Glugloom and Lady Mayumi left them alone when Lord and Lady Chesterfield returned to take their daughter back to their chambers. They only succeeded by ignoring the girl’s insistent complaining about undecided favors. Lady Mayumi followed them out, having much to think about herself.
Albino took Fierawr and Rorycane to the bath. Two decent, non-criminal knights guarded the place, so they were let in without any drama. Their clothes weren’t being searched this time, and they didn’t spend long in the water. The main subject of cleaning was Rorycane, followed by her mother. Albino absorbed the blood and other fluids through his skin, shivering at the numbing, uncomfortable feeling.
After one quick round to replenish Fierawr’s energy (she was understandably weakened after giving birth), Albino led the mother and daughter Howler to the servant chambers, where he was given a blanket for Rorycane. Then they walked to a particular room, which they should have been housed in from the start, guarded by none other than the knight captain, Sir Meriwether.
The knight captain narrowed his eyes at them, showing mild surprise at the sight of Rorycane. “Finally decided to show up, did you? What took you so long, village boy? Got lost on the way?”
“Funny. Without your cronies to laugh about your jokes, it becomes even more apparent how unabashedly weak your sense of humor is, Sir Meriwether. Please do not perform such unfunny comedy routines to the nobles. You would only embarrass yourself. Will you let us in, or do I require a broken bone to pass?”
“Three hours, six hours, nine hours… The door is shut. I could not let you in if I wanted to.” This, the knight delivered with a smirk.
“Oh? May I try?” The knight stepped aside, a snarky comment already on his lips… when the door opened. No resistance, no nothing. Albino huffed in satisfaction. “I see the doors still work as intended, Sir Meriwether. I pray your brain safely returns to functionality as well.”
Albino stepped inside, shut the door, and quickly ushered Fierawr and his daughter out of the way. Quionne created a vacuum inside the door frame, muting all sound, and dropped the furniture back in place. A second later, the door rattled to no avail.
Quionne snickered. “The fool! He still thinks I will let him enter!”
Before Albino could praise her genius, Brenda flew into his arms, tackling him to the ground. Her hug was fierce, and her body shook in repeated gasps and sobs. “I thought they got you! Quionne told me about the test, but… you are alright!”
“Quionne would not stay this calm if they got me, as you called it,” Albino said, gently rubbing Brenda’s back and head. “If anything, you just got me good. A tackle is commonly seen as an attack.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, not getting off.
“Oh, you silly girl. There is someone else you should be hugging and congratulating like this. Two someones, really.”
“Two?” Brenda looked around, found Fierawr, and noticed the cloth-covered (moving!) bundle in her arms.
“I hope she has your eyes,” Quionne commented. “Your parts are the best part of her. That little streak of silver hair, the silver tufts at the tip of her ears, and… I also feel the need to mention her throat. Why?”
“She breathed fire before, so maybe your life-fire resonates with her? Your spark came from the same person, after all. It stands to reason that you feel some understanding and kinship.”
“A little dragon, are you?” Quionne performed toddler-like sounds with unladylike expressions, poking the baby’s face with her elegant fingers. “The first Howler-Dragon the Albiverse has ever seen!”
Albino gave her a blank look.
Quionne shrugged. “A woman can dream, no? Have you decided on a name for the little dragon? I propose Drawrgonia!”
“That sounds cool, but Fierawr had already chosen a name for our daughter. Want to spill the beans?”
“Rawr! Rawrkeen!”
“…As my Master translates your gibberish, let me teach the little dragon how to fly! See how the breeze feels against your skin? Your face? Your everything? Hahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!” After a moment of panic, Rorycane felt an (unthreatening) energy similar to the one coursing through herself within the new person holding her. So she laughed.
Fierawr weakly grasped for the flying pair, circling the room near the ceiling. These chambers had ridiculously tall ceilings. Seriously.
“You gave birth?” Brenda asked the Howler, distracting her.
“R-rawr…” Suddenly feeling shy, Fierawr looked away, a maidenly blush coloring her cheeks pink.
Albino consoled her with plenty of pets and scratches, only deepening her furious blush to darker shades of red. “Red suits you, my good girl Howler… You really do react strongly to that one.”
“R-rawr… Feerawr l-loof Aeeno.”
“And Albino loves Fierawr.”
“R-rawr…” Her face had officially reached the shade of indigo rose tomatoes. Her hormones were all out of whack, still, which didn’t make it any easier to resist the teasing of her mate.
“And her name is Rawrkeen?” Brenda asked, trying to insert herself into the conversation again.
