“Why doesn’t daddy go talk tuests for a bit, and everyone give you their gifts. Daddy will go get his gift too, since he was so silly and fot t it.”

  “Okay, daddy! You ot steal Ordah from me!” Jirot warned, holding up her dagger like finger, raising her brow.

  “Of course, of course,” Adam assured, nodding his head to the others, before throwing a look to Kitool and Dunes, motioning with his head, then beed the rest of Sir Magpie’s panions to follow him.

  Sir Magpie could feel the gaze of her panions upon her, and even as she stepped into the inner area of the fort, where an Iyrma an eye on them, her thoughts were preoccupied. ‘What?’

  “I got this tea from Ever Green a few months ago,” Adam said, p the tea for his guests, and his own panions, finally p some for himself. “I wish I had my Persevian tea pot, but uh, I left that in the Main Iyr. Sorry.”

  “…”

  “Sorry about that. It’s my children’s birthday today, and they heard so much about you, I khey’d love to meet you on their birthday. It art of my gift, not that you’re objects to be gifted, just that I wao show off to my children. It seems, heh, I ended up showing off a little too much.”

  “Your children are…”

  “Three years old,” Adam said. “My Jirot, though, she’s crafty like a four year old. Let me tell you, the things that girl says, you’d think she was an Aldishman with how much she backstabs me and Jaygak.”

  Sir Magpie blinked. ‘What?’

  “Oh, I don’t mean all Aldishmen are bad, it was in refereo Jaygak, her family, they helped during the Demonic Devastation and they got stabbed in the back by the Aldish ohey had been weakened from saving the Aldishmen’s lives.” Adam cleared his throat, noting Kitool’s look. “Sorry, anyway, uh, yeah. Thank you for meeting with my children and making me look good.”

  “Your children are goblins?” Sir Magpie finally asked, gettihoughts in order after meeting with the storm known as Adam.

  “Goblins. Half dragons. A demon, apparently, and my seventh is on the way, a quarter elf.”

  “A half elf?”

  “Oh? I’m not so good with the maths, but if you say so.”

  “Your children, twins? They’re… unique.”

  Adam smiled. “My precious Jirot and Jarot. Jarot was named after his greatfather, you must have seen him already, one arm and one leg.”

  “Mad Dog?” Magpie asked, keeping her voieutral, doing her best not to seem too shocked.

  “That’s the one,” Adam said, chug. “The old geezer, he adores them so much. You know, there was a… a t who tried to hurt them, and he ended up going berserk and almost killing him. A shame.”

  “That is a shame.” Magpie was still stunned by all the information she was receiving.‘The Mad Dog is their…’

  ‘I don’t thihink the same thing is a shame…’ “Anyway, again, apologies, we will have to donate more in order to make it up for it, it seems.” Adam chuckled.

  “You mentioned magical ons?”

  “Yes. Although, due to the fact that the Iyr is involved, I must ask you to make one small, but very important promise, and that is that you ot use these ons against the Iyr.”

  “I … promise that much.” Magpie blinked away the other thoughts, trying to think upon just the donation.

  “Wonderful! Now that the most important part is over, why don’t I introduce you. Executive Kitool, who is the daughter of a Director, and Manager Dunes, who is our Priest, one of them, the other one being my wife, Ray Vonda.”

  As they greeted one another, Adam realised something. “Sorry, Manager Dunes, would you mind bringing the President over?”

  Magpie almretted the silence, which sted what felt to be ay, but she was thankful once Sonarot appeared.

  “This is President Sonarot, who are the birthday twins’ grandmother,” Adam informed, smiling with such delight, but Magpie could sehe threat hidden within.

  “The Iyr has always shown us great favour,” Magpie said, bowing her head to Sonarot. “The Iyr has gifted us ons previously, but as the years passed, they have found themselves in the hands of others, through our inpetence, and misfortune.”

