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But...uhh...I wrote stuff, and am writing more so there may be more chapters soon...\n\n*Note: This story has some pretty hot and heavy chapters, but that's not it's main focus.*", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Dang it's been like a year since I wrote another chapter. But...uhh...I wrote stuff, and am writing more so there may be more chapters soon...

*Note: This story has some pretty hot and heavy chapters, but that's not it's main focus.*", "writing": "Jace laid a bit stunned on the bed, unsure of what had happened. There had been a knock on the door and Jersa had flipped him off of her. It had actually been quite disorientating as it took him a few seconds to regain his bearings. Eventually he managed to sit up, looking at Jersa who was standing at the door, waiting, somehow having put the dress back on. He sighed softly as he stood up. ``Who is it?'' he called out.\n\n``Just me,'' said a voice from the other side of the door, which he recognized belonged to the Mistress. \n\n``I?m a little occupied at the moment with a bath,'' he said as he moved over to the tub. There was this feeling that that wouldn?t dissuade her.\n\n``I wont take up much of your time~'' her voice seemed to ring out as he got into the bath. ``May I come in?''\n\nHe took a few seconds to settle himself into the water before nodding at Jersa, who opened the door slightly. ``Good afternoon, Mistress,'' he could hear the murder in her tone.\n\nShe was quite unfazed, in fact she seemed more surprised to see Jace actually in the bath and quickly diverted her eyes. She cleared her throat before speaking, ``Sorry for disturbing you, but I wanted to speak of the details of you staying here.''\n\n``Mhm,'' he began washing the blood and dirt out of his fur. It dawned on him that this was actually going to take quite a lot of time. He couldn?t remember a time that he had ever been this...filthy. The water was already disgusting. ``This is going to take multiple baths,'' he grumbled before looking at the Mistress. ``Unfortunately I am cut off from my resources in Auser, and it has not yet been disclosed as to what my pay will be as guild liaison, so while I do have money thanks to you, the long term will be difficult.''\n\n``Oh of course,'' she said as she nodded. ``I don?t plan on taking too much advantage of your current situation.''\n\n``Well I suppose I must appreciate that.'' There was a lot she was offering so the price would probably be high...and she was probably counting on making a profit. He glanced at Jersa, who was leaning against the wall attempting to bore a hole into the side of the Mistresses head with only her eyes.\n\nThe Mistress ignored her. ``For services, housing, and of course, protection, a simple one hundred dollars a month. The rest of this month will be, of course, on the house.'' She was smiling at him like a true business woman.\n\nHe couldn?t help but laugh. ``My dear lady, if that is all you ask, I will gladly pay.''\n\nShe immediately deflated. ``What? You?re just taking the deal without haggling or making a fuss?''\n\n``Mistress, you have treated me with not only great respect and kindness even before you knew who I was, it would be insulting to do so against such a gracious offer.''\n\nNow she was faltering on her words. Jace could see her trying to figure out if she could raise the price without looking pathetic. Honestly it was less than Jace had expected her to offer, and to throw in the rest of the month was quite generous on her part. ``We?re going to need a lot more water brought up,'' Jersa said, breaking the moment of silence and apparently giving up on thoughts of murder.\n\nThis also brought the Mistress out of whatever thoughts she had been stuck on. ``Ah, yes. Of course, I?ll have more brought up immediately.'' She glanced at Jersa, giving her a look, before turning and walking out. ``Have a nice day you two.''\n\nJersa closed the door and leaned against it with a heavy sigh. ``Gods...''\n\nHe shifted a bit and got out of the tub, looking at the muddy-bloody water that he had been in. ``It?s going to need at least two more baths before I feel clean again,'' he said with a frown.\n\n``Speaking like a true noble.'' His eyes locked with hers for a moment before she looked away.\n\n``I?m sorry she ruined our moment. But...it wont be the last chance, alright?'' he said as he leaned against the side of the tub. \n\n``She did it on purpose. She?s trying to keep me from leaving the guild.''\n\n``I don?t blame her,'' he said softly, smiling at her. ``Don?t think I?d lose to her. I?m not going to lose you. Once all this war nonsense is over, you, Stella and Lily are all coming back to Auser with me. That is, if you still want to by then.''\n\nShe sighed again. ``Gods I hope so. She will throw an utter fit about it... I just hope that it doesn?t ruin the relationship we have. She?s...always been good to me...to all of us.'' She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths.\n\n``I?m aware,'' he said as he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Thoughts of ?monster? still ran through his head. There was a knock on the door, and Jace quickly wrapped a towel around his waist before the door opened.\n\n``Still not clean?'' Stella said as she walked in, holding a rather large tray of food, followed closely by Lily who had her own tray.\n\n``Can?t get clean in filthy water,'' he responded with a glance back at the water. \n\n``Papa looks less dirty'' Lily placed her tray down onto the table, grinning over at him.\n\nHe chuckled and nodded. ``Just a little. They should be bringing more water up eventually.''\n\nThen he watched as she moved the tray off of something, setting it down beside it. She picked up what was apparently a book and walked over to him. ``This is for you,'' she said as she shoved it towards him.