"Hmm?" Ameliyn looked up at the angry empress. "Are you angry that I called your daughter average? I didn't mean it as an insult."

"How could you possibly mean it any other way?" The empress asked. Her frown hadn't receded and she hadn't taken back her seat.

"As a mother I have to make the right decisions for my son, Reivyn," Ameliyn said.

The silence continued to stretch as the empress and everyone else stared at Ameliyn. Ameliyn noticed recognition in their faces when she named her son, but their reaction was not what she was expecting.

"You're Reivyn's mother?" The empress asked.

"Yes," Ameliyn answered.

"If you're Reivyn's mother, then why are you looking for Sophia?" The empress asked.

Ameliyn was taken aback.

"Didn't Sophia sponsor him to transfer to the Magic Academy?" Ameliyn asked.

The empress looked at her daughter. Sophia took a step forward.

"Yes, I was the one that interceded with the Headmaster on his behalf, but I did it at my sister's request," Sophia explained.

"Your sister? Kefira?" Ameliyn asked.

Things were getting more convoluted in her head. She had already met Kefira, though she had introduced herself as Fira, and she had used that as an excuse to meet with Sophia, the girl who had initiated the transfer for Reivyn. Now she's finding out that it was Kefira who was responsible to begin with.

"I think maybe we should speak in a more private setting," Ameliyn said.

The empress scanned the crowded room. She noticed that everyone was paying attention to the conversation. She turned back to Ameliyn and nodded her head.

"I agree," she said.

She stepped forward and headed for the exit. Sophia fell in line behind her, but her husband remained where he was seated. He had an amused look on his face. Ameliyn turned with Refix and followed the empress out of the petition hall.

The empress led them deeper into the palace. They weren't followed by any of the Imperial Guards, but that wasn't necessary as Ameliyn spotted several of them posted in various locations throughout the building. They finally reached their destination, and the empress led them into a cozy sitting room.

There was already tea on the table, and several maids were in attendance. The empress indicated for Ameliyn and Refix to take a seat, and she followed suit across from them. Sophia took a seat next to her mother.

"Summon Kefira," the empress said to one of the attendants. She turned her head back toward Ameliyn after the maid set off to complete her task. "So you're Reivyn's mother? My name is Silfa, and you already know my daughter's name. How should I address you?"

Silfa picked up a cup and took a leisurely drink. Her eyes never left Ameliyn's. If it had been anyone else, they might have been intimidated by the gaze of the other woman, but Ameliyn was made of sterner stuff. She simply returned the gaze.

"Oh, my, where are my manners?" She said. "My name is Ameliyn, and this is my husband Refix. To answer your first question, yes, we are Reivyn's parents. Considering the response, I'm guessing he's here? Where's my boy? Why did you summon your other daughter but not my son?"

"I did summon him," Silfa replied. She calmly set the tea cup back down. "He's most likely with Kefira right now, so if she shows up, so will he."

"Well, that's acceptable," Ameliyn said. Silfa raised an eyebrow at the imperious tone. "Care to explain what's going on, now?"

"You'll have to ask Reivyn for the specifics, but I can give you some of the answers," Silfa said. "Sophia, if you would."

"Yes, mother," Sophia said. She smoothed her skirt before looking Ameliyn in the eye. "My sister, Kefira, was in a lower Region for her Life Experience Expedition. We kept in touch more than the rest of our family, and one day she sent me an unusual request. She asked me to set up the paperwork for the transfer of someone she had run into on her adventures.

"She had a good impression of him, and the things she said convinced me to help her. I did what she asked, and the Headmaster took care of the formalities. That wouldn't have taken care of everything, though, and he would have had to sign a request on his end, as well.

"So while I have a good impression of your son, and we've met and conversed on a couple of occasions, I don't really know him all that well."

Ameliyn studied the younger girl for a few moments.

"Are you resentful that I called you average?" She finally asked.

Sophia was slightly taken aback at the straightforward question, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Yes," she said, matching the straightforward nature.

