Chapter Text
It had been a week since Charlie was last in the library, and it was the dead of night. She couldn’t get that magic book, the evocation book, out of her mind. She slipped out of the doors and made to avoid the security features that her parents had installed to try to keep her inside. It hadn’t worked.
A fall storm was raging again, as it had for the past two months. As they pulled closer and closer to this holiday called Harvest Close more and more people were glum about the weather. She knew exactly how she felt; last Winter’s Crest they had to cancel the large festival at Whitestone due to the weather and Charlie had pouted the whole time. She loved Winter’s Crest.
Slowly and very carefully, Charlie made her way through the marble halls to the library. She had Vax’s lock pick set tucked into her cloak, right next to the stick of hazel she harvested that day, and she was fully prepared to break into the library if she needed too. She kept her hooves on the carpet in the center of the hall to cut down on noise and to make so she actually had traction. The halls of Whitestone were either stone or carpet so she had no troubles walking at home. The polished marble of the Dwendalian palace on the other hand, made it very difficult for her to walk.
She approached the large doors to the library and carefully tried the handle slowly. It was locked. She knelt down and pulled out the lockpick set and quickly went to work. It didn’t take her long to hear the distinct sound of the lock turning open. She grinned with the satisfaction of a difficult job well done and rose to her hooves and gently padded inside.
Unbeknownst to Charlie, unfelt and unseen, a soft rune at the base of the doorway started to glow with a gentle red light.
Caleb woke up with a sharp inhale. His mental alarm was pinging at him; the library had been breached. He rose up from bed and Mollymauk made an unhappy noise in his sleep.
“Mmm Caleb?” Molly asked, glancing over his shoulder. The fireplace bathed him in a soft golden glow and Caleb couldn’t help but smile as he pulled on his robe and shoved his feet into his shoes.
“The library alarm went off. I will be back.”
“Be careful okay?”
“I will be Mollymauk. I will be back soon. Go back to sleep.” He bent over and kissed Mollymauk’s temple softly. Mollymauk was warm to his lips and Caleb felt better at feeling the heat. Every time Mollymauk felt warm to the touch was a sign that he was getting better.
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Mollymauk rolled over and curled up on Caleb’s pillow, burying his face in it.
Caleb softly slipped from their rooms (when had it become ‘their rooms’ a part of his mind wondered) with Frumpkin padding silently behind him. In the dark they made the trip to the library.
Caleb had cast Dancing Lights to help himself through the hallways. He stopped around the corner and took a cautious peek around the corner. The massive doors to the library were closed.
Caleb cast Detect Magic, and only his own rune peeked back at him. But, as he focused, he could sense…a spark of newborn potential. There was the beginnings of magic here, a soft, gentle, fragile thing, but capable of so much.
It was unlike anything Caleb had seen before, yet somehow familiar to him, in a way.
He moved around the corner as the spell faded, and opened the library door silently. Frumpkin slipped in first, followed by Caleb. He shut the door behind him and slipped into the shadows of the massive bookshelves.
He had long ago had this place memorized and moved deep into the shadows of the stairwell. He paused and listened.
He heard a soft voice repeating a phrase over and over. A soft prickle of recognition trickled down Caleb’s spine. He slipped from the shadows and climbed the staircase slowly. Frumpkin was right next to him, and together they plateaued onto the second level. Caleb took to the shadows again, and cast another Detect Magic.
Again, that same spark of magic. Closer this time, near his office. Caleb clung to the back wall and slowly made his way past each and every row, peeking around each time until he reached the group of tables that was near a large window.
There, sitting on the table, book in her lap, was Charlie De Rolo. She was sitting in the moonlight with a hazel twig in one hand, her other free to cast. He watched as she tried to cast Dancing Lights over and over and over.
Something in this sight, of a young wizard trying so hard in the dead of night to cast the most basic spell made tears spring to Caleb’s eyes. He quickly wiped them away before they fell into his beard as Frumpkin head-butted his shins.
Charlie De Rolo wanted to be a wizard. She wanted to be a wizard so badly she had broken into the Warmage Library to learn. She was brave to be certain, and dedicated not to mention clever to think of this plan. It lacked common sense to be sure, but she was a child still. She was allowed to make mistakes like this.
