Kallus hauled a heavy anvil into his basement, careful not to let it crush his toes as he placed it down on the stone floor. The anvil sat a few feet away from a burning forge fire with a low flame. A set of work tools hung beside it along the wall, ready to be used. Setting up an at-home forge had been a long-intended project of his, and now his workspace was finally complete.

He pulled out one of his tools to stir the fire, before a commotion upstairs caught his attention. The sound of scurrying told him that his family had returned from outside, so he went upstairs to warm their passing. He caught sight of his wife, Lanara, who had been out with their two children: Níhilan and Lilathanor. Beholding the sight of his family was like looking at a masterful painting. His wife was beautiful with blue, dove-like eyes and gold hair that trickled down her back in waves. The two children were little clones of her, fair, golden, and still young despite how much they had grown.

Kallus wrapped his arms around Lanara. It had only been a few hours, but he had missed her since they parted this morning.

"Se turessé."

Lanara kissed his forehead that was now covered with a thin layer of sweat, met his aquamarine eyes.

"Se turessé, love. You've been busy today?"

"I think the forge is now set the way I like it," he said. "How goes training?"

"It was incredible today," she beamed. "Lilathanor is eager to tell you the news." She turned to their eldest daughter, a fiery, blond elf of sixteen years with crystal blue eyes like her mother and a rebellious disposition.

"What news?" Kallus asked. His daughter gave him a satisfied grin.

"They want me to join the Fighters Academy," she said. "They say with just one more year of training, I'll be ready to take my entrance exams."

Kallus was so surprised to hear it that both of his eyebrows shot up. "You're not seriously considering going, are you?"

"Dad, my swordmaster is going to recommend me. Me! I really want to go."

"She really wants to go," Lanara parroted, crossing her thin arms. "She's been working hard, Kal, harder than any trainee I've ever seen."

"You have been working hard," Kallus agreed. "But the Fighters Academy? What do you plan to do with that, Lila?"

"I don't know." His daughter shrugged. "All I know is I want to fight bad guys for a living."

Standing next to her was her younger brother, Níhilan, who decided at that very moment to taunt. "Have you even fought bad guys? Ones that aren't imaginary?"

"Sometimes I count you as a bad guy," Lila snorted.

"Psh, such a weak insult."

"That's enough, you two." Lanara pointed to the faucet in the kitchen. "Go and wash up before your studies."

With that, the two teenagers put away their combat sticks and scurried off. Kallus was about to go back downstairs to his forge when a knock sent him turning toward the door.

"I'll answer it," he insisted, giving his housekeeper a break. Standing on his front porch was a young man who delivered messages from the Tribunal.

"Se turessé, lord Kallus," the messenger greeted. "The Tribunal summons you."

"Yes, I'll be there immediately."

"Very good." The messenger nodded and disappeared.

Kallus sighed while rubbing his wide, flat brow. He sensed his wife's eyes following him as he grabbed his deer-skin coat and shoes.

"Do you plan to be back for supper tonight?" she asked.

"I will try to make it quick." He kissed her before leaving.

On his way to the Tribunal, Kallus passed a trio of travelers along the same road. Two of the travelers he knew, but the third was a stranger to him. Every time he saw Calda, he thought of her deceased husband. Hael had been a loyal friend to Kallus and hadn't let anything mar their bond, not even the fact that they had both yearned to marry the same woman once upon a time.

Now Hael was gone and Calda had stated so clearly that she didn't wish to remarry, not even an elf lord.

"Se turessé," Kallus greeted. "I hope today finds you well, Calda."

Calda smiled at him in return.

"It does, Kallus, thank you."

He forced a smile while bending down to greet the young Ashlyn.

"You are growing up fast," he said. "How old are you now, Ashlyn?"

"Thirteen," the girl said.

Thirteen. Had it truly been that long since Ithil had brought her before the Tribunal?

"Your children are growing up fast, too," Calda remarked. "Sprouting up like weeds they are."

"Yes," Kallus laughed. "Lilathanor is maturing faster than I would prefer. She exhibits more of my younger self every day." It was then he looked at the teenage boy who was with them. He hadn't realized there was a young human in his company. "And who is this?" Kallus asked.

"This is Damien," Ashlyn introduced the boy. "He's looking for a home here in Gumber."

"Well met." Kallus offered his hand to shake, as humans often did. "It's rare we get a human visitor."

The young boy hesitated to greet the elf in return. He seemed quiet and afraid.

"Uh, hello." Damien looked up at Kallus' towering figure and squinted. "You're so tall."

It was not the first time a child had stated as much, so Kallus decided bending down to meet the boy would be easier.

