Thailyn returned home. He’d supervised Nim, and Tercala repairing John’s magic. His heart prevented him from helping. It was the second casualty of his atrophied heart, reviving people from a wizard’s trance. The first had been emergency healing. Technically, he could still do both, but it would likely kill him to try. At least it would increase the damage to his heart to the point he couldn’t even heal people. He still supervised. Then he put John on bed rest to give him someplace to stay for a few days. And he’d arranged to have his death watch continued. John wasn’t quite as bad knowing Carry would return but the loss of the bond would affect him. It was safer this way. He’d done similar with Nim since Jo had gone with. It was late, so he was surprised to see lights on in the house. He’d told Ruzi several times it wasn’t necessary to leave the light on for him. He could see in the dark. But Pisha was up, sitting with a stack of parchment at the table. He looked at what she was doing. Those were his notes. She smiled when she saw him. “What are you doing?” He asked. “Helping.” She shrugged. “You said you’re copying your notes to compile them. Anyone can do that. You’re busy and I have plenty of free time.” “But half are written in Tricot.” She shrugged. “It’s not that different from Baj-tisk. I’ve been translating it for Pt’this.” He pulled her up and kissed her. The effortlessness at which he did surprised her. Others often forgot about a dragon’s strength. He didn’t stop to explain, but picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. *** Ruzi entered John’s room, followed by Cari and Vaila. “Are you three my replacement?” Pt’this asked. “We’re taking Nim’s place on the schedule,” Ruzi told him. Pt’this nodded. Having two death watches stretched them thin. He wondered about the outbreak that had killed his mother and brother. What had been done then? He hadn’t been there to know. “He’s been good so far. If he gives you any trouble, scry me. And he needs to stay here, no walks.” “What about the privy?” Pt’this shook his head. “He just went. If he needs to go again, there’s a chamber pot. He stays here.” “Are you done talking about me?” John asked. Pt’this turned to him. “This is my nephew Ruzi, my niece Cari, and Shunati’s son, Vaila. “I’m going to check on Nim. Elos has him reciting treaties, looking for grammar errors,” Pt’this said as he left. “Are you a grandpa or an uncle?” Cari asked, climbing onto the bed next to John. Vaila crawled on the other side. “Neither. I never had any kids, and my sister died too young.” “Like Uncle Nim. You’re an uncle then,” Cari declared. “It doesn’t work that way.” John shook his head. Cari nodded. “All dragons are family. If you don’t have family, we adopt you, like Grandpa Emeton adopted Mom and Grandpa Steve adopted Dad and Uncle Tolin adopted Shuli and Chirin and…” Ruzi laughed. “He gets the picture.” “This is actually interesting,” John said. “There have been a lot of adoptions.” “Yeah, and we adopt too,” Vaila said. “Because all dragons are family.” “You don’t look like a dragon,” John pointed out. “I’m an elf. But Ruzi’s mom and my mom are cousins so we’re still family.” “So you can be an uncle,” Cari decided. “Don’t fight it,” Ruzi laughed. “She won’t stop.” “Is she as stubborn as her mother?” John asked. “Almost.” “Mommy is not stubborn,” Cari insisted. “You don’t know what stubborn means,” Ruzi argued. He turned to John. “You met Ann and Andy on Earth. What were they like there?” Ruzi asked. “Have you ever been to Earth?” “Yeah, I visited Andy’s parents some.” “Earth is fun. The magic is so strange,” Cari added. “She means electricity,” Ruzi explained. “I like the water pumps. But the water tastes funny,” Vaila said. “I can’t go often because my mom doesn’t want me getting sick.” “You won’t get sick,” Cari insisted. “Only Nim gets sick. Your dad and Vor don’t get sick.” “It’s because I was born early so she worries.” “Mommy and Uncle Bacna were early. They don’t get sick.” “There human.” “Humans don’t get sick around eta-vie,” John told them. “Elves will eventually.” “Tell us a story,” Cari requested. John complied. He told them several stories both true and made up and was surprised when their replacement came. “They’re leaving already?” John was a little disappointed. It had helped keep his mind off not feeling Carry. Mishtali grinned. “They can be a handful, keep your mind off your problems. We have something else that might help.” “We?” John looked past him. “They’re coming.” “Can we stay?” Cari asked. “We like helping.” “Ruzi has a class, and Sinta wants Vaila to come home. But you can stay until Grandpa Thailyn is done.” Ruzi left, followed by Vaila. Then, Tercala entered with Nim in tow. “They’re doubling us up?” John asked. “Aren’t they afraid we’ll gang up on them?” Nim smiled slightly. “Actually, there’s someone we thought you two would like to talk to.” Mishtali laid a mirror on the table. Nim’s eyes grew wide, and he smiled. John frowned. “You think you can scry across worlds?” Tercala nodded. “I was raised by an immortal. He used to make me do it frequently to contact Nor’than.” He cast the spell. “Carry?” John asked. He could feel her through the mirror, not as strong as when they were together, but it helped. “John? How?” “Magic. I’ll explain when you get back. I don’t know how long Tercala can hold the spell.” “Half an hour,” Tercala said. “Forty-five minutes if I don’t care about being able to cast later. After fifty minutes I’ll go into a trance.” John and Nim talked with Cari and Jo for a while until Tercala said it was time to end the spell. Mishtali promised they’d scry again each day until they returned. He, Nim, Shay, and Pt’this could cast the spell though not as long as Tercala.