Copper was much heavier than Root had been. Even though smaller, thanks to a lack of wings.

“Yes, I know,” I said gently to the young girl as she made noises at me. I was carrying her, following Lellip and Pram back to the house, and she was being rather vocal about letting me know how glad she was that we were doing so.

Copper of course couldn’t speak yet, but it was obvious she was very aware of her surroundings. She had striking eyes, thus her namesake, and the way she looked around and studied things made it clear she was rather conscious of the world around her. She glanced ahead of us, of me, and reached out to point at the back of her older sister. She made little noises as she pointed at Lellip, as if trying to tell me to hurry up as to stay with her and her mother.

“How long does it take you to mature, Lellip? I’ve been told it takes many years longer for Lilly’s children to become old enough to talk and walk than humans, is it the same for you?” I asked as we reached the house.

“It does take us a bit longer. My cousin had been the earliest. He had walked and talked in only a year,” Lellip said.

“Cousin?” I asked as Pram opened the door to the house.

“Some of my siblings had married those not as pure in the blood, so their children had been more human,” Pram explained as she stepped back, to let Lellip and I enter the house first.

I nodded gently, understanding what she meant, as I passed her. I followed Lellip to the front room, where she hurried off and left me behind for a moment as to go clean up. She and her mother had just planted the sunflowers that Vim and I had recently acquired in their nearby garden. I had held the baby while they had done so, so I didn’t need to clean up, but they did. Both of them had dirt all over their hands and clothes. Pram didn’t even join me in the living room, she had kept walking down the hallway. Likely to one of the bathrooms.

“They’re dirty, I know,” I told Copper, who noticed her sister’s sudden departure. She made tiny noises while pointing at the nearby door, as if asking me why she had left us.

Still… So she too would take a bit longer than humans to mature. It made sense, I suppose, since we lived longer than humans. If one lived twice, or thrice or more, as long as a long-lived human… it only made sense we’d need a bit more time to grow, I reasoned.

But it made me wonder of myself. How long had it taken me to mature…? I remembered my youth, of course, but so much of it was what I considered a blur. I could remember nearly every day of it, but because of how dreary and painful those days had been I genuinely tried not to.

Plus I had not really been paying attention back then to myself. I had no mirrors back then, even when living with Witch. And I hadn’t really cared for my reflection much, such as from ice or water… because it made me realize how different I was from Witch and the rest of her family. I had not liked addressing the fact I was not a human back then.

But now, today, when looking back on those memories… I found something rather serious I had to accept.

I don’t think I had been fully grown even when I met the kids. In fact, I distinctly remember not having my first blood-cycle, what most humans called monthly sickness, until not long before I met Nory. And that had been… well…

Frowning down at Copper, who giggled up at me who was likely making an odd face, I begrudgingly admitted I needed to sort some memories.

I feel like it had taken me far longer to grow up than anyone else. By many fold. Surely that was wrong, right?

There was no way it had taken me hundreds of years to mature… right…?

If it did, would that mean it’d take that long for my children to do the same…? Or would it be worse for them, thanks to Vim? He had told me once his youth had not lasted long, but I had heard the truth between his little explanations of it. He had grown quickly because he had needed to. He had been born into war, basically.

Would my children grow quickly…? Would they take decades before even able to walk…? Or would they be more like the one I held now, like Root and Fly and Lomi, who matured but did so very slowly. Fly and Lomi both looked like young children, yet were old enough to be adults in terms the humans used.

And then there were those like Merit and Sharp. Those who were older than me, yet looked even younger than Fly and Lomi.

Our people were so odd, weren’t they…? It was shame we were so few now. If anything the very fact I found it odd, and weird, was proof of how rare we were. If we were as numerous as the humans were, neither I nor anyone else would have found the slow aging to be a problem. It wouldn’t have even been a thought to worry about.