\n\nHe gingerly took it, a bit puzzled as he accepted it. ``We ran into a purple skunk,'' Stella explained, setting down her tray beside the other before continuing, ``She said that if you?re serious about being Lily?s parent, the parent of a witch, you?ll need this.''\n\n``A book?'' He turned it over in his hands, wondering if he should open it.\n\n``I checked it. Can?t make heads or tails of what?s written. Some weird language.''\n\nIt was very old, with no title or any writing on the outside. There was an odd tingling feeling in his fingers as he handled it, something that he figured must be some form of magic. He opened it to the first page and read aloud, ``Witchcraft Basics.''\n\nStella immediately moved over to him, looking down at the book. ``You can read that?''\n\n``It?s Nauhv. A language that?s been dead for nearly eight-hundred years.'' He turned the page, reading over the table of contents. Does this mean the Nauhv were witches? History says that their magic was strange...\n\n``And you just happen to know it?'' Stella said with a frown. \n\nJersa had decided to move over to the food and gather up some on a plate. Lily had began eating straight off of her tray. ``That?s what?s more weird to you in this situation?''\n\n``It just feels weirdly convenient. Like, that skunk knew that he could read it.''\n\n``She probably does,'' Jace agreed, turning to the introduction. ``But it?s not like it?s the only language I know.''\n\n``Yeah but why a dead language?'' Stella asked as she moved over to the food with the others.\n\n``I know seven dead languages, some older than Nauhv.'' He turned pages, partially skimming to get the general gist of a chapter. ``I like to scramble important notes with different languages to make them impossible for others to read, and the dead ones make it even harder.''\n\n``Sometimes I forget how smart you are,'' Jersa said as she handed him a plate.\n\nHe stared at it for a few seconds before setting the book onto a small table beside the tub. ``The benefit of having smart parents.''\n\n``Yeah, you?re father was something of a genius, right?'' Stella said as she sat down on the bed with her food. ``The Unparalleled Artificer, right?''\n\nHe nodded a bit as he started to eat. ``No one even came close. He advanced the art of Artificing by decades in just a few years. His designs were intricate, complex, but appeared delicate and beautiful.''\n\n``Do you-'' Stella paused, looking at him for a few seconds before she continued, ``Do you know who killed him?''\n\nThere was a sort of heavy silence that filled the room rather quickly. A silence which he broke with a simple, ``Yes.''\n\n``And who are they?'' Jersa said, her tone oddly careful.\n\n``They were members of the Gulpans family.'' He stared at the floor as he ate. ``They murdered him because he was a Mixed. Although when confronted with evidence, they said that it was due to illegal affiliations with the Carnafor family.''\n\n``That excuse doesn?t even make sense,'' Stella said with a frown.\n\n``Yes, well, that was enough for the Auser Court to-''\n\n``Wait, you said ?were??'' Jersa interrupted.\n\nHe looked over at her and then nodded before turning his attention back to his food. ``Yes. Were.''\n\n``So they were...removed from the family? How come I never heard anything about this?'' Stella was staring up at the ceiling, trying to think.\n\n``The official statement was that after murdering my father, they burned the lab to hide the evidence. But, after the court ruled in their favor and they would not be punished, they feared that other parties would seek them out, so the abandoned the Gulpans name and fled Auser.'' It felt weird to be saying all this again. He could still remember having to go up onto the witness stand...a young child, explaining what he saw. Recounting the event of watching his father be beaten and tortured to death in front of him.\n\n``So after all that, they got away?'' Lily said, a rather large frown on his face.\n\nJace couldn?t help but laugh, shaking his head. ``Oh no. Those bastard?s bodies never left Auser.''\n\nThere was again another silence, this one broken by Jersa. ``Did you...?''\n\n``Me?'' He blinked, looking over at Jersa. ``No. Gods, I wish. I wasn?t even Lily?s age. I assume it was Mr. Tompkins.'' He took a deep breath. ``I only saw the bodies afterwards. My mother was always quite firm in showing me what happens to those that go against the Foxern family. Fairly effective for a child who just turned eleven.''\n\nJersa and Stella looked towards each other, and then glanced at Lily. ``I?ve seen lotsa dead bodies,'' Lily said, guessing that the adults were worried. ``Lots and lots. Like...'' she paused, ``Twenty.''\n\n``More than me,'' Jace said with a bit of a chuckle. He put down the empty plate and picked back up the book of Witchcraft Basics, continuing to skim. When there was more time he would have to sit down and give it a more thorough reading. It was extremely fascinating. Magic had never been something he had much interest in, since there was a certain amount of natural talent required and he didn?t have it. For him, it was Artificing. What magic could do, with enough time, money and resources, one could accomplish with magic, without the nasty drawbacks. Though the argument could be said that spending the time, money and resources was the trade off.\n\n``I don?t even know how many bodies I?ve seen,'' Jersa said rather thoughtfully. ``Hundreds probably.''\n\n``There?s at least fifty bodies kept in the morgue at the Assassin?s Guild,'' Stella added with a bit of a nod. ``And those get changed out every few months.''\n\nJersa stared at her. ``Yanno, I?m not even really surprised that the Assassin?s Guild has a morgue.''\n\n``Some of them are students,'' she paused, her brow furrowing, ``Well, technically ex students. But we all sign waivers when you get to the Guild.''\n\n``Ugh I don?t even want to think of all the paperwork I had to sign.'' Jersa rubbed her forhead. ``Freaking contracts...''\n\n``Seriously,'' Stella said with a sigh.