"I apologize," Ameliyn said, inclining her head slightly. "I actually didn't mean to say that out loud, and I wasn't intending to insult you. I was under the impression that you were involved with my son more than you are, and I have a tendency to judge such young ladies harshly."

"Does that mean you're going to give my other daughter a hard time?" Silfa spoke up. She had an unreadable expression on her face.

My lack of experience in court is coming to bite me in the backside, Ameliyn lamented. I've kept up with my practice as much as I can, but there's only so much one can do out in the boonies.

"That depends," Ameliyn replied.

"Oh, on what?" Silfa asked.

"On if she's worthy of my son," Ameliyn answered.

"And what makes you think your son is worthy of my daughter?"

"I know my son."

"Well, I'll have you know that Kefira is the most talented person our empire has seen for thousands of years."

"That's a good first step. It really depends on how talented the local people are, though."

"Hmph, you're awfully arrogant, aren't you?" Silfa said, narrowing her eyes.

"I have the capital to be," Ameliyn responded.

"In case you didn't notice, you're sitting before the empress of a Tier 4 nation, and she just told you that her daughter, one of the Imperial Princesses, is the most talented person ever seen."

"That doesn't impress me," Ameliyn said, quirking an eyebrow. "I was born and raised in an Imperial Palace, too."

"Of course." Silfa didn't have any other reaction other than that at Ameliyn's revelation. Reivyn must have said something about our history.

The two ladies were sending out snippets of information to test each other. Ameliyn was a little rusty, but as they conversed, she found herself enjoying the back and forth.

"In fact, Kefira is known to those who know as the Septimus," Silfa threw out a tidbit, her eyes still watching for Ameliyn's reaction.

"What a cute nickname," Ameliyn replied, deadpan. She gave the other mother a look that said, "I know exactly what you're talking about, and I'm still not impressed."

"There are literally thousands of talented young men willing to marry my daughter. Not just from the locals, but we've even had inquiries from other imperial princes as to marrying into our family. No matter how high of an opinion you have of your son, he still has a lot to prove."

"So you say," Ameliyn replied. "I'll be the judge whether or not my son should have any connection to your daughter."

"Oh? You think so?" Silfa smirked. "I think you might have been away from your son a little too long."

"What do you mean by that?" Ameliyn frowned.

"Do you know what Reivyn said to me the first time we met?"

"How could I? But I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"He proposed marriage."

Ameliyn was shocked. Her body locked up momentarily, and she even felt Refix twitch involuntarily next to her.

"Doesn't your daughter already have a fiance?" Ameliyn asked.

"Who told you that?" Silfa inquired with genuine curiosity, tilting her head to the side.

"That Magus Farril's disciple. Whats-his-name." Ameliyn waved her hand, dismissing the young man who had accompanied them to the palace.

"Hmph," Silfa snorted. "Nothing official."

"So you're daughter is leading on several different young men? I'm not gaining a lot of confidence in this daughter of yours," Ameliyn said. "Also, I've already met her. First impressions are important, and the first thing your daughter did when we met was run away with her tail between her legs."

A noticeable chill permeated the air as Silfa's eyes narrowed even further. If she squinted any more she would have to close her eyes.

"So a grown woman is in the habit of bullying a child?"

"All I did was look at her," Ameliyn said with a shrug.

"Please. I can feel your aura leaking out. I can see where he gets his undisciplined attitude."

"What need does one have of discipline when you're so far above everyone else?"

"And you think it's your son that's on the pedestal?"

"It's certainly not the little girl who's stringing a bunch of men along!"

"My daughter's personal relationships are no concern of yours!"

"Exactly! And so I shall retrieve my son and take him with me!"

"And abandon his duties?! You wish. He has obligations!"

"Well, if your daughter wasn't in the habit of seducing boys, there wouldn't be any obligations!"

"Watch your mouth! My daughter has always been with her lady-in-waiting. There's no chance that there's that kind of thing involved!"

"So you use a double-team to wrap young men around your fingers? You're the one who said he has 'obligations!'"

"To the crown! He has a debt to repay!"

