With his own heartbeat frantically pounding in his ears, Wil Rys'tihn intensely focused on quieting everything else that he could. He held his muscles in perfect tension, certain that even the slightest flinch of his joints or swish of his clothes against his skin would give him away. Could they hear that well? Would his painfully slow, calculated breaths still reach their ears? Even as he desperately wrapped himself in the darkness he had hidden within, he carefully listened to the footsteps outside the doors that paced about and closed in on him, willing them to leave with every fiber of his being. Shadows swirled about under the edge of the door, as if his hunters were predatory animals circling their prey...yet, without any further sound from them, the shadows suddenly vanished.

Wil remained unnervingly still for another painful minute, refusing to trust his eyes or his ears that no longer brought in new stimuli. They had been so close to discovering him, but something else he hadn't heard or seen had called them off? Could he leave his hiding place and escape somewhere else undetected? His senses told him to wait, but surely they were gone...

- - but the door in front of him suddenly whooshed open, flooding him with blinding light that immediately stunned him.

"Found you, Daddy!"

Wil clutched his chest, feigning shock as two small giggling girls launched themselves into his lap. They wrapped their arms around his waist as best they could, their dark, curly hair cushioning the enthusiastic landing of their heads against his chest. He couldn't help but laugh, too, as he held tightly to them in return.

"How did you two find me? I made extra sure you couldn't see me."

Rixia beamed up at him, still giggling. "You bumped one of Mommy's datapads out of place."

Deilia nodded, adding to her twin sister's observation. "Yeah, she always makes them tidy."

Looking over to the nearby desk where his wife Embrey's datapads had been stacked, he spotted the one he had just so slightly displaced in his haste to hide himself away from them. It was such a small, nearly unnoticeable detail, he might have overlooked it himself, but his girls were better than that, and they had proven it to him once again.

"There's just no tricking you two, is there?" he conceded, beaming with pride. "But...wait a minute," he added, narrowing his eyes at them playfully. "Are you sure you didn't use the Force to find me? Because if you did, that's cheating."

Again the girls fell into fits of giggles, shaking their heads.

"We don't need the Force to find you, Daddy," Deilia asserted with a confident grin.

"Then you must have...tracked my Crest! Your Uncle Malin helped you, didn't he?"

"No, we found you!" Rixia lifted herself up and placed one pointed finger at the tip of his nose, her own face scrunched up in a playful challenge as her green-brown eyes twinkled just before his. "We will always find you, Daddy."

A weak breath left him, certain the five-year-old had no idea how much comfort her promise had given him. His voice softened considerably. "I don't doubt that for a moment. You two are capable of doing just about anything you can think of."

The weight of his response hardly registered for the twin girls before their mother stepped into the room, quickly meeting Wil's gaze with an urgent look in her own. Wil's expression fell immediately in response, recognizing the grave nature of Embrey's interruption, but as the girls turned to face her, she brightened her face with a smile as they both lifted off him and stepped over to her, excitedly relaying their triumph.

"We were so fast this time!"

"Fastest time ever!"

Wil pulled himself out of the small wardrobe he'd hidden in, sheepishly tugging at and patting the wrinkles out of his shirt. "I may need to hide in the next province next time."

Embrey shook her head at his hyperbole with a faint grin, returning her attention to the girls. "It's almost time for dinner, you two. Go wash up, please."

Excited and eager to race each other, both Deilia and Rixia hastily agreed and took off for their rooms upstairs, leaving their parents behind to talk privately. Wil briefly watched their earnest competition with an affectionate smile, but it faded as he stepped closer to Embrey, reaching out to gently hold her hand at her side as he searched her amber eyes.

"Em, what's wrong?"

Embrey's shoulders sagged with a weary sigh, somewhat reluctant to share. "...it's your father. He hasn't left his office all day. Liaa's worried, and he won't tell her anything."

A heavy, familiar feeling swiftly settled in the pit of his stomach. "Is Jewel okay?"

She was quick to nod, relieving his worry for his young half-sister. "Yes, she's fine. They both are, but... Well, you know how...secretive, and reclusive he can become. Liaa thinks you're the only one who can get through to him now."

Accepting the burden that was being placed on him, Wil nodded, well versed in ways to bring down his father's walls that not even his partner Wyliaa could manage. In the fifteen years he'd known Horatio Sheridan, they'd had their fair share of clashes and arguments as most fathers and sons do, but something about Wil had always brought the truth out of Horatio in a manner no one else had been able to replicate. Whatever was worrying his father, Wil was confident he could help him.

"I'll talk to him," he confirmed softly, leaning into her to give her a sweet kiss. Embrey squeezed his hand in hers as he righted himself, her anxiety still well evident.

"Be careful," she warned, "please."

Wil managed a faint grin to settle her nerves as he gently rubbed her arms. "I know how to handle my dad. I'm sure it'll be fine." Hearing the ongoing stomping and racing about in the twins' room just above them, Wil arched his eyebrows. "You sure you'll be okay with them until I get back?"

Embrey leveled a challenging glare at him. "I definitely don't have your enchanting sway over them, but I can hold their attention for a time." She paused, taking in a swift breath. "It's a very short time, but...I'll make do."

Wil laughed. "If you feel like you're running out of fuel, just do what I do: give them some kind of challenge. Pit them against each other for something, anything. Ask them who can count the most panna flowers, or who can find the most memorial alcoves here in the Retreat."

"So...either send them to count over a thousand flowers, or to find the two small alcoves, one of which they can't even get to?"

He shrugged with a mischievous grin. "Hey, they don't know they can't get to it yet."

With Embrey's unimpressed expression at his suggestion, Wil's became more solemn, sensitive to her ongoing apprehension. "You know they love you and appreciate you just as much as me, right? They're two rambunctious five-year-old girls who are always on the hunt for their next race, their next game, their next challenge, and I just...give them that outlet. It's not hard to connect with them, I promise. You shouldn't sell yourself so short."

Embrey nodded with a soft sigh after a moment, leaning into him for the comfort of his embrace. He held her tightly for as long as she needed, lightly kissing the top of her head before she stepped back from him. Her expression had calmed, thankfully, and she nodded again to send him on his way.

"Go on, go help your dad. He needs you."

Though Wil agreed, he stooped to kiss her sweetly before he left. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now, go."

A wan smile on her face calmed his anxiety over leaving her, though his concern for his father's state took its place as he made his way toward the opposite end of the Rys'tihn Retreat.