\n\n``Contracts...'' Jace mumbled, flipping to the table of contents and checking for the section on contracts. There wasn?t one. ``Lily?''\n\n``Mmm?'' Lily turned her attention from the food, looking over at him. ``Yes, papa?''\n\n``Does Miss Violet know how to read Nauhv?'' The closest thing he could find was a chapter on something called ?The Source?.\n\nLily shook her head. ``Nope.''\n\n``Where did she get this book,'' he muttered as he flipped to the section. ``Well, then who taught her magic?''\n\n``Aunty Gilla.''\n\n``Did she know how to read Nauhv?''\n\nLily?s brow scrunched a bit. ``I don?t think so? Right now was the first time I heard about a book about witchcraft. Witches have been teaching each other magic for forever. That?s what Aunty Violet said.''\n\n``That doesn?t make sense...'' he muttered, his eyes scanning the pages, looking for one word. Looking for the word contract, or something similar. ``Well I guess it does. A lot of things are handed down traditionally from word of mouth. Superstitions about writing it down. Or fear of it being learned by outsiders. Falling into the wrong hands...'' There isn?t anything about contracts. He turned back to the beginning and began reading.\n\nWhile he read, new water was filled in the tub, and he paused only to wash up and ask for another tub of fresh water. Stella and Jersa both looked embarrassed about him bathing in the room, but Lily seemed nonplussed. He was far too focused on the Source. The Source of a witches magic. It was pretty advanced stuff, and he constantly had to go back to learn concepts in previous chapters in order to get a full understanding. After his third bath, he was laying upon the bed, still reading. Jersa had gone and gotten him some basic clothes to wear until he got new clothes, and was now off taking care of a few things. \n\nLily was asleep against his side, as it had gotten late without him noticing. It had been a long time since he had been so absorbed into a book. He closed the book with a soft snap, sighing. ``What?s wrong, Jace?'' Stella asked, she was sitting nearby on the edge of the bed.\n\n``It doesn?t make sense. I mean, it does, but it doesn?t. I wonder when they started thinking of them as contracts?'' He was rambling a bit, resting the book against his forehead as he tried to collect his thoughts. It was a habit to help him memorize what he had just read.\n\n``You?re gonna hafta explain if you actually want me to contribute to the conversation,'' Stella said, a bit grumpily.\n\nHe chuckled a bit. ``Sorry. Just trying to organize my thoughts. The way Lily was taught, was that you make contracts in order to use magic. You ask for something, get something in return, and the exchange gives the witch their power to fulfill their end. But, if this book is accurate, that?s wrong. It seems like somewhere in the history of witches, someone changed the word to contract, instead of promise.''\n\n``A promise?'' She shifted over, now sitting close to him so she could look down at him, and also not talk over Lily so she could sleep. \n\n``Yes, a witch makes a promise and that allows them to use magic. Take Lily?s broom for instance, she made a contract that she would take care of it, if it allowed her to fly. But wouldn?t it sound better if you instead think of it as promising to take care of the broom, and asking if in exchange it will help you fly?'' He moved the book to the side, looking up at Stella.\n\n``Well...it sure sounds...gentler. Less forced.''\n\nHe nodded. ``Exactly. Witchcraft is all about take and give, but it?s supposed to be...gentle, as you put it.'' Gently he laid a hand onto Lily?s back, gauging if she was truly asleep, or just faking it again, by her heartbeat and breathing. ``Yanno, you shouldn?t keep pretending to sleep, Lily, otherwise I?ll be suspicious of you.''\n\nA soft sigh escaped from the little opossum. ``How?d you know?''\n\n``When someone is sleeping peacefully, their heartbeat and breathing is very steady, but your heart started racing when I put my hand on you.''\n\nShe frowned up at him. ``That?s mean, papa.''\n\nHe laughed softly. ``I?m sorry. But, do you understand what I meant?''\n\n``I don?t think so?'' she said as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. ``But like, contracts aren?t right?''\n\n``Well, they work. Which is why no one ever noticed anything was wrong.'' He rubbed her back softly. ``Mmm...perhaps I should teach you Nauhv.'' Her face immediately scrunched, and he laughed. ``Well, then you?ll have to wait until I?ve finished reading this book and learned how to be a witch before I can teach you.''\n\nSuddenly Lily?s eyes lit up and she crawled onto him. ``You?re gonna be a witch?!''\n\nAgain he laughed. ``Well, in knowledge but not capabilities. I wont be able to use magic, but I?ll figure out a way to teach you once I figure this book out.''\n\nShe was grinning at him. ``Promise?''\n\nHe smiled at her and then sat up, wrapping his arms around her. ``I promise. I?ll make sure you become a powerful witch.''\n\nShe hugged him back rather tightly, though she could hardly get her hands around his sides. She was so small... He felt Stella press into his back, wrapping his arms around the both of them. His eyes closed as he leaned back against her, taking a deep breath. ``What an interesting family we are...'' she said softly.\n\n``Yeah...isn?t it wonderful?'' he said, gently rubbing Lily?s back.\n\n~\n\nHow long had it been since he had had a good stretch of his body? Stretching out all of his muscles used to be a morning routine, but he got out of that habit since the Gruska incident. He had even stretched on the boat on the way there. He felt like that was the reason why he got beat up so much... Well, that wasn?t going to happen again. Plus it also felt really good. If only he wasn?t being watched so...fervently. ``Must you stare?''\n\n``Must you do that without a shirt?'' Jersa said, her eyes never leaving him.