Seeing the newborn foal and filly brought a genuine smile to Selina's face, and she slowly walked over to them offering a hand to them as one one a new pony when meeting new people. Alisha. always so bright and full of energy, seemed ready to run right over to the young unicorns and greet them, but at a glance from her mother, she slowed her pace and extended her hand as Selina had.
"It is nice to meet you Onkei and Kiseki." the half elf said, her voice soft and friendly.
The warm moment was broken by the mystery of the day however. Alisha, being young didn't really see the point in her aunts words about Tassana. She was Grandmother, who loved and took care of her family, no more no less. Selina, however, knew Callia was right. The elf had known the kender for many years, enough that even a bit of age would have stated to show. It hadn't. Tassana looked the same age she had when Selina had stepped into the inn so long ago, sick and injured.
Tiger was immediately endeared to Selina when he ented the inn. He was older, yes, but his light-heartedness and stories about Tass and the others were so interesting. As she listened to the stories, she found herself wanting to ask questions, to know more of these people so close to Tassana.
"Yes, I'm Saegle's wife." she confirmed to Tiger as the kender kissed her hand. As she said this, her eyes fell on the demigod and were full of love. She turned back to Tiger. "You are also right about my heritage. My Father was a Silvanesti Sorcerer; my Mother a Kagonesti Pathfinder. But in these 60 years, Tassana has been Mother and friend to me."
She looked over at Tass in surprise, when she explained about Tiger.
Alisha too was surprised. Curious as always, she broke the silence in the room. "How's that possible Grandma? How can Tiger be younger than you?"
Tassana whispered a word of magic. A chair came from the floor under Tiger. The elderly kender giggled as he was lifted off the floor into a sitting position. "Golly, Tass. You always do things like that. Hey, Selina, did I tell you about the time when Tass jumped off a cliff and called to Brightsky here to catch her?" he asked.
Not waiting an answer, he continued, "There we were, me, Gail, and Tass. I told you about Gail Silver, right? She was a human about your height. She had hair the colour of a raven's wings and eyes the colour of a glacier. She was Tass's best friend..."
He stopped a moment and waved a hand to Selina. "So, there we were, sitting on a cliff outside the Vingaard Mountains. We were traveling to Neraka to meet with Tass's betrothed, Garthalas Kalinysas. He was a Qualinesti elf. He and Tass grew up together in Qualinesti and agreed to marry one day. Which they did. I heard it was a pretty wedding, but I couldn't go because the guards in Palinthas wouldn't let me leave. Apparently they thought I stole some treasure from the Lord there, even though I told them that I couldn't help it if his stuff kept jumping in my pocket.
"So, there we were," he said, starting it off again. "Gail and Tass were talking about Tass's unicorn pendant that she got from the Forestmaster. Gail kept telling Tass that it was probably worthless and probably didn't even work. So, Tass decided to test it. She ran right off the side of the cliff and took the pendant in her hand. Me and Gail were very worried. She kept calling for Tass and crying. Then WHOOSH! This large pegasus came flying out of the sky and caught Tass in midair. It was Brightsky. And ever since, he hasn't left her. Said she was too accident prone to be left alone... whatever that means..."
Tiger started to prattle on, but Tassana stopped him. She placed her hand lightly on his shoulder. "My dearest friend. I don't think this is the time to start talking about the past," Tassana said.
The elderly kender looked at Tassana forlornly. But, he did stop talking. The seemingly younger kender looked around at her friends and family. "Alisha asked me how it was possible that Tiger is younger than myself," she started.
The kendermaid sighed and whispered another magic word. A chair came from the floor under her. "I suppose living among dragons, elves, drow, pegasi, and other magical creatures, one seems to forget the aging process. See, the problem is, kender are supposed to age much the same way that humans do. For whatever reason, the gods have been kind to Tiger. He should've died of old age years ago. As for myself..."
"You haven't aged at all," Callia finished, astounded.
The kendermaid nodded. "You are correct, my daughter. Since my twentieth lifeday, I have not aged. In fact, I can still produce children even."
Saegle's eyebrows wrinkled. "How do you know that?"
"I have done so, my son," Tassana told him. "I have a son named Arisoon who lives with his father. I had him not too long after Selina had Alisha."
