A/N: Sorry about the gap between updates! Hope you enjoy the chapter, thanks for the reviews and please review again!
"Thanks so much for doing this, Mum" the look of relief on Melody's face was plain as she shunted Akkarin, Korsten and baby Marcella towards their grandmother, "We really need a break"
"Of course, darling. And you need your rest -your father's coming to visit tomorrow, remember, he'll want to play with you and the children"
"As if I'm still a child myself. Yes, I know" Melody rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, "Thanks. Marcella's been sleeping through the past couple of weeks, not that I think it'll last, so you might get away with it, Korsten's still having nightmares-"
"Mu-um!" the six year old boy whined, glaring up at his mother with wounded eyes.
"It's only Nana, Korsten, dear, you would have told her anyway" Melody pointed out gently, stroking the golden hair that he'd inherited from Aurelia, "Now, do be good"
"I'll keep him in order" said Akkarin with all the bossiness and authority of an oldest child. Melody grinned.
"I know you will. Now, come here for kisses, the pair of you-"
"For God's sake, Mellie, it's one night! It's not like I haven't looked after them a million times before" Aurelia exclaimed, half laughing, half exasperated, "Come on, boys. Grandad Dorrien can't wait to play tag with you, it's the highlight of his week"
Melody laughed as she waved off her mother and her children, Marcella cooing into Aurelia's face. She shut the door with a loud sigh of relief, and turned to face Lorkin, all the worry and tension and stress of a young mother flowing out of her at the sight of his smiling face.
"Better?" he queried, and held up the bottle of Anuren dark that he'd swiped from the cellars of the High Lord's Residence especially for that evening, "Because if not, this will help"
"Much better" she confirmed, and reached out to grab the bottle of wine from him, "But this will help even more"
He held it out of her reach, "You can have it if you kiss me"
Melody raised her eyebrows, then grinned again, "Why don't we just forget about the wine?"
"You know me so well"
"What the hell is going on here?"
Yena jumped away from Arius like she'd been hit by heatstrike, and Arius quickly held up his hands as though in surrender. Osen glared at the pair of them from the doorway to the High Lord's Residence.
"You told me you were with Rothen, Yena"
"I was with Rothen...then I was with Arius" she replied sheepishly, looking up at her father with big brown eyes and hoping that they would ensure his forgiveness. They did not.
"So you lied?"
"Not exactly...well, yes. Daddy, I've been meaning to tell you – "
"What's going on?" Sonea appeared, joining her husband in the doorway, "Oh, hello, Arius. Do you want to come in?"
"No, he does not want to come in" Osen snapped, glaring at Arius, "Sonea, I think our daughter was about to tell us that she and Arius are a couple"
"Oh, how lovely! I always said it was only a matter of time" she beamed at Arius and Yena, then put a hand on Osen's arm, "Leave them be, dear. They're happy. Better than her going off with someone we don't know"
"He's older than she is!" Osen hissed, eyes wide with horror, "Please tell me you don't agree with this?"
Arius and Yena shared an uncomfortable glance. Sonea sighed and smiled at her husband.
"Only by a couple of years. You're older than me"
"That's different"
"Only because you still see her as your little girl" Sonea remarked, voice gentle, "She has to grow up sometime, Osen"
Osen turned back to the tense young couple and spoke through gritted teeth, "Come in, Arius. You may join us for dinner"
Yena's eyes flashed with surprised delight as she grabbed Arius' hand and drew him into the house behind her parents. He grinned back.
"Well done" they distinctly heard Sonea whisper to Osen, and they squeezed each other's hands.
Melody opened her eyes, squinting against the sunlight coming through the window. The sound of voices had woken her, voices outside the door, and then several loud knocks. The knock came again as she woke and sat up in bed. She'd been draped across her husband, the both of them naked, and when she tried to stand up she found that the sheets were a tangled mess around her legs. Lorkin, amazingly, still had not stirred. Stumbling to her feet, Melody pulled a night robe loosely around her and went to the door.
"Mellie!" Dannyl stood on the threshold, beaming at his daughter, with Rothen by his side.