\n\n``I don?t want to sweat into it so early in the day.'' Behind Stella and Jersa he could see Lily, who was attempting to copy his stretching, and occasionally falling over in her attempts. ``And it?s a bit tight in places. It would rip.''\n\n``Excuses~'' Stella said with a smirk. \n\n``Well, it?s not that I?m really complaining, just hoping you?re enjoying the show.'' He smirked at them, watching as both of their faces went red. He moved over to the table, which had a small rag and washbasin on it. ``Usually I do this naked and take a bath afterwards, but there?s a child present, and bathing is a rather annoying chore here.'' He was quite pleased at how their faces turned even redder as their imaginations ran wild.\n\n``This is a lot harder than it looks,'' Lily said with a soft grunt as she picked herself up off the floor.\n\n``Well, it?s taken my entire life to get to this point.'' He started to wipe himself down. He felt weird...when had half an hour of stretching caused him to sweat this much? Sure he hadn?t done it in weeks, but it shouldn?t have been that bad, right? Then he remembered what the doctor had said, about how all of his muscles were in such bad shape...that must be it. He had always been stiff after receiving healing in the past, it must be the same case here.\n\nLily clambered up onto the chair, looking up at him. ``You don?t look muscly.''\n\nHe laughed. ``Don?t compare me to Anvil. ...or Pin for that matter. Those two are a lot stronger than me.''\n\n``I bet you could beat them up,'' Lily said with a few definite nods.\n\n``Well, Pin maybe. Anvil is a completely different beast.'' He rubbed his hand absentmindedly with his thumb. ``Just from the way she grabbed my hand...that woman could break me like a piece of charcoal.''\n\nHe heard Jersa snrk. ``Funny hearing you say that with how tough you are.''\n\n``Yeah, but you saw her, Jersa. That skunk was huge,'' Stella said, nodding. ``And not just muscular either, she was like if one of the twins got onto the others shoulder.''\n\n``Was a bit weird having to look up that much at someone...''\n\n``She?s not that tall. I?d say about seven seven,'' Jace said as he put on the shirt.\n\n``Felt like more...'' Jersa mumbled.\n\n``It?s cus she?s a foot taller than you, since you?re six seven.'' He picked up the watch, checking the time before sliding it into his breast pocket.\n\n``How do you know my height?'' Jersa stared at him with a rather offended look.\n\n``It?s not that hard. Stella is five eight.'' Stella visibly flinched. ``Lily is two four.''\n\nLily put a hand on the top of her head as if measuring herself. ``How tall is papa?''\n\n``Six two,'' he said as he straightened up a bit. ``Shorter than Jersa, but taller than Stella. And Lily?s just a tiny little thing.'' He chuckled softly as he ruffled the little opossum?s hair.\n\nShe grinned up at him, putting her hands on his. ``Aunty Violet says I?ll get bigger, but the fire brand stunts my growth.''\n\nHe nodded slowly. ``Makes sense. Since it attacks your body?s energy.''\n\n``F-fire brand...'' Jersa moved over towards Lily. ``I remember the Patrician saying something about that during the guild meeting...did they...really fire brand her?''\n\nAgain he nodded, and Lily shifted the shoulder of her dress.\n\n``Gods...you see a lot of fire branding in Vuna.'' She moved closer, pushing Jace out of the way a bit. ``Lily can I see the whole thing?''\n\nLily glanced at Jace and then over to Stella before nodding. She struggled a moment, pulling off her dress. ``It sometimes hurts at night, it gets like...tender and sensitive. Sometimes even my clothes make it hurt.''\n\n``Looks like it?s been treated,'' Jersa said as she gently touched the area around the mark, which was much larger than Jace had seen. It started just bellow her collar bone, covered her entire shoulder, went down her back to the shoulder blade, and nearly went all the way down her arm to her elbow. ``Someone tried to heal it, but couldn?t do it all the way...''\n\n``Probably Miss Violet.''\n\nLily shook her head. ``No, it was Aunty Gilla. It hurt so much, but then she rubbed some stuff on it and the pain went away.''\n\n``Frostweed,'' Jersa said as she lifted Lily?s arm a bit. ``I guess it wasn?t applied soon enough to be completely effective. It?s the only natural remedy for a fire brand...and can effectively remove the pain as long as it?s done within the first few weeks...'' her voice trailed off as Lily started to put her dress back on.\n\n``Weeks...'' Jace said softly, looking down at Lily.\n\n``And it was definitely a magus. Not a sorcerer. It wouldn?t have wrapped around like that with a sorcerer.'' Jersa lifted her hand, hovering over Lily?s shoulder making a sort of cupped gesture. ``Magus deliver the brands by touch.''\n\nJust the thought of that made him feel sick. Someone put their hand on her, and burned her. He knew that. And now he finds out that it had taken weeks to heal her. It hurt the entire time, and the pain only got worse the longer the brand was there. There had been no gamble when talking about it with the Patrician. He knew that the Patrician could not overlook something like this. Not in his own city. Lily pumped her arms up into the air. ``Let?s go!'' she declared as she leaped from the chair.\n\nHe laughed, being brought back from his own thoughts as she skipped towards the door, grabbing hold of her broom which rested beside it. He hooked his sword and the dagger to his belt before moving towards the door as well. ``Yes, let?s head off to these twins I keep hearing about.''\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Jace laid a bit stunned on the bed, unsure of what had happened. There had been a knock on the door and Jersa had flipped him off of her. It had actually been quite disorientating as it took him a few seconds to regain his bearings. Eventually he managed to sit up, looking at Jersa who was standing at the door, waiting, somehow having put the dress back on. He sighed softly as he stood up. ``Who is it?'' he called out.