  “We of the Iyr have always respected the Order of the Wings,” Sonarot replied, sharing a look with Magpie. She uood the Iyr had some business with the Order of the Wings, though even as a Family Head, she didn’t know the details. “We hope our donation will aid you on your journey.”

  “Is this a donation from the Iyr or the business?” Magpie asked.

  “Both,” Sonarot stated.

  “Manager Dunes, as the resident sword expert, would you care to reveal the bdes?” Adam asked, only just realising the optics of stantly asking the only bck man to do his bidding. ‘Oops. Sorry, Dunes.’

  Kitool wondered what stupid joke Adam had thought of, sidering his face.

  The bdes were eventually revealed, ed within the cloth. Each were finely crafted, as though they had been made by magic, like that of a Fate spell by the name of Fabricate, whie Priests always had prepared.

  Adam sipped his tea.

  He watched as Magpie reached out towards one of the longswords, pig it up with her rough, scarred hands. Shock fshed across her face, the woman rubbing a finger along the ft of the bde, her eyes staring at the bde, almost entranced.

  “This… is a Greater bde?”

  “I apologise for the business being uo donate something greater,” Adam said, bowing his head. “We are still new, so we only dohis little at this time.”

  “No, no, this is more than…” Magpie blinked, holding a bde worth at least a few thousand within her hand. “Are they… all Greater bdes?”

  “That’s right,” Adam smiled, ily, as though he wasn’t about to give her a heart attack.

  ‘Freater bdes?’ The thought rippled through each of the five members of the Order.

  Jon gnced awkwardly towards the bdes, coveting them so eagerly, but he uood that the bdes were better suited for the more experienced members, for he himself hadn’t reached even an Expert.

  “You are donating all these to our cause?” Magpie asked, still barely uanding the whipsh of emotions that had struck her as harshly as Adam’s axe.

  “Yes.”

  “We shall not fet the donations you have provided to our cause.”

  “I do have a… it’s not quite a request, but… I suppose it is a request, though we will pay for it. You don’t have to feel pressured, but if you could, on your journey…” Adam paused, feeling the looks of the others around him, knowing he hadn’t told him this part of his pn. “You see…”

  “…”

  “If you could, firstly, spread the word that you procured your ons from our business, not that they were donated, just procured, from the United Kindom, that would be appreciated. Sedly… if you could…” Adam flushed slightly. “If you by any e across any materials, such as livial, water, earth, that sort of thing, I would greatly appreciate it if you could e to us and we would pay for it at whatever market rate, plus, I don’t know, a hundred gold.”

  Sonarot’s lips formed a small smile as she stared at her Nephew ag all adorable.

  “We will do as you ask, and if we do e across any such materials, we will e to you first,” Magpie assured.

  “Thank you. I hope you enjoy your ons, and may you protect our nds from great evils with them. Speaking of which, actually, we do have another donation, well, a few more donations, but this one is most important. The President and I will g the other donation, why don’t you return back to the party with our Manager and Executive?”

  “As you wish,” Magpie said, ing the bde within its cloth, before strapping it around herself. She was still unsure if this was all real. She tried to resist the illusion, but when it didn’t break, she thought it was either real, or a really powerful illusion.

  Adam and Sonarot stepped away, though Adam paused. “Aunt?”

  “Yes?”

  “You ’t tell the old geezer…”

  “Okay.”

  The pair eventually returned back to the party, with the twins sitting on the ps of their babo and nano, while their nana stepped forward with the ed bde. Adam stepped beside Magpie, and watched as Sonarot informed the twins what they had to do. He wao do it, but there was something equally as important that only he could do.

  Jirot and Jarot carried the on to Jon, followed by their grandmother, and the eyes of many Iyrmen. Sonarot held up the string that was tied to the tre of the package, easing the weight for her grandchildren. The young man stared at them curiously, and mao hide his disgust.

  “Is Greater Ensed on, okay?” Jirot said.

  “Very strong,” little Jarot added.

