Thailyn met with Ann. She was his first patient back to work. He wasn’t fully healed, but it was time for her three-month checkup. He didn’t want to leave that to anyone else. If he found any problems, he’d talk to Shunati. And Darkham would check him afterward to see how he handled healing. “Good morning.” He smiled. “Good morning. Andy’s not here yet.” “No, I asked him to come later. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about privately.” “Is something wrong?” Ann’s hand went to her stomach. Naturally, she’d assume the worst. “No, nothing like that. Back when Wyrm had a hold of me, you said several spiteful things. Do you feel that way?” That had always been his nightmare, that she’d hate him for not raising her. “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 know 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?” “Only the palace. I’m buying the place next to the home. With Morina going 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 felt crushed. He didn’t want her to feel that way. “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. As if he didn’t get enough of these pranks from Pt’this. 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?” He felt so much relief. “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 was 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.” Shades, Darina would have skinned him for what he’d written. He’d burned the pages. “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 when 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 entered. “Sorry I’m late. I had to help Shunati convince Queen Deyama that we’d left Ruzi on Earth with my folks.” “She believed that?” Ann asked. Andy nodded. Ann turned to Thailyn. “You adopting him might be hard to explain.” Thailyn shrugged. “He had to come back because of his eyes.” Ann nodded. “That might work.” “Now, let’s check on this grandbaby.” Thailyn grinned. He laid a hand on Ann’s stomach. He nodded. “She’s doing quite well.” “She?” Ann smiled. “Are you sure?” Thailyn nodded. “I am. She’s an unreadable, but I can tell. She’s very healthy considering all she’s been through. She’s a little small, but I think that’s natural, not caused by any problems. We’ll keep an eye on that. And her eyes are fine.” Andy’s family had a history of vision problems. Andy would be blind if he weren’t a mage and able to use his mage sight. Andy nodded. “Good.” “I’ll keep a close eye on everything,” Thailyn promised. “The best part of being a healer is the babies.” “Well, no one say anything yet, but there might be two more,” Andy told them. “Two? Twins?” Thailyn raised an eyebrow. “I ran into Sapphire on the way here. She was glowing like she did when she was pregnant with Bremul. But this time, there were two lights.” Because Andy was an augmenter, he could see potential magic and his mage sight was strong enough he could even see it in unborn children. “Twins?” Thailyn grinned. “Do you know how hard it is to tell twins?” Ann laughed. “Uh, yeah. Both my uncle and my brother were a surprise.” “I can understand with Pt’this because they were identical twins, but Janta is a guy and Piena is a girl,” Andy pointed out. “This was before I was born, so I’m going on hearsay, but Shunati was getting mixed readings.” Thailyn nodded. “What Darina heard from Shunati’s cousin was that he wasn’t saying much, except the child was healthy. He wouldn’t even say if it was a boy or girl. He probably couldn’t tell.” “Would their mom still have died if he had known?” Andy asked. Thailyn shrugged. “I can’t say for certain. I never read her and wasn’t around for their birth, but probably. A lot of things went wrong at the last minute. Many times, during delivery, there’s only one healer. He can’t work on both the mother and the baby at the same time. Mila was probably there, but there were two babies that needed attention. Having a third healer might have helped. But even if they’d known there were twins, it’s unlikely a third would’ve been around. That would’ve only happened if they were expecting problems, which they weren’t. But we don’t have to worry about that now. If there are problems, we have plenty of healers around and Lamdi will be able to help also. “Good. Otherwise, we’ll have to go to Earth and have a doctor at a hospital do it,” Andy decided. Thailyn growled. “You will not. They were poisoning that woman, trying to heal her.” He was referring to a woman he’d met while visiting him and his family on Earth. She had cancer and Thailyn had been shocked by the method of treatment. He’d healed her cancer secretly to help her. “She’s improving, by the way. They claim it’s a miracle.” “Good.” Thailyn nodded. “Guys, you two could spend the morning comparing healing techniques, but I’ve got to go. I have work.” Andy shook his head. “I have a karate class.” “And I’m supposed to have Darkham check me and then I’m meeting with Mila and Shunati. They want me to help them but I’d like a clinic in town too. We’re going to work out the details.” Ann nodded. “Okay. Meet us for lunch.” “I will if I’m free.” Thailyn nodded. *** Thailyn went out to the children’s home after lunch. Dae frowned when she saw him. “Shunati was just here yesterday. He said everyone is fine.” “I wanted to talk with Ruzi,” Thailyn explained. “Is he okay? Are his eyes failing again?” “No, I just wanted to talk.” “Is he causing trouble? We’ve told him not to use his augmenter abilities to control people.” “Dae, there are no problems. I just wanted to talk. Can I see him? We’ll sit on the swing.” Dae nodded. “I’ll get him.” She went inside. Ruzi came out a moment later. “Is there a problem?” He asked. “No, shades, I need to get a sign.” Thailyn frowned. “Come and sit. We can talk.” Ruzi followed him to the porch swing. “I’m buying the place next door. I was wondering if you wanted to join me.” “Are you starting another home?” Ruzi asked. “I’m asking how you’d feel if I adopted you.” “Adopted? But I’m not an orphan.” “I realize that. If we find your dad or your mom wakes up, you can go live with them. But until then, you can stay with me, and you’ll be a citizen for sure. The elves can’t touch you. Ann made sure the treaty law with the elves stated they couldn’t touch Menthanlan citizens. If they went after you, it would be seen as an act of war. And you’d be Ann’s little brother. Have you ever heard of the legend of the White Wyrm?” Ruzi nodded. “It was about a dragon more powerful than even the immortals.” “Have you ever seen Ann in dragon form?” “Is she the White Wyrm?” Thailyn nodded. “And if someone tried to hurt her little brother, you could bet they’d feel her wrath. But Queen Deyama doesn’t want war and she doesn’t like the law.” Ruzi nodded. “You can adopt me. I can still come and visit my friends here, can’t I?” Thailyn nodded. “Of course you can, and you’ll still have Nim as a mentor and you’ll go to class with the kids at the home, though, Nim is talking about starting a school in town for other kids. If he does, you’ll go there.” “All the kids will go to school?” “It’s that way in Baj-tisk and Erilu. A few kids get taught at home, but they all get educated.” “I’d like that. Would I still go to the college?” “You would. And you wouldn’t have to wear a glamour. Though I may work with Thorgrey so you aren’t with too many elves.” “Thanks.” “It’s going to take a little time. I haven’t bought the house yet. And I need to go through the magistrate for the adoption since Ann is my daughter. And I need to check on my citizenship. There was a mix-up because my paperwork stuck to someone else’s. And again, it can’t go through Ann.” “It’ll give me time to pack.” “Shall we go in and tell the others?” Ruzi nodded and led him into the house.