``Just me,'' said a voice from the other side of the door, which he recognized belonged to the Mistress.

``I?m a little occupied at the moment with a bath,'' he said as he moved over to the tub. There was this feeling that that wouldn?t dissuade her.

``I wont take up much of your time~'' her voice seemed to ring out as he got into the bath. ``May I come in?''

He took a few seconds to settle himself into the water before nodding at Jersa, who opened the door slightly. ``Good afternoon, Mistress,'' he could hear the murder in her tone.

She was quite unfazed, in fact she seemed more surprised to see Jace actually in the bath and quickly diverted her eyes. She cleared her throat before speaking, ``Sorry for disturbing you, but I wanted to speak of the details of you staying here.''

``Mhm,'' he began washing the blood and dirt out of his fur. It dawned on him that this was actually going to take quite a lot of time. He couldn?t remember a time that he had ever been this...filthy. The water was already disgusting. ``This is going to take multiple baths,'' he grumbled before looking at the Mistress. ``Unfortunately I am cut off from my resources in Auser, and it has not yet been disclosed as to what my pay will be as guild liaison, so while I do have money thanks to you, the long term will be difficult.''

``Oh of course,'' she said as she nodded. ``I don?t plan on taking too much advantage of your current situation.''

``Well I suppose I must appreciate that.'' There was a lot she was offering so the price would probably be high...and she was probably counting on making a profit. He glanced at Jersa, who was leaning against the wall attempting to bore a hole into the side of the Mistresses head with only her eyes.

The Mistress ignored her. ``For services, housing, and of course, protection, a simple one hundred dollars a month. The rest of this month will be, of course, on the house.'' She was smiling at him like a true business woman.

He couldn?t help but laugh. ``My dear lady, if that is all you ask, I will gladly pay.''

She immediately deflated. ``What? You?re just taking the deal without haggling or making a fuss?''

``Mistress, you have treated me with not only great respect and kindness even before you knew who I was, it would be insulting to do so against such a gracious offer.''

Now she was faltering on her words. Jace could see her trying to figure out if she could raise the price without looking pathetic. Honestly it was less than Jace had expected her to offer, and to throw in the rest of the month was quite generous on her part. ``We?re going to need a lot more water brought up,'' Jersa said, breaking the moment of silence and apparently giving up on thoughts of murder.

This also brought the Mistress out of whatever thoughts she had been stuck on. ``Ah, yes. Of course, I?ll have more brought up immediately.'' She glanced at Jersa, giving her a look, before turning and walking out. ``Have a nice day you two.''

Jersa closed the door and leaned against it with a heavy sigh. ``Gods...''

He shifted a bit and got out of the tub, looking at the muddy-bloody water that he had been in. ``It?s going to need at least two more baths before I feel clean again,'' he said with a frown.

``Speaking like a true noble.'' His eyes locked with hers for a moment before she looked away.

``I?m sorry she ruined our moment. But...it wont be the last chance, alright?'' he said as he leaned against the side of the tub.

``She did it on purpose. She?s trying to keep me from leaving the guild.''

``I don?t blame her,'' he said softly, smiling at her. ``Don?t think I?d lose to her. I?m not going to lose you. Once all this war nonsense is over, you, Stella and Lily are all coming back to Auser with me. That is, if you still want to by then.''

She sighed again. ``Gods I hope so. She will throw an utter fit about it... I just hope that it doesn?t ruin the relationship we have. She?s...always been good to me...to all of us.'' She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

``I?m aware,'' he said as he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Thoughts of ?monster? still ran through his head. There was a knock on the door, and Jace quickly wrapped a towel around his waist before the door opened.

``Still not clean?'' Stella said as she walked in, holding a rather large tray of food, followed closely by Lily who had her own tray.

``Can?t get clean in filthy water,'' he responded with a glance back at the water.

``Papa looks less dirty'' Lily placed her tray down onto the table, grinning over at him.

He chuckled and nodded. ``Just a little. They should be bringing more water up eventually.''

Then he watched as she moved the tray off of something, setting it down beside it. She picked up what was apparently a book and walked over to him. ``This is for you,'' she said as she shoved it towards him.