"Why do you seek a place here?" the elf lord asked.

"I'm...an orphan."

"And you wish to belong?"

"I just wish to be safe," Damien said.

"Safe from what?"

"My past?"

"Ah." Kallus straightened. He understood having to outrun the past well-enough. "What skills do you have to offer, boy?"

"Uh...I have none," the boy answered.

"Honesty is a rare trait in these parts," Kallus said, then he turned to Calda. "He's staying in your house?"

"For now," Calda answered. "You know how I love to care for displaced children."

Her humor made Kallus smile. "Let me know if you need anything," he said. "I understand from experience that housing two youths is not a picnic in the least."

"Oh, don't I know it," Calda laughed. "But I couldn't ask more of you, lord Kallus. I'm quite content in my little corner of the woods."

"I know." His face fell. "One day, I hope to convince you to move back into the village. You have a place there, Calda. I would not abandon you to the secluded life you've chosen."

"It's alright," she assured him, for the thousandth time it seemed. "You keep trying to make up for Hael's death, but you granted me a daughter. An heir. I don't live in shame because of you."

"Shame, who said anything about shame?"

"Oh, I'm sure you understand how these things tend to work. Lord. I have no intention of being the village hag."

"You are not a hag, Calda, you're only, what, seventy?"

"Seventy-nine."

"And still perfectly young," he said. "No one would call you hag, not if they want to keep their smallest finger."

Calda laughed at his teasing threat before glancing down at the two youngsters nearby.

"We should be on our way," she said, and started along the road again. "Thank you for the laugh, Kallus, I needed that."

"Farewell." Kallus waved as they shrank into the distance.

He lingered on his path thinking of what could have been; if Calda had not married Hael. But there was nothing to be done now; Kallus was content with his life. He desired his family and they desired him in return. His bond with Lanara was strong, their marriage was lovelier than a broken elf like him deserved. If anything, he just wished that Calda would stop cutting herself off from the village. Living so far away, it was hard to watch out for the widow as he had once promised.

A deep breath renewed his will to move forward, so the elf trudged on and left his own regrets behind.

"Kallus, you showed up immediately, that is good." Kyanthus spoke to him as he entered the Ferion building.

Kallus passed over the outline of a runed circle on the floor then up to the dais where his seat was. The other two lords stared at him as he sat, the farthest to the right as always. He already had an idea why he was summoned here. After passing Calda and Ashlyn on the road, only a fool would not understand.

"I assume this matter has something to do with the orphan?" he asked.

"How keen of you to know," Milanthius remarked. "Word does travel quickly to you."

"I passed the boy on my way here, but I get the sense that he only comes because Ashlyn wills it."

"Yes, Ashlyn did plead on his behalf. She says she has taken a vow to watch over the boy and desires to keep him here."

"In order to grant this, we would need to overturn the law," Kyanthus said. "Consider your vote now, Kallus, because we have already done so."

Over the next several moments, that's what Kallus did. His hands folded into themselves, his body hunched forward in his chair. He saw no reason why the boy shouldn't stay. He had obviously won the hearts of Ashlyn and Calda, and though the boy said he did not wish to belong, he had already found a small family of like people. But there was a traditional law that served as a barrier to the boy, a law that an elder like Kyanthus preferred to uphold when it came to outsiders.

"I would not vote to take the boy from Calda," Kallus said. "Let her have all the orphans she wants."

"Calda has no intention of keeping the boy," Milanthius said. "I believe it is Ashlyn who would claim him. She is not of age, but our Sorceress has a strange amount of maturity and intrigue. She would undoubtedly grant the boy a place regardless of our vote."

"I see." Kallus narrowed his eyes. The thought of leaving that poor boy in the grip of a Sorceress... True, Ashlyn was still young, but one day soon she would come into her full power, and the boy would be little more than her victim.

Kallus' mouth turned into a flat line. "If Calda does not want him, then I would grant the boy a place in my House."

"No, Kallus," Kyanthus scowled at him, "we are here to vote upon the law, not discuss whom the boy would live with."

"I insist that the boy stay with me. He cannot be in Ashlyn's care, she poses a threat to him."

Kyanthus scoffed, crossing his arms. "You still believe in all that rubbish? Sorceresses are pure, Kallus, you are quite delusional when it comes to such things."

"No." Kallus shook his head. "Pure they may be, but a Sorceress is the most dangerous being a man could ever encounter. Ithil harmed my father, I've seen first-hand the damage they can do. If the orphan is to stay here, then let him live with me."

"But the law, Kallus! I vote to uphold the law. No outside dwellers."

