Omen: 6, 7

“Damn,” Adam whispered as he awoke, staring at the Omen numbers.

“Are you feeling unlucky today?” Sonarot asked.

“Yeah…” He sighed. “I guess I’ll…” His eyes fell to Sonarot and Lanarot. “Could I see what you do with Lanarot today?”

Sonarot stared at Adam with a little confusion. It would be quite boring to follow her around as she looked after Lanarot, but he had been close to the girl.

‘To think my Nephew is so sweet.’ She wondered just how jealous the other Iyrmen would be. It was always difficult for them to have their older children to take interest in their siblings when they were babies.

“Okay,” she said. “Since you are so eager.”

Adam smiled. He didn’t really know the daily life of his sister, but it would reveal much about how a mother and a child worked in the Iyr. At least, that’s what he had hoped.

“You can go and train for a short while, unless you wish to see her sleep?”

“Alright,” Adam said, nodding his head. “I’ll be back soon.”

Adam and the others went to train, Dunes and Jonn joining them as per usual. They had been working out daily, with some light workouts, though Dunes and Jonn were eager to train harder, joining Jurot, Kitool, and Jaygak to spar harder.

Adam bathed quickly before heading back to the Rot house, where he saw Lanarot was up and currently feeding from her mother.

Adam, feeling awkward, went to check on his items, which had been set into a chest which had been locked and wrapped in a blanket.

“Oh,” Adam said, staring at all the gems. “I forgot I was so rich.”

“You have so much gold,” Sonarot said, smiling at him. “Don’t spend it all.”

“I won’t,” Adam said. “I need to make sure I have enough for retirement.”

“Sometimes I worry you might spoil Lanarot too much.”

“Is there such a thing?”

“As long as you do not starve, it should be okay.”

“If it means she won’t starve, then that’s fine.”

“You will not be in such a situation.”

“I hope not.”

“You worry too much, Adam.”

“Perhaps I do…” Adam rubbed his chin. “I’m not super strong yet, so I’m worried that I can’t protect her, especially with these ears of mine.” He wiggled his ears at his Aunt.

“Your race is quite hated in this land.”

“Yeah.” Adam sighed. “I don’t want that bothering her.”

“Who would bother Lanarot with such matters?” Sonarot asked.

“Those who shoot first and ask questions later. I could see a time when someone sees me with a child, notices my ears, and they do something bad to her. I don’t trust the people of this land that much.”

“You are more cautious than I expected,” Sonarot admitted. “If it means Lanarot is safe, I do not mind it so much.” She brushed her daughter’s hair, looking at her sleepy face.

Adam couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. “I can’t become too powerful too quickly either…”

“Due to Chaos?”

“Yeah,” Adam whispered. “Just in case everything ends up worse.”

“What an unfortunate choice you have to make.”

“I’ll play it safe for now.” Adam was glad that he could speak his worries with Sonarot. Having someone to speak with put him at ease, even if there was no resolution.

Eventually she was done with feeding her daughter, patting her back as she carried Lanarot outside to bathe the girl, which also made Adam feel awkward, so he began to write in his recipe book, trying to figure out some recipes he could bring into the Iyr.

“Chip butty?” he whispered to himself. “Can I truly bring that to the Iyr with a peace of mind?”

Adam thought for a long moment.

“No.”

After Lanarot and Sonarot bathed, Lanarot sat to play with her blocks as Sonarot knitted beside her.

Lanarot picked a block up and stared at it. She held it with her other hand and raised it up, before placing it down on top of another block. She giggle and laughed, grabbing another block and knocked the other block over before stacking it again.

Eventually she crawled onto her mother’s lap, reaching up towards the knitting tools, only for Sonarot to pull them away and she picked up her daughter.

Then they ate food which Jogak had made, and once they were done, Sonarot picked her daughter up.

“Come, Adam,” she said, carrying Lanarot out towards a nearby estate, placing the girl down with some other babies who were around her age, each of whome were on a blanket with all sorts of toys nearby.

The babies didn’t really acknowledge one another, sometimes glancing at one another, but otherwise playing alone.

“Let me introduce you to Lanarot’s uncles and aunt,” Sonarot said, motioning a hand to the others.

