“Nano is so stuhrong, daddy, oh my gosh,” Jirot began to babble towards her father.

  “When I am big I will be stuhrong too,” little Jarot said, inhaling deeply.

  “You should stay small and cute forever,” Adam replied, embrag his twins within his arms, carrying them back as the triplets followed after. Knced back towards her greatfather, who remained behind with their greataunt, before she ti up the rear, keeping her siblings within her sights.

  “Did you see?” Jarot asked, puffing out his chest. “reatchildren, they are so good.”

  “I saw,” Rirot replied. “His children are so well behaved.” She exged a look with Jarot, the pair smirkiween one another as they thought of the girl who had beamed up towards Rirot upon heariales.

  ‘Wait!’ she had decred. ‘I go poopoo! Wait!’ She had stormed away during one of the tales, with her twin and father following after, the half elf pink in the face.

  “You have worked hard,” Jarot said.

  “I should work harder.”

  “If you work harder, we will not go in peace.”

  Rirot looked towards the sky, darkened by clouds. Lightning fell, thunder rumbling nearly an instant ter. She could feel the rumbling deep within her bones. It was unfortable, but the life of an Iyrman was often unfortable, burdened by their duties. “Zirot is also training to bee a Grandmaster?”

  “She ot allow Tarot to surpass her.”

  Rirot smiled, letting out a soft snort. “Once Kamrot returns, I will leave.”

  Jarot poured the womaea, the pair still alohe others had sat in the er to have their own versation by the time they had arrived, all but certain the Mad Dog would e. They uood not to coax out trouble from the Mad Dog, especially when he was behaving so well.

  “You must speak of my tales when they are older,” the woman said, sipping the tea, which was near scalding. “They will fet.”

  “I will speak of them yearly,” Jarot assured. “They will engrave your tales within their heart, though it will be under my own.”

  Rirot smiled warmly, leaning back within her chair. She could feel the slow creep of death be her, but she had already resolved herself to see her husband.

  Jarot remained silent for a long while, sipping the tea opposite the woman. As a member of the extended family, she had pleted her duty well. If not for her, he wouldn’t have been able to cause his mess, and the Rot family would not be stable enough to prepare for war, if it ever came to it.

  Jarot could still recall the rain of that day. It was a sorrowful rain. There had been a single fsh of lightning, and a single rumble of thunder.

  “With Sarot and I gone, you should not be so careless,” Rirot dared to say to her cousin, the one who had caused such a mess within the Iyr. Even if she wasn’t dying, and even with his one arm and one leg, Rirot wasn’t fident enough to face her crazy cousin.

  “Will you stop me?” Jarot grinned wide.

  “Little Jirot will stop you when I ot.”

  Jarot’s ughter echoed through the estate, drowned out by the gentle rain and the rumble of thunder.

  Jirot allowed her father to feed her, opening her mouth whenever he brought the fork to her lips. She cmped her lips tight along the fork while her father pulled the fork away from her lips, before she slowly chewed the meat.

  “Cahruh, daddy.” The girl poiowards the sliced e vegetable, which her father brought to her lips. She ched into it, slowly chewing the raw vegetable with her mors, smiling to herself in satisfa.

  Little Jarot reached for his own carrot, before Adam brought a slice to his lips. The boy smiled and bit it out of his father’s hand, pushing the rest of it into his tiny mouth. He let out a small squeak of satisfa while he leaned into his father’s hand, which brushed his cheek tenderly.

  ‘I feel sorry for everyone else that my childrehis cute,’ Adam thought, letting out anh of satisfa. He turned his attention to his triplets, p them each a cup of warm milk, before holding up the cup to their lips, a hand against the back of their heads, to feed them too.

  As Konarot sipped the milk, she pulled her head back, gng across to the side. She she air, along with the other triplets, who could smell the return of their family member. She then opened her mouth for her father to feed her more milk.

  ‘I ’t believe you’d disrupt me feeding my daughter like this, old man,’ Adam thought, though he tio feed his eldest daughter.

  ‘Of course,’ he thought, looming over Adam.

  Adam gnced back over his shoulder. “Old man, you ’t-,” Adam said, before his brows raised in surprise. “Jurot!”

  Jurot reached out his arm to shake Adam’s forearm, though Adam stood, shaking his forearm before half hugging him. “I have returned.”