"There are humans who have already earned their property here," Kallus said with a wave of his hand. "Such is our alliance with the Crown. With an intended purpose, a human can own land and generate wealth through skillful trade. Would you ignore our new law just to shun a human?"

The elder grumbled and fell silent. In the quiet, Milanthius voiced his own thought. "Then what would the boy's purpose be?"

“I shall be needing a forge-hand. Rest assured, this human would suit my own intentions well. No law will be broken, he shall gain a proper set of skills.”

"You have already raised two children," Kyanthus argued. "Why take on a third? You said you were done siring heirs."

"With all due respect Kyanthus, I need not explain my intentions to you.” 

But this made Kyanthus raise his brow. “What scheme do you conjure now? Have we not sacrificed enough to your whims? We ally ourselves with the humans, we bring them into our wealth. And now you wish to taint your great legacy over this?”

"Not taint," Kallus said calmly. "Strengthen. We are outnumbered by humans. They multiply threefold every passing year. I do not see a future where we live as separate societies. The boy would be welcomed in my House.”

"Hm." Milanthius grinned, turning to the elder lord. "What is to be done? If Kallus desires another heir, we cannot hinder it.”

Kyanthus remained stoic and upset, his arms still crossed tightly against his chest. “Another heir you may have, Kallus. I trust you would do well to remember that only a child of your loins will be able to inherit your bloodright.”

Untrue, Kallus thought to himself. He knew the letter of the law, and it merely stated that an heir of his House could inherit it. He rose from his seat, faced the heavy stone doorway. 

"Give me time to inform my family of this," he requested, "I will send for the boy when I'm ready."

That evening, Kallus laid in bed beside Lanara. On calm nights like this, his wife was inclined to hold onto him while resting her head on his chest. Kallus had wanted to share the news with her earlier at supper, but he could not bring himself to. At the table it seemed too brash and unpredictable to announce. He wanted to tell her more quietly.

"I spoke with the Tribunal earlier today," he began. Of course, his wife already knew that, but he needed to start somewhere. "It seems our House is going to grow by one member."

He felt Lanara's chin turning to look up at him, saw her wide, confused eyes. "Do you have a mistress? Is she pregnant with your child?"

"No," Kallus chuckled, "there is no mistress, only an orphan. I agreed to adopt him." There it was, the battering wave of shock on her face.

"What? Kal...this is a huge change! You cannot go and decide things like that without me beside you."

"There was little time to decide," he confessed. "And you have every right to be angry with me. I will not require you to care for the boy, I will raise and educate him myself if I must."

"A boy?"

"Yes, very young, very...human. My choices were few: either I adopt him, or I let him become subject to a Sorceress, and I could not bring myself to allow that. I met the boy earlier, I judged his character to be somewhat good. He does not deserve such a horrible fate."

"Oh." Lanara sighed as though a boulder had fallen on top of her. "That does not obligate you to adopt him, Kal. I think your phobia of Sorceresses has gone a little too far."

"It's not just phobia..." he paused, "I have much to gain personally from this. I have a new forge, and I'll need someone to help me run it. Also, it occurred to me earlier that I do not wish our children to be burdened by my bloodright. I have much to gain from adopting this human.”

She lifted her brow. "Perhaps your bloodright would be a little misplaced?"

"Very misplaced," he nodded. "But I see no other solution.”

"Who's to say they’ll feel burdened by it? You don't ever talk to them about it, Kal, they're next to clueless."

"And this will allow me to keep shielding them from a heavy truth. I'll make sure the boy understands his purpose here, only he will be wise to my intentions."

"What's the boy's name?" Lanara asked.

"Damien, I believe? I know not his lineage or where he comes from, but I have a positive instinct about this."

Another sigh, another weight pressing down on her. Lanara rested her head back onto Kallus' chest. "How long must you shield them, Kal? They deserve to know your legacy, yet you are ashamed of it."

It was true, Kallus was very ashamed. His father had gone and ruined his family's legacy, all because a Sorceress had willed it so.

"Our children will remain free of this," he promised, clutching his wife by the shoulder. "Let our legacy die with me."

"If this is what you need, then I'll allow it," she said. "But you will tell them one day, Kal. You will tell them of your deviant machinations and why you let your bloodright pass to a human. And you will accept the consequences, whether they love you or disdain you for it."

It was perhaps the only acceptance his wife would grant him, so he took it. All things considered, Lanara was processing this quite admirably. He hoped the consequences were still many decades ahead.

"When the time comes, I will inform them," he promised. "First, let our children grow and become who they want to be. Something you and I were never granted."