Copper made some noises at me, and I smiled down at her. She was beautiful. Particularly her eyes. They gleamed, but not in the way a saint’s did. They weren’t glowing… they were just pure. Pretty. Like little gems.

May you grow strong and healthy… slow or no.

“I’ll take her. It’s about time she ate,” Pram returned, in a new dress and looking clean, as she held out her arms for Copper.

For the tiniest of moments, I didn’t move. I held the little girl closer, almost not willing to part with her.

Then, right as I smiled and turned to hand her over, Copper giggled happily at the sight of her mother. She sounded so happy to be taken by her mother that I almost felt my heart break.

It was of course because my arms weren’t as good as hers, but still…! Be nicer about it!

“Now, now, Renn. You’ll get to hold her plenty,” Pram teased me with a snicker as she stepped away.

“Was it that obvious…?” I grumbled as I watched her head over to one of the chairs, re-arranging some of the small circular pillows upon it before sitting down.

Pram giggled at me as she sat. “Do you like children that much, Renn? Maybe it’s time you tried for one of your own, then?” she asked as she got comfortable, and then went to nursing her child.

I studied her as she did, and wondered if I’d need to do the same one day. Didn’t that hurt a little? At least Copper didn’t have sharp teeth like Root. Heck even the way she had shifted her dress, as to give the child easy access, looked uncomfortably itchy!

Actually… why didn’t she wear other clothes? Something that wrapped around, like what they wore down south, instead of an actual shirt would have been better for her in this situation. It would have made it easier for her.

“I just… haven’t really been around many of our own, before,” I said gently, trying not to sound too weird as I did so.

“Hm… I suppose they are getting rarer nowadays, aren’t they? A sad reality, I guess,” Pram said with a frown.

“I promise if it works out for me, I’ll let you see mine soon too, Renn,” Lellip said happily as she walked back into the room. Unlike her mother she still wore her dirty clothes, though now had clean arms.

Smirking at that, I nodded. “I’ve not met Branches yet, but if he’s even just a few feathers of his parents he’ll be a good husband for you,” I said.

She’d told me all about it as we planted the sunflowers. That she planned to go meet Lilly’s firstborn son, Branches. The mercenary.

I wasn’t entirely sure why she had such a desire all of a sudden, but I’d never disparage the idea. At all. In fact I looked forward to helping her do so. To the point that I almost considered taking her to the Owl’s Nest myself, as Lilly and Vim went to Lumen.

Almost.

Pram sighed though. “You should give it a few years, Lellip. Before you hurry and rush into something like that,” she said with a motherly tone.

“What? I don’t want to hear it, you might have waited almost a hundred years to have me but I don’t need to do that!” Lellip argued.

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“A hundred years? Really?” I asked. That long!?

A hundred years… and fifty after, for the next…?

Lilly wasn’t too better, though she had more. She had eight now, with Root, but that too had been over hundreds of years.

Hopefully Vim and I didn’t take a hundred for our first too…

Pram nodded at my question as Lellip stepped over to me, to point at her mother who was nursing. “And it’s been nearly fifty since! Listen Renn, I know we all live a long time, but there has to be a limit. No wonder we’re all fading away to history, we never have children! Humans have so many, some have over ten throughout their lives, yet so far she’s had two. Two in as many centuries. Hmph!” Lellip said with a huff.

I smiled at that. “I agree with both of you. We should have more, but I also think rushing straight to children is a little silly. It’ll take you time to even figure out if he’s worth your life, won’t it?” I asked her. Vim and I had become mates, as some would say, rather quickly in most of their eyes. And even we had taken over a year for us to get to that point.

“Is that why you’re still not a mother? Though I guess Vim’s even worse, then, being so old. Ugh… I couldn’t imagine waiting hundreds of years to have a baby…” Lellip sighed at me, as if disappointed in me, as she stepped away and walked around the chair her mother sat at. She went to stare at the pile of bags next to the wall. Our bags. My spear was resting against the wall with them, which I figured was what she was actually staring at.

