Elera and Char were both silent as they left the barracks. The silence wasn't unusual for them. Char's father had always been loud, able to coax Elera into conversation and lighthearted banter when she otherwise would have held her peace, and Rath was the same way. But when it was just Elera and Char, they were quieter, adding weight behind their words when they did finally speak. Everything was well-thought out, or it didn't need to be said.

"I knew about Jonah," she finally said.

Char looked over at her, surprised. Her blue eyes met his, and there was a hint of sadness in them.

"Jarth and I were married, Char. There weren't many secrets between us." Her eyes faced forward again, although she wasn't really looking ahead. She was looking back.

"Your father loved adventure. He always needed to explore, to meet new people, to try new things. I learned very early on that I couldn't stop him, and I couldn't change him. But I couldn't be like him, either. He hated that. I tried, at first. I tried to go off with him on his impulsive travels, to feel that excitement. It didn't work." She sighed. "So, I stayed home, and he went out into the world, and when he came back home, he told me all about it."

Char dropped his gaze to the smooth stone of the street beneath their feet and jammed his hands into his pockets. His mother hadn't talked about his father like this since he died.

"And then Rath came along, and he was an obvious troublemaker right from the start. Jarth was planning their escapades before Rath could even walk. Which was fine, since Rath skipped walking and went straight to running." She laughed. "Always full speed ahead, without any regard for his safety. I thought for sure he'd never survive flight training. And that first time your father took him off on a journey - I wanted to be happy for him, to finally be able to go off on an adventure with somebody who enjoyed that, but I was scared to death of losing them both."

"I remember that," Char said quietly.

"Of course, you do," she said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I couldn't stop crying all night, and you were trying so hard to cheer me up." She looked up at him, tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes. "Because that's who you are. Rath is always looking for excitement, and you are always looking for people. That's why Jarth ended up taking you along when he visited humans."

Char couldn't help but notice they had passed the shops and were headed home. He wasn't about to interrupt his mother, though. She was going somewhere - with her steps and her words.

"You wouldn't know this, of course, but Jarth was a lot less impulsive after he started taking you boys out with him. He used to run everything by me first. That's how I found out about Jonah. And I was not thrilled about you meeting a human mage, but your father assured me that Jonah was a very nice boy, and I gave in." She chuckled. "I always gave in."

"You would have liked him," Char said.

"I'm sure I would have. Jarth was a good judge of character, and he could see past the things that I couldn't get over."

Char held the door open for her, still wondering where this was all going. "Iris knew Jonah when she was little."

"Did she?"

"He never talked about his background to Father or me, but he's the one who found her on the church doorstep when she was a baby. She looked up to him as a big brother until he left when she was five."

Elera had led him back to his room, where she was removing dresses from the bureau.

"You saved some of her clothes," Char realized.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling. "I knew she'd be coming back. You look at her like Jarth used to look at me."

"Mother..." Char averted his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I didn't want to give her a chance because she was a human. Full stop, ignoring the part about her being a mage. But I am happy to say that I was wrong, and you have found a great girl." She turned around and dropped the clothes in his arms. "A good relationship isn't easy. It's a lot of work. Jarth and I had very different personalities. You and Iris are different races entirely. But I know what I see, and I see my boy in love with a girl who loves him, and I'm very excited to see where this is going."

"So...you wouldn't say I'm rushing things if I'm thinking about marrying her?" Char asked hesitantly.

His mother smiled and pulled him into a hug, crushing the clothes between them. "I should say that. There are a lot of reasons I should say that. But I know you, so instead I'll say that you should stop thinking about it and start planning it, because I don't think she's going to want to live in the barracks with you and Rath forever." She released him and stepped back, wiping her eyes. "Now, let's get back before Rath says something stupid to his future sister-in-law."

Char chuckled. "Too late for that."

Elera laughed softly, too. "Probably. It's a wonder to me how he's so good at sweet-talking his girlfriends when he can't think before he speaks to anybody else."

The walk back was mostly quiet again. Char felt a strange lightness in his chest that hadn't been there before. He hadn't thought about seeking advice or approval from his mother, but getting it felt right, and the way she talked made him feel like his father would have backed her words, too. Although if his father were here, his choice of words would have been much different. Char could almost feel him throwing his arm around his shoulder and leaning in to say, "Wow, that one's hot. You gonna marry her, or not?"

