With Harald and Aeramina out of the room, the heaviness emanating from Remus returned. He had not taken his eyes off the ground and Janius had not taken his eyes off him.

Remus lifted a hand and laid his wrinkled fingers on his temple. "I never thought this day would come," Remus intoned. "The day that you, Janius, would be rightly reprimanding my behaviour."

Janius crossed his arms and tilted his head where he stood. "I'm pretty sure I've tried before."

"You were a rash boy back then," Remus retorted quietly. "Now look at you. Careered, wedded, a son of your own." He was droning so lowly that his pride was hard to spot. "When did you become the better man?"

Taking a breath to think, Janius tightened his lips. "It's been almost a decade and a half, father. A lot has happened. Much has changed."

Remus raised his voice. "Aurana."

Aurana wiped an eye. Her voice as rough from yelling as well. "What?"

Remus flicked a beckoning finger in her direction without looking up from the ground.

She took steps towards him. She unconsciously grasped her forearm and tried to put on a strong face. She was still angry and red-eyed from tears.

"We will talk about your privileges to leave the house over lunch. I need to think first. And calm down."

Aurana sniffed. "Fine. As long as Janius gets to be there."

Remus nodded.

"Would you apologise to her, father?" Janius asked.

"I have more to say on that," Remus responded. "All of you, sit, please."

Janius looked back at Kaleeth and Julan. Julan would have to stop hiding, although it didn't seem like Remus would explode again. His piercing eyes had been averted for several minutes now. He seemed almost pitiful.

Aurana and Janius took a seat on a couch opposite Remus.

[hr]
Lunise took a moment to consider Meesei's implications. Her silence skipped over any comments she might have had about what she knew about Meesei from her own investigations.

Lunise turned her head at an angle to Meesei. "Well," she responded as a matter-of-fact to preserve a semblance of superiority. "If you were any other non-elf, I would expect to burst your bubble of pride by pointing you to an elf that had discovered the same thing a millennium prior. However, if there was something I inherited from Pircalmo, it was curiosity."

Her neutral frown belied almost demanding tone. "What is it that you have discovered?"