A little stunned, I felt my tail squirm as I quickly processed what she had just said.

If not for the fact I knew she hadn’t meant anything cruel, I’d have been offended I think.

But…

She wasn’t wrong…

“Don’t let her give you any ideas, Renn. She’s spent too much time with humans. We’re not human, so we’re not expected to act like them,” Pram said gently.

“She’s not wrong, Pram. It is the reason our numbers are so few…” I admitted as I too went to sit down. I sat across from the two, so I could keep an eye on Pram as she nursed.

Not because she was in danger or anything… but simply because I found it beautiful. I liked how nonchalant she was being about it, and the way Copper was so peacefully nursing. It made me jealous to see it, but at the same time happy.

Vim and the other men weren’t in the house. Drandle, Pram’s husband was off in the fields. We’d seen him at a distance as we planted the sunflowers. Nebl was likely with Vim, and Lilly. They had left for the smithy after we all ate, whereas we had gone to plant the flowers.

I knew that Vim was likely having a rather serious conversation with those two right now, but… well…

“You say such things mother, but you just a few days ago complained I’d not settled down yet,” Lellip said as she picked at some dirt on her clothes absentmindedly while studying my spear.

I smiled at that. I did remember Pram making a few small comments such as that back when we had been here last time. Though they had been reserved, and not within Lellip’s earshot. Since the entire reason Nebl had gotten stuck in the mine in the first place was because of her relationship with one of the human miners who had also gotten stuck.

“Did you make this, Renn?” Lellip then asked with a look at me.

“The spear? No. It’s Vim’s,” I said honestly.

She frowned at me. “Vim made this…?”

It was my turn to frown. “I um… I don’t know, probably though,” I said, lying.

I didn’t know if Vim wanted anyone else to know who had actually made that weapon. Until I did, I’d not share it.

“Hm…” Lellip reached over, and I watched her pick the spear up. I noted that unlike me she hadn’t startled at the thing’s weightlessness.

“Yeah… he definitely did. What the hell is this made of…” she whispered as she stepped away from the wall and our luggage, as to turn the spear over and study it more closely.

Pram ignored her daughter, and shifted a little in her seat. “Congratulations by the way, Renn.”

“Hm?” I focused on her, even though Lellip’s studying of Vim’s spear was making me nervous for some reason.

“For somehow catching the Protector’s heart. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what you see in him, but I’m happy for you two all the same.”

I smiled at that. “Thank you. I’ll be honest I’m not really sure how I got it either, but now that it’s mine I’m not letting it go,” I said.

Pram chuckled at that. “Very predator of you! I like to hear it!”

Grinning happily at that, I nodded. Yes. It likely was. But it was the truth.

He was mine now. I’d not give him up, to anyone or anything, at this point. Just like that tiny moment earlier, when Pram had went to take back her own daughter from me. I had nearly denied her request, because I had been so happy with her in my arms.

I had no choice but to admit, and accept, the fact that I was actually rather possessive. Far, far, more than I thought was even possible. To the point I needed to be more… careful, from now on.

If I almost didn’t want to give up a baby, that wasn’t even mine, and give them back to their mother… what then would I do if someone tried to take Vim from me now at this point…? Odds are I’d not be as prompt, or even able, to keep myself in check. Hopefully such a thing doesn’t happen.

Unluckily Vim seemed to be rather well liked, at least among certain members of the Society. Like Merit and others. I used to worry that I’d lose him; to those who continuously tried to catch his eyes… now I needed to worry that I’d embarrass or insult him by acting wrongly instead. It almost made me want to sigh at myself in shame.

“Though that being said… other than Merit and Celine, has anyone ever even tried to woe him? It’s not like he’s very attractive,” Pram then wondered a question.

I shifted a little. “There’s been a few, yes. Even recently. I’ll be honest I don’t think he even realizes how many he could have had, since he doesn’t even notice their affections half the time,” I said.

