Zorroku and Peaches

Fuhn-Lah

Zorroku and Peaches

Part 16

You went to the feasting hall, with Jaseeneh and everyone else, where a feast was already prepared and waiting for you as Jaseeneh had you and Zorroku sit in the large seat of honor for winning the battle with your children sitting down from you.

She had the best wine in all of the seven cities- fill your glass and the glasses of your family. The kids giggled to be able to be served a small cup full for just a special occasion such as this as you and Zorroku got to have your very own pitcher of it. It was served with fruit and berries and spiked with liquors so that it was very sweet like punch.

"I would like to toast to the victor of today's battle, who was able to use a humble's mother's sling to defeat three lying bitches and the bastards who followed their greedy peckers to richer pastures." Jaseeneh began, as you simply smiled appreciatively and silently huffed a laugh through your nostrils as echos of laughter and cheers rippled through the feasting hall.

"So, as they say- 'to the victor goes the spoils'!" She continued.

"Heads of the banks, I would like for you to take the three checks that I wrote to her ransomers, to be fully signed over. And may the full worth of the checks go to her along with the full rate of interest my checks usually carry. As well as all properties and belongings that belonged to them, should go to her as her spoils." Jaseeneh ordered before the seven High Lords of the Banks stood and ceremonially bowed to her to accept her order along with their word of agreement.

"And since the latest blood tax increase came because of those ransomers, now that they are dead, now it is time for the increased blood ransom taxes to be lifted and waived. And they are to go to what they once were." She added, as that got a round of applause as the seven High Lords once again stood and ceremoniously bowed and added their words of agreement and acknowledgement.

"And in addition to this, the bail that was on those three lying, dishonorable bitches, shall now be paid out to the victor, which was half a million bricks each with, an additional 500,000 bricks to be awarded for the death of each of the greedy mates. So now my Double Vizsla Belladonna- is now 3 million bricks of salt richer!" Jaseeneh proclaimed and the entire area erupted into thunderous applause as you nearly choked on your spit and started to cough and sputter as Zorroku reached out to pat and rub at your back as you took that wine and guzzled it to clear your throat.

"What?! Why?" You sputtered as tears pricked at the corners of your eyes before you used your fist to beat at your chest a few times as you looked to Zorroku to explain how that was even possible.

"Usually, when someone is already in prison for a crime, and there is a challenge of Shiro Katzu, the bail is the reward for killing them in said battle. And if there is someone to fight with them, the same amount is placed on them as well. So, the three bitches had 500,000 each, plus their mates at equal amounts, comes to three million." Zorroku informed you in a low murmur as he leaned over to say such things in your ear as you leaned over to him to hear it.

"Usually, if there is a bail out on them that high, there will be lines through all of Avlar and the other six cities for others to win the right to kill them to claim the bail money. The moment they were arrested, before Grandma set the bail, I was the first to sign up, and, coincidentally, so were your other courters, just because they offended and disrespected you. But once she set the bail. Everyone else in my family signed up. But once they called Shiro Katzu, there was no way for any of us to fight them, except if we fought with you. And since you only wanted me to fight by your side, I was happy, content and proud to do so. No bricks of salt needed or wanted." Zorroku explained.

"Ohh!" You nodded in understanding.

"Thank you Grandmother." You thanked her as you stood up to bow graciously to receive the gift before she moved you to stand up and then sit down again.

"Now, there was once a point of contest for all of my Double Vizsla's ransom of a hundred times their family's weight in salt would be paid out. But since they were not held for ransom by the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, their ransom is now their full inheritance! Come, let them and their families come to be weighed." She decided before a special scale was brought out as your parents and your younger sisters were all weighed together before the sum of that weight times a hundred was awarded to their accounts. Then it was your older brother's turn and then Lilly's turn.

"Now, for my Double Vizsla Belladonna, the weight of your entire family." Jaseeneh insisted as she gestured to you and to the children you had adopted as well as to Zorroku as you were already in the process of taking Ori out of your sling. But instead, you, and all of your children and Zorroku even came to stand on that scale before it's total was allotted to you and to Zorroku- since he was seen as the father of the children you had adopted as it was put into a family joint account, while the High Lords of the banks notated that and made sure to assure you that the joint account would notate the names of all of your children, who at that point, got to have your name as their own as well as your title.

They gave you a new total for your checkbook and for Zorroku's account that he shared with you for Ori that now had the accounts of your children on it as well. Jaseeneh signed off on the accounts, her gold pen with its gold ink glittering in the light. As did her son, and her daughter in law before you both were presented with new checks, with your name and Zorroku's name on them that had been finished only the night before, as well as all of your children to receive their new permanent checks as your children.

You went ahead and put a thousand bricks into each child's account, since their own mothers had sold them for what was really ten bricks worth of goods, which you felt was a great insult to put a price on the priceless.

But even with such generosity, there was still, so much wealth left over.

You had been earning, as a Double Vizsla, a monthly stipend of 200 bricks of salt a month, for the last 18 years. Which gave you 43,200. Then you got a seasonal bonus of an additional 200 bricks every three months,. So an additional 800 bricks every year which gave you an additional 14,400. Which just those two factors gave you a total of 57,600. That was the moment you got it before you spent anything. But now that you were here and fully inherited, that allowance went up to 300 bricks a month regardless if you were in Avlar or not. And an additional thousand bricks for seasonal bonus a year.

But now, because of the battle, you now, in your own personal account, had 3 million from the bail alone. And then for your own ransom that Bully's Bitches "settled for" which was 2,850 each, which came to 8,550 bricks, plus Jaseeneh's rate of interest, which gave you a total of 15,390 bricks, for your own ransom paid out to them from your grandmother.

Not to mention the very salt you once paid for the sheep and goats. So now, you had a grand total, just in your personal account of 3.2 million bricks. And with one brick equalling 100 cubes- that was 3.2 billion cubes. That was so much more than you could ever hope to spend in a hundred lifetimes.

And because of the hundred times your weight of your original ransom, now applied to Zorroku and all of your kids. Especially since Zorroku was still in his armor and weapons, which were added to the weight too since he used them in the battle to fight beside you, that was another couple hundred thousand pounds all by itself because Zorroku's weapons were especially heavy and your brain hurt from totalling it all up as the High Lords of the banks seemed to calculate and add everything right there on the spot as you just sat there and looked at the total sheet rather numbly because it was just so...overwhelming.

"Everything ok?" Jaseeneh asked once it was decided and announced to the whole banquet hall who had erupted into thunderous applause and cheered and toasted to the victory and to you and your family getting their full inheritances.

But you still had questions as you simply sat there with a puzzled look on your face.

"If I had not won, and those bitches had beaten me instead, what would have happened?" You asked her.

"Then before they could land a second strike, all those who signed up would have been let in to come to your rescue and fought in your name and honor." Jaseeneh answered as you noticed that such persons were still in their own full armor, as if they had been eagerly awaiting such an opportunity too.

You looked to Zorroku for a more indepth answer though.

"According to the rules, they would have had their own bail as prize money for the fight." Zorroku answered truthfully as your shoulders dropped and your cheeks flushed harder as that helped clarify their intentions-crystal clearly.

"Of course, that's really why they wouldn't take my offer. Because why take my measly 50 thousand bricks when I was alive, when I was worth five hundred thousand to each of them dead?" You realized rhetorically as you looked down the line of your children, wondering what horrors they would have faced, living with those horrible women, had you not won.

"Exactly. And that's why their chosen mates fought beside them. Because they stood to gain that money themselves and get themselves out of debt. So that's why you killing all three bitches and their mates, who were the ones who called the challenge, you got the full payment for all of them." Zorroku explained.

"Maybe I should have let you kill the mates then, at least we would have split the bail evenly." You murmured.

"Nope. Even if I had, I would have not accepted it and given it to you regardless. The emotional toll they all put on you and the way they disrespected you, could not and will not ever be tolerated. You deserve every cube and more- as reward for putting up with them for so long." Zorroku calmly countered with a gentle shake of his head as he wrapped one arm around your shoulders while he squeezed your hand that he was holding a bit more tightly as you squeezed back, letting his touch ground you to the moment.

"So don't feel guilty about accepting it My Darling. You deserve every cube." Jaseeneh urged you with a soft pat on the back as your guilt for such a sum was eaten away with a sense of righteous justice, which the blessings helped with tremendously.

It just left you to sit there, softly shaking your head as you pressed the chilled wine in the wine glass in your other hand to your blushing cheek as you took a moment to try to find your appetite again.

No wonder they turned you down. It was never going to be enough for them, they stood to gain unfathomable riches and the opportunity to settle the grudge. Of course they wouldn't accept your offer.

"I didn't know that. I didn't know about any of that." You admitted.

"Did they?" You asked.

"Oh yeah." Zorroku and Jaseeneh both nodded emphatically.

"Their mates took out huge gambling debts on themselves, just for the match. Which put the odds in their own favor. Which means all those who were rooting for you were richly rewarded." Zorroku nodded over to his cousins to see they were being paid out handsomely by the betting rings, right there at the feasting tables as you frowned at it.

"Did you place a bet on it?" You asked him.

"Nope, only signed up to fight. Nothing else." Zorroku reassured you.

"Thank you. A fight with your life- is gamble enough." You insisted.

"I agree. Besides, you needed all the mental and emotional support I could give you, I could not let anything or anyone else distract me." Zorroku nodded.

