Chapter 169 A big bang and unexpected guests

Chapter 169 A big bang and unexpected guests
Three Years Later
Irin heard the loud bang coming from the workshop upstairs.
"Ayyan!" she called.
"Sorry! I'm fine. I just added too much oomph," her sister called back.
"Mommy?" a sleepy voice asked. Irin sighed. She had just managed to put Keran and Elissa down for a nap and had looked forward to thirty minutes of uninterrupted time. Now her sister had ruined it, as her son stood in the kitchen doorway, rubbing his eyes.
"It's just Auntie Ayyan. Don't mind her. Let's go back to your sister and back into bed," Irin told the two-year-old, reaching out her hand. Keran took her hand, and they walked back into the new extension. When Irin had found out she was pregnant, Koth had insisted they build a house attached to the tower. He had said there was no way he would raise a child in a tower with the stone steps of doom. She could see his point. So they had built a house that connected to the kitchen, big enough for a couple of bedrooms and a family room. Ayyan had been more than happy, as she was gifted their old bedroom, which was far bigger than their guest rooms. Elissa was sitting on her bed.
"Did the big sound wake you up as well?" Irin asked, and Elissa nodded. "Why didn't you go with Keran to see what it was?" Irin's daughter just shrugged, as if she couldn't be bothered. Irin smiled. She was a lot like her father, that one. When Koth had found out Irin would have twins, his world had turned upside down. Irin had taken it in stride. Her family was full of twins, so she had more or less expected it was a possibility. Their children were a good combination of both parents. They had a light green tint to their skin, small tusks, sky-blue eyes, and red hair. It was a striking combination. Keran was the more outgoing one. He took after his mother and had a bubbly personality, while his sister was quieter, and if a toddler could be broody, it would be her. Irin didn't mind; the two of them stuck together and balanced each other.
"Come on. Back in bed," she said.
"Mommy! We have already napped," Keran objected.
"For two minutes. It doesn't count."
"It does," Elissa insisted. Despite their objections, they were getting back in bed.
"It doesn't. Now go to sleep, and when you wake up, your dad will be back, and we can all do something fun together," Irin promised. She stayed and made sure they were asleep before heading back to the kitchen. She was preparing some food they could bring with them for the outing she was planning. Fall was coming quickly, and she had her eyes set on some blackberry bushes in the forest that needed to be picked. She was thinking they could go as a family when Koth got back from the city. They could let the kids ride on Embla, and that way they could use the wagon and take some wood back with them as well. She was putting butter and cheese on bread when there was a loud knock on the front door. Irin was ready to kill whoever it was. The children had only napped for ten minutes.
"Ayyan, can you look after the troublemakers while I deal with the idiot?" she called to her sister. Ayyan came jumping down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen with a smile on her face. She loved the children, and they loved her. It was nice to have an extra pair of hands to help out with them. Irin opened the front door, ready to give whoever was outside a stern talking to. Instead, she froze as her brain tried to adjust.
"Hanook!" she exclaimed and drew the man into a hug. Someone cleared his throat, and Irin looked behind the captain. There was a man there. She had a feeling she had seen him before. Her eyes grew wide when she remembered him. "Nalu?" she asked. Hanook was chuckling and untangled himself from her hug, taking half a step back to Nalu's side.
"It is. Nalu, this is Irin," the captain introduced them.
"You have legs," was the first thing Irin said. Then she felt like an idiot. "Sorry." Both men were laughing.
"I do have legs. And my love tells me it is all thanks to you," Nalu said, fishing out a pendant from underneath his shirt.
"The moonstone! You got it to work? I'm so happy for you. Where are my manners? Keeping you on the doorstep. Come on in. Koth is in the city but should be back any moment," she told them and showed them inside.
"You are not worried about letting us in when your man is away?" Nalu asked. Hanook laughed, as did Irin.
"Babe, Irin could probably kill you either faster or more painfully than most men," Hanook told his partner.
"True," Irin agreed. "And I'm not alone. My sister is here, and she is almost a full-fledged wizard. Between the two of us, I'm sure we could handle ourselves." She gestured for them to sit down at the table. "Ale?" she asked.
"We won't say no to that," Hanook said. Irin got some ale and put bread, butter, cheese, and a smoked leg of lamb on the table.
"Help yourself," she said. "Ayyan, it's okay to come out," she then called. She knew her sister had distracted the children in case the ones at the door weren't friendly. The door to the house opened, and Ayyan came into the kitchen with the twins. "Come here, you two. This is Captain Hanook and his partner Nalu," she told her children. "This is Keran and Elissa." Hanook looked at them with wide eyes.
"Hello," Keran said, and it was soon echoed by his sister.
