Keira laughed and nodded. “Rosenites will enjoy that in general. We don’t often pick lifetime mates. Those who do are rare though I wouldn’t safe we’re a minority… It’s just not common is all.” She was trying to find the right word for it. “We tend to breed with outsiders since Males are rare for us.” The halfling let a laugh out as he pulled her close. A tender look came to her eyes as she studied the man she would come to have children with.

She reached up and kissed his forehead. “I’m nervous too. We’ll have to just take things one at a time and hope for the best.” She gripped his hand lightly. “I’ve never seen you that determined to make sure I would be alright before.” Maybe it was something he hid well, or perhaps it was just the prospect of their relationship and now their twins.

“Through the gates. Arri is our homeland so Auntie always has one available. It’s one of the only places where her children are completely safe now.” Pausing for a moment she chuckled, “So in no time at all. Are you ready for this? I mean really ready.” She held his hands in hers while giving him a loving look. “Sularia is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” She warned at first. “And so is my mother.”

It was true that Toya was a psycho in her own right. She had to be tied to a bed and administered health help from Angela.  Though Toya wasn’t who Keira was worried about, her father was her whole world. The pack revolved around her father for the most part. He taught her and Ynnarah how to shift and bathe in the moon. They were deeply connected through the Mother Moon.

Finding the Arch, she took a deep breath. “Now you’ll get to see where all Rosenites come from.” Well, aside from Willow but he didn’t need to know that. She dove into the Arch and the world spun with him in it. She held his hand tightly. 

Finally the colorful cobblestone of Sularia came into view. They were right in the center of the market place now. There had to be hundreds of women around them yelling about deals and prices. Adventurers, cooks, writers, you name it they were there buying goods. Women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicity were around. The market place was colorful much like Abed was. The billowing tents were a rainbow of designs. 

“Welcome to my home.” They began to weave through the crowds. There were children running about, more freely than any other city in Revaliir. Guards were stationed but they did not appear to be hostile, though Keira didn’t doubt they could be. 

They had reached Sularia in the busy morning hours. “They are most likely at home.” She chuckled lightly as they made their way to empty alleyways. The air was dry as Keira stalked the walkway. She was use to it but her eyes darted to Torn to make sure he could keep up. 

The White Court was easily seen. Their marble statues and white roses were in abundance as they neared. The marble statues had red hot flames, which burned from nothing. “Those were made by members of the alchemy side of our Court. The White Rose is the symbol for Burning Passion and Innocent. Though I hardly see the innocence in these things.”

The manor was made from shimmering white stone. It glistened in the sunlight but did not hurt her eyes. The large dark wooden doors opened. “Princess, you are hom–.” The woman stared at Torn for a moment.

“Yes, where is my mother and father?”

“Late risers. You can wait in the dining room, if you wish.. We’ll have breakfast served as soon as they get up.”

Keira nodded a bit and tugged Torn in the direction of a large room. It was delicately decorated but on the walls were pictures made from small dragon scales. The long mahogany table was even decorated by linen and lace. “Mother must have let someone else decorate. That’s not her at all. If anything, she got to choose what went on the walls.” 

She found a seat at the table and took a heavy sigh. “What were they doing all night… never mind.” Her parents still had a lot of libido and she remembered having to hide with Ynnarah from all the noise.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Torn answered as the two approached the archway leading to Arri. Torn braced himself as they went through, steeling his resolve to meet Keira’s parents. He took a step through the archway, and was immediately mesmerized by the sight of the city.

Children were running in various states of clothing, the guards were looking amicable enough, the architecture was unlike any Torn had ever seen - not painted wood or bleak slabs of stone, but colourful cobbles, which gave the city the appearance of a giant mosaic. Women outnumbered men by what looked to be ten to one, and it was plain that the society was dominated by female influences - not that the city was overly feminine, but the women seemed a lot more ‘free’ than many other places - not constrained by the traditions of more historically patriarchal civilizations. The marketplace was booming with goods of all kinds - exotic foodstuffs, toys, instruments, clothes, articles of luxury and articles of convenience, as well as craftspeople crying out their trades, yearning for commissioned work. Torn found himself disappointed that he had to leave the marketplace right away - but then again, he had no doubt he’d be returning sometime soon. And so, he followed keira to her home.

