Janius might have held a more humorous tone if it weren't for the subject. He answered Julan's concerns directly. "Because, son, I would still need to lie to them about what I am. As for being the danger of the town, being attacked is not as big a concern as either of you having your [i]friends[/i] being scared out of their [i]holdings[/i]."

Unfortunately for Janius and Kaleeth, Rhazii crossed his arms and took his brother's side. "I still don't understand. I got to meet my grandparents. Father told me that he caught up with them after being away from them for many years."

"It is not the same situation, Rhazii," Janius turned his head and picked up his tone. "Your father grew up with a different family that had different customs. My parents are not his. That is all that we shall speak of it for now. No more." He had not lost his patience yet, but his sharpness was indicating its limits.

Rhazii breathed in to protest, but closed his mouth and sighed instead.

About a minute later, the tension was still in the air, but Janius had found something to talk about. He gestured to the houses on either side of the street. They were all rather large and spaced out compared to the housing in other areas of the city. There were even nice gardens maintained. "This was the neighbourhood I grew up in," he said with more calm than before. "I had friends on this side of the street, and we all had something of a rivalry with the children on the other side of the street. Tricks were played, some humorous and some rather cruel. That one over there is the house I grew up in." Janius pointed to a house that had no less than three stories. It was primarily made from wood with a stone foundation and ground floor and a relatively smooth mortar finish. It was even larger than most of the houses in the Silent City.

[hr]
With the end of the bout, Fendros stepped back and held the blade of his sword in his shield hand. He looked over Lorag with a knowing frown and sympathetic eyes.

Fendros decided to be forward. They all knew what the issue was, so he didn't even point it out. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

He didn't even mind that Ahnasha was listening. She knew what was going on as well as he did.