Omen: 2, 14

Adam brushed Konarot’s hair in the morning, the silver of her hair so brilliant. The triplets hair had lightened over the last week, and Adam had only spotted it that morning.

“Why are you children so bad?” Adam muttered to himself. Konarot looked up at him, her mouth open in shock. “I didn’t give you permission to grow cuter, did I?” Adam kissed her forehead, before returning to her hair.

Lanarot waddled over. “Papa,” she called, before climbing up beside Adam, holding up her own brush. “Papa.”

“You want me to brush your hair?”

“Heh,” the girl replied, holding up her brush triumphantly.

“I will brush your hair after I brush my children’s, okay?” Adam smiled.

Lanarot waited for a short moment, before picking up her brush. “Papa.”

Adam sighed. “Kirot, I’ll brush your hair once I’m done with your aunt’s okay?”

Lanarot pushed Konarot, almost causing her to tumble, but Adam’s held her back. Adam blinked. “Lanarot.”

“Papa,” the girl replied.

“No.”

“No,” the girl replied.

“No pushing.”

“No puhu,” the girl replied, raising up her brush once more.

Adam shook his head. “Sit down.” He pointed to the ground nearby. The girl looked up at him, reaching up with her brush. “Lanarot, sit down. You have to wait until I am done.” Lanarot looked up at him confused, before going to sit down.

“Konarot, are you okay?” Adam hugged her gently. “She doesn’t understand that it’s bad, so don’t hate her too much, okay?”

Konarot remained silent, enjoying the time with her father. Adam then brushed Kirot’s hair, and Lanarot began to wail.

“No,” Adam said. “You have to wait. Wait, Lanarot.” She stopped crying, instead swinging her brush up at him, before getting distracted by it. Adam finished with his daughter before brushing his son’s hair, before finally brushing Lanarot’s hair.

“How can an aunt push her niece?” Adam tutted at the girl, who was enjoying her time with her brother. “Who am I meant to trust to look after them? Lanababy, you need to be a good aunt, otherwise they’ll end up useless like me.”

Jurot watched Adam with Lanarot, before his eyes fell to Turot. “Turot, come. I will brush your hair.”

Turot’s eyes lit up, and the boy scampered over towards his cousin. He sat quietly as Jurot brushed the boy’s hair, which was long enough to almost block his eyes.

‘He likes this?’ Jurot thought, wondering why getting his hair brushed pleased the young boy.

Adam looked down at the four children, satisfied with his hair brushing. “You didn’t need my help to look so adorable, but I’ll take the credit anyway.”

Lanarot cackled up at him, before she quickly stormed off towards her mother. The triplets remained near their father, noting the look of their greatfather, which pierced the back of their heads.

He, too, wanted to brush their hair.

“Come,” Taygak called to the triplets. The triplets looked at the girl, before looking to their father, who nodded, and they quickly approached her. Taygak checked over their clothing, swiping at their shoulders as her mother sometimes did to her, and then she stared down at them with a satisfied look.

The girl’s eyes noted the shiny scales of the Half Dragons, and the tiny nubs on their heads which would eventually form their horns. “Dragons?” Taygak asked.

“That’s right,” Adam said, nodding his head. “They’ve got Dragon blood in them, my cute little children.”

Taygak smiled proudly up at Adam. “Taygak kill Dragon.”

Lucy spat out the wine she had been sipping, spraying it across Mara. She was too shocked to even apologise to her companion, her eyes wide as she stared at the little Iyrman.

“Taygak will kill Cousin Adam’s children?” Adam asked.

Taygak jerked upright, as though she had been slapped in the face suddenly. She clenched her fists, her eyes wide in shock as her tiny mind tried to process the situation. “No!” She pointed up at Adam, still shaken from the accusation. “Bad Cousin Adam. Taygak no kill.”

“Hmmmm,” Adam said, rubbing his chin. “Will Taygak look after Cousin Adam’s children then?”

Taygak looked to the other Iyrmen nearby, who were listening intently into the conversation. The small Devilkin Iyrman clasped her hands together towards her chest, rubbing them together to try and calm herself down. “Aunt Taygak.”

“That’s right,” Adam said, smiling down at her. “My Cousin Taygak is such a lovely girl. You’ll be such a great Aunt, won’t you?”