"It sounds to me like you just can't let him go! Who's the one who was trying to say he wasn't worthy?!"

"Because he isn't! My girl is the only known person with the Space/Time Affinity ever to be born!"

"That..."

Ameliyn held her finger up to rebuke the other woman, but she finally came up short with a retort. Now that she had a second to think, she finally noticed that she and Silfa had long since stood up from their seats and had been shouting at each other, nose-to-nose.

She turned her head to take in the others in the room as she took a step back. The maids were studiously ignoring the conversation, but Sophia was leaning back in her chair with her eyes as wide as they could go. Refix was grinning from ear to ear, but it cut off as soon as Ameliyn frowned at him.

"What's going on in here?" A voice reached Ameliyn's ears. She turned and saw the same young woman who had come to her room with her daughters earlier that day, but her vision was arrested by the figure that followed her into the room. "I could hear shouting from all the way down the hall."

Reivyn strode into the room behind the girl that he towered over. He habitually glanced in all directions before laying his eyes on the inhabitants in the middle of the room. As soon as their eyes met, his went wide with surprise.

"Reivyn!" Ameliyn shouted, joy overriding all of her other emotions at the sight of her son. She turned to face him, and she felt Refix get up from his seat beside her.

"Mom! Dad!" Reivyn shouted. He rushed across the room, careful to sidestep around Kefira lest he accidentally shove her out of the way.

Ameliyn didn't have time to fully appraise him after all this time before he scooped her up in a hug. She hugged him back fiercely, followed shortly by Refix joining in. She felt the vibrations in Reivyn's chest as Refix pounded him on the back.

They stood like that for several minutes, oblivious to the rest of the world. Ameliyn was faintly aware of that Kefira girl walking up to her mother, engaging her in a hushed conversation. Reivyn finally extricated himself from the hug even though she wasn't quite ready to release him, yet.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, a huge grin on his face as he peered into her eyes. He glanced back and forth between her and his father.

"We got word from your previous Academy of a System Notification informing them of your transfer to the Willowan Magic Academy," Ameliyn briefly explained. "It wasn't much trouble to find the path." She left out the huge number of loyalists they had sent out, as well as the expense involved, to find said path.

"Huh, I had never even considered that," Reivyn said.

"When did you get so tall, boy?" Refix asked from beside her.

Now that they had separated she could see that he had grown immensely in the years they had been apart. He was now a head taller than his father and she had to look up to look him in the eye.

"That requires some explanation," Reivyn said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't know the exact details, but it's only been several months for me that we've been separated."

"You've been missing for years," Ameliyn exclaimed.

"I know," Reivyn said with a nod. "It came as a great shock to me when I saw that my age had gone from 11 to 14 in what felt like a couple of days."

"Well, you can tell us your tale slowly now that we've found you," Ameliyn said. "Quick, pack up your things and let's go."

"Go?" Reivyn was taken aback. "Go where?"

"Home, of course," Ameliyn said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Because it is the most obvious thing in the world, she thought. What's wrong with him?

"Home is where my family is," Reivyn replied. "Now that you're here, this is as good of a home as any."

"Don't you want to see your sisters again?" Ameliyn asked.

"There's no way you didn't bring them with you," Reivyn said with a snort. "In fact, Kefira was just in the middle of telling me a story about a pair of interesting twins she met in the market earlier today." He raised his eyebrows inquisitively at her.

"Fine! You're right, they're here with us," Ameliyn conceded. "But what about your other friends? Teilon and Kimberly stayed behind to hold down the fort, and I think Melissa still carries a torch for you. You know what you're relationship with her was like. Do you want to abandon that?"

Ameliyn watched Kefira and her mother out of the corner of her eye to gauge their reaction at her words. Silfa's brows came down slightly, but Kefira smirked after noticing Ameliyn's attention on her.

This cheeky brat...

"Send for them," Reivyn said with a shrug.

"Even Melissa?" Ameliyn asked, surprised at his response.

"Why not? Send for Larissa, too, while you're at it."

