"Hey dad. Guess what day it is?"

The girl looked down at her father from above. He blinked.

"A day when my youngest daughter will let me sleep in?"

"Has that ever happened?"

"I live in hope."

Robin shifted in the bed to look at an indentation and sighed.

"At least you didn't wake your mother."

The girl nodded.

"She's making Marc do his birthday exercises. I finished all of mine already!"

"And Kjelle doesn't sleep anyway, even when she's home from... so that… birthday."

"Yep!"

Robin shook his head.

"Fifteenth birthday."

"Uh-huh!"

"Which means that starting tomorrow, you'll be off at boot camp assigned to squire for someone, and I'll be able to sleep again. And today…"

"Today's the big birthday! Gifts! Not home cooked meals! Morgan coming home to visit! Gifts!"

Robin rolled his feet onto the floor and stood up.

"You know, I'm going to miss you when you're gone. After all these years, it's going to feel lonely without psychotic yelling at all hours of the night, all my spellbooks left on the floor in a scattered pile, loud fights in the hallway…"

"Fatherrrr!"

"Sorry, Lin. So, what's for breakfast, and has your mother touched it?"

"Only for eating. It's bear! Everyone's favorite taste treat! Come on! I know they'll save some for me, since, you know, birthday, but you might have to stick with the table scraps if we don't hurry."

Lin dashed forward to ensure her father's place at the table. It probably was just part of being old, but he never seemed to have as much energy as she did in the mornings. Or the afternoons. Sometimes the evenings.

But he was still her father, and that meant he still deserved top class breakfast. Lin skidded to a stop at the table and snatched a prime slice onto her father's plate before grabbing a larger share for herself.

Mark paused in his tracks when she arrived, his fork halfway to his lips.

"Hey Lin! Guess who finished all fifteen pushups in new record time?"

"I don't know. I finished my fifty too fast to notice."

Sully glared at Lin.

"If both of you start that crap again on your damn birthday…"

Lin gulped.

"Sorry mom!"

"We weren't fighting!"

"Good. Because we've only got about an hour before we have guests over, and I haven't seen you two in a fight that takes less than…"

Robin stumbled into the room and landed in his seat.

"Gods, this looks good. Lin, Marc? Did you remember to thank your mother?"

Marc finished lifting the bite to his mouth and chewed.

"What for?"

"Because when this fine meal arrived, she had the power to render us happy or miserable quite easily. After all…"

Robin winced. Lin didn't need to look down to know where Sully's boot was. Her father only made that face when something hit his shin perfectly.

Robin's face slid closer to normal before he continued.

"After all, your mother is a wonderful and patient woman, and we're all very lucky she's willing to put up with so much abuse from you."

"Damn straight."

The meal tumbled along happily for a while. Lin fought with her brother over the best cuts whenever Sully looked away, Robin read some new book of tactics between bites, Sully talked about what she expected from her new recruits, and what would happen if her own daughter failed to live up to standards (it was already a given that Mark wasn't up to all of them, and she'd come to accept that.)

It ended with a knock at the door. Robin was almost out of his seat when Lin vaulted the table, slammed down the hall, and smashed the door open.

"Sister!"

Statistically, it was the safest declaration to make before actually looking to see who was outside. She had three of them, after all, and they all were going to arrive sooner or later, barring unforeseen circumstances. Saying a name, or worse, saying someone was her favorite, risked bad targeting. Not a mistake an amateur tactician wanted on her record. Especially with a little brother watching. He'd remember and use it against her at first opportunity.

"Lin."

"Lin."

Lin winced at her error. She should have used a plural. She corrected the mistake immediately.

"Kjelles! It's great to see both of you. How have you been?"

Judging by the fresh scar on her oldest sister's face, busy. Nasty one, even by her standards. Half an inch to the right, and she'd be down an eye.

