Yuze and Chenzhou had returned an hour after Yuze had rushed off. The children were gleefully bouncing around what was now their room, and when she said kids, she was including Finn and Patrick, who had somehow matched the energy of the smaller children. They were all wearing each other down now, while Eirian retreated into a glass of wine, and Mingzhe served as the only responsible adult while Min and Sam were getting their family's possessions put away.
Eirian was tired, but returning to her rooms had gone a long way to boosting her flagging energy.
And the wine. The wine was helping too.
And Mingzhe was terribly attractive playing with them, showing Brendan all the toys he'd brought him and letting the other two children pick a few for themselves. He seemed besotted by the children and much more comfortable showing them affection than he was with Eirian and Chenzhou.
Not that he had any reason to show them affection.
Eirian poured another glass and then two more when Chenzhou and Yuze entered, both looking defeated.
Eirian wanted to ask what had happened. At the same time, she didn't want to know. And she didn't want to get too close to Chenzhou's relationship with Anna. She was many things, but she didn't consider herself a homewrecker, and even though she was the one married to Chenzhou, she wasn't the one he was in a relationship with.
***
Finn watched Brendan totter around, dragging the doll Mingzhe had brought him, clutching the knife Yuze had given him. Finn had tried to take it away, worried about the child hurting himself, but apparently it had only taken a few seconds for him to decide it was the best thing in the world.
At least it was in a sheath he hadn't been able to figure out how to release.
Eirian was pale with exhaustion and had curled up with a glass of wine as soon as they'd reached her room. Mingzhe had played with the children, but he hadn't gone far from Eirian's side, and now he'd retreated to the seat next to her, leaving Finn and Patrick to watch over the children as they explored.
Finn didn't mind. He'd always loved children and wanted many of his own once he found the right woman. He figured it was because he'd never been around children when he was one. The Vermeer family was huge, and they tended to reproduce at the same time. Both his older sisters had numerous cousins who were born within months of them, but Finn had been an unexpected surprise and was the only one his age in the family. His sisters were seven and nine years older than he, and he was ten years older than his younger cousins. It had left him very lonely during his childhood, jealous of the neighboring children and their siblings and friends.
His parents' heavy expectations hadn't helped, especially when his sisters had proven to be very skilled at their own pursuits, and Finn had failed to show any talent in any art form practiced by the family.
He hadn't really heard from them since he'd left. There'd been a few letters to check in and share important news, but none of it had been important enough or moving enough to keep.
In the beginning, he'd sent letters every week, sharing everything he was doing, but after they'd gone unanswered for months, he stopped wasting his time.
Finn knew they loved him, but he'd accepted that they weren't interested in him. People were complicated like that.
Family, especially.
They'd burn the world down if anyone hurt him, but they'd also go years without remembering to ask what he was up to.
He wondered if Eirian had seen any of them while she'd been in the capital.
He jolted when Patrick suddenly crashed into him. "Sorry! I tripped." He was swinging the nursemaid's two young children around under his arms, and they both looked like they were on the verge of puking and having the time of their lives.
"It might be bedtime," Finn advised, eager to avoid any bodily fluids. He glanced over at Eirian and Lord Zhao. He'd missed Lord Ye and Lord Rong returning, and the four of them were huddled together.
In fact, Eirian, Lord Ye, and Lord Zhao were sitting so close together they might as well have been sharing a single chair.
It made him smile. The Princess had been so alone when she'd first arrived, and now she was developing deep friendships.
Maybe more?
Despite his well-known relationship with Lady Anna, Lord Ye had always seemed kind of lonely. Finn's father always said that responsibility was the loneliest thing in the world, and Lord Ye had a lot of it.
And Finn had been there pretty much right when they met, when they stood next to each other with a gulf between them. Now there wasn't enough space between them for a mouse to slip through.
Finn wanted something like that. That kind of closeness. Patrick and Emmy were the first friends he'd ever made, though Emmy would probably refuse to admit they were friends.
Patrick came back from returning the children to Min and her husband, Sam, and collapsed next to him. "Man, I forgot how much energy little ones have. I don't think I was ever that bad."
Finn snorted, because there was no way that was true given how much energy he had as an adult.
Patrick glanced over at the other adults. "They're getting closer." He whispered.
Finn nodded. "Where's Emmy?"
"Working on something for Lord Rong. She said she'd be back in the vault with us tomorrow." Patrick slumped against him. "I hope we find something soon. Feel like I'm taking my life into my hands everytime I touch soemthing in there."
Finn snorted, but he didn't disagree. The vault contained some of the most dangerous magical artifacts on the rock. They could do untold amounts of damage in the wrong hands and the fact that somone was selling them…
~ tbc