"Hello, tiny ones," Nalu greeted them. Hanook still looked a little dazed.
"You are the captain who Daddy took to save Mummy," Keran said. That seemed to wake Hanook.
"I am. Has he told you about that?" he asked. Both twins nodded enthusiastically.
"It's one of their favourite bedtime stories," Irin told him. "Slightly adapted for young ears," she added. The front door opened.
"Irin, there are two unfamiliar horses tied at the foot of the hill," Koth called.
"Daddy!" both children exclaimed and took off running. Irin heard her husband chuckle and the squealing of children.
"Troublemakers! Have you been good to your mum while I have been away?" he asked.
"Yes!" they both said. Irin smiled and stood up as Koth entered the kitchen with his hands full of the twins.
"Welcome back. We have guests," she told him and gave him a kiss.
"Well, I be flogged by the seven gods of chaos if it isn't the captain," Koth said.
"Hello, this is my husband Nalu," Hanook said, standing up. There was an awkward moment when they tried to shake hands, but Koth realised he had none left over. Irin smiled and took Keran from his father so he could shake hands with their friend and his husband.
"Sit down. Have something to drink and eat," Irin said to Koth. "You join us as well, Ayyan," she added.
"Would it be rude if I went back upstairs?" Irin's sister asked. Irin smiled.
"Not at all." Ayyan walked back to her studies. "My sister wouldn't leave the study if it wasn't for me forcing her," she explained to their guests. "And my husband doesn't see a problem with that."
"So it's official now?" Hanook asked.
"Yes. We tied the knot as soon as we got back home and everything was settled. We celebrated three years just a couple of weeks ago," Koth said. The amount of pride in his voice as he said it made Irin feel all mushy inside. She kissed him.
"How about you?" she asked.
"Oh, coming up on two years now. As soon as I let you off in FeighSho, I sailed to find him," Hanook said.
"He had tried to run away from it all, leaving me behind to sail in waters I didn't swim in," Nalu told them. "So I wasn't in a good mood, but I couldn't resist coming to his ship when he came back. It took me almost six months to figure out how to use the moonstone."
"Then we spent six months staying in a cabin by the sea. I wanted Nalu to get used to being on land and to be close enough to the sea in case he changed his mind," Hanook explained.
"Which was silly of you, but here we are. When I finally convinced him I was okay, we got married, and since then we have travelled all around the land."
"Now we were passing by Gahndas, and I had to stop by to say hello and thank you," the captain told them.
"We are very happy that you did. Won't you please stay a couple of days?" Irin suggested.
"Sorry, but we have plans to meet up with my ship in the docks this evening. It's time we sailed the seas again." Hanook and Nalu both looked happy.
"Then we will insist that you at least stay for dinner," Irin told them. Her plans for a family outing into the woods were scrapped, and instead, they stayed at home, talking to their friends. Both Keran and Elissa insisted on not going to bed until the guests had left. Irin and Koth agreed. It wasn't long after their usual bedtime when the grown-ups found the twins curled up under the table, fast asleep. Hanook and Nalu said it was their cue to leave. They all said goodbye and promised it wouldn't be another three years before they met again. Irin got the beds ready as Koth carried the children to bed. They both helped to get them undressed.
"They will sleep like the dead tonight," Koth chuckled and placed a kiss on each of their foreheads. Irin repeated the gesture.
"Yes. Almost no naps and so many exciting things. Maybe we will even get a chance to sleep in," she agreed. They took a bottle of ale and sat down in the garden. Irin had expanded it, and now it stretched all around the house and the tower. Koth had made a bench and placed it just outside the twins' window. That way, he and Irin could sit there when the children were asleep and still know if they woke up. The summer night was a little chilly, another sign of the ever-shifting seasons.
"Did everything go okay in the city?" she asked.
"It did. They were very grateful for the herbs you sent with me. The cold season is almost here, and your fever reducer and cough medicine are the best," he told her. He placed his arm around her, and she leaned into him. It never got old being close to him—sitting and talking or just enjoying a moment of silence together. Not long after the twins had been born, Koth had started helping out at the orphanage. He donated both money and time. Irin was proud of him. He remembered where he came from and ensured the children there had the possibility of a good future. He was an amazing father to their children, and she had never seen even a hint of him repeating the behaviours his own father had exhibited. She was so proud of him for it.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too, little wife," he told her, and they shared a sweet kiss.
"Would you ask her to come?" Koth asked after a while. Irin knew who he meant. She had been waiting for it for weeks. Ever since the twins were born, Koth had thought about his own parents and the past he didn't remember. She sent a prayer to her goddess, and Alesseja came walking around the corner, having been standing on the other side, just waiting for them to ask her to join them.