Lin didn't like to think about what could have caused it. Kjelle the elder was a walking fortress, nearly six feet of armor and muscle. As a pure fighter, no-one Lin knew came close. Someone who could hit her, even once? It was either an army, or a dragon god, like the one dad never wanted to talk about.

"Fine."

Or something she would never bring up. As usual.

The younger Kjelle wiped her curved sword on her longcoat.

"Well, the Captain had a duel with princess Lucina. That was fun to watch."

The older Kjelle smiled.

"She's learning. Unlike SOME recruits."

"Some of us realized it's better not to get hit in the first place, ma'am. I know you think boys love scars, but I'm not interested."

Lin smiled.

"You're seriously missing out. Just so you know."

"Somehow, I'll manage. How's the birthday been treating you and Mark?"

"I've been doing fine. I think Mark is glad you've been gone."

The younger Kjelle shook her head. Her hair whipped past her shoulders and briefly blocked her right eye.

"Lin, I trusted you to take my place while I was gone. If he couldn't deal with me, he's going to break the second our beloved eldest sister has him in her power."

Kjelle the elder smirked.

"He'll live."

"Only because you won't give him permission to die."

Lin stepped aside and followed her sisters back to the dining table.

Robin was already looking to them.

"New scar?"

The younger Kjelle rolled her eyes.

"Captain thinks they look good on her."

"We don't waste healing on scratches."

"Captain doesn't want her hubby to think she needs the help."

"I don't."

"Captain doesn't want the troops to see her getting all goopy with him. Why we're banned from the concerts."

Kjelle glared daggers at her younger counterpart. Robin coughed and turned to the younger Kjelle.

"So, how have you been? No scars, at least?"

"No. Not that the Captain hasn't been trying, but I know my limits. I'm doing fine. Severa made Flight Lieutenant. Of course, it's easy for her to excel. SHE only has to deal with her older sister once a year."

Kjelle the elder ripped a hunk of meat off the table.

"She leaves her right side open on every third charge."

"For, like, a second! Ga… This isn't about us. It's about our small and questionably sane little siblings. And I brought gifts."

She reached into her pack and pulled out two packages. One flew across the table towards Mark. The other flopped into Lin's hands.

Mark tried to lift his gift and almost crashed into the floor. After a few seconds, he staggered back to the table and opened it.

"Training weights. Thanks?"

"They're lighter than the usual. Just what you'll need to get started."

Lin had ripped her gift open the second it reached her, but waited to actually show it until every eye in the room was back on her. Pause for impact, and…

"Oooh. Pretty! Like, terrifyingly pretty. Expensively pretty. I am pretty sure I am in debt from just looking at it in all its blue and purple glory."

The younger Kjelle smiled.

"It should take a beating, too. Severa helped pick out the colors. And the design. I just made sure the armorers could do their damn jobs. It's heavier than I would have picked on my own, but you mentioned heavy cavalry last time we talked…"

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

Lin hefted the plate and experimentally poured some juice on it. They even enchanted the collar to clean itself!

She turned to look at her sisters.

"Is this a cheap ploy to become my favorite sibling? Because this is a good start, but I am still accepting bribes from any other contenders."

Robin glanced from over his book.

"Lin."

"I'm just being honest, father! I thought you always said…"

Sully glared. Lin's mouth snapped shut faster than she previously thought possible.

Robin smiled.

"Well, I hoped we could wait a little longer for gifts, but if we're competing for affection already… we did put something special together for you and Mark."

Mark stopped trying to lift the weights off the table and snapped to attention.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Robin flipped another book out of each sleeve and passed them to his two youngest children.

Mark gaped.

"A real official hero king's tactician manual with hero secrets of heroic… WOW!"

Robin nodded.

"I saw you yawning when studying some of the older manuals we had. I asked Owain if he could help with a few revisions."

"Owain wrote this?"

"Well, co…"

Robin looked at the shine in his only son's eyes, and sighed.

"Yes. Owain wrote it."