"You didn't tell her about it?" Jaseeneh asked Zorroku.

"She didn't ask. And she didn't care about that. She had her priorities right. Her children's safety, security, love and affection. And then worried about the gifts taking over her and then putting everyone else in danger. And she was more concerned about my safety in that arena with her. But she never worried about my own ability to fight off against my own opponents. Which was very sweet of her and quite reassuring, I thought." Zorroku shrugged with a proud smile and a subtle shake of his head no.

"Well, then that explains your surprise and your sense of overwhelm at the news. But that is good. I'm glad that at least one member of my family members, isn't motivated or moved by money. Always hungry for more and more bricks. As if everyone has forgotten what we've had to do and how far we've had to come to make them in the first place." Jaseeneh practically sneered down her other side of the table at the other members of her family who were still in the process of accepting the bets.

"I would be happy to donate my winnings to the Double Vizsla and her family Grandmother." Kakazi offered as he blushed as he got the large billfold of bills.

"No, your winnings are your winnings Kakazi. And I'm just grateful you were prepared to come to my defense today. Please keep them for yourself and your house as your own reward for your willingness to risk your life for mine. I already have far too much as it is, I do not need or want any more." You gently refused as Jaseeneh grinned to hear your answer just as an attendant came up to you and to Zorroku.

"Vizsla Belladonna, the properties as owned by your challengers." He offered as he handed you several scrolls along with a set of keys tied to the very strings that were used to tie up the scrolls- that were the deeds to the houses that the the challenging warriors owned, along with lists of items each dwelling had and since they died by your hand, were now your property.

"Has anything been done with the contents of the apartments?" You asked as you looked them over.

"Nothing. Just a tally of what was contained within them." He answered.

"Thank you." You thanked him before he bowed his head respectfully and went away.

"What are you going to do with them Mama?" Belinda asked.

"What do you think I should do, Bebe?" You asked her curiously because Belinda, being her father's daughter, was always so careful and thoughtful and had a wonderful sense of right and wrong, fairness and inequality.

"You could sell them." She shrugged.

"Is there anything that you guys think- the women who birthed you- had, that any of you would like to keep as a keepsake or anything?" You asked them, trying to carefully and thoughtfully choose your words well.

"Nope. There is nothing that woman had that I want, especially to remember her by." Bully Jr. was the first to shake his head no but the others hesitated to answer.

"Tell you what, how about we go there after the feast, just to be sure. Otherwise we can have them cleaned out and the contents and the properties themselves- sold off." You suggested.

"Thank you Mama." Becina nodded with a grateful smile.

"You're welcome, Cece." You smiled adoringly at her.

After the feast, you went with them to the apartments to look through the apartments to see if any of them liked what the women had birthed them left behind.

The girls actually wanted to keep some small treasures their father had originally gotten for their mothers, and kept them more a reminder of him, than them, which you were relieved that they got to have at least that much as you could only shake your head at the otherwise messy clutter these bachelors had left their apartments in.

Once the kids were satisfied, you invited the challenger's families to do the same, so that they could take back any family heirloom that the challengers had in their possession, which was greatly appreciated by the families of the challengers as they rather quickly and readily picked through it.

"So what do you want to do with the rest of it?" Zorroku asked.

"Is there some kind of donation system here? That some can donate what they no longer want to be either resold to another or given to the needy for free?" You asked hopefully.

"Yes." He confirmed.

"Then we should do that. I certainly don't need or want anything from these places. Let's donate the rest and have the apartments cleaned, thoroughly, and then sold for fair market value and that sum given to them as individual inheritances and any differences in one from the other, we can make up so that it's fair to all of them." You urged him as he smiled proudly at you for such a decision.

"I was going to suggest just that. I'll take care of it." He reassured you before you handed it over to him to deal with.

"Thank you. Come on kids, let's go home and let's let Daddy take care of this for us." You urged them before you left with them to return home as you noticed, they were wearing your colors today, so that you all really matched like a family, which you thought was very cute and sweet of them.

However, you arrived home to see a huge boxes full of letters.

"What in the world?" You wondered as you opened the first few to see, offer after offer of marriage, for not just you, but for all of your children, mostly from Jaseeneh's extended family members as you just frowned deeper and deeper the more you looked at them.

"What's wrong Mama?" Belinda asked as she watched you closely.

"Kids, I want you to understand something. I will not agree to any marriage offer for any of you. All of you are free to marry whoever you want, when you are old enough to decide for yourselves, but right now, all of you are way too young. Especially you young lady." You addressed them before addressing Ori who cooed and babbled at you in response.

"Bully? Why are you giving me that look?" You noticed Bully's slightly guilty look.

"Well, um, you know those girls who always seemed to like me when my dad was alive?" He asked.

"Yeah. And I also remember how they seemed to forget you existed the moment your dad died too." You recalled which only got his cheeks to darken more as he seemed to be fidgeting.

"Girls? Could you get Fabu and go play for a bit? Junior and I need to talk." You pleasantly urged them before you ushered yourself and Junior into another room.

"What happened?" You asked him.

"So, when you got taken from White Rock, and I was especially distraught, um, they came and comforted me." He confessed.

"Would the words- intimate and carnal be involved in that comfort?" You asked carefully.

"Yeah..." He grimaced with a wince.

"And let me guess, since we've been here, they're claiming that they're pregnant now?" You asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.
"And their claim that you're the father of their kids, is an honest possibility?" You furthered.

"Yeah." He nodded again.

"When did you find out?" You asked him.

"Just now, they came and told me at the feast." He answered.

"Before or after the announcement of the ransom?" You asked.

"After, after everything. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I...I just forgot all about it. And I thought it was just a one time thing." Bully confessed.

"Because they acted like it was a one time thing?" You prodded.

"Yeah, they wouldn't even talk to me after, they just wanted payment for their comfort is all." He divulged.

"Oh, then it's transactional. Ok. How do you want to handle this?" You asked him.

"I don't know. I...I'm too young for this. I hate this. I hate that they acted like I was a charity case back in White Rock but now that I'm somebody here, it's like they're sharpening hooks just to dig into my skin." He explained.

"I agree. However, you still have a responsibility to them if they are in fact pregnant. You don't have to marry them, but you should claim those kids, if they are indeed yours and if you will not take them on, you should provide for them nonetheless." You reminded him.

"I know." He nodded.

"Ok, would you be ok if I talked about this with Zushku or do you want me to keep this just between us?" You asked.

"I...I doubt he's ever done anything like this, I don't think he would approve." Bully admitted as he shamefully dropped his head.

"I think you'd be surprised, no one is perfect. Everyone makes stupid mistakes, especially when they're young. And the heat of the moment is- exactly that, the heat of the moment. And I think he'd be more empathetic than you think. And I know he believes in fairness. And it's incredibly unfair that they would choose just now to tell you when they've had the last few weeks to tell you. I know the rules of White Rock, but I'm just learning the ones here and the ones in Thunder Herd. We can talk to him and see what he thinks. There still might be a solution yet. Plus, those girls are pretty young too, their bodies might reject the pregnancies and then the matter would be null and void. So, it's not too late, let's explore our options and see what we can do. But if those gold digging tramps think they can strut into this house and think they're the ladies of this house, they have another thing coming their way. Honestly, if I have to do what Crowthu and Yotul have done and recognize the kids as my grandkids, but keep them as servants, then so be it." You said.

"Oh gods no, they'd burn down this house if you gave them that option." Bully worried.

"And then they'd be killed for trying. Plus, I know those girls, their own pride would forbid them from doing such menial work." You reassured him.

"But if those kids are really my kids..." Bully tried to reason.

"Then I'm sure you'll rise to the occasion and still try your best to be the dad to them that you need to be. You won't be alone ok? Zorroku was a single dad for a long time before he met me. If he can do it, you can too." You tried to encourage him.

"What if, they'd rather just take medicine and dispose of the pregnancy instead?" He asked.

"Then that's their choice and probably something they would have done, if you had not become my son. Technically, it's their bodies and their choices. The fact that they are just now coming forward, means that they're motives are insincere and shady as shit." You reminded him.

"True. Plus, there's other girls here who I like way more anyway." He admitted.

"Oh?" You asked in pleasant surprise.

"Who caught your eye?" You asked as you slid closer until your side was right next to his as your arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him tighter as you wiggled with him and giggled at the news which broke the tension and got him to giggle too as a bashful smile bloomed on his face.

"Cleopatrahnah, among others." He admitted.

"I wondered. You've been acting all star struck and like a love drunk idiot every time she's around. Ok, well as your mother, I feel I'm obligated to remind you that you're both still young, a lot can happen and change over the next few, pivotal years. And all that." You waived off dismissively.

"But as your friend, let me just say, good choice. The only thing is, is that she is Kann's daughter. Who is heir apparent right now. And granddaughter of the Clan Chief, and great grand daughter to Dowager Clan Chieftess, that means she has her pick of whoever she wants in her entire clan. Plus any other from any other sister clan. Thankfully, you don't really have to worry about anyone from White Rock because no one of the Clan Chief's immediate family is her age, but you would have to compete with other warriors from that clan regardless. The other thing to keep in mind she's also related to everyone else in the Clan Chief's family of her own clan and in Thunder Herd. Except for you. So maybe for her, you might be the only viable option who is of equal status, but not related. So that might work in your favor. But otherwise. Don't push it or pursue it until we get this matter - with the other girls- settled, ok? It would not look good if you were pursuing her but ignoring them." You advised him.