  “I thought you were going to miss her birthday!”

  “I said I would not, so I will not,” Jurot replied as though it were really so simple.

  “e o’s go to the Kae and you give yift.”

  “I have already visited the Kae,” Jurot said.

  “How you do something like that without me? I wao see you spoil Inakan!”

  “I wao see Inakan first.”

  “I’m only going tive you just this once since you’re so cute,” Adam said, patting Jurot’s shoulder, fshing a wide smile. “What did y her?”

  “We came across a herbearvore,” Jurot said, noting Adam’s face fsh with shod a darkness, before it quickly lit up once more. “I gave her the headroot.”

  “Niice,” Adam said, letting out a sigh.

  Konarot noted how her father stood taller than before, his shoulders far more rexed. She narrowed her eyes, trying to recall how long her father had seemed smaller. ‘Papo gone and daddy was small?’

  “You didn’t have too much fun without me did you?”

  “It was much fun.”

  “Oh yeah?” Adam asked, smirking slightly. “How much fun was it? Should I tell Konarot to watch over her first cousin?”

  Jurot’s ears turned red. “We only spoke.”

  “What did you speak about?”

  “…” Jurot wasn’t sure if he should tell Adam.

  “You have returned,” Jarot called as he approached, his leg g across the floor.

  “Yes,” Jurot replied.

  “Let us hear your tales,” Jarot said, his lips f a wider smile, his eyes full of mischief.

  Lucy was gd Adam and Jarot were there to tease Jurot, quickly pg herself beside Jirot and Jarot, feeding the pair. She could feel the gre from Adam, who wao keep spoiling his children.

  ‘You should let me feed them since we’re panions in arms in this regard,’ Lucy’s gaze said.

  ‘I’m only going tive you just this once,’ Adam’s eyes returned.

  Jurot was not used to this feeling. ‘This is how it feels to be a sheep surrounded by wolves?’

  The thunder rumbled lightly in the distance as Adam gently soothed his children to nap, while the sky darkened from the clouds, though evening had yet to bhe Iyr. He gently pat his you son’s back, who rested his head against his father’s shoulder, sug along his dummy.

  Jirot and Jarot were sprawled in front of their greatfather, who was trapped within the minefield of children, with the triplets snoozing behind him and beside him. However, he was also an Iyrman, so he quietly, slowly, began to shift away from the children. It was awkward with his metal leg, but he pced it down first, and once he felt fident, hoisted the rest of his body away from the children, nding with his flesh leg, before slowly peeling his metal leg off the ground, and he silently crept away.

  Adam gently y his you son down, before creeping away to one side, allowing Mulrot to silently knit beside the children. Gurot and Murot slept beside her, the pair within their own bs, near identical, save for a thread which deheir names.

  “I fet how big the Rot family is,” Adam whispered, sipping his juice. “I e here once a week and, yeah, I shmooze with everyone, but… everyone has their own lives, families, stories.”

  “Those stories are ours to share,” Jarot said. “They are my stories, they are Jurot’s stories, they are your stories, and those stories are your children’s stories too.”

  “I’m not sure if they’re my stories, but I’m happy that they be my children’s stories.”

  Jarot grunted. As much as he didn’t want Adam to pull away from them, he was fih Adam at least promising that the childreo have their stories. “No,” the old man began, feeling the disfort within his heart, “they are your stories too.”

  Jurot nodded. “You are my brother Adam.”

  “I’ll accept everyone’s stories but yours, old man.”

  “You will not accept my stories? I am yrandfather, brat!” Jarot snapped, gritting his teeth, his lips f a wild grin.

  “Whose grandfather are you?” Adam narrowed his eyes.

  “Will you treat me so when I am so close to death?”

  “Close to death? Who gave you permission to die, old man?”

  “Baktu demands it of all of us.”

  “What will I tell my children?”

  Jarot grinned wide, though the cra his smile was obvious to Jurot.

  “You haven’t eve Jurot’s childre!”

  “You are right. I do not pn to die soon, I must spend more time spoiling my greatchildren!”

  “That’s right.”

  Jurot remained silent. He had thought about the death of the Rot family, and even his owh, but it took a moment for him to realise. ‘Grandfather will die too…’

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