"This is the best! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

"Be sure to thank him too, when he gets here. Morgan said she might be a little late, but she wouldn't miss this, if I know her at all. Oh, and speaking of the devil…"

Lin looked down at her book.

"Wait. This looks a lot like…"

"It is. One of my old campaign manuals, as dog eared as ever. Morgan did a few revisions of the older strategies on Chon'sin's troop formations. I thought it was only fair, since she's the one who made those strategies obsolete."

"Really? Neat! Thanks, dad. Are there any other compliments you'd like? I mean, you're my favorite father already…"

"Seeing the two of you happy is reward enough. I doubt I'll ever see it again after Captain Kjelle is through with you."

"I'm chipper and energetic, dad. I'll be fine. Just worry about Mark."

"Oh, you say that now."

Kjelle the older shook her head.

"We'll see."

She reached into her pack. Two bronze swords clattered on the table.

"One for each of you. They're new."

Lin grimaced.

"Bronze swords. Thank… you?"

"You're welcome. I'll be inspecting them every morning. If you can't maintain basic equipment, you can't be trusted with anything valuable. I expect the same standards of every recruit."

"No special rules for family?"

The younger Kjelle leaned back in her chair.

"Family gets to work even harder."

The older Kjelle glared.

"Special treatment says you need special treatment. That you're not worth my time. I expect better from both of you."

Mark gulped.

"Err… you know I can hardly…"

"I. Expect. Better."

Mark made the sound of a small mouse surrounded by dragons, and hid behind his new tactical manual. After some consideration, Lin matched his movements. Say what you would about him, his panic reflexes were only second to Yarne.

Lin could feel Kjelle glaring through the cover. She started turning pages. Even Kjelle's glare had limits, and three hundred pages of footnotes provided a lot of protection. Somewhere around a discussion of the surprising tactical utility of the Welkin beetle, she stopped feeling the terrifying and judgemental force of sisterly authority washing over her body.

Kjelle raised her voice.

"If you have the time to…"

"Can't hear you! Studying tactics!"

"You learn better when they're applied!"

"Still can't hear you! Different learning styles! All valid!"

Lin felt a brief surge of discomfort shaking across the pages. Kjelle's glare apparently had highed intensity settings. And, given pending events, she'd get all the chances she could want to see them.

It passed with a sigh.

"You've spent too much time talking to Morgan."

Lin and Mark had their books. Kjelle had her armor to polish, Kjelle had her weights to work with. Everyone had what was left of breakfast. It wasn't exactly idyllic, but it could pass for it in a pinch. You could taste the calm.

There was no way in hell it was going to last. Lin started counting down from 100.

She barely hit 86 before she heard the trumpets. Robin nodded to Sully and walked to the door.

"Chrom is not going to be a in a good mood. I can't imagine that he wanted a royal procession to visit a few of his closest friends."

The older Kjelle frowned.

"New trumpeters. I thought they were bad before. Compared to this…"

The younger Kjelle sighed.

"They're fine. You're obsessive."

"I have standards. It's not my fault other people refuse to apply them to themselves."

Lin was about to say it sounded fine to her, when she remembered what it sounded like when Kjelle and Brady played. The trumpeters didn't measure up. Not many people ever did.

Robin was almost to the door before the Kjelles stopped sniping at each other, and opened it before Sully stepped in.

"Chro...m."

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint you, father!"

Lin vaulted her chair and dashed for the door. Uncle Chrom was fine, of course. She always appreciated time with him. But she could afford to wait to talk with Uncle Chrom.

The visitor was a different story.

"Morgan!"

Robin ducked out of his youngest daughter's way as she charged forward. His older daughter smiled and leaned over to rub Lin's head.

"Lin, AKA backup Morgan! How's the big day and the small brother?"

"Both fine. How are you?"

Morgan shrugged and gestured to the trumpeters.

"It's been going well. I figured Kjelle must have done something really impressive while I was gone, so I thought I should probably just go along with some of the official stuff. Oh, watch this!"

Morgan blew a raspberry in one of her escort's face. The woman in the robe didn't blink.