"Just as I was going to try to ask her out, those other girls came up and derailed me, and now I'm too shaken up for it." He confessed.

"Yeah, I know how that feels, to have all the wind knocked out of you before you can even use that breath to breathe." You offered before you put your forehead and nuzzled it with his and rubbed soothing circles into his back as he melted into you. .

"It's going to be ok Bully. We're gonna get through this, you'll see. I still love you, unconditionally, ok? This doesn't make me love you any less ok? If anything, your reaction helps me to love you more and be even more proud of you than I already am." You urged before the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." You urged him before you got up to see Cleopatrahnah herself at the door - who looked like she had been crying.

"Hi Hun, are you ok? How about you come on in." You invited her before she readily slipped into the house with you and shut the door behind her.

"Hi, um, I'm so sorry to ask this, but my dad sent you letter by um, accident. And I uh, I'd really like to get it back, unless you've already read it?" She asked with a wince.

"No, as you can see, I have not gotten the chance to." You smiled as you showed her the boxes right behind her.

"Oh thank the gods!" She exclaimed in relief.

"By all means, have at it." You invited as you gestured to the boxes behind her.

"Thank you!" She thanked you as she sank to the floor and immediately dug through the mail to look for what she was after.

"I take it's a certain offer about you, that you didn't give him your permission to give?" You guessed as her head and shoulders sank.
"Yes, is it that obvious?" She asked with a wince.

"Nope. You're still pretty young Hun. I was going to ignore it when and if I ever found it. Which, now that you're here, just go ahead and take any and all from your family. Because my kids are too young for this kind of thing too. Besides, you guys are kids. You should enjoy every single moment of your childhood that you can and not let anyone take any of that away, especially your childhood innocence. And while I can guess your dad's motives for sending it. I would never think you shared them too. And the fact that you're here trying to find it before I did, actually means a lot, and means that my kids are safe with you. If anything, I should be asking for your help to guide them to see who else has motives for either politics or money." You reassured her.

"Yes, yes of course, thank you so much for understanding this means the world to me." She gratefully hugged your legs as you stood beside her.

"You're welcome Cleo. Let me get you something to drink at least ok? I'll be right back." You urged her as you bent over to pat her shoulder to let her get back to work.

"Cleo?" Bully asked as he came when he heard her voice.

"Oh, hi Bully, sorry to just um barge in, my dad accidentally mailed your mom something, I just came to get it before um, any of you got it." She admitted.

"Oh, I could um, I could help you find it, if you wanted some help." He offered.

"Please." She readily accepted his help as he sat down next to her, but in front of the other box while you handed them a third to put the sorted mail into.

"Here, just, all the ones that either should be ignored and either used as kindling or whatever, put into here ok?" You offered.

"Thank you so much Aunt Bella." She thanked you.

"You're welcome Sweetie. Of course, you're also welcome to go through these from the comfort of a couch or perhaps a table and chairs too." You invited.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." She thanked you as she got to her feet and grabbed the box she had been looking through while you grabbed the one box while Bully grabbed the other two and led the way to the living room where you put the boxes on the tables for them to sort through as you let them have a moment of privacy at least as you tried not to grin too schemingly.

"I'm so sorry about this, really. I just...don't know what my dad was thinking, putting this stupid thing in the mail is all." She excused as she immediately knew just by the color of the envelope who was her family or not while Bully handed her every other envelope of the same colors while he organized the rest by color of the envelope.

"It's ok. I agree with my mom on this one. I'm happy to help, I just didn't want you or literally anyone else to think that I chose my mom just for the money or the status either. She's been my mom even before she was old enough to have kids herself. And it was the woman who birthed me, keeping me from making her my mom before I could. None of us knew about the bail money either. It wasn't until Clan Chieftess Jaseeneh announced it that we knew anything about it. My mom didn't even know until the announcement either, our Dad didn't say anything to us about it before. My mom even went to those women before the battle and tried to give this and everything else she had over to them in exchange for me and my siblings and that greedy thing wouldn't even be satisfied with that. So, I get it. I don't want people thinking I chose her as my mom only after I knew she became someone. I chose her as my mom years ago when all she was, was my grandparents cook and babysitter. And she chose me and my siblings even after my father died and I was - in a single moment demoted and practically abandoned by everyone else except by her and her family." Bully revealed in a low murmur as he kept his gaze down at the letters, ignoring the names, just sorting by colors, handing all the pristine white letters over to her as she just smiled fondly at him.

"I guessed as much. I saw the way you cleaved to your true parents when you first came to Avlar. Before it was known who any of you were, I could tell she was your mom because of Abrahieem." She smiled as she blinked away some tears before they could fall as she felt incredibly humbled that he would reveal that much to her.

"Abrahieem?" Bullard asked as he turned his head towards her.

"Abrahieem was a forefather to the Mountain Blizzard Clan and it's said that his seven daughters birthed the seven clans. But, he's the one that domesticated the first mammoth. He said that he didn't choose his mammoth, that the mammoth chose him. Because most people when they look at mammoths, they see a really big food source. But, with him, it is said that he saw his mammoth and saw his friend. And his mammoth looked at him and saw her friend too. Here in the seven cities, you don't pick your mammoth the way the Thunder Herd can pick a horse, the mammoth chooses their rider. And that bond can last decides and usually at least 3 generations. It happens with ice wolves too. And being an orphan isn't really that big of a deal here because often, the kids can and do find their own parents, one way or another. And we simply call the phenomenon after our forefather, Abrahieem. So if you've known her as your mother for so long, tell people that, tell them she's been your mom since the first moment you felt that way and it will be accepted as such and not questioned. And don't worry about what anyone else thinks. You know the truth and the truth is all that matters. And the truth will prove out, it always does." She explained.

"Thanks." Bully smiled with a nod and simply went back to his stacks of letters in his hand as it was Cleo who now seemed reluctant to continue on her search as she seemed to look at what she thought was just a boy only moments ago, and realize what kind of man he seemed to transform himself into right before her eyes as she then began to question whether she should really be there at all and wondering of it was too late to make an offer with her own hand. Because while she could tell he was just as young as she was, he seemed much wiser beyond his years. And it wouldn't be nearly as bad as she feared if he were to find it and agree. She could suddenly see herself being betrothed to him and actually enjoying the experience.

"Well, it doesn't look like it's in this box. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll find it. I was just as panicked as you are when I saw all of these, it's a lot all at once." He mused as he set the now organized letters back into the box and began to reach in and try to take the different colored envelopes out of the box she was now slowly going through.

"Exactly. It's so embarrassing. I can't believe he would do this, after the battle and after the feast too. When you already had so much on the line, not just yourself, but your parents and your siblings." Cleo tried to regain her former train of thought.

"And then at the feast, to have my grandmother basically announce to everyone in the seven cities that you guys are practically the richest family in the whole seven cities, it basically put a bounty on your head and the heads of your siblings, especially your mom. Even now, my own dad is gunning for her, as if my own mother and my other five step mothers aren't enough for him. As if another wife will make him any happier, but she's spiritually blessed, and that's all he seems to care about. It's not like he's not sitting on a fortune himself either. And if he can't have her, the fact that he's throwing myself and my sisters at you, is just...so embarrassing and humiliating. And it's nothing against you, obviously, you're a great guy and really nice and really humble and sweet. It's just, the fact that he threw this in here with everyone else. It's like he's stooping to everyone else's level and I thought he raised me and my siblings to be better than that. And at least give us a chance to get to know you on our own to see if we could even be friends, which we are, there's no doubting that." She admitted as she seemed to have difficulty finding her words as much as she was finding her father's letter.

"Then I'm doubly grateful for choosing my parents, because so far, they're both just out to protect me and my sisters and my half brother." He admitted with a lopsided grin.

"Exactly! That's the way it should be. Don't for a single second- think that they're just being over protective either. They are really doing you one hell of a service. Heck, I'm half tempted to adopt your mom as my own if it'll get me out of this." She admitted before you came back with two cups and a teapot of tea before she took them from you.

"Oh my goodness, thank you so much." She thanked you as she found her feet and helped you sit before she served you a cup of tea along with Bully and then herself, which you couldn't help but notice she had the same- ceremonial, ritualistic like movements with it.

"Thanks." Bully thanked her and drank the tea before he grabbed another huge handful.

"Any luck?" You asked.

"No, not yet." She shook her head no.

"But if you are up to it, I would like to ask you a few questions." She mentioned hopefully.

"If they're about the gifts you saw in the arena, let me give you some answers. I've had those gifts for about 2 years. They were actually given to Bully's uncle by a series of mages along with other blessings and because I was, at the time, the resident babysitter, I went with him to get those and when he wasn't happy with how strong they were, the mages, spitefully transferred them to me and they will not leave me. Otherwise without them, I don't know how to fight or to train another. And those spite blessings threaten to kill everyone around me when I use them. Which is why I keep them locked up inside me as much as I do." You listed off.

"Oh, well, thank you for that, but I actually wanted to ask you questions about how you are liking the scents of the perfumes and incense." She politely deflected.

"Oh, those, they're great, they smell awesome." You readily reassured her.

"But now that you brought it up, why did the uncle seek the blessings?" She asked curiously.

