"For what it's worth, I think it was wise to..." Janius trailed off when he realised the way Kaleeth was wandering. "Kaleeth? Are you okay?" he asked.

When Kaleeth burst into tears, Janius reached out to her in surprise on her way to the ground. He knelt to hold her, wrapping his arms around to hold her up even as she let all her emotions out.

In the hut, around Zharan, Janius was reserved about his reactions. He could now act more or less freely. He held onto Kaleeth quietly at first, then a little tighter as he murmured to her. "I'm sorry. I am...I'm sorry we didn't get here in time."

[hr]
Fendros' time in Cheydinhal so far had been challenging for different reasons. While the time to catch up with his family had made him grateful for visiting in the first place, he could no longer hide from other connections within the city itself. People started to recognise him. He could no longer feign ignorance or claim that he merely looked similar to the young man that disappeared a decade and a half ago. He worked with his siblings to adapt Ahnasha's lie into his existence in the city; he had run away from home, met a woman, had a child, and set up a hunting shop in Skyrim. Now, here he was, visiting his family. The hidden benefit was the familiarity it gave Llarasa and Monderyn with the cover story to use with Ahnasha's family. However, it was no less awkward to come across his aged friends and acquaintances changed and living entirely more grounded lives than he could ever realise.

Fendros did not know how to feel about it but tired. Tired to be dragged back into all the old superficialities he left behind.

Rhazii had his own difficulties as well, though they were closer to Ahnasha's. Being shown around Cheydinhal and exploring where his father grew up was interesting. It was no outlet for his beast spirit nor his own youthful energy. Fendros was worried Rhazii would get cabin fever at any moment.

As for now, Fendros was happy to be sewing closed a tear in one of his shirts. Anything where he did not have to risk going out in public was a less anxious task. He peered over to Ahnasha with a pair of pins poking out of his mouth. He spoke out of the corner of his lips. "Well, one thing I was planning to be truthful about was how much we didn't want this whole situation to blow up. The differences in culture and all." He paused to take a pin out and used it to secure a pinch in his shirt. "You're right, though. Just rushing down here does not explain how...well, how instantly we got here." He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe we just decided to come visit my family? Anything we say would have to be some wild coincidence, otherwise we would have to be here because we got the letter, which would mean we would have to make the journey from the time the letter arrived to a few days ago...You understand."