Ramzan poured the wine for his two companions, keeping them company that evening. The one who could go blow for blow with him in melee picked up the bowl, sipping it lightly, tasting the sour sandwine of the sand giants, not for the first time, but it had been so long he had all but forgotten the taste. Sokikez, too, sipped the wine lightly, which had been watered down and mixed with the juice of various fruits, the woman still upon duty, so she couldn’t drink more than a bowl of the mixture. 

“I heard rumours in the capital you were around, but had not expected to actually see you,” the sand giant admitted. 

“I am escorting… my son and his friend to the Order.”

“Your son?”

“The Priest.”

“I did not know-,” Ramzan began. “Ah, that young woman?”

Ashmir nodded, while Sokikez gazed upon the pair, realising they were even closer than she expected. She had heard the sand giants would often come to the capital and fought in the

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I'm sorry, Uli, but that's how it is. 

arena during this month, but for the past few years they had decided against it, and now she understood why. They had stated it was because they did not wish to fight anyone who was second to the Lion King, though to say Sully the Mountain was second to him would bring you to meet Lord Sozain quickly. She would need to write about this relationship to the Iyr. 

“Who is this half elf?”

“They are close, like brothers.”

“So does that make him your nephew?”

“He calls me ahm, since he wishes to spoil my grandchildren.”

“First a son, and now grandchildren?” Ramzan raised his brows in surprise. “How many?”

“Two, but by the end of the year, there may be a third, since he is so charming,” Ashmir joked, pouring sandwine for the giant opposite him. “How is Haya?”

“He is growing well, he can toss sacks with ease, but he is slow to speak.”

“What of his Fate?”

Ramzan shook his head. “He will remain within the village. He will grow stronger than the short lives mortals, but for a giant, he is only average.”

“An average giant will still grow to beat many of Aswadians warriors,” Ashmir stated.

“If we allow those of average might step out, all around us will think we have grown weak, and they will covet our home,” the giant replied simply, understanding just how little leeway they had. Their freedoms shackled by their want to be free. “The half elf, Adam, was it?”

“Yes.”

“Is what he said true?”

“Yes.”

“I cannot dare to believe it,” Ramzan admitted. “He is only twenty five?”

“Yes.”

“A boy but a quarter of my age…” 

“You shouldn’t feel so bad, since you are not wielding your greatest equipment, and though he did not, you would have found less trouble if you wore your adamant.”

“His strength may come from his blade, but he wielded his abilities finely. It was difficult to force him back, even with my great might.” Ramzan flexed his muscles, which rippled, and though he was not as strong as the greater giants, he could out wrestle almost any Aswadian, and his physical might may have even surpassed Lion King’s. “Has the Iyr birthed such a monster?”

“I cannot confirm or deny, as I know of the half elf little,” Sokikez admitted truthfully. 

“Are you saying the meeting between the Raining Bow and that monster of a fool was a coincidence?”

“No,” Sokikez replied, smiling slightly. “I escorted Maharan, for he has gained the Iyr’s favour, and such a favour was repaid by placing him in the half elf’s care.”

The sand giant yawned, narrowing his eyes towards the Iyrman. However, the Iyrmen were usually quiet when they were being secretive, and if she was being this open, it meant the young woman was probably speaking the truth when she said she didn’t know much about the half elf.

“You don’t need to be so worried,” Ashmir stated. “That half elf, he’s already stated his intention to remain at peace for now.”

“For now?”

“He killed the Grand Commander of High Garden, and in the future, he is the kind that will come to face many others, so trouble will chase him, like a leopard bounding for a gazelle.”

“How many know?” Razfan replied, with the thought that the half elf had just been joking about killing the Grand Commander, and had thought Ashmir had been joking about it too, but that tone implied he wasn’t. 

“A few.”

“Is it wise to let him show off such abilities at this time?”

Ashmir shrugged his shoulders. “He felt the need to show Charek, so perhaps his heart will remain calm now?”

“I doubt his heart will remain calm now that he has seen a monster born within the Iyr.”

“Not born within the Iyr,” Ashmir corrected. 

“He has tied himself to the Iyr, it is no different.”

Ashmir tilted his head, relenting to the sand giant, who poured him another bowl. Razfan then reached into one of the sacks behind him and brought out small marbles, a delicacy for sand giants, but mortals would almost kill for them. He offered more to Sokikez, since he had yet to speak with her. 

“Raining Bow, I hope I have not bored you thus far,” Ramzan called, the sand giant then reaching towards a basket, pulling out his backpack, before pulling out something wrapped within a scarf, and as he unfurled the scarf, the item was hidden beneath the leather, which he rolled ahead of them. 

Sokikez leaned over to note the tips of the arrows, each different, almost a rainbow of colour, the Iyrman raising her brow. “I did not know you knew of the Lion King so intimately.”

“Ashmir and I would drink often into the night after his fights whenever we passed by the capital,” Ramzan admitted. “I would disguise myself as another figure, a merchant who wished to do business, so as to not trouble him.”

‘Ah,’ Sokikez thought. 

“Please, accept the gift of these arrows, from our sand giants to you, oh great Raining Bow,” Ramzan called.

Sokikez peered over the arrows. “I will accept your generosity, and will consider it aid upon my task to keep the young Maharan safe.”

“Take it without burdening your heart, Iyrman,” the sand giant said, for though the Iyr of old and the sand giants had fought, their people had not spilled blood in decades, and even when previous Shens had tried to assault them, the Iyrmen would refuse to mountains of silver if it meant fighting the sand giants, and it was not out of fear. 

“You can take it freely, since Adam will spoil them in the future,” Ashmir said, sipping the rest of the sandwine out of the bowl, his eyes peering towards the Iyrman, who raised her brow questioningly towards him. “It is a great shame Tanika does not wish for children, for they would be able to conquer the world once the half elf spoils them.”

“I noticed he was quite the fool of a father…” Ramzan admitted. “Are his children really…”

“Iyrmen,” Ashmir stated, but his eyes confirmed the real question. “I heard he almost killed my son to adopt the twins.”

“He did?”

“I do not know what plagues his heart, but when it comes to children, he has allowed one to stab him and he still adopted the child within the business,” Ashmir said, letting slip more and more about the half elf. 

“The blue babe within your group…”

“Kizwolima?”

“The devilkin?”

“Amal.”

“Is she…”

“She is.”

“Did he entrust her to you?” Ramzan asked, and once the Aswadian nodded his head, Ramzan sipped the rest of his bowl of sandwine. “Raining Bow, would you be willing to tell me a tale?”

“I will,” the woman confirmed, sucking upon the hard rock, in which the colours swirled all over. “Once I am done with this treat.”

“Take your time, for the night is long, and to we giants, too cold without the tales of great Iyrmen.”

‘You always do have such tongues,’ the woman thought, smiling slightly, as the pair continued to talk, Ashmir committing the sin of biting into the treat in order to speak clearly, almost causing the giant and he to fight. 

Meanwhile…

“I’m so sorry! You forgive me, don’t you? I didn’t mean to cast the spell, I forgot that you were going to be watching! No, no, it’s not like that, I didn’t forget you!” Adam held onto the girl’s hand, while she remained cuddled up to Anka’s bosom, all but ignoring the half elf. 

Uli’s eyes remained firmly fixated on the fool of a half elf, completely certain he had killed Sir Yamas. He thought about slipping into town to send word back, but if there was but even the tiniest chance such news would leak on the way, they would find greater trouble on their journey. 

‘Mustashalur, what did I do to be assigned to him?’

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