2686 The Art of Conversation (Part 2)

The Fomor was in desperate need of company while Rena just wanted to help and receive a few pointers in raising magically gifted children.

'I don't want to repeat with the triplets the mistakes I made with Leria.' She thought.

Rena watched the kids play with Ryla and invited the members of Zelex's senate at least once a week. Syrah and the others didn't like much the idea of being guests in Lith's house again, but their children had fallen in love with the park, the Trawn woods, and the ice cream.

"What's the point of being free if we keep living like prisoners in this underground city?" Xagra, her son, said, crushing her straw argument to refuse the invitation.

Even though Ryla had never gotten along with the rest of the senate, they were still people she had known her whole life and the closest thing to a family she had. Urhen the Balor and Br'ey the orc shared Syrah's grievances but their children couldn't care less.

They loved running in the sun, playing with the magical beasts, and eating to their heart's content without worrying about the food rations for the day. Just seeing the smiles on their small faces and hearing their joyous laughter was enough to force their mothers to be as amicable as they could.

Rena was a generous host and after dealing with beasts, undead, and plant folk on a daily basis she had no prejudice against any kind of creature, fallen races included. She needed but a few visits to break the ice and make her guests feel welcome.

Raaz and Quylla spent a lot of time with Solus in the tower, holding regular meetings of their own small support group. The three of them had found relief in sharing their respective experiences and talking with other people who had walked a mile in their shoes.

Raaz also loved the initiative because it allowed him to spend more time with Solus and bond with her. He was eager to build a relationship as good as the one Solus had with Elina while Solus enjoyed having a father figure in her life.

She was an adult, but the issues that Threin's violent death had left were far from being resolved.

Raaz did his best to support her and even delegated some of his responsibilities to the farm in order to have time to spend with Lith.

"Your sister and daughter are going to be born around the same time and I'm a bit rusty with newborns." Raaz said one day while they dined together. "What do you say if you lend me the nursery of the tower and let your old man teach you all the skills he has learned over the years?"

Lith gladly accepted and the two men spent time together every day practicing how to change cloth diapers, burp a small child, and how to deal with them when they had trouble sleeping.

With six children on his resume, Raaz had plenty of stories and silly anecdotes that Lith was willing to listen to and learn from. Usually, their lessons ended with them sitting in front of the fireplace with a glass of Water Dragon in hand.

As for Morok, it took Quylla quite some effort to win back her husband.

She was a very romantic girl, but it was her first time being the one who had to come up with a romantic gesture. Her first attempt was to buy him expensive gifts that he returned with a dry letter reading:

"No matter what people say, I'm not a gold digger. You hurt my feelings and 1 want you to give me a sincere apology, not a weregild.

"PS: sex doesn't count either."

She had to set up a second honeymoon, bringing him to romantic places for romantic dates and even bringing Morok to Mogar's moon. He insisted on exploring it together since Quylla had never done that before, but this is a story for another day.

Suffice it to say that they made up and Ajatar finally returned to his solitary existence.

Around that time, Kamila was forced to take a break from her job. According to army regulations, the third trimester of pregnancy was part of the mandatory maternity leave so she had either to stay home or find another way to spend her time.

"Gods, Kami, you have no idea how happy I am for having you all for myself!" Zinya said while the house staff set the table with silverware and empty plates. "We have so much to do and so little time to do it."

The Queen had already included Kamila in several social activities that she couldn't turn down without being both rude and ungrateful. The Royals had paid for the Mansion and lots of other things so she had to suck it up and smile.

"We'll start with what piece of cutlery must be used for each dish and then we'll move to the art of conversation."

"I know how to talk, Zin." Kamila whined. "I don't do public speeches but I'm a pretty good conversationalist."

"Don't be silly." Zinya chuckled. "The art of conversation means to be able to talk without actually saying anything like the nobles do. Also, it requires learning how to reply to subtle insults and allegations in kind."

"I hate you all so much." Kamila banged her head against the table, missing the time spent with Constables Griffon and Phoenix.

"You better take this seriously, child." Lady Jirni Ernas walked in from the double doors of the dining hall before the page could announce her. "These events are far from a waste of time.

"They are your best shot at finding out who wants to kill you and change the mind of anyone who might want to follow their example. Rest assured that I'll be with you the whole time.

"May the gods strike me down if I let what happened to my Little Flower befall you as well."

***

Village of Lutia, Fastarrow house, a few days later.

Selia's pregnancy had finally come to term so she had called the best midwives she knew the moment she felt the familiar pain of the first contraction. Faluel had come first, followed by Salaark who meant to uphold her word.

In less than five minutes, everything was over and Selia could introduce to her friends the newest member of her family: a baby boy she had named Solkar.

"Did you name you kid after Salaark, like we did for our Surin?" Elina asked while holding the baby boy in her arms.

"No, I named him Solkar after Selia." The huntress grunted from her bed. "After four kids I think I deserve it."

"You sure do." Protector couldn't stop himself from checking up on his wife and his kids with Invigoration non-stop.

He was still scared from Fenrir's birth, when he had been forced to call Faluel to save Selia's life. The moment Salaark finished restoring the huntress' body to its pre-pregnancy state and gave him the all-clear, Ryman hugged Selia and peppered her with kisses.

"Let me go, you damn oaf. This is all your fault." She tried and failed to sound angry, needing reassurance from her own fears.