Torn took a single look at Keira’s ‘house’ and immediately turned a little pale. Having grown up in a fishing village, he was not very familiar with such extravagant dwellings. “Uh… Keira. You never mentioned that you were, you know… High-end nobility.” Torn was further stunned as the servant that greeted the pair referred to Keira as ‘princess’, and as he followed her inside, he leant over to whisper in her ear. “Princess? Keira, this is something you might have warned me about - I could have asked your aunt to lend me some more… Appropriate clothing,” he said, clearly referring to his somewhat drab light armour, his unpainted huscarl’s shield, spear, and sword. He found himself altogether uninterested in the decor that Keira commented - he had bigger things on his mind. He quickly relieved himself of the bulkiest pieces of weaponry and armour, so as not to appear too clumsy, before finding a seat. He was silent for a long time before he looked up at Keira, looking as though the situation had finally sunk in, and he was getting ready to deal with what was to come. “If I die, Keira, try to get me a proper funeral,” he said, only half-jokingly.

Not a lot of their children even stayed around the house anymore. It was like when Jayden was a baby and it was just the two of them all over again. They laid in bed when they were pissing each other off. It was more like they were that old couple who loved each other so much it was rather sickening, but at the same time they were the elderly couple, that for all purposes, that appeared like one was waiting for the other to croak. It wasn’t like that at all, but that’s what it seemed like. Toya had a habit of being bold and had brass balls, it killed her reserved husband. He had been a lot like her, until their kids took all the fun out of him. Not that Toya blamed him, it had been a rough road.

Toya, unlike her husband, had been told she was flat out insane. She had been tied to a bed for months as treatment was given to her. It just turned out that the Queen had been through a lot, more than she should have in her early years. It had been the loss of her son and the abandonment and betrayal her ex husband that left her with. The shock had done things to her. Blaine had always been that guy. The one who took care of her.

From the moment she had decided to jump off the back of her red dragon, naked, and landed practically in his lap, everything had been alright. It was the conception of Jayden that had helped her the most. It made her stop drinking and really try and make her body and mind more healed. Angela had done all she could while not divine, and as much as the sisters disagreed it had pained the Red Queen to see her youngest sister like that. No woman should ever have to go through losing a child.

From the dreams she awoke and she realized she must have been grabbing her husband all night. She was firmly holding onto him and it appeared not even sex had kept back the demons that followed her at night. An apologetic look was on her face as she kissed her husband and put her forehead against his. He understood, more than he had to. Wolves were protective over their mates and Blaine was an exceptionally good wolf.

“My lady, Keira is downstairs waiting for you.”

It was someone who had heard the conversation and rushed off to tell the sleeping queen. “Is that so? Suppose the little brat wants something.” Toya jested at her husband as she threw on one of  his long shirts over her body. It was more like a dress on her! So, that’s how she wore it.


She was very small compared to her daughters, she was sure they got it all from Blaine. From her petite curves to her long brown hair, she was sure only Aurora was on her scale of rather plainness. She was glad they got their father’s looks, though Jayden was gorgeous with his brown hair and blue eyes like distant ice. 

Stopping at the entrance, she listened in to the voices for a while before bursting out into a laugh. “You didn’t tell him?” Keira was immediately grinning as her mother walked in only half way dressed. Toya was taking the time to light a pipe with a flame on the tip of her finger. “Great gods almighty, I swear on my sister’s divinity that we have more men wandering in here excepting an Angela clone.”

“No Mama, I just think they aren’t expecting you to be so laid back.”

“Well,” she was messing with the pipe again as she realized it was overly clogged. Grabbing a little tray she began to grind out all the old stuff. “Blast.” When it wouldn’t come out she knocked it unnaturally hard against the table. There was a distinct crack that made the queen frown. “Oops.” It was clear the queen had no idea what her strengths were like.