Morgan nodded.

"See? Completely disciplined."

Robin shook his head.

"Nothing like you, then."

"Empress Say'ri trusts me way too much for her own good. It's unreal. I think I could actually start a war with Valm right now if I wanted.."

Lin's eyes went wide.

"Wow."

Morgan looked down at her younger counterpart, and the weight of her responsibilities seemed to briefly cross her mind.

"Which I wouldn't want to do. Because starting wars is bad, and, really, you shouldn't take me as a role model. Or, at least you shouldn't use me as a role model without asking some very important questions."

"Like 'would it be fun?'"

"Exactly. Except you shouldn't say that in front of father. Father, you didn't hear any of the whole discussing starting major military campaigns for fun, right?"

Robin smiled.

"Morgan, despite your best efforts, I still trust your judgement."

"I can't believe I ever thought you were smart."

Lin was about to respond when she felt her brother's chin digging into her shoulder. Mark looked out past Morgan, past the Chon'sin's royal guard, to the distant horizon.

"Where's Owain?"

Lin nudged her brother off her shoulder.

"Morgan's here. She can…"

Morgan held up a hand.

"He's coming. This is Ophelia's first time in Ylisse. He's helping her get to know her ancestral homeland. She'll need to know everything about it when we launch the coup d'état."

She winked at Lin.

"I'm expecting some pretty serious fifth column work from you come the day. Remember, compliance will be rewarded come the new order."

Lin skewed her face.

"I'll need to have some policy questions answered first. What kind of puppet government is Chon'sin planning to set up? Because I'll want at least fifteen or sixteen fancy fake medals on my uniform. Maybe a title like 'Divine Hand of the Gods, Whose Will is To Be Obeyed Without Question.' Or something."

Morgan nodded.

"A woman after my own heart. Which makes sense, since we have basically the same heart."

Morgan sniffed the air.

"So, out of respect for that, you'll probably want to step back in Three. Two. One."

A life's experience with Morgan and Owain meant that everyone was well away by 'thr'. At zero, the ground lit up, the air filled with smoke, and everyone's ears rattled with a yell fit to shatter glass.

"BLOOD OF HEROES!"

"BLOOD OF DARK GODS!"

"THE SKIES CRY OUT THEIR LEGACY!"

"THE EARTH BOWS TO THEIR GLORY!"

"OWAIN!"

"OPHELIA!"

"HEROES OF THE DARK, UNITE!"

Owain and his daughter stood together, their hands in an intricate pattern that probably had a very long story behind it. They were trying their best to look intimidating, which was bad enough with Owain. A ten year old girl trying to intimidate people who were just in a room with Captain Kjelle, terror of the Ylissean royal guard, was the punchline to a very stupid joke.

Morgan smiled.

"We're all very impressed and/or terrorized. Good effort!"

"Of course. The dark knight of Ylisse, the avenger of…"

"Last time you teleported, you hurfed up your lunch all over. It would have killed the mood you were going for."

Owain drooped.

"Did you have to bring that up?"

Morgan gave him a basic look. Non-family might take it as an apology. Family knew better. The closest available translation was 'You know me. That means you know I had to, and you might want to thank me for not going with a more embarassing story. I have dozens.'

Owain nodded.

"Well, OWAIN AND OPHELIA stand undaunted in the face of adversity! Let storms come! We return to Ylisse with greater fury than the heavens could ever offer! For BREAKFAST AWAITS!"

Mark lifted a finger.

"I think Kjelle ate it all already."

Robin stepped forward.

"Don't worry. I prepared for this. Admittedly, part of the preparation was hoping you could cook something, but the ingredients are ready for you, and free of family interference."

Owain nodded.

"Through the DARKEST OF FATES, THE MOST BITTER OF DEFEATS, the SHINING LIGHT OF COOKERY shall relight the fires of hope! Come, faithful sidekick! Our great task stands before us!"

"Yessss!"