“Yes,” the girl replied, before quickly hugging the triplets one by one, brushing their hair with her hand, ruining Adam’s hard work.

Adam decided against mentioning anything about it, since the children looked cute like this too.

“Papa!” Lanarot stormed over towards him. “Bwed.”

“Bread?”

“Mmm!” Lanarot replied, smiling up at her brother.

“Okay, let’s go get some bread,” Adam said, before picking the girl up.

The Iyrmen weren’t sure to let him go after teasing Taygak like that, but when they saw the tension on Jarot’s face, they allowed Adam to leave peacefully. Once he was gone, Jarot began to shake, still trying to contain his laughter.

“Eugh,” Adam said, wincing at the old man.

“Baba,” Lanarot called, smiling up at Strom.

“Do you find it fun bullying dying old men?” Strom asked, taking Lanarot from her brother, lifting her up high.

“Absolutely,” Adam replied, though the awkwardness of the situation did seep through a crack in his heart. “Are you enjoying the festival?”

“You haven’t caused any trouble, so my fun is limited,” Strom said, lifting Lanarot up constantly. “I thought you would be training to become stronger.”

“It’s a festival, so I should be enjoying myself.” Adam could feel the itch to train grow after Strom mentioned it. Konarot reached up to hold his hand, causing the itch to fade away.

Strom hummed quietly in thought. “Yes. Perhaps it is a good idea to relax sometimes.” He thought about how many years he worked, and how little he relaxed during his ruling. Other than the small clashes with Shama, he had very little time for himself or his family. ‘Perhaps I should have spent more time with them?’

“I spent the week relaxing with my family and friends, but I’ll need to enchant tomorrow onwards,” Adam said. “I need to save up for their healthcare costs, because cheap, affordable healthcare is a sin, same with quality, free education. Baktu forbid we don’t starve the children, either.” Adam shook his head, sighing.

“You’re joking about your world, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Strom nodded his head slowly. “It makes no sense to me, but I assume you are being ironic.”

“Yes,” Adam said, sighing sadly. “Well, that’s a fifty fifty coin flip, really.”

“It always is,” Strom said, pinching Lanarot’s cheek. “You should be glad you are within the Iyr. They will raise you well, won’t they, Lanarot? You will help raise your nieces and nephews well, too.”

Lanarot babbled in response to him, before she pointed up towards the sky. “Up.”

Strom sighed, before leaping into the air, and he floated downwards. Lanarot clapped eagerly as they floated downwards.

‘Show off.’

Konarot led Adam and Strom forward, heading to the circular ropes, before she grabbed the bag. The triplets threw the bags one by one, Konarot first, then Kirot, and finally Karot. Each child threw better than the last, before Lanarot took her turn, barely missing the first rope. She stared at the bag before looking up at Strom and Adam, throwing up her arms in exasperation.

Strom waved his hand, the wind rushing around Lanarot before the bag flipped over into the rope. “Well done, Lanarot.”

Lanarot looked back at the bag, seeing it was within the rope, and she pointed at it, bouncing up and down happily. “Papa! Papa!” She walked over to the bag and pointed at it, before clapping her hands and giggling.

“Absolutely,” Adam said, nodding his head.

Konarot looked up at Strom suspiciously, but as he returned a smile, she hid behind her father. Strom chuckled, before lifting up Lanarot. “Well done.”

“Dun,” the girl repeated, clapping her hands excitedly.

Konarot stared up at her father with a pout, as Lanarot’s bag had hopped over her own. Adam lifted her up and pet her back. “I know, I know. You did so well, little Kona.”

Strom thought about what he had done. ‘I only have three months to make them stop hating me.’ He narrowed his eyes, falling in thought.

The group continued to enjoy the festival, finding all kinds of food to eat. Eventually, the children started to yawn.

“Nap time?” Strom asked.

“Nap time,” Adam replied, before they carried the children to the sleep section.

The Iyrmen around stared at Strom, who held Lanarot in his arm. They knew who he was, everyone in the Iyr knew who Strom was, but seeing that there were sleeping children around, they decided against speaking with him. Their focus then went to the young Half Elf who wore a set of triplets.

‘Are those Half Dragons?’