Adam was surprised to see them, but sat down on the chair prepared for him. ‘When did she manage to set this up?’

“I was waiting to introduce you,” Sonarot said. “This is Citool, Jogak, Shikan, and Lojin.”

Sonarot introduced each one.

Citool was the mother of Kitool, and looked so much like her, though her hair was cut into a bob and she was not quite as lean.

Jogak looked as sour as he always did, still staring at Adam with suspicion.

Shikan and Amokan looked extremely similar too, though Shikan held a short, but thick beard.

Lojin looked nothing like Timojin, but was equally as muscular as the Orcish Iyrman, if not more.

“Hello, everyone,” Adam said. “Adam, son of Fate, Nephew of the Rot family.”

“We know who you are,” Jogak said, almost growling.

Citool threw Jogak a quick look. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you properly. I have heard much of you from Kitool and Katool.”

Adam recalled how much he had bullied Katool. “I hope they view me in a positive light.”

Citool smiled, unsure if she should tell him how much Katool cried about him. “I thank you for saving my daughter’s life repeatedly.”

“So you heard about that?” Adam glanced aside awkwardly. “It’s alright, you don’t have to mention it.”

Katool stared at Adam, who glanced away. “Why are you looking away?” It was too suspicious for her not to ask.

“Oh, you know. It’s just a little weird being thanked for that.”

Citool stared at the boy. “It is a great honour.”

The other Iyrmen glanced between one another, wondering why he was squirming.

“I know, but it’s still a little weird. It’s embarrassing.”

Sonarot smiled, beaming at the others, showing off her sweet Nephew to them all.

The other Iyrmen stared at her, wondering just how lucky she had gotten.

“You should not be so humble,” Shikan said. “You should accept the compliment into your story.”

“My story…” Adam replied. ‘Right. I’m a Nephew of the Rot family, so my story will be in theirs too?’

“It is good to see you are finally resting,” Shikan said. “Sonarot keeps telling us that you work too hard and have yet to relax appropriately.”

Sonarot narrowed her eyes slightly towards Shikan who had slipped out her worries.

Adam cleared his throat. “Yeah, I don’t feel lucky today so I was planning on taking it easy.”

“Lucky?” Shikan asked.

Adam nodded. “Fate isn’t on my side today, so I decided against doing anything too important.”

Citool nodded her head. “You have done so much for us already, Adam. Why?”

“Have I?” Adam asked, rubbing his chin. “Well, I think it was quite fun to play with the children. I think it’s a good idea for older siblings to play with the younger siblings every so often, so when I saw that no one was doing it, I thought I may as well play with them. Plus, I got to learn the games that the children play, so I learnt a little more about the Iyr.”

“I was speaking of your enchanting,” Citool said. “Seekerstaff.”

“And Bloodseeker,” Jogak said.

“Oh,” Adam said, flushing slightly red. “Right, I did that too, didn’t I?” He scratched his cheek.

Citool smiled, wondering if he was doing it on purpose, but seeing as he was so embarrassed, it was probably accidental.

Adam shrugged. “I didn’t want to die, that’s all. With Kitool and Jaygak wielding magical weapons, chances are I’ll survive the next encounter. Plus, it would feel weird that Jurot and I have a magical weapon when I could make a magical weapon for the two and still have plenty of money leftover.”

“Which we thank you for,” Jogak said, though he was still suspicious of Adam.

“Yes,” Citool agreed. “We cannot thank you enough.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Adam replied. “It was my selfish desire that I wanted them to have magical weapons.”

“When my son is worthy, I will come to request a weapon,” Shikan said. “How much will you charge?"

"Offer me a fair price and I'll accept. Since you're my Aunt's friends, of course I'll give a discount." Adam nodded.

"There is no need for it,” Shikan said.

"They may be no need for it, but there is a want of it," Adam replied. “Since I’m the one forcing the discount, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Our sons have already gone to adventure,” Lojin said. “They have gone far to the east to make their name, and they will not return for many years. When that time comes, I will also hire you.”

Adam smiled. “When that time comes, I hope I’ll still be able to face them both at the same time.”

Lojin threw his head back in raucous laughter, causing the children to turn to him, and some began to cry due to how much it sounded like a roar.