He clung to the shadows , hiding behind a bookshelf, and watched as she tried. She tried for what Caleb knew was over three hours. The moonlight grew brighter and the shadows grew longer and she tried. She kept going, despite no signs that it was working.
Then, very softly, there was a spark.
Charlie bolted upright and it snuffed out. Her tail twitched on the table as she settled back in and tried again.
There it was again and she took a steady inhale and it flickered. She held her breath it steadied again. She gasped and it flickered out. She snarled softly, exposing her teeth.
She took a deep calming breath and this time, on the exhale, cast the spell. The spark happened again, holding steady at a soft, if small, but steady glow. Charlie smiled and then ran out air. She begun to inhale and it flickered only once, holding steady.
She had cast Dancing Lights.
A wide smile broke over her face and Caleb’s at the same time.
“You did very well.” He said, stepping out from behind the bookshelf.
Charlie startled and swore, the book shutting on her fingers with a snap. She wrenched them free and shook her hand.
“I’m sorry.” She said.
“Thank you for the apology. But if I did not want you here you would have been gone before you even started.” He said softly. “I know what it is like. I have been where you are.”
“I doubt it.” She said softly, her accent crisp.
“Do you think I was born with magic? No, I am not so lucky. I had to earn it, the hard way, like you are doing now. I remember being up in the middle of the night when my family was asleep. I know. I am proud of you. You kept going and you did not give up.”
“What?”
“Charlie, I wanted you to succeed.” Caleb said softly. “I wanted you to be able to cast it. I am so proud. Was that your first spell?” He asked.
As he got closer he saw that her eyes were shining with tears.
“Charlie, what is wrong?”
“You’re proud of me?” She asked. Her voice was full of emotion; Caleb recognized that tone of disbelief. It was in his own voice whenever Mollymauk called him a good person.
“Yes. You worked for this. I am so proud that you didn’t give up. Charlie, do you want to be a wizard?” He moved closer to her and sat at the table as she sniffed.
“Father…he wouldn’t approve.” She said softly. Her voice was catching with her emotions as she tried not to cry.
“Why not? Why wouldn’t he be proud? Not everyone can do what you just did. It very rare.”
“Because he hates me.” Her voice broke with a sob and the tears ran down her face. She angrily wiped them away, her claws leaving white marks on her red skin.
“Oh no, why do you say that?” Caleb asked. “He is your father.”
“Is he?” Charlie asked. “Tieflings come demonic influence in the blood line.”
“Yes, that is true. But why would he hate you just because you are a tiefling?”
“Why else would he be ashamed of me?” She asked softly. There were tears on her cheeks and Caleb wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She was shaking like a leaf on the wind and he knew that tone of self-loathing in her voice; it was the same as in his own whenever he spoke about himself.
“Well if he is ashamed I think that is a stupid reason. Just because you are a tiefling doesn’t mean that you are a bad person. My husband is a tiefling and he is the kindest person I have ever known.”
“I don’t know but at home he really doesn’t let me out of the castle. I can go into the gardens but not into town with every one else. He’s the Lord and mother tries to get me out of the house but there’s no chance.” She said softly.
“Well, if he does not let you out of the house, how did you end up here?” He asked softly. “I am not doubting you, Charlie, I genuinely wish to know.”
“My big brother. Father wanted to bring him along. He’s going to be the Lord one day and he needs to be prepared. Vax said he wouldn’t go if I couldn’t go. So father gave in.” She had a small smile on her face.
“Well there is one person who loves you.” He said gently. She nodded softly. “Charlie, imagine how proud your big brother would be to find out that you can use magic?”
She smiled and started to cry again, this time out of joy, Caleb suspected.
“You should tell him tomorrow. You should show him tomorrow. You know, I have gotten quite close to your father. Perhaps I can speak to him about, ah, taking you under my wing, so to speak.” The idea tumbled out of him before he could stop it. The idea scared him a bit, but a very large part of him knew that Mollymauk would be there to help him. Mollymauk had taken a shine to the young girl before his poisoning. Caleb had no doubt that Mollymauk would be there to help him with the new apprentice, and it eased the fear in his chest.
“He would say no.” Charlie said with face. She hung her head and Caleb saw the beginnings of horns on the top of her head.
“We will not know until we try, ja?” He said. “It is not many apprentices who get to say their teacher is one of the Archmages.”
