Through all of these conversations, Janus opened his eyes and yawned. “Lila is bad. Lila mean…” He gave his twin sister a look, and she merely smiled back and waved. “Be nice.”


Llonan looked around, almost as if he were waiting for his mother to swoop in and tell him no at any given time. Still, there was a bit of curiosity that piqued when the girl offered her hand, pulling him up. And she had permission from his parents, which meant he was allowed, right?

“O-okay,” Llonan said as he was pulled towards the center of the courtyard. Everett was close behind, and was already hopping up and down in anticipation.

“I’m gonna win this time, sis…just you wait,” he said with a smirk. “Just you wait…”

Llonan looked between the two nervously. “So…what is tag?”

“I’m gonna pop ya again!” Alshaya squealed.

Simone leaned back in her chair that she was sitting in, “No, you aren’t! Shaya if you pop your brother I’m gonna pop your behind!”

“NOT MY BEHIND!” Shaya grabbed her butt to protect it. “YOU WOULDN’T!”

“I would and no one would stop me.” Simone threatened.

“Scary~” Llywellyn chuckled. “Mama Simone is out in force.”

“I’m just tired of pulling Xeik out of whatever he is doing because my six year old won’t stop popping my other six year old in his nose because she knows she can break it.”

“Shaya bad,” Lila said as she lounged.

“Lillaaa,” Janus groaned.

“Good,” Lila pointed at herself.

“Tag works like this: In a group, there is a person who is ‘it’ they chase the other kids around trying to get them. Once the kid touches the other kid… The new kid is now it and the other kid runs away. In large groups, we have a safe spot and the goal is to get to the safe spot before you get knocked out. You can watch me and Everett real quick.”

Alshaya lightly tapped her brother and ran away. She was like lightning as she did everything she could to get away from Everett.

“SHAYA, NO TREE CLIMBING EITHER,” Simone boomed.

Shaya was already hanging off of a tree branch high above Everett. “BUT MOMMMM.”

“Don’t but mom me,” Simone yelled as she knew her daughter quite well.

Llonan stood back and watched as Everett and Lila played tag. Tag was a simple game, in terms of rules, but the way that Everett and Alshaya played was something more akin to a battle than it was a game. Everett was ‘it’ first, which he grumbled about as Alshaya darted across the courtyard. She was fast, and even though Everett was faster, she was wily about her dodges and jukes, narrowly avoiding being tagged each and every time he got close.

Alshaya darted up a tree, to which Everett furrowed his brow. “That’s no fair! You know-”

Before he could finish his complaint, Simone yelled for Alshaya to get out of the tree. The girl was already shouting back, and that gave Everett the time he needed to jump off of the ground, rebounding off the tree and tag his sister’s hand.

“HAH! I GOT YOU!” He hit the ground hard, and started to run. “CAN’T CATCH ME!!”

Llonan was staring wide eyed. He had never seen such feats come from children. At least not like this. His brothers and sisters had all done their fair share of training and athletics, as per their instructor, but nothing like this. It almost seemed…fun. The word was almost foreign to him.

Fun…

Shaya made a face as she looked at Everett, “That’s a distraction. I suppose that’s fair game in war.”

Simone and Lewis had made sure that the kids knew some form of self-defense but each of them specialized in something far different than their parents. Putting her hand on the tree the tree branch lowered her down and she made a face. “I can’t use my magic to win. These are the rules!”

She pointed at Llonan, “No magic, just your skills, and don’t be sore losers. You must take losing gracefully!” Giving him a smile she ran over to Llonan and touched his shoulder. “Now you are it.” She giggled a bit and ran away from him.

“Not fair Shaya! What if he still doesn’t know how to play.”

“Then sacrifice yourself~ Like the lamb you are!” Shaya yelled back at Everett.

“NEVA!” Everett laughed with his sister as they lingered close to Llonan to encourage him. This was his first time after all.

Everett and Alshaya kept their distance, but in an encouraging way. From the look of it, Llonan seemed to be scrawny and not well adapted to physical activity. Still, the boy tentatively darted forward. Slowly. Everett rolled his eyes. The poor kid wasn’t going to be much for physical games.

“Alshaya, maybe we sho-” Everett blinked. As his eyes opened, he suddenly realized that Llonan was moving quicker. So quickly, though, that Everett wasn’t able to react in time. He fell back just as Llonan touched his shoulder.

“Er…tag?” the elvish prince asked.

Alshaya and Everett both stared at the boy, amazed at what they had just witnessed. Llonan looked down nervously, realizing that they were both being quiet. “D-did I do something wrong?”

Shaya was only quiet for a little bit as she clapped with excitement, “Llonan! That was so cool! I didn’t realize you were so fast! You remind me of my daddy when he plays with us!”

The color for a moment drained from her face before she darted and grabbed Llonan’s hand. “RUN! RUN LLONAN! Everett is it! He has stinky feet! You don’t want to be infected by the stinky feetttt!” She was laughing as she pulled him along.

She got out of Everett’s sight and pulled Llonan into a bush, “He doesn’t really have stinky feet but it motivates him.” She grinned a bit and put her finger to her lips. Elegantly she parted the bush to look for her brother…

Only he was so much better than she took him for.

Llonan was fast. That meant that neither of the Terrowin kids had to hold back. That meant that today’s game could be really fun. Alshaya called out to Everett, calling his feet stinky. At that, the boy frowned and yelled back, but Alshaya had already taken Llonan to hide.