Shaking her head, at least it was still intact as she got the stupid thing full, packed, and lit. “We don’t much care for high end things here boy. We care more about strength, stories, scars. Being as the pup didn’t tell you that, I’m sure you will be just fine as is. Though,” She puffed on the pipe and beckoned for a bottle of whiskey to be brought over. “Are you trying to get your father to have an early grave. First Ynnarah now you? As if it went great the last time someone brought a boy home.”

She took the crystal knob off the top of the whiskey and not so elegant began to drink from the bottle. Keira was giving her mother a shocked look. “It is always drinking time and if that is not the case… Then by all means I am a pirate and therefore fuck society’s rules.” Suddenly Keira was laughing.

Clearly Toya was way too laid back. “So what brings you both here unannounced?”

Keira straighten. “I want Papa here first.” 

Suddenly, Toya got a glass and filled it to the top. Keira had a puzzled look on your face. “When you have been married long enough, you know when your spouse is going to need a damn good drink. Boy you need one?” She pushed a glass towards him.

“Best Dragon Fire Whiskey here on this side of the continent. Don’t try to chug all at once, only we experienced drunks can successfully do so without losing our tongues.” She set the glass down and watched the two of them for a while. "To be honest, I wondered when you all were going to fly our coop. We raised you since you were little pups singing to the moon. Swear raising half wolves is a lesson in itself. I've never seen anything like it. The love for their Mother Moon." It was like Toya already knew, it was that mother's instinct thing.

"I watched but I was never really part of their childhood for real." She stopped for a moment as Keira appeared distressed. "Not like that. I can shift into a wolf and run with my mate but it will never be like how they do it. How from the moment they are born, they are born so free spirited. Even more so than their mother. I love all of my children and I have six but it is the wolf children that I adored from the sideline. Where I use to hold my Rosenite children up and help them walk… My wolf children were so independent. The twins! Oh my, the twins would help themselves. It was always something with them."

Keira blushed a bit. "Keira get the bird out of your mouth. Ynnarah stop chasing the critters in the forest. It was always something. They shift whenever they want to and I would get lost and distressed but their father was always there to help. They turned out fine.I may not be the refined Angela Rose with all her divinity and power, but I am a good mother. I care, I hunt, I put food on their table. Even before I told them about the whole queen thing when we lived in the Rain Forest, they were never coddled. Blaine and I are like a team. We took turns being the bad guy from time to time. He took care of me when I was ill. I took care of him through his dark periods. That's the struggle right there. So whatever you have to tell your father and I? Just come out and say it. Don't run around and be scared because that isn't the way we raised you."

Laughing a bit. "Can't guarantee it will be liked but we do what we have to for our children." She leaned in her chair and looked over by the door as her eyes waited.

Torn observed Toya as she entered the room, more casual in the extreme than Torn had ever anticipated. The casual tone and nature of Keira’s mother did little to unnerve him, however - on the contrary, he found Toya’s behaviour rather calming, as she let off an air of calm sensibility. He grabbed the glass he was offered and had a small swig. It was strong, indeed, and Torn had to be careful drinking the stuff, or he would surely get it down the wrong pipe and choke on it. “Off. That is strong,” he conceded, not being much of a drinker (he usually left that to the Misfits).

Torn let Toya and Keira do most of the talking, preferring to observe the elder woman’s behaviour some more. He listened to the story about how raising half-wolf children was a challenge, and thought back to his first night with Keira. I can imagine it was challenging, he thought, only to realise that he’d probably face the same challenges raising his own twins. Luckily, he’d have the experience of Blaine and Toya to help him, or so he hoped.

It wasn’t until Toya urged Keira to speak that Torn decided to take his turn speaking. “Well, the truth is, Keira and I haven’t known each other for long,” he began, taking another sip of the strong liquor. “We met when headed to Pravpora, and we had a few topics of mutual interest.” He looked Toya right in the eyes, his courage no longer wavering - I will take this head-on, as I have with all things, he thought to himself as he spoke. “Keira being a… free spirit, as you put it, and me being, well… quite similar, things developed rather quickly.” Torn decided to skip some of the details, and go straight for the most impressive. “As we arrived in Pravpora, we elected to go to Feeorin Forest for an adventure. We visited the merfolk city, and hunted a hydra - slew it without taking many serious knocks,” he continued, smiling at the memory. “But to separate the last head from the body, we elected to bring it to Angela’s temple-realm,” Torn elaborated, hands now folded. “Which, in turn, led to a series of events that led us here.” He looked at Keira, resolve burning in his oh-so-precious blue eyes. “And so, the two of us decided to come here to share the news,” he said finally, looking back at Toya, and putting an arm around Keira, smiling.