Robin looked to his son.

"Mark, do you want to help?"

"Help… Owain? Yes! Yes! Haha! Yes!"

"Make sure your niece doesn't hurt herself with the tomes I set up. I'm sure you'll do fine."

A moment after Mark left, Robin turned.

"Just… not quite that sure. Morgan, you had something you wanted to talk to Lin about?"

"Yes, father."

"Well, I think, given some of the messages Owain has sent me lately, this is going to be at least an hour's preparation, and I'll need to be there, if only to keep Kjelle from having… ideas. I think I can trust you two alone for that long."

"Can you, father? Can you really?"

Robin was already walking into the house. He waved at Morgan as he walked in without looking back.

Morgan glared.

"It used to be easier to tease you!"

Robin didn't even nod. Morgan shook her head and turned away.

"He's just lucky I have a husband to mess with instead. It's like he doesn't even care about giving you proper manipulation opportunities. I weep for the me of today."

"He's still a good dad."

Morgan smiled.

"Well, duh. The best. I'm just saying there's always room for improvement. Kjelle would say the same thing."

"Kjelle does say the same thing."

"Exactly. Oh, that reminds me. Really should get Ophelia on the family training regimens soon. She's getting all soft and royal-y. In the incredibly unlikely event one of the Kjelles has a daughter, I don't want to lose the comparison."

Morgan had started walking away from the damned mansion', as Sully called it, some time ago, and Lin was scrambling to keep up. It was funny. Morgan wasn't THAT fast on her feet, but she had a casual stride that Lin envied.

She probably picked it up when she went to war. Something Lin envied much less.

"So, Lin. It's been a while since we talked. How have you been?"

"Well, Kjelle's been at the castle, so I've been able to get away with slightly more slacking most of the time on exercise. Dad got a bunch of new boardgames, so we've been playing those. One of them was by the guys who made his favorite wargame. The one with the really big armies?"

"How is it?"

"Dad started swearing like mom, and lit the board on fire. Then he made me promise to never bring it up again."

"...I might want to find a copy."

"It might be hard. He burned a LOT of copies. And he's been begging Aunt Maribelle to make producing any more a crime with no less than eight years in prison."

Morgan stopped for half a second and scratched her chin."

"Oh. I guess I need to find a copy. I'll tell Say'ri to offer whoever made it political asylum if I have to."

Lin frowned.

"It was pretty bad."

"Well, we can rescind the asylum after I play it, then. It's basic politicking. Anything else?"

"Mom made something edible."

Morgan's fist pumped in triumph.

"I knew it wasn't impossible! I think I just won a bet. Thank mother for me, Lin. Buuuuut…. you're skipping over the most important things. The juicy details!"

"Which ones?"

"Boys! Also possibly girls. I am completely cut out of the old gossip loops. I was counting on you to be my eyes and ears."

Lin swept her foot across the dirt.

"Well…"

"Don't worry about incriminating yourself. I'm pretty sure that no court in Ylisse listens to me anymore."

"What do you think I've been doing?"

"Oh, I really have no idea. I'm just guessing based on what I did at your age. At bare minimum, you're breaking hearts left and right."

Lin blushed.

"Well, a couple."

"I knew it! No need to be modest. I bet there are going to be boys making a line outside your barracks stretching halfway to Ferox."

"I think Kjelle won't like that."

"That's why it's only halfway. Just as well, really. I mean, I don't want my favorite kid sister to spend her life with a coward. Nothing but the bravest and best for Ylisse's favorite daughter."

Lin smiled.

"Captain Kjelle's going to tear them limb from limb."

"Well, that's why you need so many! Redundancy is key in any real long term plan, Lin. I thought father would have taught you that already."

Morgan scrambled over a small mountain of rocks, and Lin struggled to follow. It was a miracle Morgan took it all in one go. She had scratched up arms and barely managed on attempt five. Weren't they supposed to be the same person?