"Because his father and his other uncle died when a peace negotiations with another clan did not go well and resulted in a war where his father, Bullard Senior, and his other uncle Myles lost their lives trying to free slaves from Iron Mammoth, Berserker and Infamous Hand. So that left his remaining uncle Yar to seek any blessing he could to protect his family and his clan from another attack and another war with them." You specified.

"And my dad was my Grandfather, the Clan Cheif's eldest son. And I was his eldest son." Bullard supplied.

"Oh, oh! Oh I am so sorry for your loss. Sometimes I forget that other clans do not live as peacefully as we do. And for that to happen when you all were still so young, I can't imagine how badly that affected you and especially your siblings." She offered to Bully.

"Thanks." He smiled politely with a nod but wouldn't look up and into her eyes, just kept his eyes fixated on the letters in front of him.

"I take it you don't like talking about it?" She guessed.

"Not really, no." He shook his head no.

"Well, if you do ever want to talk about it, I'll be there to listen ok?" She kindly offered.

"Thanks." He smiled politely and just kept trying to focus on the letters.

'Bad time.' You tried to mouth to her when she looked sympathetically from him to you.

"I'm happy to see Ori doing so much better. I was really worried about her when she left. She barely looks like the same baby." Cleo offered as she did her best to change the subject.

"Thanks. She's turning out to be quite the stinker." You smiled happily as you pat her as she reclined in the sling and continued to play with her toy and coo at you before there was another knock at the door.

"I'll get it, you should sit and rest Aunt Bella." Cleo immediately offered before she practically bounded up off the couch and gathered up even more mail that had just been pushed through the mail slot before she noticed that her father's letters were in the special basket high on the door, where the first class mail usually got put into before she grabbed it all in her hand and opened the door before she saw two White Rock girls on the other side.

"Can I help you?" She asked them.

"We are here to see Double Vizsla Bully. We have a very important matter to discuss." They insisted as they tried to push their way in before she pushed them back.

"The fuck you do! Do you have no manners? What is wrong with you? Charging into the house of a Double Vizsla without being invited in!" She yelled angrily before you and Bully immediately found your feet and practically ran to the door.

"Oh shit." Bully said the moment he saw who was there as he immediately wanted to shrink back.

"Bebe! I need you!" You called to Belinda as you were pulling Ori out of the sling to hand her off before the girls saw Bully.

"Bully Baby!" They called to him and tried to push their way in but with Cleo looking over her shoulder and seeing the fear and dread in his face, had her pushing them back out of the door before she shut it and bolted it just as Belinda and her sisters came to get Ori from you.

"What's going on?" Bebe asked.

"Gold diggers. Get Ori and get your siblings out of here and away so Bully and I can deal with them." You urged her.

"Cleo, thank you so much, but Bully and I have to deal them honey, how about you go with Bebe ok?" You urged her.

"No. They disrespect you and your house by assuming they can barge right in. Since Zorroushku is not here himself, I insist on staying. They need to learn to have manners and respect, especially with you and your family." Cleo insisted.

"Cleo, please, I really don't want you to have to witness this." Bully begged her desperately.

"Bully, you are not in White Rock anymore. You're in Avlar, and here in Avlar, we do not tolerate any disrespect, especially in either word or deed. They literally broke the law about trying to gain entry into this house without invitation, it does not matter if you're a child or an adult here or who you are or what you are, it's a rule for everyone." Cleo insisted as she pressed a button by the door that locked the house.

"Cleopatrahnah, please, I am begging you, please go with my sister. I really, really do not want you to see or hear any of this." Bully insisted as tears were already forming in his eyes.

"Bully, I'm sorry, by principal alone. You're family to me by Aunt Bella and Uncle Zoku, and I will not have either her or you disrespected, because if I do nothing, I'm seen as condoning it and I will never stand for it. Tell me how I can help, please. Or else I'm going to have to press this red button on the wall and that will call the police to arrest them for what they've already done." Cleo insisted as she looked pointedly from him to the button on the wall before he moved himself between her and it and started shaking his head no, while exclaiming as much.

"Girls, go on." You urged Bebe before you closed the door from the foyer to the rest of the house, locking you in with Bully and Cleo.

"Mom, no, come on, please." Bully begged you.

"Bully, when someone offers you the very help you need, even when your own pride insists that you don't, you take it. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith." You urged him as you brought your hands up to his face to wipe his tears away.

"When Zorroushku and his dad and his brothers came to get me from White Rock, it was a very, very intense moment and it felt like I was being ripped from my family and my friends and my home. And Bully was just as powerless to save me as he had been to help his dad two years prior. And in a moment of need, he sought comfort. And found it in apparently those two girls out there, that had once been after him before his dad died, and then once his dad did, they dropped him like a hot rock. And only permitted themselves to give him comfort for a price. It seems they are back, asking for a bigger and better price." You tried to delicately explain.

"Oh, ok. It's a Fuhn-Lah, I got this." Cleo nodded in understanding and opened the door before shutting it behind her and locking it in the process before you found the door to the stone screen so that you could still watch and listen to this exchange.

"Madness?" You whispered curiously.

"What?" Bully asked.

"In Ragesh, Fuhn-Lah, it literally means claiming madness. Like when someone is going crazy, that's what you say about them. Unless the meaning of the word changed." You breathed as you moved to listen in to the exchange.

"First of all, how dare you presume you are welcome on this front porch without a formal invitation. It is illegal to push your way into the dwelling of another here in Avlar. Secondly, does your matter really have so much urgency that you can not practice the rules of decorum? Does everyone in Black Wolf White Rock Clan have as much dishonor as those who perished in the arena this morning?" Cleo demanded angrily at them as she used her daggers in her hands to point at them.

"You come to the house of the Double Vizsla Belladonna, with the audacity to demand an audience with her family without a gift? And without the decency to ask nicely and respectfully? To do otherwise is to court dishonor. How dare you! I am outraged you show such little decorum and respect for the very ground you are standing on. Look around, do you see anyone else acting so presumptuously or cavalierly?" She challenged as she pointed to the others on the street who were stopping to stare at this spectacle.

"Who are you to talk to us that way?" They scoffed.

"It doesn't matter who I am. I am a citizen of Avlar, and I am holding you accountable for your actions. My own honor and sense of justice demand that I do. Now, if you can keep your voices down and behave properly, you may state your business here, and I will inform the house of your reason for calling." Cleo insisted as she held her daggers down at her sides, before the girls came forward.

"We are here to hold Double Vizsla Bullard accountable for his actions. He got us pregnant, we are here to demand he make honest women out of us and marry us." They demanded before Cleo raised a disbelieving brow.
"Are you aware that this matter has a name? It's Fuhn-Lah. And this is not the procedure and custom of calling Fuhn-Lah. For matters of Fuhn-Lah, first you must write to the matter and set up an appointment. Because to approach a household with Fuhn-Lah without an appointment, is then considered Jahowl. And comes with much higher stakes and harsher outcomes. When did this happen?" Cleo calmly asked.

"Only a couple of weeks ago. We are due for our menstruation and it is late." They grinned defiantly.

"No, it is only when a woman misses two menstruations completely that she goes to test to see if she is with child. And it is only when she feels the first kicks of the quickening that she can inform the other party if they are not already within a union themselves. So you are premature in that respect for both Fuhn-Lah and Jahowl. Secondly. You choose today of all days to bring this matter to light? You did not care to bring this to light before the Double Vizsla Bullard became a Double Vizsla? You malign him and his honor and show your own filthy greedy intentions by coming forward now." She challenged.

"It wasn't until today that we knew and this is the first opportunity we've had to approach him, these things are delicate, we needed to be sure." They insisted.
"Really?" Cleo questioned disbelievingly.

"First of all, the Double Vizsla is still considered a minor. And will be as such for another 5 years at the minimum. So that means that you actually need to bring this matter up to his parents. And neither of you barely look old enough to have double digits in your age, and aren't even considered sub-adults by the age of 10 and full adults by 12. Which means- that your own mothers need to bring this matter up to Double Vizsla Belladonna and Double Vizsla Zorroushku. And by Avlar law, they do not have to give you anything or do anything. They do not even need to recognize the babes, should you actually be pregnant with them." She informed them evenly.

"Secondly, because the Double Vizsla Belladonna, by birthright- is of the Dowager Clan Chieftess' family, this concerns the entire High Formal Clan Family. And you can not bring this matter up without someone of equal status outside of the Clan Family, which means you must go to your own Clan Chief and his family and inform them and they must make the entreaty on your behalf, if they see you are so deserving. Because as far as I can see, the Black Wolf, White Rock Clan is dropping members left and right. Look to the challengers, Not only did they lose all ties with the Clan Family, but the Clan itself. Do you really think the Clan Chief and his family would permit you to dishonor them and their clan on this account? And to do so right when they too had the honor of their own clan put into question? How could you presume to think that doing so would bring you, or your clan anything other than dishonor and bring into question the validity of your claim? Or the purity of your intentions? The Double Vizsla, has on standing order, the entire military force of all the seven cities. And you are just two younglings. Do you really think your own mothers can fight off the entire armies of the seven clans before they would ever get to face off against the Double Vizslas?" Cleo challenged and tried not to grin too victoriously when fear began to bloom in their eyes.