Fierawr gave a shy nod while pressing her head against Albino’s hand. He kissed her ear and said, “Rawrkeen. She wanted to call our daughter Rawrquionne, kinda like how she was named by both of you. Rawr from you, Brenda, and Quionne in homage to this pack’s alpha female. I thought that name did not roll off the tongue well enough, so we restructured it to Rorycane. The first part is more a ‘roar’ than a ‘rawr,’ and the latter is less Quionne’s actual name but the pronunciation Fierawr uses, but I liked the sound of it. Rorycane. Quionne! I will shamelessly borrow your idea for Drawrgonia when we have another fire-spitting child in the family!”
“I am not the roaring type, so do that for Brenda!”
“H-huh? M-mine?”
Albino waved the village girl off, smiling reassuringly. “She is just messing with you, Brenda. We will not sleep with each other.”
“W-we won’t?”
“Why would we? You have no interest in me aside from the traditional wedding customs. I refuse to partake in that shady situation. I get high on consent if you catch my drift.”
“…What’s a drift?”
“Something you obviously lack and something which really does not matter. Anyway, how has my favorite cawdelli been? I see she is fascinated with my daughter as well?”
Indeed, Cormali’s eyes hadn’t left Rorycane since they got here. She watched the little Howler with great interest and raised ears, both worried about the multiplication of predators in her vicinity and happy for the multiplication of Albino’s family. It was a complicated feeling, though the positives kinda won out.
“She’s bored most of the day,” Brenda said, fearlessly approaching the massive, muscular animal. “We never leave these chambers, though we never want for anything thanks to Quionne.”
“You are welcome, young peasant! Worship me, you lousy cretin!”
Brenda gave a wry smile. “Should Albino’s self-reported most loyal follower really demand worship of herself? That sounds like blasphemy.”
When Quionne registered the meaning of Brenda’s words, she stopped in place. The one-hundred-to-zero maneuver was so abrupt that Rorycane slipped from her hold, falling to where Albino stood to catch her. Cormali had rushed over as well, almost bumping into him. “Well done, Cormali. Meet Rorycane, my daughter. Want to hold her, Brenda? She is such a cute little dear. So very cute.”
When Albino handed Brenda his child, Rorycane and Quionne each remained frozen in shock. The ex-Albi-Onna’s breathing quickened, causing her to lose control over her wings. Had she just disrespected her future husband in a manner nobody else, even the insufferable Jerome and the brutal knights, had yet to do?
She floated to the ground, landing softly in Albino’s outstretched arms. “I sure have to catch many loved ones today. Dropping my daughter was a wild thing to do, Quionne.”
“…I am sorry for demanding worship despite being your humble and insignificant servant, my Master.”
“That is not what you should be sorry for!”
“Ouch!” she said in response to his forehead-chop.
“As a punishment, you are forbidden from loving until we return to Verq Bavas! That also excludes Fierawr as a partner. Speaking of which, is there a private place for us to be tonight?”
Brenda gulped, a suspicion of what Albino was about to do forming in her mind. “Uhm… this chamber has six rooms if you count the walk-in cupboard-“
“Excellent. Come, Fierawr. We need to replenish your energy tonight since that hound breeder seems to have a vendetta against us. Our duty and mission? We shall crush his ambition! Brenda will look after Rorycane for us in the meantime! She needs to sleep, anyway.”
“Uhm… Will you be loud?”
“Quionne? Take care of that! Now to indulge ourselves, Fierawr!”
Despite all the crazy going on, her raging after-birth hormones quickly distracted the Howler. She gladly went with her mate, absently judging her pack junior capable of looking after her pup. “Rawr!”
***
The following day, Albino and Fierawr left their bedroom full of health and vitality. Albino because Fierawr had been so cute, and Fierawr because Albion had given her enough energy to last a decade. (Measured by the typical energy consumption of a mortal of Fierawr’s species (and other characteristics), that number was pretty accurate.)
They walked onto the training field hand-in-claw. Albino wore his stark-white outfit from the previous day, and Fierawr joined him in a stark-white dress. She had relented on her no-clothing policy after persistent insistence on Brenda’s part. Albino would have to thank the village girl later. Fierawr looked stunning in this get-up.
As the day before, the pair were welcomed with a load of Jeliq’ahr paste. This time, Albino side-stepped the droppings without a second thought, ushering Fierawr out of the way. Cormali, Brenda, Quionne (perched on Brenda’s hairband in her small form), and Rorycane followed them, huddling together out of the nobles’ and their soldiers’ reach. The audience was confused about who they were, why they held a baby, and why Fierawr looked slimmer than yesterday.
Jerome didn’t leave them wondering for long. “The bitch has given birth last night! It was no normal birth, for she gave birth to a Howler! No Howler has ever given birth to another Howler before, and I witnessed this wonder of nature with my own eyes! She is a high-class bitch no ordinary keeper should be allowed to take care of. As such, we regrettably have to increase the difficulty to ensure our bright future! Let the second stage of the worthy beast-keeper test commence!”