“Come out, come out,” Everett said as he started to prowl around. He knew that Alshaya was amazing at hiding, but there was one thing she could never get around. Everett sniffed the air. It was something that he had been learning to utilize more…his nose. Cooking was his passion, and as such, he had trained his nose to help identify spices and herbs. As a result…

He picked up the smell of his sister. She liked to use sandalwood soap. It was a particularly unique smell to the rest of the family, and it clung to her. Rex always smelled like Hazel’s herb garden, Lucas smelled like old books…Ezili and Mira smelled like the ocean. Each member of the family had their own unique scent.

“Boo,” Everett said as he peered down when Alshaya peeking through the grass. He tapped her forehead, and smirked. “Tag!” He grabbed Llonan’s arm, “C’mon! Gotta avoid her now! Let’s go!”

Shaya gasped as he found her and she fell on her butt, “HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!”

Alshaya knew that her mother didn’t want her climbing but… She was facing a Celestina and a Terrowin. She had to do her best. Looking determined she ran for the courtyard edge and began to climb up the vines. Every movement had a purpose as she swung herself up onto the lower part of the roof. She was running on top of it and she was faster than she was before.

“EV- ER-RETTTTTTTTTT,” she paced it as she launched herself from the roof.

“Uh oh,” Everett panicked as he separated from Llonan. “Sorry! Sacrifices!”

Alshaya tackled Llonan to the ground with quite an oof. “…I wasn’t aiming for you.” She had him pinned. “Are you okay Llonan?”

“Crap… I didn’t even think about that,” Everett ran up to them. “Are you okay Llonan? I’m sorry.”

There was the sound of a tapping shoe as Shaya turned her head. Simone had a frown on her face, "Why would he be hurt?"

"…I tackled him?"

"With how much force?"

"…An elephant's worth?"

"From where?"

"…The ground?"

"Shaya."

"Okay but listen," Shaya got up and held out her hand. "How am I supposed to beat a Terrowin and a Celestina if I don't bring my full strength to the battlefield?!"

"…Shaya. You are grounded from tag. You guys come inside and get some snacks you have to be hungry. We can look you over in here Llonan." Simone brought them in and Jehanne was watching from afar.

"Come here," Simone patted her lap. "Does anything hurt Llonan?"

"Aren't you going to ask me if I'm okay?" Shaya ran up along side her lap where Llonan was sitting now.

"You are like a rampaging boar in the forest. Nothing can hurt you for too long," Simone waved her hand. "Are you bleeding?"

"No."

"Is a bone sticking out?"

"No."

"Then you are fine. Llonan is different from you," Simone gave a smile. "Sorry if she was so rough on you. She rough houses like a boy."

Llonan was confused at what had happened. One moment, he was running, and the next, Everett was gone, and Alshaya was on top of him. She had landed on him.

Hard.

And it hurt.

A lot.

First and foremost, the wind had been knocked out of him, and he was seeing stars. He barely heard Alshaya ask if he was okay, and by the time he started to come around, the girl was already being chastised by her mother. Llonan was helped up into a sitting position by Everett, who could not stop apologizing.

As he stood up, Simone checked him over, and asked him a few questions.

“N-no ‘mam,” Llonan said timidly. This was the woman that his mother disliked. Llonan wasn’t sure why, but he knew at least that much. But his mother seemed to be letting this exchange happen, so there was at least some kind of mutual respect. At least, he hoped.

When they got inside, Simone apologized, and Llonan shook his head. “It’s okay, ‘mam. I’m not hurt…just a little dirty.” His shirt had grass stains. Mother would not like that. “It was…fun…” That word still felt weird to say. “I had fun…”

Simone held a smile on her face, “At least you can take a beating like your father.”

“Uncle Llywellyn used to get beat up?!” Alshaya was interested in the story so she was pulling on her mother’s sleeve.

“When we were little he used to get into fights with the other boys our age. See Uncle Llywellyn… Is a really jealous boy.”

“Man. I’m a man. I’ve also grown up,” Llywellyn had a blush on his face.

“No, you really haven’t,” Simone reached up and grabbed at his face. “You get that look on your face whenever that knight of yours talks to Jehanne.”

At those words, Jehanne was now red. “…Simone…”

“What? Don’t tell me… You’ve never noticed?” Simone looked at Jehanne and then looked at Llywellyn. “Excuse me, Sweetie,” she moved Llonan off her lap now that she knew he was okay. “I told you to fix your marriage!” Thus began an onslaught of smacks to Llywellyn as he tried to defend himself from Simone. “You are such a moron sometimes. You can’t even tell her how you feel?”

Jehanne was looking very uncomfortable since Llywellyn had never even mentioned. “You are the most unromantic husband ever. TAKE LESSONS FROM LEWIS!” Simone pointed at Lewis. “That is an order!”

“Ye…Yes ma’am,” Llywellyn saluted. “Save me Lewis please. Your wife is a terror.”

“I CAN HEAR EVERYTHING YOU ARE SAYING TO HIM!”

“Are you sure she is a phoenix? She is more like a dragon~” Llywellyn whined.

Simone looked back to Llonan and bent over to his level, “If they are too rough on you just tell them. They are good kids. Thanks to all of our kids being different races they know when not to be rough with people but you have to tell them.” She rubbed his blonde hair. “Especially Shaya. She has a heck of a right hook so please be careful.”

“We’ll be gentle we promise… Can we keep playing?” Alshaya had huge eyes as she latched herself onto Llonan and put him in a hug. “Please? I like him.”

“…” Simone sighed. “Fine, but no more climbing Alshaya Leilani…”

“Don’t! Don’t call me by my full name~”

“Ohhhh… Everett it looks like Alshaya doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of Llonan~”

“NOOOO!” Shaya’s face was bright red and Simone was giggling.

“Pick a game that doesn’t involve you tackling people…” She pet all of their heads.