"Also, it should be known that the Double Vizslas have already answered a challenge of Shiro Katzu in the arena today and proved victorious, which is the most serious challenge anyone can call and out ranks both Fuhn-Lah and Jahowl. Which means they are immune to any more for the next year. And it also means that any who challenge them or any member of their family, will be executed upon any other kind of challenge being called. No matter what the reason for it is or what kind of challenge it is. So because you misused the time you had to bring this matter to light when you didn't feel it was advantageous to bring it to the fore before, means you have one year and one day before you can bring this matter up again. And even then, your own parents and your own Clan Chief and his family must bring it up for you and must be ready and willing to battle in the arena for it. And should a clan call for the arena two years in a row, it is seen as a mark that the entire clan is dishonorable. Are you really ready and willing to do that? You must carefully think it over and consider it. Because it's not just your lives, it's the lives of your family and your clan at stake." She reminded them before they seemed to shrink back.

"Or there is another way." She informed them before they seemed to move forward again.

"What is the other way?" They asked.

"The Truthsayer. My other grandmother is a truthsayer. She has a guam jabvhar, a needle tipped with the most lethal poisonous venom. One prick can kill a clan of tens of thousands. A drop? Can kill hundreds of thousands. You place your hand in the truthsayer's magic box. The box will give you both a pain a hundred times worse than any childbirth. And she asks you various questions. And in front of the seven cities, you must answer the questions, each one more embarrassing than the last, so that every sin you have ever committed comes to light for all to see, your intentions made clear and evident. And it is impossible to lie. But even then, there are many outcomes to this. None of them will be what you want though. Because at best, you will be humiliated, at worst, you and your babes can die." Cleo informed them evenly.

"But still there is yet a third way to settle this. And that is to sell yourselves into the slavery of the Double Vizsla's house. But to do so, means you must work your way up within the household staff. But it would ensure that your children are close to their father, even when you must be servant and he remain your master. But I suppose all marriages are slavery in most senses. But that is if they will buy you and if they win the auction, because once you intend to put yourself into slavery, everyone in the seven cities has the chance to bid on you and buy you outright. And once a high bid is made, it must be accepted, no matter who bid it. Because you will no longer have any say so in who you go to and what work you will do. And, again, it's a very large if, if the Double Vizslas will win the bid and if they will accept your service. I have seen thousands of girls and young women do that, and then get sold to others who then took them out of Avlar and never returned. There are always slave traders in Avlar, who are eager to buy up any pretty young girl to sell to distant and older warriors as wives that way. I have seen too many girls your ages sell for as little as a single cube before. And others sell for as high as a single brick. And the rate at which you can work off your own freedom again, may not happen for decades." She warned.

"But you should know, that it is impossible for a Double Vizsla to marry anyone who had been a slave in the last decade before they married them. So that option, you're looking at fifteen years. Because it would take five years for the Double Vizsla Bullard to come to the age of full inheritance and responsibility. And it would take another ten years after that for you to gain your freedom before you would be eligible to marry him. So you must ask, is it worth your own slavery and service for the next fifteen years at the bare minimum? And that is if everything goes perfectly and in your favor for you. And by a miracle, the very slave traders who are on that street corner right there, do not hear this and buy you out right this instant." She pointed before the two girls snapped their hands with a gasp and balked at the grotesque figures in question and tried to hide behind Cleo before she pushed them to stand away from her.

"Do you really have nothing else to do with your life? Is this the only way to preserve yourselves? Because it's either fighting to the death, or possibly working yourselves to death. And even then your children would never be able to call you mother while you are a slave, if they are to call Bullard- father. Otherwise, it is better to either end the pregnancy, or if you can not or would not, give the children over to the orphanage, and hope that the Call of Abrahieem would have your children find their father when they are old enough to look for him on their own. Those are the only ways forward for you right now. You are free to talk to anyone else, there are councilors, who charge a brick of salt per half hour to council others, but they are usually booked out several months in advance even for that and it takes at least a hundred bricks, that's a thousand cubes to cut the line and only get five minutes of council. But this is the council I can give you now for free. Otherwise, you better have either money or salt in hand to do otherwise." She explained as she gestured down the street where one of the councilors' house was.

"Um, actually, we..." One of them began to stutter as she looked to the other.

"We are mistaken. We have nothing to offer as a gift and can not make any challenges. And do not wish to court such dishonor and disaster. {lease, give the Double Vizsla's our apologies for unknowingly being rude. We did not know the custom here, and we mean no dishonor or disrespect. We will not seek their faces again, and I um, I actually feel my menstruation coming in, right now, so if anything, there is nothing here to worry about or concern any of the Double Vizslas or anyone else with." The older of the two tried to offer before she pulled herself and her friend away and in the opposite direction the slave traders were.

"Thought so." Cleo grinned at their backs before she turned around and was greeted with you opening the door for her, since you had been listening through the stone screen behind the wall.

"Very well done, thank you." You thanked her.

"You're welcome, thank you for letting me help." Cleo smiled happily.

"They apologize for their rudeness and are mistaken. And will not bring it up again for the consequences are too great even for them to pay." Cleo informed you and Bully who had just sank to sit on the floor with his head in his hands.

"Hey, it's ok. Don't worry about it, ok? They're just greedy girls, out to stake the first claim is all. They weren't even as bold as I've seen others be with my own father. This is like, nearly a daily thing for my own mothers and all my aunts and stuff, nothing to be embarrassed about ok? It's ok. I don't think any less of you ok?" Cleo reassured as she crouched down in front of Bullard.

"Yeah, but if they were really my babes...." Bullard tried to argue.

"There were no babes, I saw the blood dripping down on the ground under them myself and I could smell it from where I stood. They were literally menstruating like normal right as they were talking to me. There are no babes. But it's sweet that you would want to care for them, if they were. That's more than my own father and uncles and brothers and cousins do, even when the babe is literally born and is the spitting image of them. In Avlar, we make big talks and speeches about honor. But it's just that, it's talk. We're still people just like everyone else. You know what my Dad says about every orc my age?" Cleo prodded as she knelt down in front of him.

"What?" Bully asked as he wiped his tears away with his shirt.

"That ages 6-10 were made for making mistakes, especially like that. And that any orc who doesn't, isn't an orc at all. Congratulations, you're normal." Cleo tried to offer comfortingly.

"But my father taught me better than that. As did my mother." Bully retorted as he looked from her to you.

"We tried to. But Honey, you're still young and you're still learning. I know your dad thought courtly love was the best and highest form of love and he tried his best to teach you that, but Honey, even he fell short of it. Not only did he fall short of it once, he fell short of it three times over. So for you to do it just once, is actually pretty impressive. And I know you've gotten a lot of scares recently, but maybe they are just that. Scares. And meant to keep you acting right and humble ok?" You urged him.

"I just...I doubt Dad has ever had to deal with any of that." Bully murmured before Cleo raspberried a snickering laugh.

"Oh, oh no, no, according to both of my parents, my aunt Shanarra instituted the traditions and the customs and rituals of both Fuhn-Lah and Jahowl- to the way they are now. Back in the day, before she had Zorroushku, it used to be, if any woman claimed another sired her baby, if there had been sex at all between the two in the window of conception, it was just a given that the woman would be added to his house and her kids to his kids. But when Shanarrah became Clan Chieftess of Thunder Herd, she changed it. If there was ever a case of rape, of course, the rapist always had to give everything he had over to who the rapist hurt. But in the case of other girls seeking to get in the Clan Chief's family early, that's when she got my mom and my grandmother involved with Avlar as our services as Truthsayers, to prove the intentions of the one claiming birthright. And according to my dad, he and Zoku were only three when the first claims came in, which is why they are called Fuhn-Lah, which means "madness, and lunacy" and Jahowl means 'imprudence, rashness and foolhardiness'. Because to make such claims was seen as just as foolish as jumping off a mountain, expecting not to fall, which was ridiculous. Which is why Sharnarrah, together with her mom and my dad and my grandpa and everyone else, enacted the challenge rules and then enacted the enslaving procedures as deterrent." She recounted.

"In fact, the reason, just six houses down, the Slave Masters live on the corners of every street, especially in the nicer neighborhoods, just to keep this kind of thing from happening in the first place, because Slave Traders are allowed to approach anyone who even utters those words. And with how loud I said it, they were interested and were going to approach if I had signaled them. And it actually led to a lot of birth controls being used in the seven cities to keep this thing from happening in the first place. No one else in Thunder Herd or the seven cities would dare do that to you or any of your siblings either. They know better. Think of those girls just making a last ditch effort to try to lay their claim to your family's fame. That's all it is." She reassured him as she leaned her folded arms over his knees to dip her head down to look at him and keep his gaze.

"Plus, in Thunder Herd, they have another solution. The father is given first dibs. It's why my uncle Silug has so many slaves and servants. Because Crowthu will not risk the clan honor in the arena. And in order to keep himself and his family out of the mouths of the gossipers, he just buys whoever my other uncles fuck for them. In fact, Silug and Winug, they will outright just go up to any girl they want, who is even remotely pretty and claim they had already slept with them and wondering when their babies will be due. So they've had many who fight the fact that they ever laid together at all, and will fight to stay out of it. And if they are ready and willing to fight, usually that is enough of a deterrent to keep them from getting their way. I've seen too many beautiful girls get injured, fighting guys like them- off. Which, also, sadly says quite a bit about them." Cleo expounded with a sour expression before her face softened to one of reassurance once Bully looked up at her again.

