The Aeterna Empire

Interlude - The Full House

Adam was unsure if he was a morning person or not. He rose with the sun and slept when he was tired. When he rose, he did not complain nor felt burdened by a short sleep, but yet still he was told he wasn't much for mornings.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" A woman's voice asked him.

It seemed today would be no exception. Adam turned, annoyed, to see his wife walk along the courtyard patio overlooking the garden towards him. Her clothing was modest and covering well enough for the cold, with the only sign of immodesty being a simple red jewel hanging around from neck.

"There is only one side of the bed to wake from." He replied evenly. "It is too small to have 'sides'."

Below, a great deal of noise rose as a door opened. The Numerenai opened a door and a solid twenty children ran into the garden to gasp and run and play. They were dirty and still in need of a bath since their arrival.

"Not if you return home." She smiled in amusement. "Ours is bigger."

"A few days, I only just returned from the trip with Nel'Andra." Adam turned his gaze down to the children. They were starting to pick at the flowers, and he frowned. It was orderly and they were bringing chaos into it. "I clearly have much to do with them before the guild can take over."

"Clearly." She nodded sagely. "They are kids after all. Give it ten years. Then this will turn rebellious and then maybe they can behave."

"Then I shall not rest until they behave."

She snorted into a laugh, "Not for ten years you are not! I'll let you have three days before I annoy you." She leaned over the railing in front of him to purposefully get in his way. "And we both know how long that'll take."

Adam's eye twitched. It wouldn't take long at all. He was not looking forward to it. "Your occupation should have been interrogator instead of priestess."

"I'd rather not mix business with pleasure."

"Hmm." He hummed without comment. He turned and descended stairs into the garden.  His wife followed along pestering him with a humming tune that was bouncy and energetic and happy.

Among the children playing the garden, two were in the shadows. A young boy holding an infant in his arms leaned against the walls, away from everyone, and careful to be in the shadows. His brown unkept hair had faint burnt ends and hints of blood, and his eyes were covered with a thick cloth. In his arms was, of all things, a Mirrad-Blood in his arms. His wife's happy tune halted on seeing them.

"A Mirrad-Blood?" She asked.

"The Kes' war with them is accelerating," Adam explained. "At this rate, she might soon be the last."

"And the boy?"

This would be the difficult one for her to take. Adam hesitated, but turned, looked her in the eye, and said, "They gave him the horns of Maloch."

Her wide eyes and flushed cheeks were signs of her passing out, yet she remained on her feet. She stumbled to the side and gripped the ending rail of the stairs to help steady herself.

 "Are you going to pass out?" He asked.

"N-no. Just. Give me a moment."

After a moment, she stepped away, standing on solid legs again, and slowly approached the two children. With one being too young to care and the other blind, they did not notice until she was ontop of them.

The boy flinched, "Who?!"

"Shush, its okay. We have you now. What is your name?"

"Izthark, oh beautiful siren."

She blinked in surprise, but smiled all the same. "And you, my brave little man, will be a handful. Someone taught you a thing or two about ladies, perhaps a bit too much. Clearly nothing you picked up from him." Knowing who she was referring to, Adam huffed. "And who is this precious thing?"

"The man named him 'Jyesthra'."

She turned towards Adam over her shoulder. "Goddess of bad luck? Seriously?"

Adam explained, "Its a curse on the Kes for what they did."

"Who you are?" The boy asked.

She smiled with pain and joy both, and patted his hair despite the mess. "I'm your mother now. We are adopting you. All of you!"