He gingerly took it, a bit puzzled as he accepted it. ``We ran into a purple skunk,'' Stella explained, setting down her tray beside the other before continuing, ``She said that if you?re serious about being Lily?s parent, the parent of a witch, you?ll need this.''

``A book?'' He turned it over in his hands, wondering if he should open it.

``I checked it. Can?t make heads or tails of what?s written. Some weird language.''

It was very old, with no title or any writing on the outside. There was an odd tingling feeling in his fingers as he handled it, something that he figured must be some form of magic. He opened it to the first page and read aloud, ``Witchcraft Basics.''

Stella immediately moved over to him, looking down at the book. ``You can read that?''

``It?s Nauhv. A language that?s been dead for nearly eight-hundred years.'' He turned the page, reading over the table of contents. Does this mean the Nauhv were witches? History says that their magic was strange...

``And you just happen to know it?'' Stella said with a frown.

Jersa had decided to move over to the food and gather up some on a plate. Lily had began eating straight off of her tray. ``That?s what?s more weird to you in this situation?''

``It just feels weirdly convenient. Like, that skunk knew that he could read it.''

``She probably does,'' Jace agreed, turning to the introduction. ``But it?s not like it?s the only language I know.''

``Yeah but why a dead language?'' Stella asked as she moved over to the food with the others.

``I know seven dead languages, some older than Nauhv.'' He turned pages, partially skimming to get the general gist of a chapter. ``I like to scramble important notes with different languages to make them impossible for others to read, and the dead ones make it even harder.''

``Sometimes I forget how smart you are,'' Jersa said as she handed him a plate.

He stared at it for a few seconds before setting the book onto a small table beside the tub. ``The benefit of having smart parents.''

``Yeah, you?re father was something of a genius, right?'' Stella said as she sat down on the bed with her food. ``The Unparalleled Artificer, right?''

He nodded a bit as he started to eat. ``No one even came close. He advanced the art of Artificing by decades in just a few years. His designs were intricate, complex, but appeared delicate and beautiful.''

``Do you-'' Stella paused, looking at him for a few seconds before she continued, ``Do you know who killed him?''

There was a sort of heavy silence that filled the room rather quickly. A silence which he broke with a simple, ``Yes.''

``And who are they?'' Jersa said, her tone oddly careful.

``They were members of the Gulpans family.'' He stared at the floor as he ate. ``They murdered him because he was a Mixed. Although when confronted with evidence, they said that it was due to illegal affiliations with the Carnafor family.''

``That excuse doesn?t even make sense,'' Stella said with a frown.

``Yes, well, that was enough for the Auser Court to-''

``Wait, you said ?were??'' Jersa interrupted.

He looked over at her and then nodded before turning his attention back to his food. ``Yes. Were.''

``So they were...removed from the family? How come I never heard anything about this?'' Stella was staring up at the ceiling, trying to think.

``The official statement was that after murdering my father, they burned the lab to hide the evidence. But, after the court ruled in their favor and they would not be punished, they feared that other parties would seek them out, so the abandoned the Gulpans name and fled Auser.'' It felt weird to be saying all this again. He could still remember having to go up onto the witness stand...a young child, explaining what he saw. Recounting the event of watching his father be beaten and tortured to death in front of him.

``So after all that, they got away?'' Lily said, a rather large frown on his face.

Jace couldn?t help but laugh, shaking his head. ``Oh no. Those bastard?s bodies never left Auser.''

There was again another silence, this one broken by Jersa. ``Did you...?''

``Me?'' He blinked, looking over at Jersa. ``No. Gods, I wish. I wasn?t even Lily?s age. I assume it was Mr. Tompkins.'' He took a deep breath. ``I only saw the bodies afterwards. My mother was always quite firm in showing me what happens to those that go against the Foxern family. Fairly effective for a child who just turned eleven.''

Jersa and Stella looked towards each other, and then glanced at Lily. ``I?ve seen lotsa dead bodies,'' Lily said, guessing that the adults were worried. ``Lots and lots. Like...'' she paused, ``Twenty.''

``More than me,'' Jace said with a bit of a chuckle. He put down the empty plate and picked back up the book of Witchcraft Basics, continuing to skim. When there was more time he would have to sit down and give it a more thorough reading. It was extremely fascinating. Magic had never been something he had much interest in, since there was a certain amount of natural talent required and he didn?t have it. For him, it was Artificing. What magic could do, with enough time, money and resources, one could accomplish with magic, without the nasty drawbacks. Though the argument could be said that spending the time, money and resources was the trade off.

``I don?t even know how many bodies I?ve seen,'' Jersa said rather thoughtfully. ``Hundreds probably.''

``There?s at least fifty bodies kept in the morgue at the Assassin?s Guild,'' Stella added with a bit of a nod. ``And those get changed out every few months.''

Jersa stared at her. ``Yanno, I?m not even really surprised that the Assassin?s Guild has a morgue.''

``Some of them are students,'' she paused, her brow furrowing, ``Well, technically ex students. But we all sign waivers when you get to the Guild.''

``Ugh I don?t even want to think of all the paperwork I had to sign.'' Jersa rubbed her forhead. ``Freaking contracts...''