"Well, Melissa and her sister didn't go with us to the Tier 4 Region," she admitted. "They were talented... for someone from a Tier 1 Region. They couldn't quite keep up at the end, though."

"I figured as much," Reivyn said. He seemed to have already come to terms with reality before Ameliyn brought it up. His relationship with Simmon and Will probably had something to do with that. "Friendships come and go. Only family is forever."

His words, wise beyond his years, confirmed her suspicions.

"Exactly," Ameliyn agreed. "So you should have no problem coming back with us to Garoq where we've spent years establishing ourselves. This little fling with Kefira can join your other memories of the friends you've parted with."

"I don't think so," Reivyn said, shaking his head. "If you think going back to Garoq is so important, you'll be going back without me."

"Truly?" Ameliyn searched his eyes for the answer.

She wasn't actually overly invested in going back to Garoq. Reivyn was right when he said that home was where his family was. It would be just as easy - easier, in fact - to stay here. She just wanted to gauge his determination for the relationship Silfa had told her he had built with Kefira.

"Truly," Reivyn confirmed. "Besides, I have obligations."

Ameliyn stared at her son for several long seconds. Her stomach dropped and her face turned pale. She mastered her emotions, though, and with a sigh continued the conversation.

"Have you picked a name yet?" She asked.

"A name?" Reivyn was confused.

"For your child. Is it a boy or a girl? Do you know?"

Reivyn's eyes went wide and he spluttered.

"Are you insane?!" He shouted. Ameliyn stole a glance at Kefira to see that her face had turned beet red. "We're not so brazen as to have crossed that line...yet." That last part was muttered under his breath, but Ameliyn still heard it. Refix apparently heard it, too, because he chuckled beside her. Ameliyn elbowed her husband in the ribs without looking.

"So then what sort of obligations do you have?" Ameliyn asked.

She didn't mention that she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. With her son's mention of family and obligations, she had let her imagination run wild. She was happy to learn that she wasn't going to be a grandmother any time soon. The thought had never crossed her mind before, and she was slightly surprised at her own subdued reaction to her crazy thoughts.

"Kefira helped me force my Tier 3 Class transition," Reivyn answered. "I have a Mythic Class. It would be incredibly ungrateful of me to just drop everything and leave after what she has done to help me."

"A Mythic Class?!" Ameliyn shouted.

"Only Mythic?" Refix teased. "Knowing you, I would have expected a Pseudo-Divine at the very least. You've been slacking."

"I was close enough to see the options," Reivyn said. "Anyway, why do you think I transferred schools? Kefira took advantage of a loophole to help me 'graduate.'"

"I see," Ameliyn said.

"Come, let's go meet her," Reivyn said.

He grabbed her hand and led her around the chairs to stand in front of Kefira. Ameliyn knew that Reivyn knew that they had already met. He had just told her that Kefira was telling him about it. She figured he wanted them to get a new start.

Instead of taking his place next to her and introducing the girl to his mother, Reivyn let go of her hand and walked over to stand next to Kefira. Kefira looped her arm with his before looking back at Ameliyn with a bashful look.

"Hello... mother," Kefira said.

Reivyn nearly choked when he heard the words, and Silfa once more narrowed her eyes behind her daughter. Kefira glanced up at Reivyn with a mischievous glint in her eye that didn't escape Ameliyn's gaze.

"What did you do, Reivyn?" Ameliyn questioned her son.

"Me?!" Reivyn pointed at himself. "I didn't do anything! Why would you think that?"

"She's clearly teasing you more than she's teasing any of us," Ameliyn pointed out. "You obviously did something."

"I didn't do anything! Did I?" Reivyn turned a questioning look to Kefira.

"When you met my uncle," she said.

Reivyn stared at Kefira for a moment before recognition dawned on his face.

"Hey now, addressing your uncle as my uncle isn't the same thing," Reivyn said.

"It isn't?" Kefira questioned.

"Well, I'm not mad about it. Just surprised."

"Good."

"Does my opinion matter?" Ameliyn asked.

"No," Reivyn replied.