"So if you're worried about your dad judging you or thinking less of you, he has no room to talk. If anything I think he would be proud of you for your attitude and willingness to do the right thing. I know I am. If anything, I think he would tell you all the secrets about how to never be in this situation again. And how to protect yourself and any and all brothers you have now and in the future. Zoku may be older, but he is very wise and has been around enough and seen enough go down, that he will prefer to save you the heartache and teach you the lessons, without the pain of going through the ordeals yourself. It's going to be ok. Trust me on this. Your mom chose your dad incredibly well." Cleo reassured him.

"Well, thank you for handling it the way you did. I obviously didn't know anything about that. If I did, I would have handled it myself." Bully admitted.

"I know you would have. And you will in the future. Heck I have a half brother who is 11, who is still counting on his mom to handle all of this for him. The fact that you're only 8."

"I'm seven, granted I'll be eight in a few months, but yeah, I'm still seven." Bully corrected.

"Oh, ok. Wow. Seven, still, you're handling this at 7, with more maturity than I've seen 14 year olds handle it with." Cleo offered.

"Don't let this get to you. And don't feel embarrassed that I was here for it. If anything, I'm honored I could be here for it and could help defend the family's honor." She smiled happily before she found her feet and dusted herself off.

"Ok, well, thank you for your very generous hospitality, and thank you so much for letting me do this, but I need to return these to their rightful owners." She excused herself as she grabbed the letters by the door and then went back to get the others.

"Do you want me to single out any more that I find?" Bully asked as he followed her.

"Yes please." She nodded before she bid you and him goodbye and left with her bundle of letters in her arms as she walked over a single block to where her own home was, her hot tears pricking her eyes as she came to her home and the doormen opened the door for her.

"Where is my father?" She asked the butler.

"He's in the gardens, Lady Cleopatrah." He answered.

"Thank you." She marched to the garden in question and found her father sitting at a table with some wine and chitchatting with her mother who was tending to the trees in the garden before she marched up to him and dumped all the envelops onto the table.

"How dare you! As if they haven't been through enough today! You and everyone else in the family dump marriage proposals onto the Double Vizslas, is your hunger for power really that insatiable?!" She roared at her dad.

"And how could you sign off on it? I'm seven! I still have three and a half more years before I would ever have to deal with this shit!" She screamed at her mom as she pointed to her mother's handwriting on the letter in her hand.

"They have had enough! They do not need us lusting after their wealth as if we don't have any ourselves! How could this be seen as anything but a bribe?! There has to be thousands of double bar bills in here!" She stomped her feet before her parents simply looked at each other in confusion.

"Cleopatra, did you actually open it and read it?" Mahati asked.

"...I didn't need to, they had boxes and boxes of them in their entryway." She shook her head no as tears continued to stream down her face.

"How about you just open it and read it for yourself then." Mahati calmly urged her before she began to take her gloves off as Kann went ahead and opened the others curiously before he couldn't help but hum a small laugh to read that everyone else had done what he had done before Cleo used her dagger to open it and then sink down into the other chair as she read the note that was wrapped around the stack of bills.

"Oh no. I'm...I'm so sorry. I...I thought when you said you wrote to them after the feast, I only assumed..." She humbly apologized to her parents when she read that all the money was being offered to Bully and his siblings, since they risked the most in the arena that day.

"If you thought that we had offered your hand in marriage, why didn't you say anything to us?" Kann asked his daughter.

"I just...when I heard the High Lords begin murmuring to their daughters and say that they would send offers to the Double Vizslas for them and when you said that was a 'good idea' just as you were wrapping this money out right at the table as mom wrote the note. I just assumed you did too." Cleo admitted.

"Shit, I fucked up. I imputed bad motives and brought shame and dishonor on our house, I'm so sorry." Cleo apologized as more tears fell from her eyes.

"Honey, why are you so upset? Usually this kind of thing isn't that big of a deal to you." Kann asked.

"Because when I was there, two more bitches from White Rock tried to Fun-lah and Jahowl- Bullard Junior. And he was even more humiliated and modified than I was. But Uncle Zoku wasn't even there, and he has not been teaching them Avlar ways or customs, they didn't know any of the proper procedures or customs. And so, out of a sense of honor and duty, I intervened on their behalf to them, the same way Ming Veh does for Shu-Fae. Thankfully they rescinded but still, poor guy, he was just sitting there, on the couch, just trying to sort through three cases of proposal letters for himself and his sisters from all of the seven cites, but mailing this first class, it just, was overwhelming to them." She recounted.

"I see." Kann nodded with a scheming grin he moved from one to the next and began to make sure they were all the same.

"I fucked up." Cleo repeated before she let her head fall into her hands as she cried into her palms.

"How?" Kann asked as he got up and took the seat next to her, instead of from being across from her as she reached out and used his shoulder to bury her face into as she hugged his arm before he put the letter down and pulled her into his embrace and kissed the crown of her head affectionately.

"I...I was so desperate to keep myself and our family from being seen or viewed as desperately grasping for new wealth that I basically told them that the most I would ever want to be is their friend and nothing more. If I had just let them open this on their own, they would have been that to me regardless. I shouldn't have interfered or panicked when I saw you hand the note to the mail carrier." She admitted.

"And now that I see the truth of the matter, I feel so stupid for jumping to the worst conclusion. And now I need to go back, but there is nothing that I own that could ever be good enough as a gift to face them again." She admitted.

"Honey, you're family to them, you don't need a gift to see family." Kann reminded her.

"I do though. Especially to make up for the scene and spectacle I made in front of them. How am I even let out of the house- not on a leash is beyond me." She grumbled as she looked at her little sister, on her tether to her mom to keep her from climbing the tree too high that her mother was pruning. .

"It wouldn't bother you this much if you didn't care." Kann reminded her gently as he now put the now opened and read messages into stacks.

"Yeah, that's...that's the problem actually." She huffed.

"How is it a problem?" Mahati asked as she came over to prune the tree nearby, gently nudging the growing fruits as she did so.

"Because he's...he's only 7 and he handled the Fuhn-lah with more maturity and grace than men twice his age usually do. And most boys his age only care about being with their friends and trying to fuck their way through the seven cities. And he's nothing like that. He's...he's so sad. He's already lost his father at five. He lost both the mother who birthed him and was threatened to lose his second set of parents today and he faced such things with more calm and conviction than slashes do in their second and third battles. He's never known peace yet he has poise and calm in his nature that's just...so unnatural yet..." She struggled to find the right words.

"Attractive?" Mahati supplied.

"Yes! Why is that attractive? He isn't the most handsome..guy. But being with him today and learning more about him, he just...he became instantly so much more attractive and it had nothing to do with his status or the setting or anything. It was like he was content just to be with his family, whether they were in a palace or in a shack. Whether they were clothed in silk or burlap. Like the only things he cared about was his sisters and his mom especially. And he was even worried what Uncle Zoku would think of the Fun-Lah, and worried about Uncle Zoku thinking less of him because it happened period. Like uncle Zoku wouldn't have tales and tales about Silug and Winug alone." She admitted as she said her other uncles names with a sneer as Mahati and Kann both blinked in surprise.

"Cleopatrahnah, firstly, I would think you would know me well enough to know that I would never betroth you without your knowledge, much less your consent, let alone for you to be so young too." Kann began as Cleo had to begrudgingly nod.

"And I wouldn't stand for it either. I'd get you to the closest colony if that were the case." Mahati insisted.

"But also, I'm happy you were there and could intervene on their behalf since Zoku isn't there, he's still out and dealing with the challengers and their homes, cleaning them up and cleaning them out before they are sold and will be giving all the proceeds to Bully Jr. to divide among his siblings evenly too." Kann informed her.

"Oh." Cleo frowned.

"You didn't do anything irreparable, if anything, I think you gave a good impression because now, Bullard Junior will see you as one of the few girls who isn't after him for his status or wealth, which he will once again have to start to suspect every girl who shows an interest in him from now on. So you actually did yourself a favor." Mahati reassured her daughter as she moved the anchor of the tether from her wrist to a hook in the ground before she moved from one tree over to the next.

"But it also means I shut myself off from him ever expressing any kind of interest in me and that I can't express any in him either, not for...who knows how long now." Cleo pouted.

"Hun, you're 7. I know every day still feels like a small eternity to you. But trust me, give it like a day or two and it will blow over. It always does. And soon, both of you will feel and act like today never happened." Kann comforted her.

"Come on, let's go see what we can do about all of these letters and things." He offered as he gestured to the table that had all the letters spread on them as they both began to recollect them.

Meanwhile, you were just happy to get a break and get a chance to breathe to be back at home and settle in as you finally got the full tour of the house with your kids, all of you discovering it as you went as you noticed the plants from the abalone shells were starting to shoot their identification leaves as you wondered what they would grow into before Belinda informed you that you had a library and surely there would be books telling you about the plants before you went and did just that.

"How did he get a hold of a dragon heart tree? That doesn't grow anywhere around here, it's from another continent!" You wondered aloud as you identified the first one in amazement as the kids shrugged but pet the plant and it's silky soft leaves affectionately.

"This is clearly some kind of citrus, but whether it be orange, lime or lemon, I don't know." You murmured as you compared the leaves to the book.

"But this, I can't find the leaves anywhere in here." You realized as none of the leaves matched anything. In the book, and you had never seen a tree like this before in your life.

"Maybe it's something new." Bully Jr. shrugged.