``Seriously,'' Stella said with a sigh.

``Contracts...'' Jace mumbled, flipping to the table of contents and checking for the section on contracts. There wasn?t one. ``Lily?''

``Mmm?'' Lily turned her attention from the food, looking over at him. ``Yes, papa?''

``Does Miss Violet know how to read Nauhv?'' The closest thing he could find was a chapter on something called ?The Source?.

Lily shook her head. ``Nope.''

``Where did she get this book,'' he muttered as he flipped to the section. ``Well, then who taught her magic?''

``Aunty Gilla.''

``Did she know how to read Nauhv?''

Lily?s brow scrunched a bit. ``I don?t think so? Right now was the first time I heard about a book about witchcraft. Witches have been teaching each other magic for forever. That?s what Aunty Violet said.''

``That doesn?t make sense...'' he muttered, his eyes scanning the pages, looking for one word. Looking for the word contract, or something similar. ``Well I guess it does. A lot of things are handed down traditionally from word of mouth. Superstitions about writing it down. Or fear of it being learned by outsiders. Falling into the wrong hands...'' There isn?t anything about contracts. He turned back to the beginning and began reading.

While he read, new water was filled in the tub, and he paused only to wash up and ask for another tub of fresh water. Stella and Jersa both looked embarrassed about him bathing in the room, but Lily seemed nonplussed. He was far too focused on the Source. The Source of a witches magic. It was pretty advanced stuff, and he constantly had to go back to learn concepts in previous chapters in order to get a full understanding. After his third bath, he was laying upon the bed, still reading. Jersa had gone and gotten him some basic clothes to wear until he got new clothes, and was now off taking care of a few things.

Lily was asleep against his side, as it had gotten late without him noticing. It had been a long time since he had been so absorbed into a book. He closed the book with a soft snap, sighing. ``What?s wrong, Jace?'' Stella asked, she was sitting nearby on the edge of the bed.

``It doesn?t make sense. I mean, it does, but it doesn?t. I wonder when they started thinking of them as contracts?'' He was rambling a bit, resting the book against his forehead as he tried to collect his thoughts. It was a habit to help him memorize what he had just read.

``You?re gonna hafta explain if you actually want me to contribute to the conversation,'' Stella said, a bit grumpily.

He chuckled a bit. ``Sorry. Just trying to organize my thoughts. The way Lily was taught, was that you make contracts in order to use magic. You ask for something, get something in return, and the exchange gives the witch their power to fulfill their end. But, if this book is accurate, that?s wrong. It seems like somewhere in the history of witches, someone changed the word to contract, instead of promise.''

``A promise?'' She shifted over, now sitting close to him so she could look down at him, and also not talk over Lily so she could sleep.

``Yes, a witch makes a promise and that allows them to use magic. Take Lily?s broom for instance, she made a contract that she would take care of it, if it allowed her to fly. But wouldn?t it sound better if you instead think of it as promising to take care of the broom, and asking if in exchange it will help you fly?'' He moved the book to the side, looking up at Stella.

``Well...it sure sounds...gentler. Less forced.''

He nodded. ``Exactly. Witchcraft is all about take and give, but it?s supposed to be...gentle, as you put it.'' Gently he laid a hand onto Lily?s back, gauging if she was truly asleep, or just faking it again, by her heartbeat and breathing. ``Yanno, you shouldn?t keep pretending to sleep, Lily, otherwise I?ll be suspicious of you.''

A soft sigh escaped from the little opossum. ``How?d you know?''

``When someone is sleeping peacefully, their heartbeat and breathing is very steady, but your heart started racing when I put my hand on you.''

She frowned up at him. ``That?s mean, papa.''

He laughed softly. ``I?m sorry. But, do you understand what I meant?''

``I don?t think so?'' she said as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. ``But like, contracts aren?t right?''

``Well, they work. Which is why no one ever noticed anything was wrong.'' He rubbed her back softly. ``Mmm...perhaps I should teach you Nauhv.'' Her face immediately scrunched, and he laughed. ``Well, then you?ll have to wait until I?ve finished reading this book and learned how to be a witch before I can teach you.''

Suddenly Lily?s eyes lit up and she crawled onto him. ``You?re gonna be a witch?!''

Again he laughed. ``Well, in knowledge but not capabilities. I wont be able to use magic, but I?ll figure out a way to teach you once I figure this book out.''

She was grinning at him. ``Promise?''

He smiled at her and then sat up, wrapping his arms around her. ``I promise. I?ll make sure you become a powerful witch.''

She hugged him back rather tightly, though she could hardly get her hands around his sides. She was so small... He felt Stella press into his back, wrapping his arms around the both of them. His eyes closed as he leaned back against her, taking a deep breath. ``What an interesting family we are...'' she said softly.

``Yeah...isn?t it wonderful?'' he said, gently rubbing Lily?s back.

~

How long had it been since he had had a good stretch of his body? Stretching out all of his muscles used to be a morning routine, but he got out of that habit since the Gruska incident. He had even stretched on the boat on the way there. He felt like that was the reason why he got beat up so much... Well, that wasn?t going to happen again. Plus it also felt really good. If only he wasn?t being watched so...fervently. ``Must you stare?''