There was reserved cheering from the crowd. What little hope they had had for someone finally beating the odds evaporated with the hound breeder’s speech. Most nobles gave approving nods. Valuable things should always be owned by capable hands.
Jerome had instructed the knights to spread an aphrodisiac incense over the fields, making the caged hounds and Fierawr go mad… or so was the plan. Albino and Quionne prevented the gas from ever reaching the Howler’s nose, so they passed the physical side of tests with flying colors. On a side note, the aphrodisiac didn’t work on humans since they didn’t have the necessary smell receptors.
Noticing that his plan was failing, Jerome pivoted. “The bitch hides another secret! She wields fire elementalism! I have seen it with my own eyes, but this can also be dangerous, especially to the forests they reside in and the people they live with! The boy has to prove he has the appropriate control over his beast and is the right person to train her to use such a useful power. For that, we have prepared another test!”
Sir Meriwether led Fierawr and Albino to an elevated stage in the field, looking somewhat like a boxing ring. Four servants joined them, leading sapphire blue, snake-like creatures with small arms onto the stage. These creatures were about ten feet long, lifting their heads to about the servants’ hips.
“Juvenile corporivakas,” Quionne explained in wind-speak. “They are known for their prowess in water elementalism and frequently taken as beasts of burden and war.”
“Mother nature weeps in sadness,” Albino said out loud, earning him a weirded-out look from Sir Meriwether.
“If the beast loses control over her powers and sets fire to an innocent citizen or a section of the great Verqinian mountain forest, the keeper is to blame. To avoid such tragedies, the Howler and her keeper will now prove that she has at least limited control over her elementalism! We have, of course, assured the safety of our audience with runes that make control easier. If the beast cannot pass here, the law will not accept an independent keeper to raise her in the future!”
Albino hummed, tapping his foot. “The man raises a good point.”
Sir Meriwether snorted. “Of course he does, peasant. Now show us what you’re made of. We don’t expect much.”
“Your unbridled faith flatters me, good knight.”
“This does not make any sense,” Quionne observed in wind-speak. “There is no control rune anywhere. I can only spot a weird restriction rune in the posts surrounding you.”
Albino gave them a look-over, too. “What do they say?”
“Something about fire… I was not expecting this primitive runic language to be relevant to our cause, alright?”
“I am not questioning your efforts, but a lack of information could be deadly. Do you feel… wrong? Or weak? Does it restrict you?”
“Who knows? I am a creature of wind, not of fire!”
“You are now.”
Quionne briefly burst into flame for a split second. The sudden heat startled Brenda, whose hairband Quionne still clung to. “It had no effect on me. What weak runes these are!”
“The runes are probably fine,” Albino corrected, switching back to speaking out loud. “Of course, an Albion’s fire could not be restrained by mortal means. Do it, Fierawr!”
“Rawr!” She spun around, jumped, and landed in Albino’s outstretched arms. Her claws, ears, and waist scar were on fire. Sir Meriwether shrunk back, the audience fell silent, and Fierawr licked Albino’s cheek with many declarations of love.
Even Jerome hadn’t expected this. He only caught himself when a noble elbowed him in the sides, praising Albino’s superb control over the supposed wild animal. “The beast seems capable, but what of the keeper? Without similar control over flames, how could he ever prove to be the legitimate father of this child when it is well known that howlers can breed with every species we ever conducted testing with?”
Jerome kept talking for a while, calling Albino a potential fraud. Albino saw how that point gave the hound breeder strength because the man’s voice got louder and more energetic as he went on. Albino could only frown at the news. “What tests is he talking about, Quionne?”
“…You do not want to know.”
“Well, I do.”
“…Later, my Master. Please.”
“…Alright.” Feeling irritated, Albino didn’t wait long. Energy washed over his head and erupted his silver shock into a stunning flame.
Jerome stuttered and gasped. “T-that was impressive, but the bitch has a child! She is an uncontrollable factor in this equation…”
Albino let him yap. Together with Fierawr, he took their daughter from Brenda, held Rorycane close, kissed her forehead, and let his fire hair burn stronger. Fierawr joined in, causing her daughter to do the same with a cute laugh. The hound breeder was absolutely shocked at the sight. What did his runesmiths do to fail so spectacularly? Wasn’t all fire supposed to be disabled in the field? The audience lost it. A human, a beast, and their daughter all wielding elemental fire? How was this possible? Lady Mayumi and Glugloom were among the loudest cheerers.
Jerome couldn’t accept this pro-peasant atmosphere. If Lord Marciel found out he allowed such a valuable asset to slip through his grasp… He shook his head. “Your score is insufficient for a valuable bitch such as her. Despite your best, valiant efforts, I judge you insufficient.”
