202. Before the Hunt. *

The results were in and it looked like this.

9. Cintia Martell Borea. 31/40

8. Stuart Boolt. 32/40

7. Eleanor Wold. 33/40

6. Carlos Julius Em. 34/40

5. Demelza Jartok. 34/40

4. Manata Emil. 35/40

3. Lylly Wold Astoria. 36/40

2. Alexander Jartok. 37/40

1. Lucian Mordin. 39/40

We all passed the 30/40 number and felt pretty good about it .. except Lucian who, dispite coming in first and earned the envy of every man and women here, he was extremely down about getting slammed by the last ball thrown by Fipna Revel using his brother distraction to nail him at least once.

" I want to thank you all for indulging me and participating in this little exercise .. it might helped to understand the dangers of this little hunt a little better .. " - said my husband after the celebration died down a little. " I was pleasantly surprised by the results, you all improved at an incredible rate .. well done. "

" It was a great idea Zeph, it even helped me hone my powers and come up with something new. " 

Carlos stepped closer lifting his hand showing a small water bubble, resembling the one he wore during the test. 

" Yeah that extra protection will come handy for sure .. I was a little disappointed that you didn't use your blessing Cintia. "

Cintia looked a little confused. " Like how? "

" Creating an illusion for our snipers and make their job a little difficult for one. " - said Zephyr.

She thought about a little and got a little embarrassed. " Well .. I was under the impression .. shut up! "

We laughed as she took off without a landing now seeking shelter in her wife's arms. 

" Anyway .. let's all use this time to rest and make final preparations ahead of Monday. " - Zephyr took my hand and our daughter from me, walking in ahead of us. " Saam make sure to keep the gates closed and treat anyone with caution while we're away, no one can come inside for any reason. "

" No problem, we already doubled the guards as you said and all work was put on hold until you and you're party returns. " - said Saam while taking a seat at the table.

Fipna was deep in conversation with Aim Monroe, who from the looks of it gotten closer to him in the last week. It would be funny if the twins actually got together with a set of sisters. Just yesterday she and her sister announced they're decided to stay behind since Zephyr didn't let them come close to the actual action so the only Monroe sister will be Veila there, who was off at the tavern reading futures. Her business was lively as ever since the new residents arrived.

Alexander was still consoling Lucian who was getting dramatic about it. Zephyr noticed it.

" .. Stop the mopping! You did great, better than anyone really. Besides, we're not done with those balls just yet .. "

He waited until I took a seat in his lap making myself comfortable before he continued. 

" Ciren and myself been brain storming ..

" Meaning we read a lot a books. " - Ciren interjects.

" .. whatever, we came up with some games with these little disgusting things. " - he said holding up a ball. " I will ..

" Khmm! .. "

" We will .. " - Zephyr corrected himself after Ciren help. " .. unveil the games, once we had some time to perfect them, for now they're are in the development stage. "

Ciren looked incredibly proud and took our praises with noble grace. " My books are full of these stories but a lot of them are missing or .. just make no sense at all, so we need to fill those gaps ourselves. "

" That's right .. but with several new games coming our little tournament held over the summer will have even more .. less lethal games amongst them allowing everyone, from age 3 to 80 to participate, have fun and make some coin. " 

Listing to them made me realise how much more we have to look forward to in the coming months, Petra will soon give birth, the rescue of Juan is looming large in the coming weeks, then the carnage will begin .. a lot of people will die but, its for the greater good of our safety and happiness. I suppose there are some out there who believe this is wrong but as husband always said to them .. family is all. So let the rest burn.

" We will go now .. " 

Aim and Mai started to gather themselves to leave. " Oh .. girls do me a favour and stick close to those two .. "

Zephyr pointed at the Revel brothers who were quietly enjoying some lemonade.

" They're lose cannons and we need our village intact when returned. "

We smiled at their distress. 

" Lose cannons ? .. like how!? " - asked Saam.

" .. You want me to remind you how we meet? " - he asked with an evil smile playing with his blue stone.

Fipna elbowed his brother on the sided shaking his head. 

" No .. you're probably right. Girls please take good care of us. "

The sister duo just smiled brightly. 

"" We'll do our best. "" 

I head a sneaking suspicion that he just wanted those four to get closer to each other while making sure more talented and level headed people lead the defence in our absence.

" Please tell your sister about the changes and make sure she be ready come Monday morning, we leave before sunrise .. meet at the stables .. 

" We know leader .. after all we all live just a few minutes away. " - said Mai as she quickly walked outside with a cheeky smile, Aim followed her after a special nod towards Fipna who looked a little red in the face.

I shared some looks with my husband confirming my earlier suspicion .. that smile told a lot of things. His kissed tasted like sour lemon .. from the lemonade.

" We need to talk about one more thing before we leave .. Seline? "

Mother stopped making out in front of everyone and looked up.

 " What about? " - she asked.

" Farming season of course, I need you to gather those with the largest land and have them meet me tomorrow .. and since I know little of farming ill be relying on you for help. "

Mother beamed like the sun, the smile of someone who enjoyed being needed.

Myself was a little surprised since I was raised as a farm girl and never asked or even consulted on the subject .. but whatever.