"But if it's new, I wish I could know if it was safe or not, or poisonous." You worried.

"My Father wouldn't give you something that was dangerous to us." Becina urged you.

"True." You agreed with a nod and a sigh, wishing you could know what it was. But it would just have to be a surprise- you supposed.

Despite the feast for lunch, you grew a little hungry for dinner and made something simple for dinner as the kids talked about anything and everything else other than what happened in the arena as it seemed they seemed to be collectively relieved that it was over.

"How scared were you guys about it?" You asked them.

"Very." Belinda readily answered.

"Because after we lost dad and our place both at home, and in the clan changed, we were scared that the same thing was going to happen again. And we were scared that you weren't going to be able to rescue him when you already had your hands full. Or that he wouldn't let you intervene at all." Belinda expounded.

"Oh, Darlings. I wish I could have known so I would have told you that Zorroku is a very accomplished warrior. I've fought beside him against an entire pack of wolves when we were going to Thunder Herd. It was just me and him. And he was scared about me and had me up in a tree. But he didn't know about me and so was able to take my bow and arrow and strike all but one down. I let him have one. But he started out fighting off three and he was able to keep them at a good distance until I could get the others. He's able to hold his own pretty well. And obviously you got to see it yourselves. When he comes home, ask him about it. He'll honestly tell you about how well and for as long and how well he's trained. Granted, when he was younger, he was a bit more reckless, but just about every warrior is at that age. But when his mom died, he was only your age Bully. So he knows what it's like to suddenly go from favorite son, to ignored, and then to protect his own sisters from his own step mother. So if anything, if there was anyone in all of Thunder Herd, or even anywhere else that could sympathize and empathize with you about your losses and struggles and fears and anxieties. It's him. He's 19 for crying out loud. For orcs, that's like he's my Dad's age actually. But he doesn't really look or act too old does he? I mean he's certainly mature, but not..he's not the kind of old that weakness and feebleness starts to creep into." You tried to explain.

"Yeah, it was just...we just had to see it for ourselves is all. I think I spent the whole thing holding my breath and under Bully's arm as I both wanted to watch but hide my face every time any of them looked like they were going to land a hit." Belinda admitted.

"Oh Honey, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have spent more time assuring and reassuring you or had him spend more time with you guys. Maybe tomorrow or even the day after, we'll have a chance to do that, ok?" You offered.

"Ok." They all nodded before the girls seemed to tease Bully Jr for so many girls his age practically batting their eyelashes off at him through the whole feast as Bully was rightfully embarrassed as he tried to toss back that every boy his sister's age seemed to try to do every embarrassing stunt to get their attention too. And how Zorroku's little cousins seemed to be the most attentive to them personally during the battle since Kakazi's little sister Cleo, which was short for Cleopatra, wedged herself between Bully and Brode.

Which surprised you to hear. Especially when one of the younger ones was upset by the violence, only to have Kann get after him for being so sensitive and that he needed to 'man up'. Which had upset you, but it warmed your heart that Caruna asked for the little boy to stay with her and keep her company as she chose to sit, with her back to the booth, so that neither of them could see it unfold and stayed side by side. Caruna was only three and the same size and mental maturity of a human 6 year old. And it broke your heart that she, even being so small and so young, still used her 'power of influence' to help another.

"My Loves, I want to tell you something and I want you to listen closely ok?" You proposed.

"What is it Mama?" They asked.

"I want all of you to be proud to be who and what you are, ok? You should absolutely take pride in the fact that Bullard was your father when he was alive and even now that he's not with us in person anymore. And I want all of you to be proud that Grandma Bula and Grandpa Khagra are your grandparents ok? But I also don't want you to feel that without them or without me or even without Zorroushku as your adopted dad, that you guys don't have any other identity ok? All of you are your own persons, no matter who birthed or sired you. And while you are my kids as sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, you are still you. Do not let your own instinct for survival diminish any of your own identity. I want you to be proud of who you are and what you are. And be able to take pride in yourselves as individuals and in this family. Don't let who I am, wherever I am, and who Zorroushku is, wherever he is - and what we may eventually be- dictate your worth as an individual ok? Because to me, I will always love you all unconditionally. I will always love you as my own. And I will do everything I can to teach you, to protect you and help you grow into the best versions of yourselves that you can be. You all are the most important people in my life. Because we're family, whether we share blood or not." You insisted somberly as they all seemed to nod their heads in agreement.

"And unfortunately, all of you know how quickly status within the clan can be earned, gained, or lost in just moments. And I know you all felt helpless when your father died and then resentful when Grecko and his two sets of twins were promoted and you were demoted, through no fault of your own, when you were already grieving the loss of your father. And then to see and hear your own mothers mourn their loss of their own status more than they mourned the loss of your father was horrible. Hell, I was even angry and bitter to them over that." You readily admitted.

"Which, you were the only one he really loved like that. And for us, that's why we came to you, because you were the only one we could mourn with, when it felt like everyone else moved on so quickly." Bully admitted before you reached up to hold his cheek in your hand and wipe the tear as it dripped down his cheek.

"I know. And I'm sorry I couldn't do more then. But I will never discipline you for wanting to reminisce about him. Which is why I will always treasure you and everything he ever gave you and gave me. I miss him too. Even now, I wish he could have been there today to fight beside me too. The way he trained me to, and the way we used to." You admitted as tears came and even fell from your eyes as they all came around you and hugged you, which you were grateful for.

"But just because he's gone, doesn't mean we have to hold onto his memory so tightly, that we miss out on making new memories now. And I love it that Daddy knows what it's like to lose someone and how unfair it feels when it feels like everyone else moves on so quickly and you feel like you're still stuck where you are. I feel like we've all been stuck in limbo for the last two years. But now with you and with Daddy, it feels like we can finally get back on our feet and close that chapter of our lives, and even close that book of our lives and open a new one with Daddy and Ori. And I love it how he'll still talk about Medowne and his mom and do so- so respectfully and he treats you so well and gives you every respect and dignity. It's so much easier to accept him when he accepts us just the way we are too." Belinda confessed.

"Me too. I feel the exact same way. I'm so happy he treats me as well as he does and treats you guys as well as he does, because if he could not accept you guys as my kids, I'd kick him out. Because if I have to choose between him and you guys? Oh no contest, you guys win every time. And I'm so happy he doesn't make me choose either. He is happy and content with as many or as few kids as I am. But I still want you to know that when I get a chance to really marry him and have more kids. That none of those kids will replace you guys ok? And I will not love them more than I do you guys. That's impossible. I felt like my love multiplies with every kid I have." You readily assured them as you hugged them and tried to kiss everyone's cheeks.

"We know Mama. We love you too, more than anyone else, even each other." Fabu smiled happily as he cleaved into your side as his comment made you and the kids giggle a little.

"I know, but siblings teach us patience and they teach us to share, and they teach us how to be kind, and how to be brave and how to protect each other and protect ourselves. And they make the best wrestling partners right?" You prodded with a giggle as they giggled too.

"And I know, today, you were all scared and stressed that Zorroushku was going to meet the same fate that your first father did. And because Zorroushku is his father's first born son, there's that unspoken expectation that if he survives his father, he'll be looked to to be the new Clan Chief. But yet, because he doesn't actively seek prominence, so I don't want any of you to act haughty or put on airs, ok? Just be honestly and authentically yourselves. You guys know that when those spite blessings come out, how little I can have control of myself and I become just as much of a spectator that you are, but Zorroushku promised that even if that were to happen that he would protect you, even if it's from me when those spite blessings might take over." You explained.

"Really?" The kids asked in astonishment as they pulled away a little to look at your face.

"Yeah, really. So that fills me with assurance and faith and trust that he's going to be a really good Dad to you guys. Because to him, you're his kids just as much as you are mine. And he knows what it's like to be adopted in name but not in practice and he'd rather be in practice than anything else. And as long as you guys can see that he is trying so hard to earn your respect just as much as he has earned mine. He's also trying to earn your faith and trust too. So while it's good to test out to see if someone is trustworthy or not, it's also good to let people have what they've earned too." You encouraged them.

"Agreed." They all nodded in agreement before they pulled away and sat back down and began to eat with renewed vigor and calm as that seemed to ease the tension they had begun feeling.

"I want all of you to enjoy your childhoods and not let the pressures and expectations of the future to leech any joy you may take in any other thing in your lives ok? You guys are only kids once and these few years are very precious and are pivotal to build what you guys will be like as adults. I don't want to miss anything. I felt like all of you grew and changed so much when I first went away. And I know you guys were scared for me when I did. And I know you guys felt just as powerless as I did when Crowthu and his sons came to White Rock. But as we have seen, they're not so bad. And hopefully from now on, we will never be at the mercy of anyone else. Or ever be disrespected either."
"Nope." The kids practically giggled gleefully.

"Granted we have our place in Thunder Herd and in Mountain Blizzard, but I know we will always have a place and find welcome in White Rock too. But I want us to be able to find a place anywhere. And not feel like we can only live and only survive or thrive in just one place ok? We technically can go anywhere we want. And I know at the unity celebration, many will be coming from far and wide. And they may try to tempt you into convincing me to go with them and talk themselves and their clans and their homes up into something spectacular. And it may be that they're selling us dreams that are only possible if we build it ourselves." You gently cautioned them.

