Children of the Earth

Law of Tens

Law of Tens

"I said don't touch it!"

"Don't push me!"

"I'm gonna tell!"

"Lemme see!"

"It's my treasure!"

The two boys, five and six, continued to grapple with one another, disrupting the field of grass that was grown up to around their waists. Their mother had told them not to go this far in because there might be snakes but the younger of the brothers had spotted something that had made him forget that warning. He wasn't afraid of snakes anyway. He was a full five years old now. His mother just didn't understand that he was grown.

His elder brother was taller than him, but not by much, was trying just as hard to capture the treasure. The two were evenly matched in strength as they struggled against one another. At one point, they toppled over into the grass sending up a flurry of insects and nearly crushing the treasure.

"Stop it! It's mine!"

"Da says we're suppos'ta share!"

"Let go! I'm telling!"

Their cries echoed over the grass catching the attention of their mother who couldn't help but notice that they had gone missing. Knowing her second son as she did, she was easily able to guess where they had gone. There was nothing quite like the allure of the forbidden and, despite being the eldest, her first son would follow loyally wherever his brother went.

Walking slowly through the grass, smiling because she was sure there weren't any snakes in this area, she spotted the quickly jerking reeds where her sons had disappeared.

Boys.

Finn took in a slow breath and snapped, "Allwin! Ryul!"

Two simultaneous cries were hurriedly cut off as the grass suddenly stilled. Grinning, Finn kept walking forward. She didn't want the boys to see her smiling because she didn't want them to think disobedience was okay, but it was so hard not to grin.

She blamed it on the pregnancy. Finn always seemed to be unreasonably happy when she was pregnant. It was late in this one, she liked to rest her hand on her rounded belly, but she only became happier as she came further into it.

As she got closer, she could hear a fierce whispering battle between her boys. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she was relatively certain that they were blaming each other for the lecture they were about to receive.

"Come out, you two," Finn stopped, trying to look fierce with her rounded belly and her resultant waddle because she couldn't walk correctly anymore.

It took a couple seconds, but her sons finally stood up from the grass. Both of them trying their best to look innocent and sweet.

Allwin, her eldest and the crown prince by birthright, looked exactly like his father. Silver hair, icy blue eyes, and elf lines to both hands. He tended to stand just behind his younger brother because, despite being crown prince and the eldest, he was much more a follower than a leader.

Ryul also took more after Vallor than Finn. He also had the fluid elf hair, it was dark like Finn's, but he had Vallor's icy blue eyes. His elf lines ran across his chest and back, covering a far greater surface area than they usually did. He was much more a leader than his elder brother, though he also tended to be a little more reckless and hotheaded. Though Allwin was crown prince by birthright, Vallor had already spoken to his council about making Ryul crown prince instead one day. If he proved himself worthy of it and no other siblings were better suited.