“Or rather, the four of us.”

It was a pain sometimes to watch his wife struggle with sleep. It would come every now and then but at least it wasn’t like when they were first together and the memories of her first son still haunted her. Blaine supposed that with both time and the arrival of their children started to mend the wounds made to her mental state but there would be some scars still there. He brushed her hair from her face as she stirred and embraced her when she woke up. To think, he couldn’t even remember his life before he had met her; to be honest he didn’t have a life. Merely going on manhunts and chasing after skirts (with a lot of the chases ending badly for him) until that one night he decided to camp out in the woods and the next thing he knew she fell from the sky and onto him, as naked as the day she was born. Some talking happened and then they shared a night together, which would lead to them having several rendezvouses before she broke the news to him that she was carrying his child. Or in her state of mind, she was carrying her former husband’s and he really saw the hurt that all of that had caused her. Despite it, he was going to be with her anyway, because he had loved her from the start and now he truly had another reason for staying and that was Jayden. And then the twins came after and followed by “mini Toya”. He loved his family above all and swore that if anyone caused them harm, he would kill them without remorse.

He watched his queen and snuggled with her up until someone came bursting in. Blaine could only groan and remember back to when they all lived at the cottage, happy and free from this royalty crap. But now, Toya had to embrace this and as her husband, he had to as well for her sake. Unlike her though, he was relentant in jumping out of bed- those girls of theirs were always getting into trouble. Damn rosenite blood. He blames his own for their pure stubbornness. The lycan, with his blonde hair unkempt and in front of his face, got up and slipped some pants on. It was all he was going to wear and all that he needed. The children had already witness the scars on his arms and back; badges of honor as he put it in his time as a mercenary. He showed it to them as a reminder as to not follow his path but to forge their own, and he hoped that they would all choose wisely. He had some good odds that at least one of them would anyway. The venture downstairs was quick though he noticed that there were voices coming from his wife, daughter, and someone he didn’t know. He reached the bottom and was ready to come into the room, but he was all but groan at what was going on. Another young man was brought here by his daughter, only this time it wasn’t Ynnarah’s doing. They had already been through something similiar with her and Valkoinen, but he refrained from quick judgment for perhaps like the other one, this man was of noble intentions too. Perhaps he saved Keira and brought her back home, and then his wife would add him to these Rose Knights or whatever. Secondly, she had just about as worse of a temper as her sister and he didn’t need to deal with that situation again. He calmly took a breath and proceeded into the room and made a beeline to the drink Toya so wisely poured him. He walked in just as he hear something about “the four of them” from the stranger. Blaine was a bit confused as that before he hadn’t been here before now so there was no way that meant him and Toya included in that statement. He could only tell from how he was so comfortable putting his arm around Keira while she seemed so ecstatic and…

…Oh god…
He went to sip at the whiskey but damn near downed it in one gulp and showed no recoil from the burning it caused his throat. It took some getting used to at first, but it became one of his all time favorites, and from whatever those two had up their sleeves, he was probably going to need more of it. Yawning, he folded his arms together and looked at his wife and then addressed the lad. “And pray tell, what news is that?”, he asked, his voice free from any sort of conviction. There was no telling where this was going to lead, but he was going to do his best to understand all of this with an open mind. If not, then Toya would have to likely knock him out or something.

Torn watched as Blaine entered the room. The man was large, muscular, and had clearly seen his fair share of combat. No way I’m beating him in a fair fight, Torn thought, assessing the situation. Whatever his reputation, Blaine seemed (reluctantly) prepared to hear Torn out. Torn pondered how to reply. He’s a fighter - informal, too, like Toya. He prefers the straightforward, the honest, and the headstrong. He’ll want to protect his pack - from threats and from weakness. I cannot appear weak, and I cannot lie - he’ll know if I do. Torn locked eyes with Blaine and stood up, prepared for a proper mano-a-mano chat.

