She was a bull of a woman, taller than most within her Order, wearing a large blade upon her back which could cleave grown men in half, and perhaps even drakes. Her skin was dark and rugged, her face rounder, and she still held a beauty she had no right to with her great strength, while her curly hair fell down her shoulders, not cut short as many warriors would.
Duteous stood, and accepted the woman’s hand, the two clasping forearms. “It is good to see you are healthy, Mustashalur.”
“If the Iyr cared so much for my health, would they send the likes of the Mad Dog or Flame Brand?” the woman replied, having picked those two in particular, but her eyes darted around. “To see so many of th Ten Paragons, the Bearded Dragon, Blood Blade, the SIlver Drake, I am surprised Wildheart did not accompany you.”
“He would not-,” Duteous began.
“Yes, yes,” the woman replied, charging forward, towards a particular fool of a half elf, and threatened him with a rough hand, though she paused. “Lord Noor’s Rays.”
“The Mother’s Mercy,” Ray Vonda replied, and the two clasped hands, and though her hands, Vonda could feel it, the intense power the woman held within her hands. How many years had it been that this woman had reached Paragon, and how many years had she spent retired?
“You have worked hard,” the old woman said, letting out a soft sigh, causing Vonda to smile. Then the old woman peeked down at the half elf, half glaring at him while he stared back like a doe, until her eyes darted to the side, towards the children. They all stared up at her with such awe. “You must be Jirot.”
Jirot opened her mouth to form a tiny circle, as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have. Jirot blinked. The girl turned to look towards her father, as though he had betrayed her.
“You must be the eldest, Konarot? The sweet eldest, the well behaved second, and the well behaved third who enjoys drawing,” Mustahalur Ellani, the Mother of Lions, said, reaching down to brush their cheeks gentl, until she looked down at Jirot once more, but moved to the boy. “Then there is Jarot, such a sweet little boy, who would not hurt a fly.”
Little Jarot flushed.
Jirot blinked.
“Do you know what I have heard?” Ellani asked, holding the girl’s gaze.
“I know…” The girl replied, flushing.
“Except, even though your father says you cause such trouble, and bully him so much, he is still eager to cause this much trouble across our beautiful Aswadasad, so I must request you to cause more trouble and bully him harsher, otherwise he will continue to cause trouble within our beautiful Aswadasad.”
“Okay…” The girl flushed harder, retreating to her mother.
“I see little Amalrot, who is now your sister? I see, she must be your sister, is she is as firm as little Lanarot.”
Lanarot side eyed the Mustashalur, the corners of her lips twitching into a smirk. “Yes. This is my sister, Amalrot. She is so chonky, but she is not a Gak.”
Ellani also smiled, almost smirking in return, and with that, she greeted the others she had met the previous year, noting how much even the likes of Tanagek and Chosen had changed, for new scars had bloomed upon their skin, and they each held a graver aura.
“Daddy, how much trouble did you cause for the Mustashalur to ignore you? “Jirot accused.
“She’s going to greet me last because I’m her favourite,” the half elf lied so brazenly, all the while she greeted even Korin and the young Sword of the Lady, the pair smiling between one another, for in the future, the young woman would end up rising towards a similar position within her Order as Ellani had, and though the young woman followed Lady Arya, it was good for her to take her position near the top within the patriarchal Aswadasad, just in case it dove further into such, which would cut the knees from under Aswadasad, for it was barely able to keep Aldland in check, and should they remove half of their population, it would play second fiddle to the other superpower.
“Ah, my nephew, I did not see you!” Ellani said, grabbing the half elf by his shoulders, causing his brows to shoot up, for though he didn’t understand her sight which required her to see the politics of the land on such a broad scale, he should have understood that she did not need to be so wise to see how much of a key player this fool would play. “I was so distracted by your family, your beautiful wife, your adorable children, I was so rude to ignore you.”
“Hahaha! How can I blame you, for I make that same mistake daily, though how can it be a mistake when it is just life?” Adam smiled brightly, accepting the woman’s rough hands striking his shoulders and back, which struck him so harshly he almost lost Health.
“How are you, my nephew?”
“I am well, although, shouldn’t I call you jadda?”
“Aha! You should, for if anyone can claim to have inherited my troublesomeness, it is you,” Ellani declared, laughing.
“Hmph!” an old man grumbled out.
“Jirot, you need to tell your greatfather to behave,” the half elf said quickly. “How can he be so rude to the Mustashalur who I call jadda and you call jadda’akbar.”
“Babo, you must be nice,” Jirot said, holding up a hand.
“What is this?” the old Jarot called out, raising his voice. “This old man has been so polite this entire time!”
“Grandfather, in this place, you cannot cause trouble!” Adam declared.
“You brat! Did you think because I do not beat you, you can treat me like this!”
“Beat me? Beat me? Let’s see if you dare!” the half elf declared, and the old man hopped onto his feet, his entire body flexing, as the half elf also stood, and then picked up little Jarot. “Jarot, you and I will beat him up.”
Little Jarot blinked, and noting all the attention upon him, he retreating into his father’s neck.
“How dare you use my greatson against me!”
“He’s my son!”
“Brat! Do you think he prefers you to me!”
“Absolutely!”
“You!” the old man’s fury began to rise to the surface, and he flexed once more.
“Cringe,” called a voice.
Adam and Jarot both blinked, and looked down towards the green skinned girl who stared up at them with her amber eyes.
“Cringe.”
Adam and Jarot slowly sat back down, and with that they held onto the children, one holding their son, the other holding their granddaughter, one weighed down by the heavy word from his daughter, the other by his granddaughter.
The Fariq had thought to step forward, as though to remind everyone he existed, and technically, wasn’t he the strongest active member of the Black Lions, the greatest Order across the land, that was to say, the one closest to the Shen as his elite police force, not exactly because they were stronger than any other, and yet when his eyes fell to meet Uli’s, the Black Lion who was a Master had warned him with his eyes.
‘Did you not receive the message that the Mad Dog had defeated the Full Moon?’ Uli thought, for if that was the case, then even their Fariq would need to step back.
“Is that not the Drake of the Hill?” Ellani called, reaching out to ruffle his hair.
“How do you fair, aila?”
“What can I say when all those within this Order are such fools?” the woman replied, letting out a sigh. “If any were as passionate as you, I would not have to worry.”
‘They knew each other?’ the half elf thought, peeking between the pair. However, he realised the hierarchy was off, because if he was the jiddo, and she was technically a generation older than the others, she should be his own jadda’akbar?
“What are you doing?” Ellani grumbled. “Bring even more snacks and desserts and drinks! Prepare the feast!”
The Fariq blinked.
“If you do not wish me to beat you, move while I am so far away,” the woman warned, causing the Fariq of the Order to step away, for she was known as the Mother of Lions, and as the mother she needed to slap the backs of the foolish lions who dared to misbehave in front of her. ‘Are you all such little children that need me to tell you everything?’
Uli side eyed the others, and they began to step away to call for more servants to come and assist.
“Lord Noor, do not take me too soon,” Ellani called, sighing, her eyes returning back to Duteous, who had settled himself once more. “Now that you are a Paragon, you should know the Gek family swordplay well.”
Duteous held her gaze for a long moment. He stood.