“That will please father.” She admitted in a begrudging tone.
“If you think that will help that ja, it will help.” He admitted. “Plus, it would get you out of the house. We would try for a while, not a full-time apprenticeship, but you would be spending the days with me.”
“It would get me away from him?” She asked, with a soft tone of hope in her voice.
“At least for a while.” Caleb said. “You would be studying while he is working on the Amplifier.”
“Is that for Project Phoenix?”She asked softly. She was no longer crying which Caleb considered to be a plus.
“Yes. It is to help amplify my own magic, as well as Keyleth’s. I do not have the kind of magic needed to cure the Blight. Mine tends to be more destructive.”
“That’s the kind I want to learn.” She said with a soft smile. She grabbed a book by her side and cracked it open. On the page was the theorem for Cone of Cold. He couldn’t help but smile softly. He remembered being entranced with the higher level spells as he tried to master the simple ones.
“Well that is an admirable goal, let us start with something small, ja? Keep working on cantrips while I talk to your father.” He said.
“Father’ll say no.” Charlie said with total surety.
“Well, we will not know until we try, ja? You can keep the beginners book. Just make sure to put the other back. Charlie, you can come in here and practice any time you wish. I do not have to be here for you to take advantage of my library.” Caleb offered.
“Why are you offering?” She asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful, but I’m just a little confused.”
“You have a wonderful knack for magic, Charlotte De Rolo. It would be a crime to see it squandered.” Caleb told her softly. “Now you must be getting back to bed, it is late.”
“Or early.” She said.
“Ja. Or early. Go back home Charlie. I will lock up here.” He said.
“Thank you, Archmage Widogast.” She said as she slid from the table with the sound of hooves on wood.
“There is no need to thank me Charlie.” He was just doing the right thing. It wasn’t often that someone with Charlie’s determination came along. It wasn’t often that a young person who wanted to be a wizard broke into a library to read and practice and study, much the official library of the Archmages of the Dewndalian Empire.
“Still. Thank you Archmage.”
“Please, call me Caleb.”
“Thank you Caleb.” She said. She threw her arms around him in a quick hug before scampering off to return the book. He heard her hooves clop down the stairwell and out the doors.
“Well, it seems that I have finally found an apprentice.” He told his cat. Frumpkin mewed and headbutted his knee softly. “I know. I will be better to her than he was to me. I will not treat her the way I was treated.” He ran his fingers over Frumpkin’s spine as the cat collapsed onto the table and demanded belly rubs.
He smiled softly and caved, stroking the cat’s soft fur gently.
“I am not as scared as I should be.” He muttered. He felt safe, talking to his Familiar. “I…” he wondered how he could explain the tumbling swirls of emotion inside of him.
He could identify fear. He was used to fear. He was used to the yellow, bitter taste of it on the back of his tongue. But there was also a small spark of something like anticipation. He could remember those days of his vividly; of borrowing books with promises of keeping them pristine and making the mile long walk into the village to get to the bookseller. He could remember the days of seeing the other two magic students every time he came into town. He could remember the days of being hungry and determined. He wasn’t just hungry for food but he was hungry for something more. He found that his mind naturally lent itself to magic. He worked hard at it yes, but it did not come as easily as it looked.
He remembered the first spell he had ever cast; a simple Produce Flame. But he remembered being overjoyed at the simple flame in his hand. It was small and flickering, but it was there, moving on his palm, bathing him in it’s warmth and glow.
He was amazed that he got to witness that moment twice, once as a child, and now again, as an adult.
Percival would a fool not to let her study with him. She had a natural talent, and could only grow stronger with his help. A plan was already forming in his mind on how to balance his workload. He could do it. There was no issue on his end of disrupting his life, for once. Even to his marriage to Mollymauk he had been unsure. Now it was the bedrock of his life.
Mollymauk would be pleased to know he found a student.
The thought of his husband stirred him to action. He left the table and had Frumpkin drape across his shoulders for speed. He left the library and locked up with a wave of his hand. He hurried back to his husband, knowing that he had time before he had to get to work.
He slipped back into their rooms, nice and warm from the fires that Caleb always had going for Molly’s sake. Frumpkin jumped onto the couch as he passed it. Caleb slipped out of his robe and shoes and into bed, gently laying a hand on his husband.