"Daddy!" Melody exclaimed, opening the door wider, "You're early! And Grandad! It's so good to have you back"
With a rush of colour to her cheeks, Melody realised that the two men were staring at her in something like horror and distaste. She pulled the robe tighter around her and reached up to tidy her hair, which she realised with mortification was a complete bird's nest from the activities of the night before.
"Where are the children?" asked Dannyl, trying to peer round her, "They usually run at me"
"They're with Mum. She looked after them last night"
"Ah" Rothen's eyes were suddenly twinkling, and Melody realised it was because Lorkin, still shirtless, had appeared behind her, hair ruffled and eyes heavy with sleep, "Good morning, Lorkin"
"Morning" Lorkin mumbled through a yawn, "Morning, Dannyl"
Dannyl was too busy gaping at the dishevelled couple to say anything. He whirled around quickly to face Rothen.
"I think we should go and see the children. Aurelia and Dorrien won't mind. Wouldn't it be nice to see them?"
"If you like" Rothen shrugged, and winked at them both over his shoulder. Her blush darkening, Melody winked back.
Dannyl stayed for three days before confessing to them that he didn't feel it was safe to stay away for much longer – apparently Tayend had been involved in several antics with a hammer and he was more than a little terrified about what he would come home to. It was when he was in Rothen's rooms gathering his few things that Rothen junior approached him, head hanging and looking shyly back at his encouraging grandfather.
"Hey, Roth" Dannyl greeted him cheerfully, "Come to say goodbye?"
"He needs to talk to you" said Rothen senior, voiced seeped in meaning that Dannyl didn't understand, "I'll leave you to it"
He departed the room. Rothen looked warily up at Dannyl.
"Grandad thinks I should talk to you. I don't want to bother you"
"No, it's...okay" Dannyl sat, confused, and gestured to Rothen to do likewise, "I just don't know why he would suggest me. I'm no good with problems. Your mother's excellent"
"I can't really talk to her about this"
"If it's a male issue, your father's pretty good at problem solving too" Dannyl offered up hopefully, sensing that this was a rather big and potentially embarrassing problem. Rothen shifted in his seat.
"It's a very male problem. That's why I can't go to him" he hesitated, and looked down at the floor, "I'm a lad"
Silence fell. Dannyl stared at Rothen, then sighed heavily, his face etched with sympathy.
"I see. You're sure?"
"Yes. I'm in love, too" Rothen summoned the courage to look at Dannyl, "He's not a lad"
"Ah. I know the feeling" Dannyl could feel the young man's pain and wished he could think of something to say, "I'm sorry this has happened to you. You have to keep it a secret, Rothen, you mustn't tell a soul. The amount of trouble you'd be in..."
"I know. I've only told Grandad and you" he paused, "And Yena"
"But that's all?"
"Yes, I swear"
"And Yena won't say anything?"
"Not Yena" his voice sounded thick, and his eyes were wet when he looked at Dannyl again, "There was a moment, when I told her, just a second, when she was...when she was disgusted with me. I saw it in her eyes. She flinched away from me"
"People do" Dannyl replied gently, "But the ones who really care about you accept you for what you are and keep all your liaisons a secret. Look at me! I've still got a family, even though I am what I am"
"But you had a child, with Mum. No-one will ever suspect you after that. What about when I get to your age and I'm still unmarried and I've got a man living in my home? What will people say about me?"
"It doesn't matter what people say, Rothen. As long as you never give them proof, you'll be able to live a normal life. We'll all accept you. We're all your family"
"You think Dad will accept me?"
"Of course I do. Once he comes around to the idea. And Aurelia – I mean, your Mum – she'll understand. Of course she will. You're her son and she loves you"
"I'm just worried about what people will think. What they'll say"
"None of that matters. Not a single bit of that matters unless you're happy, Rothen. And you can't be happy unless you tell the people you care about who you are. That's just the way happiness works"
"You'll support me if they get angry?"
"Of course I will. I'll support you all the way" he grinned wryly, "Looks like I'll have to leave Tayend alone with that hammer for another few days to help you out, eh?"
A smile of relief settled on Rothen's lips, "Thank you"
"Okay. But if I get back to the library and all I find is a pile of rubble, I blame you. Deal?"
"Deal"