Well, that must be what military training was for. Getting the best out of the already near perfect. She grabbed her sister's hand and stumbled to her feet at the top of the hill.

"Err… you know about Kjelle and Severa already?"

Morgan scratched her chin.

"Do I still have eyeballs?"

"Err… yes?"

Morgan sighed in relief.

"Phew. Then yes. I think I noticed. Still, she married Brady, and I think they seem pretty happy…"

"Not the Captain."

"Ohhh. No, I didn't, then! I mean, it's not a huge surprise, but… good to know! And I guess that settles most of the big family news I missed. Thanks, and..."

Lin shook her head.

"Mark's been spending a lot of time around Nah. Which is weird, since she's, like, twice his age, even though they look…"

Morgan was scanning the horizon.

Lin coughed.

"If you have something more important…"

"Oh, no. I mean, if you want to say anything else, I'm interested. But that's only part of why we came out here. A kind of small part. I just thought it would be a good idea to talk about something innocuous in case anyone was still close enough to hear us."

"Really?"

"Always have a plan, Lin. Father gave me that advice, and now I'm repeating it for you. I know he's said it about a billion times, but it's still useful to remember."

Morgan paused, then scratched her chin.

"Seriously, though. Mark and Nah? Wow."

"I know! I mean, I can't even tell if she knows he's got a crush on her!"

"Oh, she knows. I mean, I taught her everything about something. Part of that had to stick. I might not remember what I taught her, but she does. Way, way more mature than I was at her age."

"I think she's still more mature than you are."

Morgan leaned back against a rock.

"Don't act like that's a big accomplishment, Lin."

She closed her eyes.

"Ophelia can do it sometimes. And she's…"

Morgan sat up again.

"Buuut, that's not why we're out here, is it?"

Lin shrugged, then remembered Morgan's eyes were closed.

"I don't know. It was your idea."

"Like many good things, Lin. In this case, I brought you out here to talk about father."

"Father?"

Lin was slightly confused. Yes, dad was a fine parent, one of the global top two, but he was dad. She knew about dad, didn't she? Bad cook, fond of bear meat, good at tactics. Used to be a soldier about a billion years more was there to learn?

Maybe there was something about the war with Plegia. It WAS his home country, after all.

Morgan frowned.

"Well, my father. Not yours."

Lin raised an eyebrow

"We're sisters. Did you forget the definition of that? Even aside from the other me thing, that would be enough for both of us to have the same dad."

"Kind of. Mostly. I mean, Kjelle remembered mom dying, and you're not orphaned. Even though she was the same mom, right? And the other Kjelle is pretty different, even though they're both Kjelle."

Lin nodded.

"Not like you and me."

"Well, no. We're both charming, brilliant lunatics. And for a while, I thought not like father."

Morgan shook her head.

"I don't know why I thought I should do this. It's father's job. I mean, he can tell you in his own time, right?"

Lin tried to nod.

"Right?"

Morgan slowly opened her eyes.

"Only he keeps putting his own time later, and it's even worse for him than it is for me. You're old enough. I mean, you're only a little younger than I was when I found out, and I'm more or less well

adjusted."

"More or less."

Morgan smiled. Mouth first, but the eyes followed after a few seconds.

"So. I guess the only question is if you want to know. And, since I know me, I know I would pester me continually until I told."

Lin frowned.

"I wouldn't."

THAT much.

"Well, you won't have to. Wouldn't. Can't! So. You know how father… I mean, father always… Hmm. Hard to find a good place to start. I'll just skip to the end. My father was Grima. Yours isn't anymore. Sibling duties done!"

Lin blinked.

Then she blinked again.

"Is this a joke?"

She looked in Morgan's eyes. The answer there matched the one from her mouth a second later.

"No. It would be easier if it was, though. This is one of those times I'm entirely sincere."

"Grima? The one Uncle Chrom and dad…"

"Same one. Also, the only one. I mean, I hope it's the only one. That would be really, really awful to have to go through all of that again."