``Must you do that without a shirt?'' Jersa said, her eyes never leaving him.

``I don?t want to sweat into it so early in the day.'' Behind Stella and Jersa he could see Lily, who was attempting to copy his stretching, and occasionally falling over in her attempts. ``And it?s a bit tight in places. It would rip.''

``Excuses~'' Stella said with a smirk.

``Well, it?s not that I?m really complaining, just hoping you?re enjoying the show.'' He smirked at them, watching as both of their faces went red. He moved over to the table, which had a small rag and washbasin on it. ``Usually I do this naked and take a bath afterwards, but there?s a child present, and bathing is a rather annoying chore here.'' He was quite pleased at how their faces turned even redder as their imaginations ran wild.

``This is a lot harder than it looks,'' Lily said with a soft grunt as she picked herself up off the floor.

``Well, it?s taken my entire life to get to this point.'' He started to wipe himself down. He felt weird...when had half an hour of stretching caused him to sweat this much? Sure he hadn?t done it in weeks, but it shouldn?t have been that bad, right? Then he remembered what the doctor had said, about how all of his muscles were in such bad shape...that must be it. He had always been stiff after receiving healing in the past, it must be the same case here.

Lily clambered up onto the chair, looking up at him. ``You don?t look muscly.''

He laughed. ``Don?t compare me to Anvil. ...or Pin for that matter. Those two are a lot stronger than me.''

``I bet you could beat them up,'' Lily said with a few definite nods.

``Well, Pin maybe. Anvil is a completely different beast.'' He rubbed his hand absentmindedly with his thumb. ``Just from the way she grabbed my hand...that woman could break me like a piece of charcoal.''

He heard Jersa snrk. ``Funny hearing you say that with how tough you are.''

``Yeah, but you saw her, Jersa. That skunk was huge,'' Stella said, nodding. ``And not just muscular either, she was like if one of the twins got onto the others shoulder.''

``Was a bit weird having to look up that much at someone...''

``She?s not that tall. I?d say about seven seven,'' Jace said as he put on the shirt.

``Felt like more...'' Jersa mumbled.

``It?s cus she?s a foot taller than you, since you?re six seven.'' He picked up the watch, checking the time before sliding it into his breast pocket.

``How do you know my height?'' Jersa stared at him with a rather offended look.

``It?s not that hard. Stella is five eight.'' Stella visibly flinched. ``Lily is two four.''

Lily put a hand on the top of her head as if measuring herself. ``How tall is papa?''

``Six two,'' he said as he straightened up a bit. ``Shorter than Jersa, but taller than Stella. And Lily?s just a tiny little thing.'' He chuckled softly as he ruffled the little opossum?s hair.

She grinned up at him, putting her hands on his. ``Aunty Violet says I?ll get bigger, but the fire brand stunts my growth.''

He nodded slowly. ``Makes sense. Since it attacks your body?s energy.''

``F-fire brand...'' Jersa moved over towards Lily. ``I remember the Patrician saying something about that during the guild meeting...did they...really fire brand her?''

Again he nodded, and Lily shifted the shoulder of her dress.

``Gods...you see a lot of fire branding in Vuna.'' She moved closer, pushing Jace out of the way a bit. ``Lily can I see the whole thing?''

Lily glanced at Jace and then over to Stella before nodding. She struggled a moment, pulling off her dress. ``It sometimes hurts at night, it gets like...tender and sensitive. Sometimes even my clothes make it hurt.''

``Looks like it?s been treated,'' Jersa said as she gently touched the area around the mark, which was much larger than Jace had seen. It started just bellow her collar bone, covered her entire shoulder, went down her back to the shoulder blade, and nearly went all the way down her arm to her elbow. ``Someone tried to heal it, but couldn?t do it all the way...''

``Probably Miss Violet.''

Lily shook her head. ``No, it was Aunty Gilla. It hurt so much, but then she rubbed some stuff on it and the pain went away.''

``Frostweed,'' Jersa said as she lifted Lily?s arm a bit. ``I guess it wasn?t applied soon enough to be completely effective. It?s the only natural remedy for a fire brand...and can effectively remove the pain as long as it?s done within the first few weeks...'' her voice trailed off as Lily started to put her dress back on.

``Weeks...'' Jace said softly, looking down at Lily.

``And it was definitely a magus. Not a sorcerer. It wouldn?t have wrapped around like that with a sorcerer.'' Jersa lifted her hand, hovering over Lily?s shoulder making a sort of cupped gesture. ``Magus deliver the brands by touch.''

Just the thought of that made him feel sick. Someone put their hand on her, and burned her. He knew that. And now he finds out that it had taken weeks to heal her. It hurt the entire time, and the pain only got worse the longer the brand was there. There had been no gamble when talking about it with the Patrician. He knew that the Patrician could not overlook something like this. Not in his own city. Lily pumped her arms up into the air. ``Let?s go!'' she declared as she leaped from the chair.

He laughed, being brought back from his own thoughts as she skipped towards the door, grabbing hold of her broom which rested beside it. He hooked his sword and the dagger to his belt before moving towards the door as well. ``Yes, let?s head off to these twins I keep hearing about.''

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