“Mollymauk. I have news.”
Mollymauk made a noise like a disturbed cat as his red eyes flickered open.
“Caleb? What time is it?”
“It is one thirty five in the morning.”
“I love that you can do that.” Molly mumbled. “What news?”
“I think I have agreed to take on an apprentice for a little while. Barring her father’s approval of course.”
He told his husband the tale of what happened in the library as Mollymauk woke up. By the time Caleb had finished telling the tale his husband was wide awake and playing with his braid as his listened. Caleb was resting on an elbow with one hand on his head and the other on Molly’s stomach under the blankets.
“Well, my dear, it looks like we have a child now.” Mollymauk said with a smirk. The necklace that Caleb had given him glinted softly in the firelight, right at the neckline of his sleeping shirt.
“I am sorry to spring this on you in this way, but if Lord Percival approves this, I know just what to do. And Mollymauk, if she is half as talented as I think she is I will take her on full-time. She will have to move in with us.”
“When I’m better, darling, alright?”
“Ja. Of course. I want you to do nothing but get better.” He bent his head and kissed Mollymauk softly.
His husband dropped the braid and tangled his fingers in Caleb’s shaggy hair.
“Mollymauk, behave.” He chided softly. “You are still ill.” He ran his thumb over the softness of Molly’s concave belly.
“I know, but your hair is driving me wild. I love it. And I’m feeling better in the heat.”
“And again, how is your vision? I hate to keep asking, but I worry.”
“My vision is fine.” Mollymauk said. “As it was last, oh, five times you asked me.” He teased softly. He kissed the tip of Caleb’s nose softly. “So you’ve picked up an apprentice.”
“Apparently so. I will do my best to persuade her father tomorrow. She is so promising Mollymauk.”
“Well that’s good. But that’s tomorrow, yes? Let’s get some sleep now.”
“Ja. I….I just want to say one more thing. I have to say this.” He ignored the own voice that said not to tell Mollymauk about what he had survived but he ignored it. This was Mollymauk. He was safe with him. “My own master was, ah, he was cruel. He tortured us. There is no other way to word it. He…he made us-” Caleb’s voice cracked and tears sprung into his eyes.
“Darling, whatever he made you do, I don’t care. That’s in the past.” Molly rose up as best as he could and cupped Caleb’s face. He tugged on his husband’s jaw until their foreheads were pressed together. “That’s then. I care about the now. I care about the fact that you’re gonna be amazing teacher. Caleb, you’re so smart and you have so much to teach. I’m so happy for you.”
“Mollymauk.” Caleb’s voice was layered with the emotions that were tearing him apart. There was hope and pain and disbelief and something like shame tearing at his throat. His eyes were filled with tears as he clutched as Molly’s silk nightshirt.
Oh how he loved him. Caleb just shut his eyes and kissed his husband to keep from admitting to his love. There was no way Mollymauk could love him. Mollymauk may say that he doesn’t care about the past, but if he knew what Caleb had lived through and what he had done, he would care. Those crimes would be unbearable and Caleb would have no choice but to give Mollymauk the divorce he would want.
There was no way Mollymauk could ever know what he had done. He kissed his husband, knowing these were things he would take to his grave.
“Now hush. No more talk of this.” Mollymauk’s tail stroked up his legs under the blanket. “Let’s get to bed. You have a big task tomorrow.”
“I know. I just hope I do not bungle it up.” He confessed.
“You won’t. I believe in you.” Molly laid back down on the bed and stretched like a big cat, his back popping, before rolling over onto his back and patting his chest.
“Alright.” Caleb sighed, and curled up on Mollymauk’s chest. He could hear his husband’s heartbeat and a clawed hand came up to scratch at his scalp. Between the steady sound under his ear, the smooth motions on his head, and the sheer heat of the place, he was out in minutes.
The next morning Mollymauk was awake and sitting up in bed when they broke for tea. Caleb waited until Keyleth was chatting with Mollymauk over cakes and tea to approach the Lord.
“Ah, Lord Percival, my I have a moment of your time?” He asked.
“Always.” The other man replied with a soft smile.
“Ah, please do take this the wrong way, but last night I caught your daughter in my library. After hours.” He said. “I knew the moment she picked the lock. My wards went off. I was there in under two minutes. I caught her there, trying to learn magic.” He said frankly.
