Ann was suddenly concerned about the baby. “No, nothing like that. Back when Wyrm had a hold of me, you said several spiteful things. Do you feel that way?” “No. I was trying to distract him. I saw Andy in my cloak and figured out his intentions.” “Did you ever feel that way?” Ann nodded. “When I was little. Before I ran away. Some days, I would feel you didn’t want me and that’s why Darina never told Mother who you were. Sometimes, I wondered if you had died, other times I just wanted to find you. The conversation we had in the tavern helped. You suggested that maybe my father did want to be with me but couldn’t. I’d never thought of that. You told me we don’t pick our families, we just have to learn to live with them, or at least how to deal with them.” “With as drunk as you were, I’m surprised you remember any of it.” “That conversation meant a lot to me. I made a point to remember it. Sometimes, I’d think back to it and think if I ever met my birth father, I wanted him to be like the man I met that night.” Thailyn smiled. “I’m glad I was able to be there at least once for you growing up.” “Oh, you were there more than once. That cloak you gave me? Do you how many times it hid me from Remtani and Bacna?” “You’re okay with it all?” “Okay as in happy about it? No. Okay as in I’ve learned to accept it and I’m happy you’re here now? Yes. Why? Are you leaving again?” She didn’t want him to go now that they were together. “Only the palace. I’ve bought the place next to the home. With Morina gone back to Ertonia, the couple can’t get along and are going to live with a daughter in Veslin. “No, the reason I’m asking is I was thinking about adopting Ruzi and I wanted to see how you felt about it.” Ann shrugged. “It’s okay. I mean, if you want to raise someone else’s child rather than your own flesh and blood, that’s your choice.” Thailyn bowed his head and sighed. “Now, that’s what I was worried about. I don’t want you to feel that way. It’s not…” Ann broke out in a grin. “Pt’this was right. You are gullible.” Thailyn growled. Ann laughed. “You leave me to get raised by a prankster and you get to have a prankster. “Seriously, I’m okay with it, really.” She assured him. “You need someone and I’ve seen you two together. Plus, it would be better than you living in that big house all alone.” “You mean that?” “I do. I’ve always wanted a little brother. “But, there is one thing that might help me out.” She added. “What’s that?” “Why not come claim me? I know you were affected by Darina’s death but what about after that? Why were you so afraid of Pt’this?” “I told you that.” “No, you didn’t.” “It was in the journal. You did read it, didn’t you?” “All you said was you thought Pt’this would be mad at you.” “That’s right it was in the pages I tore out. I’m sorry.” “What was in those pages that were so horrible I couldn’t see it?” “Nothing. I got a little too personal about your mother. That’s all. I realized a daughter might not want to hear her father talk that way about her mother so I tore them out. I forgot that was where I also wrote about not claiming you.” “So why? You told Pt’this it was because you didn’t heal Mirimar. That wouldn’t be enough. It also wouldn’t get you banished from Baj-tisk.” “I wasn’t banished.” “Then why did you need the Council’s permission to visit Mirimar?” “I was never officially banished but they made it clear I wasn’t welcome. The inquisition wasn’t Kar’s fault. It was mine.” “What? But he accused grandpa.” “He did, but the Council was going to ignore him. I lost my temper and hit him. We got into a fight. The Council decided my reaction was out of proportion and wondered if I had something to hide. So they decided on the inquisition. Despite their finding that my father wasn’t an immortal, they withdrew their support. “Pt’this said you have a temper. It runs in the family. I lost mine again and went on a tirade, almost went mad dragon and had a bout with my heart. That’s what delayed us getting back to help. Nim and Tani had already agreed to help no matter what the Council had decided. If I’d kept my temper, there would’ve been no inquisition. If I’d kept it the second time, Nim would have been able to help Pt’this keep the roost from collapsing. “Mirimar isn’t the only one who was hurt. Pt’this was too, mentally and physically. His heart did not like that trance and not eating for over a week affected him too. He seems more prone to mad dragon as well. And look at what happened to my mom and dad.” “Your mom was a prisoner before you even came here,” Ann argued. “But we were supposed to find her. Pt’this was almost done with his apprenticeship and then we were going to leave, head north. We would’ve found her five hundred years ago. But I had to be an idiot and lose my temper.” “You made a mistake. What did you tell me to do with that happens?” “But so many were hurt or died.” “But not by your hand,” Ann’s said softly, reminding him of her own crimes. “We’ve forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself.” “It’s a lot easier said than done.” “No. It’s not easy and you’ll have to face what you did every day of your life.” Thailyn nodded. He’d told her that, that night in the tavern. “Several glasses of whiskey helps,” Ann said referring to her suicide attempt. Thailyn growled. “But taking the easy way out won’t help Ruzi. Talk with the hags or with Jo. Maybe they can advise you.” Thailyn nodded. “Thanks.” **** Andy was hurrying across the garden for his appointment with Thailyn and Ann. He’d gotten roped into helping Shunati explain to Queen Deyama about Ruzi. They told her a boy had shown up at the home, ill, and Shunati had helped heal him. There had been some potion to hide his eyes. Shunati had noticed he was an elf but because he was an unreadable, in the urgency of the moment, he hadn’t noticed he was also part human. It wasn’t until he put himself in quarantine that he started to wonder. He had spoken to Pt’this who had never given him a straight answer. Morina had brought him to Earth to help with the rescue. That was where Shunati not only learned the boy was part human but who mother likely was. They then claimed Ruzi was left on Earth in the care of Andy’s parents. Shunati reminded Deyama that because no one knew who the father was, the boy might be Menthanlan and they would break a treaty law if they had him killed then. Deyama thanked him for the information and agreed he had done the right thing. Fortunately, she didn’t ask why it had taken so long for Shunati to make the report. She was, after all, against the law too. As Andy hurried across the garden he bumped into Sapphire heading the other way. “I’m sorry, running late, he said. “Aren’t we all.” Sapphire smiled. He looked her up and down and smiled. “I can’t stay and talk but I think congratulations are in order, twice.” He started out. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She called after him. His head appeared briefly. He grinned. “Twins.” The End Thank you all for reading. This is the second to last book in the series. It may be a while for the final book as it's not finished yet.