<21 August 2024, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER , A+> [Theo and Julia] After a few hours of discussing what they wanted with Kreldar, Agara approached them. "Excuse me, Lord Sorrenson, Lady Brahmin. My Lord has requested your presence."

Theo nodded. "Well, we better go see what he needs. Ordus, Kreldar, you can organize the dwarves as you see fit to start work on the basement and foundations as we discussed."

Ordus rose and bowed. Kreldar offered the fist-to-chest salute. Julia looked at Agara. "Very well, then, please lead us to your master."

Agara nodded and walked them to where Varess was fuming, and Sylvi seemed to be cowering. Julia gave Theo a look and then walked over to Sylvi halfway across the field.

[Theo] "I was told," Theo said as he walked up to Varess, "that you wished to see me."

Varess watched Julia go to his half-sister. "What is that woman doing."

Theo shot an eyebrow up. "Well, if by 'that woman' you mean Julia Brahmin, of whom you are a guest on our shared land, then she is doing damn well what she pleases. If you instead meant Lady Sylvi, your half-sister. I am sure that I do not know, but I do know that she does not look happy. You must not be a great brother if you are not worried about your sister."

Agara and Varess both gave Theo a wide-eyed look at the venom in his voice. Varess opened his mouth to speak, but Theo cut him off. "What did you want?"

Varess looked more disturbed at the lack of formality than anything else. But he shook his head. "You are brave, risking the wrath of the Karzun Family to be rude to me."

Theo raised an eyebrow at Varess, "Sorry, but after getting threatened by Patriarch Karzun in the Crypt Keeper's dungeon, you are not scary. I really am not trying to be rude; I just dislike people who spit on the bonds of family. I don't know what you got going on with your half-sister but know that any respect I had for you is gone now. The only thing keeping me civil at this point is the fact that Patriarch Karzun sent you to fulfill a part of an arrangement we have. So. Once again. What do you want?"

Varess squinted at Theo. "You know that I could crush you. I am many times your level."

Theo shrugged, "I guessed, but I don't really care. What. Do. You. Want."

Varess let out a long-suffering sigh. "Very well. I have completed what I can this evening; I will begin again tomorrow and should be done then. I await direction to my accommodation."

"Ha!" Theo let out a sharp, loud, barking laugh and gestured around. "Pick out a spot, my friend. We are sleeping on the dirt just like everyone else. So make do. Is there anything else?"

Varess looked like he was short-circuiting. Agara stepped up, "No, Lord Sorrenson, we will be fine; thank you for your hospitality."

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[Julia] Julia walked up to Sylvi, "Hi Sylvi, are you okay."

The girl tried to wipe her eyes, "I... Yes... Lady Brahmin, I am sorry. I..."

A sob escaped the girl's lips, and Julia placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Sylvi looked up, clearly distraught. Julia smiled softly. "What's wrong?"

Sylvi took a deep, steadying breath and looked as if she was going to deny it when Julia interrupted. "I promise that you don't have to say anything, but anything you do tell me, I will not tell your brother if that will help."

Sylvi looked over Julia's shoulder to where her older half-brother was talking with Theo. "Lord Sorrenson should be careful. Lord Varess is at a much higher level than him, and he has a temper. It was my own fault that I was yelled at; I didn't do the preparations right."

Julia looked into the eyes of the young woman. "May I ask what is going on with your brother and why Agara seems to think that your family does not treat you well?"

Sylvi looked pained at that, and then her shoulders deflated. "I am the result of my father's dalliances with someone who is not his wife. As such, even though I have the same family name and my father accepts me, even his wife accepts me, my half-siblings hold no love for me and view me only as a roadblock to getting more of the family resources devoted to them."

Julia listened as the girl continued to explain that all fourteen of her half-siblings had little good to spare for her, and she had never really had a chance to develop a good relationship with any of them.

"... and then Patriarch Karzun learned that I had inherited the feature that the Morrakai branch family was established for." She held up her hands, and her incredibly long and oddly jointed fingers were inscribed with pale blue runes, "And he demanded that my father train me in rune scribing and inscriptions. Now, the others are even more upset that the patriarch is taking an interest in me. Then he left to deal with something and came back talking about Durn getting exiled thanks to the efforts of a couple of humans. He told Lord Varess and my father that I would be going and training on the Mana Convergence Array that he was constructing for you."

Julia patted Sylvi on the back and let the girl continue. "But Varess made it clear that I was nothing but a hindrance. He said that if I didn't do as he said, that he would make sure that I was 'no longer a burden on the family.'"

Julia hugged the young dragon woman, surprising her. "Well, while you are here, just hang out with me; he can do his own thing; I am sure that we can figure something out."

Sylvi smiled weakly. "I appreciate the offer, Lady Brahmin, but I should return to assist my brother. Thank you for letting me vent."

With that, Julia walked away from Sylvi, who had headed to her brother.

[Theo and Julia] As they walked back to where they were camped out, Theo glanced at Julia. "You look upset."

"I am." She said quietly, and then she dove into what she had learned from Sylvi. It took her a few minutes, so she finished as they walked into camp. "It just pisses me off. She seems so sweet, but they just... URRGH!"

Theo chuckled. "Well, I chewed his royal pompousness out, and he reminded me that he could crush me. But after Patriarch Karzun in the Dungeon, it just wasn't that threatening."

Julia laughed. "Very true."

"So," Theo said, "Dinner then bed? And tomorrow, we can try and figure something out for Sylvi if we need to, that is?"

"I want to." Julia said, "I feel bad just leaving her to suffer."

"Okay, I am sure that between us, Ordus and the dwarves, we can find a way to get her away from him and let her relax," Theo said, pulling out two system meals and handing one to Julia. "Tomorrow, hopefully, we can finish up some of the minor stuff. And Kreldar seemed real gung-ho to get the Core and the Lantern set up."

Julia nodded, taking a drink of her water. "It is rather nice to have people help us do all of this."

Theo nodded in agreeance. They ate in silence until they were both done. They lay down next to each other. Julia leaned over and kissed Theo on the cheek. "Sleep well."

"You too," Theo said before they both drifted off to sleep.

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