Sometimes, Char really missed his father.

Rath was still sitting in the living room when they returned, but Iris wasn't there anymore. Elera marched right up to Rath and put her hands on her hips.

"What did you say?" she asked accusingly.

"Nothing!" he said, waving his hands in front of him defensively. "She said she was tired, and she went to take a nap!"

Char dropped the clothes on the coffee table and himself on the sofa, watching with amusement as Elera relaxed her stance and Rath scowled petulantly up at her. The fairies zipped out of the bedroom to take the clothes back with them.

"Why does everybody automatically assume I said something wrong?" Rath muttered.

"Because you usually do," Elera replied knowingly. Her blue eyes followed the fairies from the coffee table to the bedroom, and she looked back at the coffee table and the book they left behind. "What's that?"

"I found it in the wreckage of the church where Iris grew up," Char replied, picking it up. "It's Father John's record of all the orphans he took in."

Elera sat down beside him. "Really?"

Char handed it to her, and she slowly paged through it, taking her time to read the lines of names, dates, notes, and Bible verses. Rath got up from his seat to sit on her other side, leaning over her shoulder to look.

"He was doing this a long time," Rath commented.

Char nodded. "He must have started right after seminary. I wonder how he got started."

"You said the church was in a small town, right?" Elera asked. "I can't imagine this many orphans came from one town. He must have visited other towns and cities periodically to find them, or maybe other people heard about what he was doing and sent them to him."

"Probably the former to start, but once he got going, he couldn't leave the orphans that long. By the time Iris came along, it was pretty common for him to just find babies on the church doorstep," Char said.

"There she is," Elera said, finding Iris' name on the last page. "And Jonah is a few names above her. He was ten when he came to Father John. 'Arrived on his own after parents and little sister died,' it says."

Char grimaced. "After his older brother killed his parents and little sister, actually."

Elera looked up at Char, shock and sorrow in her eyes. "That poor boy."

"So, he would have been thirteen when Iris came," Rath said, pointing at the date next to her name.

"And eighteen when he left for magic school," Char commented.

"Then these were the other orphans with Iris when the war started," Elera mused. "Fred, Ginger, Kayla."

"I saw Fred and Kayla," Char said. "Not Ginger. She must've stayed in the church most of the time. Which Kayla was supposed to do, too, but she seemed like she had a habit of running away to find Iris while she was out working. Fred had to keep going after her and bringing her back. She was a cute little brat."

"Was. Are they all...?" Elera trailed off, looking up at Char with a slight frown.

Char nodded, his expression darkening. "Yeah. Micah, the king's mage, leveled the town, probably to give humans more reason to be hostile to us. And I'm pretty sure he tortured Father John for information about Iris before he destroyed the church. No way anybody survived if they were still inside."

Elera pursed her lips. "And he's the one who had Iris."

"Yeah."

"I'd like to stab a talon straight through whatever passes for a heart in that man," Elera said darkly. Her blue eyes were flashing angrily, and if Char and Rath didn't know better, they would almost think setting her loose on Micah would take care of the problem. But it wouldn't. It didn't matter how angry she was, or Char was, or Rath was. Micah was a powerful mage who couldn't be handled without equally powerful magic.

"Well," she said, closing the book and setting it on the table. "I'd better get Char's room cleaned up for Iris. Bring her over as soon as she's ready, okay?"

"Yes, mother," Char and Rath said in unison. Rath caught Char's eye over her head and winked, and then they both grabbed her arms when she tried to stand up and kissed her cheeks at the same time. She giggled and shoved them both back.

"Oh, you two. Is there anything you need before I go?"

"Nah, I think we're good," Rath said casually, leaning back on the sofa and smirking up at her. "Besides, if we need anything, the fairies will just steal it for us, right?"

Char reached across the sofa to smack Rath's shoulder. "Forget he said that. We're fine, and we'll try to keep the fairies in line."

"Do that. I'm glad they're taking care of Iris, but I'll also be glad when they're gone. I'll see you boys later."