Ameliyn rolled her eyes at her son. She held her hand out to Kefira.

"Come sit with me," she said.

Kefira glanced at Reivyn and, after an encouraging nod, she took the hand to sit down next to her. Refix sat on Ameliyn's other side. Reivyn noticed that there wasn't room for him to join them on the same seat. He looked around at the open seats before shrugging and sitting down next to Silfa. Silfa snorted and rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything about it.

"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot," Ameliyn said.

"It's alright, I forgive you," Kefira replied with a cheeky grin.

Ameliyn was momentarily at a loss for words until Reivyn barked out a laugh. She frowned at her son.

"Anyway... tell me about the shenanigans my son has been getting up to since he's been gone. I'm sure you have a lot to say on the matter."

"Certainly," Kefira perked up.

"And then you'll have to tell us about your journey here," Reivyn replied. He didn't seem nervous that Kefira would embarrass him. That's a good sign.

"Sure," Ameliyn said.

---

The room was silent after Ameliyn and Refix finished their much shorter tale of their journey to Willowan. The other inhabitants of the room had grim expressions on their faces. Ameliyn had been surprised to learn that Reivyn and Kefira had had a run-in with the same group of people that had disrupted their teleport hopping, though they told a story of a much less vicious encounter.

"We already knew that there had been multiple instances of invasions," Silfa finally said. "Though we didn't know that there were some empires that hadn't sent out any serious requests before falling. I wonder how many more Regions are in turmoil right now?"

"Do you guys have a plan to deal with them?" Refix asked.

"That's one of Reivyn's obligations," Silfa replied. "He's mentioned that fighting people is a lot different than fighting monsters, and he's been spending his time training our soldiers to adapt to the changes. We're going to be sending them out as mercenaries to fight against the invaders on someone else's turf. If they ever show up here, we'll hopefully have built up enough experience in that type of warfare to not be at a disadantage."

"That seems like a sensible course of action," Refix said. "There's only so much one can learn through training. Real world experience is the best teacher, and what better way to get it in this situation than fighting on someone else's land?"

"Our thoughts exactly." Silfa nodded.

"Considering the scope of the invasions, are you even sure that the ones you guys ran into in Drallo are from the same faction?" Ameliyn asked Reivyn.

"Maybe?" Reivyn answered. "I wouldn't know unless you had information on their commanders. They might have been from a Tier 5 Region."

"Yeah," Kefira said. "That Jezebel had a 'six' tattooed on her neck, so we think they were from a Tier 6 faction."

"Tier 6?!" Refix exclaimed.

"Jezebel?" Ameliyn's concerns were on a completely different matter that was revealed.

She gave a sharp look to Reivyn.

"Is there a child somewhere out there?!" She questioned.

"There had better not be!" Kefira shouted, directing her own fierce glare toward Reivyn.

"No!" Reivyn shouted. "You saw that I was in the middle of fighting for my life when you showed up and rescued us!"

"Yeah, but that wasn't the first time you had met her," Kefira pointed out.

"The first time I met her she nearly stabbed me in the heart with some sort of death beam," Reivyn said in exasperation. "The second time we met she crushed me with a giant boulder, nearly killing me!"

"You were crushed by a giant boulder?" Ameliyn looked at her son with alarm.

"Relax, mom," Reivyn gave her a consoling smile. "Don't you see that I'm perfectly fine in front of you?"

"We'll talk about it later," Refix said, patting Ameliyn's hand in comfort.

"Ok, but I'm not happy about it."

"And you think I am?"

"You seem awfully nonchalant to me," Ameliyn retorted.

"We have other, more pressing, matters to discuss," Refix kept the conversation on topic. "We need to meet with Kefira's father, for obvious reasons, but also so that we can give him the information we just supplied."

"He should be done soon," Silfa said. "You can join us for dinner."

"That sounds like a good idea," Ameliyn said, absentmindedly patting Kefira's hand.

She didn't understand her own feelings, but she was warming up to this girl that had captured her son's heart much faster than she had thought possible. She was looking forward to meeting the rest of her family.