"I don't care if I have to spend the rest of my life in a tent or under the open sky. Anywhere that you call home, is my home too." Bully Jr. insisted before his siblings were quick to agree.

"Likewise my Darlings. Anywhere where we can all call home- is home. No matter how great or how humble it is." You smiled happily before you started talking about what life both here in Avlar and in Thunder Herd was going to be like. And how you were going to be getting them their own yurts to interlock with yours so that they had a space of their own too.

Once you were almost done eating dinner, did Zorroku return, with receipts in hand as he had stopped by a place to pick up fried dough balls, called 'doughnuts' rolled in honey and sugar and sweet spice for the kids that he put down on the table, next to the bread in the bread basket, which you and the kids were eager to quickly grab one and pop them into your mouths.

"It's all done and taken care of." Zorroku informed you as he laid the bundle down next to your plate and then washed his hands and then got a plate and went around the kitchen to fill his own plate with dinner and returned to your side at the table.

"Thank you." You thanked him from around the sweet bite of dough as you looked at the receipts for the transactions and then slipped each one to each child to keep.

"Thanks Dad." Junior grinned when he saw the receipt and put it away in his wallet as the girls looked at their receipts with pleased grins as Fabu just looked at the receipt curiously as he was still trying to do the math on it to make sure he was learning such a subject correctly.

"Thank you Daddy." The girls cooed happily before they put the receipts into their wallets in their little purses and continued on eating, happy to simply accept the sum and move on with their lives. As if they finally got to close that particular chapter from that book and continue on with a new one with you and Zorroku as their dad.

"You're welcome." He smiled back at you and them as he grabbed one of the doughnuts and popped it into his own mouth and ate it before digging into his own dinner in between answering all the questions all the kids had for him about how and where he had learned to fight like he did, which Zorroku was happy to answer and satisfy their curiosity. As well as agree that in the morning, he would and could start training all of them, which they were happy to learn before they were happy to wash their own dishes and set them to dry before they left to play.

"So I take it, it took a while to get those places cleaned up." You noted as you stayed at the table with him as you looked at the page with all the totals, including the cleaning fees to clean them that was part of the cost in 'settling' the estate before it could be sold free and clear.

"Yeah, once we started looking, there was just...all kinds of filth tucked away to keep it looking "decent" to the average eye. But I think I found out why those guys paid as much as they did for "art"." Zorroku murmured.

"Was it lots of women in the nude?" You guessed with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah. They had closets and bed drawers full of it." Zorroku snickered as he visibly shuddered.

"And of course, once we found it, most of the other guys all came and crammed in and grabbed it and that's where you see so much money for all of it "selling" for as much as it did. But it left them only to practically take their shirts off to cover it so they could transfer it to their own homes. Which was hysterical." He recounted as he laughed harder at the memory.

"Did you bring any of that home with you?" You asked.

"Hell no. I don't want or need it, never have either. Because a picture is just that, a lifeless picture. Nothing compared to the real thing. Plus, the real thing usually isn't shared and passed around as much as cube bills are." Zorroku shook his head sharply.

"True, I used to feel sorry for such girls who posed for such art, but with Grecko's wives, I got to understand that while children should be protected from it, how for others, it's the only way they can get a release and it saves women from more violent and brutal individuals who don't know how to treat women with respect, dignity and care." You murmured as Zorroku seemed to be impressed with such a line of reasoning.

"True, have you ever seen any of it?" He asked you.

"What do you think?" You asked.

"Ok, I honestly don't know." Zorroku admitted.

"Once Yar's "medicine" started working and once he overdosed himself, and his muscles grew but his manhood shrank, that kind of art was all he could get his hands on and the only women who would share a bed with him were painted on paper. Yar is... a connoisseur of that kind of art. But then he would commission some himself. And what he commissioned, no living mortal would ever survive having a body that disproportionate." You revealed.

"Ooh, ew." Zorroku grimaced.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Cleaning up after it is usually the grossest part of that." You admitted and that's when Zorroku nearly spit out his food across the table and it was his turn to choke and sputter as he was both disgusted yet found it comical.

"Oh that's so gross. Did you have to do that?! Or was he at least man enough to do it himself?" Zorroku questioned.

"Oh, psh, I did. Because to Yar- 'washing was women's work' remember? Plus, why do you think all those mothers chose to take a bundle of laundry from the bed? They were trying to conceal their son's shame and preserve what was left of the family honor." You reminded him.

"I...it's been so long since I was that young that I had to have my mom do my laundry, I forgot about that." Zorroku just shook his head.

"And I bet your mother guarded your laundry very jealously, the same way Bula has Bully's boys since birth." You mused.

"She did, until she taught me why and how to deal with it myself. Something that Yar especially needs to learn to do himself." Zorroku nodded with a bashful grin as his cheeks got darker but fond at the memory before you grew more somber and reached out to simply hold his hand with your own to bring his attention back to you.

"I'm going to need your help with Junior when it comes to things like that. He actually had two girls come while you were gone, they were here for 'Fun-lah' and 'Jahowl'?" You repeated as Zorroku's eyes got wide.

"Are they still here?" He asked worriedly.

"No, your niece Cleo was here and dealt with them, she was here reclaiming a letter her dad apparently "accidently" mailed to us. Considering the three boxes of proposal letters I had gotten the letter with, it's safe to assume it was that kind of letter. And she didn't want us thinking that her and her family were like that apparently. But because she was already here, she insisted she help deal with it and she handled it way better than I could of, I didn't even know that Fuhn-Law and Jahowl was a thing. Apparently your mother put them into place once you were born and you had something similar when you were three?" You recounted.

"Yes, yes I did. I wasn't even two when the first women approached my mother to offer their daughters to me as wives. My mother defended me and my right to choose on my own very zealously. And then when I was three, that's when the first girls tried to come forward that I had sex with them, which I didn't. And that's when my mother really went on the offensive with Fuhn-lah and Jahowl. And soon, it ended up backfiring, because it meant no other girl wanted anything to do with me once the first ones got sold into slavery. Then, it was very much a- I couldn't pay any girl to be seen with me, for fear of my own mother and what she would do. And when my mother died, and Yotul became Clan Chieftess, that's when Silug and Winug took Fuhn-Law and especially Jahowl and instead of having it as a protection, they used it as a weapon. And that's when my dad practically outlawed Jahowl in Thunder Herd and instead put Alaman into effect. Now, it's just like the way it was, if any girl comes forward to claim Fuhn-law, it's not even questioned and simply put into effect.

"There needs to be a middle ground." You frowned.

"There does." He nodded in agreement.

"Malawen. It means 'peaceful haven'. It could mean whatever needs to be done to reestablish peace between the two parties." You realized.

"Malawen, perfect." He grinned.

"But otherise, I'll talk to him and help him understand how things work both up here and in Thunder Herd." Zorroku offered.

"And me, I need to know it too." You insisted.

"Of course." He nodded in agreement.

"Since Bullard Senior died, poor Bully has been through the wringer. First he has had his old mother tell him that he was the most important person in the clan, and he's been told since birth he's special, for no other reason than he was Bullard's son. And then overnight, when we lost Bullard, Bully found out the hard way how quickly things can change and instead of feeling and knowing he was special, to learning that without Bully's presence, his position went from the most important person, to the least important in the clan when that attention shifted to his infant cousins. And I fear his own sense of self worth was centered and hung by that. And now that we've adopted him, specifically, you, the fact that you're your father's first born son by your mother, I'm worried he'll get resentful of any of all interest he may receive because of that. And I'm worried he'll also think that because he's my son, that the same expectation to be a Double Vizsla by my Grandmother, he's...I'm worried he's more fragile than he lets on and I'm worried he won't know who or what he is without any of that. Like an animal caught in a snare, that lashes out at everyone. He guards his sisters better than any watchdog. And I'm worried that he will guard them so possessively, those girls will feel like they can't breathe. And I worry that they'll feel smothered when they're not feeling overwhelmed in the first place." You murmured.

"I'll talk to him about it. Maybe if he can understand that he doesn't have to guard his sisters all alone, that I'm there to help share the load, and help him realize that he is his own person without anyone and everyone else, that will help him feel more comfortable in his own skin. I know once Yotul adopted me, I was resentful to her because she was the biggest thorn in my mother's side. And then she had the audacity and presumed that, just because she adopted the twins, that she could discipline them the moment they made any noise. That's why they are still so quiet. Because she spanked them for making any other sound than laughter when her sons told jokes. And her daughters aren't much better, which is why I too, guarded my sisters as much as I have and why talking in Ragesh has been a small act of defiance and rebellion. Because it was something my dad approved us to keep my mother alive in our memories. Because Yotul sought to cover up and bury all memory of my mother once she took her place. So, I get it. I really do." Zorroku reassured you.

"Thanks Zushku." You thanked him as you shared a small, sweet kiss.

"Oh and that reminds me, I was going to go back to the restaurant tomorrow, I told the Head Chef I would come and bring my recipes and trade them with his and show him how to cook the new ingredients. The peaches specifically." You offered.

"Ok, that's fine. If you're going to be doing that, I'll take the kids to the recreational and training complex. The boys especially will enjoy the rougher tumbling play and the girls will get to at least socialize and they'll get some training if they want it." Zorroku offered.

"Thank you." You thanked him sweetly just as he finished his dinner before he went up and washed his own dish as well as yours so that you could put the prepared food away into the ice chests before you went to relax with the kids in the garden on the roof.