“I’ll be straightforward, sir,” Torn began, adding the honorific as common courtesy. “Keira and I have been travelling together for a time, and in many ways we are kindred spirits. And according to Lady Angela -” Torn took a breath, and finally gave a smile. It wasn’t coy, nor naughty - he was legitimately excited about the idea - “Keira is carrying twins.” Torn looked back at Keira and put a hand on her shoulder, before looking back at Blaine and Toya. “So here we are - to share the news - which to us is good news - and, well…” Torn rubbed the back of his head. He then sighed. “Look, I know I have no right to barge in here as though I am family. I know that I have no rights to expect a warm welcome. But I want to be there - for Keira, and for the little ones - and that is a right I will stake a claim on.” Torn was evidently nervous - Toya and Blaine would be able to notice with ease; Torn was sweating and shaking lightly. However, his body language said something else as well - he wasn’t a runner. If he was to be thrown out of the building, it would have to be by force.

Tilting her head, Toya gave him a grin. It wasn’t like her and Blaine knew each other either. “Angela is a cunt.” The youngest sister’s words might have surprised no one in the room as she took a rather large drink of the whiskey. She choked a bit on swallowing the liquid before a breath of fire came out like a dragon. “Four?” She looked between them and gave a smile. “Oh, your father will love this.”


Keira looked over at Torn and smiled, “Mom and Auntie didn’t use to get along. They do now but it took years of mending.”

“If you are going to tell him, at least tell him right. The bitch tied me to a bed and started to treat me! I DIDN’T ASK HER TO!” She started to grump a bit before she noticed her husband. She had a smug look on her face as she jumped her chair closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. “It’s interesting news.” They were always looking for the next interesting thing in their lives after all, maybe this was it.

Torn had taking the initiative and spoke first. Toya smirked and looked over at Keira giving her a slight nod of approval. “Took balls coming into the dragon’s keep to tell a lycan that you knocked up his daughter.” Keira was deep red now. “However, if I may love.” She distanced herself away for a moment. “They are about in the same boat we were when we got pregnant with Jayden, if not a better one.”

Toya shook her head a bit. “Twins will be rough, I’m sure Angela has told you the things that can go wrong. We will make sure that doesn’t happen. Won’t we Torn?” It was more of a threat to keep her cub safe. “We Rosenites protect our own, we don’t have much to lay claim to outside of our desert. If you want to be family you have to understand what that means. We kill for each other. Even if I call Angela a cunt, I would still raise my army and save her if need be. She’s helped me out and maybe even saved my marriage.”

She took Blaine’s hand and kissed it gently. “We play around a lot, and we are rough around the edges. I think you will fit in though. The months will be rough, when I was pregnant for Keira and Ynnarah it was my third pregnancy. I can’t image how hard it will be for a first. Protect her Torn and always make sure to have Angela close. She may be a cunt to her sisters but she is one of the best healers on all of Canelux. She was even before she became a goddess.”

Looking a bit more lovingly now towards her husband, she began to laugh. "Always trust in your mate. They become your biggest strength and best weapon. Any problem you have can be solved if you put both of your heads together. That's what we've learned over the years. We have four cubs together and I have two from my first marriage. The moment something goes wrong and you give up on your mate, your world ends. Trust me. Thank goodness for Blaine and how understanding he has been all these years. I don't want that for my daughter though. Take care of her, or I might have to end you with an entire army of Dragon Knights."

"MOTHER." Keira yelled in a whiny voice as she visibly clung to Torn.

The moment he was spotted by the other male, Blaine couldn’t help but to look on with a curious look. It was strange for someone to look a wolf straight in the eyes because for them, that was a direct challenge in of itself. He didn’t exactly know his business for being here, but he had arrived with Keira so apparently it had to do with her. He was cursing his luck of why his daughters were born so beautiful. Part of him wanted to blame his wife’s side of the family, but he had to admit that if anything, his side only reinforced it all the more. Hell, his sisters, mother and stepmother were proof of that. And somewhere in the afterlife, he was sure that he could hear that old man of his laughing his ass off about this situation. Shaking his head free of the thought, Blaine waited for the news and poured himself another glass.