Lin's left eyebrow went up as the one on the right went down.

"But Grima was a dragon the size of a mountain. You aren't the size of a mountain. And he'd be Kjelle's dad too, right? And she remembers…"

"I know. It's weird. But father… err… both fathers, was… were born to be Grima. If the stars were right, and there was enough magic, boom and doom. Giant dragon. I mean, in addition to being a person. It's really old magic, and old magic gets complicated."

"But dad wouldn't…"

Morgan grimaced.

"Father never seemed like he would, did he? But it happened. He killed… well, he killed a lot of people. I don't think mother dying was his fault. But almost everyone else Kjelle talks about losing… he's why they got lost."

"He'd never do that!"

Morgan went halfway to a smile.

"Well, no. Father never would. Not the one you grew up with. He burned the Grima out."

"How?"

Morgan sighed.

"By killing MY father. Which was the right choice. I mean, I helped. Kjelle helped. And I was treating your father as father anyway, which made everything easier, but I did… help commit parricide. Then again, father did it too…"

Morgan smiled a little.

"Huh. Like father, like daughter. I'll have to give Owain some warning about that. Really don't want to wind up a widow. It's socially awkward, and would really cut into the jokes I could make at his expense."

"Dad killed grandpa?"

"Well, if you knew grandpa you wouldn't be surprised. He was really, really evil. I'm not that sorry he's missing out on family reunions. Besides, we have mother's family. I mean, it's all nobility, so you have to remember forks until they're distracted by Kjelle eating soup with her hands or something, but they're mostly nice people."

Lin looked at her feet. She had a lot of plans for the day. Teasing her brother, working on her tactics, playing games with Morgan, birthday exercises with mom… they'd seemed so important that morning.

Now, in the light of everything Morgan just dropped on her, it was hard to remember why.

Morgan grimaced. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Closed it again. Finally, she spoke.

"You know, I'm jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Uh-huh. I've been a little jealous ever since you were born. It's immature even by my standards, but there you go."

"Why?"

Morgan's grimace moved closer to a smile by the second.

"Because I'm just a demigod. I mean, sure, it sounds good when you're trying to talk people into surrendering, but it's not as good to remember at night. Father treats me like, well, like you and Mark, and that's more than I could ask for. But my father was Grima. Yours? He's the best father in the world."

And Morgan was actually smiling again.

"Just don't tell Owain I said that he could never measure up. He needs motivation to keep trying."

Lin looked Morgan in the eye, and for the second time that day seriously adjusted her view of the world.

"Demigod?"

"Right. I haven't been leaning on that as much at home. Well, you know how..."

Lin shook her head.

"No, I was thinking about how it would also apply to Kjelle. And how that explained a lot. She's a lot scarier than you are."

"True."

Then Morgan almost jumped.

"Also, she has a much bigger appetite. We should get back before replacement breakfast is gone. We can talk more about theological implications after!"

Morgan dashed down the hill, and Lin clattered after.

In spite of everything, or maybe even because of it, the day was shaping up to be her best birthday yet.

(Author's note: And here we are. Two updates in one month! I hope you're all suitably impressed and/or shocked.

Just a nice, short chapter this time. Just kind of developed on its own rather than having a firm concept at the start, which is kind of nice when it happens, assuming the end product doesn't suck (fingers crossed). Noticed I hadn't written much Sully, so this is partially to remedy that mistake.

The younger Kjelle is based on some early concept sketches in the Awakening artbook that had her as a Myrmidon. Figure that the younger iterations of the second generation would at least consider doing things different to stand out. Given her nature and her family, figure Kjelle's destined for the martial pursuits, but the exact style might vary. Which would not please the older Kjelle, but as being different is a goal, not a failing... well, it's probably a bit of family awkwardness.

Name of Robin's granddaughter is a Fates reference. Might not still apply after the official translation, but c'est la vie. It fit for the moment, and that's what mattered.

As always, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and remember to tip your servers. Just common courtesy, that.)