“And I mean try. I watched for a good while,” He didn’t want to sound like a creep, so he left out the exact amount, “but it took her a very long time to make a spark of light. It did not last right away, but she kept at it. She kept at it until she had a four lights rolling around her fingers.”
He cast Dancing Lights to demonstrate exactly what Charlie had done. “Your daughter cast her first spell last night. I was allowed to witness it. She is very, very talented, my lord. I do not know how magic is treated on Tal’dorie, but here in the Empire it is a highly valued and highly trained skill. If you approve, I would very much like to tutor your daughter in magic. And if she proves to have a keen mind, if you allow it, I would gladly take her on full-time as my apprentice.”
He snuffed out his lights and took a sip of his tea, thankfully he managed to hide how his hand was shaking.
“You are saying my daughter broke into the Archmage library in the dead of night to study magic and you are impressed?” He asked.
“Ja. Highly impressed. It demonstrates a strength of will and a desire to learn that is very strong. I will tell you something. Before I entered the library I had cast Detect Magic. I actually caught a glimmer of your daughter working the arcane energies around her. She is very talented. And she could do wonderful things.”
“You seem keen to tutor Charlie. May I ask why?”
Caleb paused and took a bite of cake to think. He downed the cake with some tea before speaking. “She has a rare gift; she is both highly intelligent and highly determined. That is a rare thing. From what I understand she gets it from you.”
Percival flushed a light pink and averted his gaze. He took a sip of his tea and Caleb continued.
“I do not think it wise to let that gift languish away inside of Whitestone. Charlie says that she is not allowed outside, into town. May I ask why?” Caleb took a bite of his cake.
“Tal’dorie doesn’t have many tieflings. They have a bit of a reputation, actually, and in order to spare my child being the target of that hatred I’ve kept her away from it all.” He said simply. “She doesn’t have to endure what the other tieflings endure. They’re slowly gaining more rights, but at the same time old attitudes still persist.”
“So you kept her out of society because of hatred toward her kind?”
“Of course.”
“Well, she thinks it is because you are ashamed of her, for, ah, for being a tiefling. She thinks you hate her. She told me not to ask you if she could train under me because you were sure to say no.” Caleb said with seriousness.
Percy’s body language changed and he sighed, rubbing at his eyes. He opened his mouth but Keyleth spoke first.
“It’s not your fault Percival. I know what you’re thinking.”
“Kiki,” he sighed, “of course it is. I’m the one that made the deal.”
Molly’s eyes went wide and he glanced toward Caleb, whose face was impassive.
“But we knew this could happen.” She insisted. “The moment you and Vex discussed marriage this might happen.”
“I know, and I do not love her any less. She is my only daughter.” His voice broke on the last two words. “Do you understand? If she goes out in society she’ll be exposed to so much. I can’t expose her to that.”
“Then tell her that.” Keyleth insisted. “You know that’s the right thing to do.”
“If I may speak here for a moment,” Molly said gently, “What Percy here is saying that is tieflings aren’t welcome and may I say, as a tiefling in a place where tieflings aren’t that welcome, yeah it sucks. Yeah, it’s hard. But in the end it’s a lot better then being locked up in some castle.” He said. “I’d rather deal with a hundred assholes than be locked up when I didn’t have to be.”
Silence echoed around the room for a few heartbeats before Percival sighed.
“You are right.” He said softly. “All three of you. And my wife. And my sister. And my sister-in-law.” He rubbed at his face. “I’ll speak to Charlie about her tutelage to you, after lunch. As for now, yes I formally give my consent for my daughter, Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Kolawski De Rolo, to study magic under you, Archmage Caleb Widogast.”
He held out his hand. Caleb was thankful was left-handed so he didn’t have to transfer his tea to shake Percy’s hand.
“I thank you. If this works out this means an apprenticeship. That means she will end up living with myself and my husband. There is a whole wing off of this room dedicated to an apprentice’s quarters.” He gestured to a set of double doors between the wall and the fireplace at the other end of the room.
“I am familiar with how apprenticeships work. I had to learn my craft as well.” Percy said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Caleb had lifted his teacup for a sip and just nodded to acknowledge it.
“If this works out,” Percy said as he picked up a cake, “She will be the first magic user in the De Rolo family that will actually be allowed to embrace her gifts. I cannot wait to see how she grows.” He sounded every inch the proud father.