  “You have sword! I am Little Boss. I donating to you.”

  “Sy all the monsters.”

  Jon took the the on from the children, and Sonarot ushered the pair a few steps back, out of the range of a sword swing.

  The ces of Jon swinging his sword was less than a single pert, and though the ces were small, the Iyrmen still worried about those ces.

  “It’s a Greater Enhanced on,” Adam expio Magpie as the young heir felt the magic rush through his fiips. “It requires you to meditate with it, but it holds three charges daily, and upon expending a charge, one turn a regur hit into a truer strike, and upon such, it rumble like the storm. It’s a powerful on, especially in the hands of an Oathsworn, who smite their foes with great power.”

  Magpie turo face Adam, still utterly bewildered that the business would hand them such a terrifying on, ohat was among the best in its css to them. She couldn’t even imagine how mue could sell it for. “Thank you, truly.”

  “Sir Magpie…”

  “Yes?”

  “I heard retly that an heir died, Sir Sparrow, was it?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Adam said, staring at his twins, who squealed with delight upon seeing the bde uhed, appreciating the ways the swleamed, an appreciation only their amber eyes could behold. “I ’t imagine what I would do if one of my childreo die.”

  Magpie wao pull her eyes away, but she couldn’t, not when his eyes slowly turo meet hers. She wasn’t sure which she sidered more important, the genuine dolences, or the gehreat. Once more, she could feel it. Within those eyes of his, she wasn’t sure what she could see bubbling to the surface, and she was gd once his eyes fell back to his children.

  Adam stepped forward, being almost unreisable as he smiled, approag his children. He passed by Jon first, reag out to pat his shoulder. “I hope you enjoy the on.”

  “Yes?” Jon replied, his eyes no longer quite so delighted upon seeing the half elf.

  “I vihe Enter to make that on for you,” Adam said, holding the young man’s gaze. “I made sure that you wouldn’t be left out, as the heir, as the future Magpie.”

  “Thank you.”

  Adam smiled, pulling his hand away, as though only just realising Jon wouldn’t like that, but the smile on his face suggested other. “You know, we have a saying where I e from, not from the White Forest, but from… far away, in a pce that no longer exists, that I ot return to, nor any of my children ever visit.” Adam kept Jon’s gaze for a long while, wanting to see the uanding in his eyes.

  Jon slowly bowed his head.

  Adam smiled, slowly nodding his head. “With great power… es great responsibility.” Adam smiled. It was not the silly smile that he usually gave upon the cliched saying, but a smile that said that he almretted handing the bde over, but he hoped he didn’t have to.

  “It’s a… good saying.”

  “Yeah,” Adam replied. He held the young man’s eyes once more, thinking about threatening him more, but he frowned. “I’m sorry about your family, Jon.”

  Jon’s lips trembled slightly. “Thank you.”

  Adam slowly nodded his head, aurned, quickly grabbing his children. “You two, grr, e to daddy! I got yifts, you little smelly girl, you little smelly boy.” Adam pnted kisses on both of their cheeks.

  Jon remained focused on the back of Adam’s head for a moment, before the head went out of focus as his eyes spotted the Iyrmen beyond. The one armed Iyrman and the devilkin, as an Aldishman might say but he certainly wouldn’t, Iyrman. The pair were staring at him, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He slowly sat down, sheathing his bde, and as his eyes darted around, he noticed more Iyrmen were still staring at him, not just him, but all of his panions.

  The words came ba in that moment.

  ‘If it’s one force you rely on, it’s the Iyr,’ Magpie had said. ‘If anythio happen iure where you need help, retreat to the Iyr. They’ll take good care of you, and will make sure Magpie won’t end up like Starling and Bckbird.’

  Jon wondered if perhaps Magpie was feeding him a pile of horse shit, because right now, he felt like a gazelle surrounded by starving dragons.

  No.

  They weren’t even starving.

  Our Adam is so cute too.