Pram chuckled at that. “I bet…! You’re right… he is the protector, after all. I bet that alone is enough to sway hearts. Hm…” Pram frowned in thought at that, as if she’s never thought of it before today.

Likely hadn’t. It did seem that our members were either those like her, people who never even considered his personal life, or like Merit… utterly fascinated with him. I wasn’t really sure which was worse, to be honest.

Lellip seemed completely lost in thought, ignoring our conversation, as she went to untie the little cloth that was wrapped around the spear’s pointed edges.

“Careful Lellip. It’s very sharp,” I warned her.

She paused a moment, frowned at me and then nodded. She took the cloth covering off, and I watched as she stared at the spear’s tip… and then I started to stand when she actually reached up to touch it.

Before I could warn her, Lellip tapped the edge of the spear with a finger tip. She didn’t even flinch as she lowered the spear, and then went to staring at the line of blood that quickly flowed from her finger.

“Lellip…” I groaned as I stood, to go and grab the spear from her. What was she thinking! She of all people should have been able to tell how sharp it was on mere sight alone!

“I’m okay. I barely tapped it…” she whispered as I stepped over to her. I didn’t grab the spear from her, since I could tell by her grip and stance that she wasn’t going to panic or anything. She frowned in a way that told me she was very used to such little nicks and cuts.

She returned her attention to the spear, and its sharp point. “Be careful with this, Rennalee,” Lellip then whispered.

“Hm…?”

Lellip shifted a little, and glanced at me. She had an odd look on her face as she nodded. “Careful. I don’t know what this is made of, or how he made it… but that is likely the sharpest blade I have ever seen.”

I gulped, but nodded. “I figured… yes. I’ll be sure to be careful,” I said.

“What…? Did Vim bring something dangerous? Take it outside then, in case Copper knocks it over or something,” Pram said from behind.

I turned, and nodded quickly. Right! I’d not even thought of that! She had a crib, and couldn’t walk, but that didn’t mean they didn’t let her crawl around on her own occasionally! Maybe I should gather up our bags too, and take them all to my room. The one they let me stay in while here.

Would we be here long enough to justify such a thing, though?

Lellip sighed, a little oddly, as I glanced back at her. “Lellip?” I asked. Was something wrong…? Or well, something I didn’t notice?

“This just makes me realize how much I don’t know. I didn’t even realize you could make something so sharp,” she said softly.

Oh…!

Somewhat humbled, I reached over and patted her gently on the arm. “Could ask him to maybe teach you? He’s become more open lately, he might just do it.”

“Hmph,” Pram made a noise behind me, and I knew it was because of what we were talking about.

She, like her father, hated weapons. As did Nebl.

Lellip though nodded. “I’d like that… especially now,” she said.

Pram groaned again.

Glancing down at her hand, I pointed at it. “Should we tend that?” I asked.

“I will in a moment,” Lellip said.

“What’d she do? Cut herself bad?” Pram asked from her chair.

“She did. It’s a small cut on her fingertip,” I said, explaining it.

“We use a type of glue on these. It works great, I’ll go put some on in a minute,” Lellip said, waving the injury away.

Glue…?

“Speaking of weapons, I’ll be helping grandfather with Branches’ stuff. You said you never met him before…? But you’ve met the others right? What are the men like? What about his father, Windle?” Lellip then asked, growing excited as she did.

Smiling at the girl who just seemingly abandoned the spear and all its interesting secrets, I nodded. “Windle I’ve met. I’ve not met any of the other sons, yet, but I’ve heard of them. One’s a merchant, who travels around with one of his sisters. Windle though is nice…? He’s a great father, and actually rather like Drandle to be honest,” I said as I thought about it.

“Like dad…?” Lellip groaned at that.

“Don’t you start again!” Pram warned.

Giggling at that, I reached over to grab the spear. Lellip let me take it, as I went to gather up a couple of the bags. “Let’s put these away, I’ll tell you all about Windle and their family as I do,” I said.

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