“And I cannot wait either. She has…” He wouldn’t say the words ‘promise’ or ‘potential’, those were both what Trent had used to describe him. He was not going to be like that. “A gift.”
“I know she’s smart; she takes after me. She’s got all the willpower of her mother and the intelligence of myself. Add magic into the mix and she will be a force to be dealt with.”
After tea came more work on the Circle of Amplification; Percy was triple checking his work as well as getting a handle on what Caleb’s and Keyleth’s magics are like and how they differ. It was a delightful new challenge to add because it limited his use of materials to what they need. Kiki’s were proving the hardest to get; they would need to get them on-site of where they planned to use this. He was thrilled by the challenge.
After work came lunch and after lunch he broke from the group, knowing that Charlie would be out of her morning lessons by now. She was diligent about her homework while they were away; moreso than his son.
He slipped into their chambers and sure enough found Charlie on the window seat with a blanket around her shoulders and a cup of tea balanced in a curl on her tail.
“Hello Charlie. May I speak with you for a moment?” He asked. Now is a good time as ever.
“Did I do something wrong?” She asked.
“Well, technically yes but you’re not going to be punished for it.” He walked forward and eased off his cravat and opened his shirt a bit to ease the pressure on his throat.
“Archmage Widogast told me what happened last night. He also told me of his offer to you.”
He saw his daughter’s face go through a journey of pure terror to horror to hope to sadness then to neutrality.
“And?”
“Well, firstly is it something you would like to do?” He asked. “Apprenticeships are serious things.”
“Of course. Father, as soon as I hit sixteen I’ll be out in society anyway. I’d rather be a wizard than a noble lady.” She rolled her eyes. “Can you imagine me trying to dance with these?” She took a moment to wriggle her hooves at her dad. “And seeing how as I will never marry into society I might as well learn something useful to live off of. I can’t be Vax’s spinster aunt forever.”
“Firstly, you do not know that if your fate at all, but more importantly we need to talk to your mother first, get her permission was well. You are her daughter too you know.”
“Father? What are you saying?” His daughter’s voice was soft with a mix of suspicion, hope and disbelieve.
“I’m saying that as of eleven o’clock this morning, I gave my consent for Archmage Caleb Widogast to tutor you in the arcane arts.” He said simply.
He watched as his daughter broke out into the largest grin and started to laugh with joy.
“Archmage Widogast also told me that you said I would say no.” He said. “May I ask why?
“You may ask but you may not get an answer.” Charlie replied with a raised eyebrow and a tone that made him think of her mother.
“Why did you think I would say no?”
“Because you never let me do anything, ever.”
“And do you know why I do not let you out of the house?”
“Because….” She bit her lip. “Because I’m a tiefling?” She asked softly. He nodded.
“I keep you in the house in Whitestone to keep you safe. There are not that many of your kind in Tal’dorie and I want to keep you from that ugliness.” His voice was soft. “Charlie, you’re my only daughter. Do you really think I could ever hate you?”
Charlie started to tear up and her voice was thick with emotion. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Well, I don’t. I love you, Charlie. I don’t know if you believe me, but I am your father.”
“Are you?”
Percy sighed softly. “Who’s been repeating those lies? Yes, you are mine.”
“How can you be so sure?” She asked, her voice cracking.
“Because you’re a teifling.” He said simply.
“What?” Charlie asked, blinking. She really was as quick on the uptake as Caleb had said; she was already blinking in comprehension. “Father, was it Orthax?”
“How do you know that name?” He asked softly, eyes wide. He was startled that his daughter knew the demon that had come into their bloodline.
“Vax. He overheard it. Please don’t be mad.” She whimpered.
“He takes after his namesake.” Percy grumbled with a glance upward. “I’m not mad. I’m just surprised. Yes, it was Orthax.”
“You made the Deal? But…why?” She asked.
“Will you come sit here? You can bring your tea and blanket. I want to tell you a story. A bit of family history as it were.” Percy said. He patted the love seat and moved to bank the fire.
Charlie moved, taking her tea, book, and blanket to the love seat and curling up there. Her father took the chair he had been sitting on. He took off his glasses and rubbed at his face.
“So,” he began with his voice soft “once I had six siblings.”