When the news was finally being spat out, the lycan looked on intentively and drank up to the point where point of the matter came. From that, he nearly choking on the whiskey before catching him on the last minute. What did he say? He stood there, mouth gasping and wide eyes looked bewildered as he sought to grasp what had happened just transpired. Toya, being a Rosenite and all, was simply ecstatic over this new; Blaine, on the other hand, was less than thrilled. Despite the customs that her mother’s side had, he believed that she was too young for all of this. Between her and her twin, he was sure that they would be the death of him- if not, then Aurora would certainly be the one to finish the job when her time arrived. Toya’s words didn’t surprise him as he was still coping with what he just learned from the man that he still didn’t even know the name of. He got out the last few fits of coughs out of his system before placing the glass down and just took to the bottle, sipping a bit to let the burn take over.

Right now, he felt confusion, frustration and worry about this. Blaine was attempting to see the light at the end of this tunnel, but he had been taken by complete surprise over the matter. The only thing about this that helped the matter was that Keira’s “suitor” seemed to want to support her and the children growing in her belly, not that he would have a choice in the matter if he had a say about it. Blaine would hunt him down personally and not rest until he brought him back here to take care of them. As much as he was upset by all of this, he managed to retain some of his cool. He was unsure of how “better” their situation was in comparison to his and Toya’s since there were some key differences, at least he could only assume so. He didn’t know of the story, and he had a feeling that he didn’t want to as well. He took another large gulp and sat onto the table and placed the bottle against his head, letting the coldness from it cool himself and any visible anger down. There was nothing more than could be done other than to make sure Keira would be in safe care until the babies’ arrival. Her mother was right, there could be a lot of thing that could go wrong though and they would likely need her aunt’s help through this. He looked to the quivering lad and then to his clingy daughter and shook his head, placing the bottle down onto the table as well. He was definitely going to have to disappear at some point and clear his head even further. But for now the lycan was calm enough to be civil in a way only a Wintercrest could be. “Toya said most of what I would have, minus the bits about Dragon Knights and the derogatory comments about her sister. My only request is that Keira and the twins are cared for.” His tone was serious and quiet, but his stare spoke more than his words ever could, especially when they grew more feral and a brighter blue color. There was no threat made in them, but rather a promise- one that would make the Dragon Knights seem like kittens in comparison to him.

Torn listened intently to Toya and Blaine in turn. He let them both speak their minds before replying, with his most winning smile. “Don’t worry, I shall provide. The kids will also have thirty-plus fierce adventurers protecting them like uncles - my companions, the Merry Band of Misfits.” He smiled at Keira, hugging her close. “Now, I know you two probably have a lot of questions, so I’ll try to cover the basics.”

Torn took a seat next to Keira again, taking a deep breath to recount his story. “My name is Torn Flashborne. I have no memory of my life before my seventh year or so - all I know is that I was washed ashore at a fishing village after a ship sank. I grew up there,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “In a fishing village, life is relatively dull - but there are a few skills worth taking with you to be learned.” He took a deep breath, listing the skills he had acquired back home. “I can tie or untie any knot known to man, I can work a ship, I am an excellent swimmer, and through the use of a trident, I know how to handle a spear. I’ve climbed masts, fixed sails, repaired hulls, and the strenuous nature of life at sea has yielded me a pretty respectable physique - or so I’ve been told.” As he spoke, it would become increasingly obvious that Torn was the kind of man that could probably sell sand, even in Arri. “A little less than a year ago, I struck out as an adventurer. Since then, I’ve taken down a two-headed ogre, a band of rogue mercenaries, a basilisk, and a hydra - and me and my mates are getting very good at monster-hunting. I must admit, though… The hydra would have been a lot more challenging without Keira.” He looked at Keira, and smiled, before looking back at her parents.

“So as you can see, I don’t shy away from a challenge. As with all that has come before, I will tackle this head-on.” He grinned broadly. “After all, people say parenthood is the greatest challenge any man or woman faces. And that means, that anything after that… Will be peanuts.”