There in a small nook adjacent to the front door, Zyn pressed himself against the wall behind several cloaks, capes, and mantles. He opted to take cover behind his father’s formal black and white patterned cape, the larger size doing a far better job of hiding him than his own black and yellow cloak gifted to him on his last birth celebration. His peering red eyes peeking out from beyond the ornate fabric spotting Ozzy in his own hiding spot by the window, perfectly disguised and hanging amongst the crimson drapes.

He had lost track of how long he had been hiding here in preparation for his brother’s arrival with his new bride in tow. Zyn had previously met the woman at the wedding in Yulaya, finding her more than acceptable as a sister in law.

Which of course meant that he was obligated to test her awareness by leaping out at her from a hiding spot as she entered their home.

The pervading scent of the Golden Bloom Concord feast his mother was cooking hitting his nostrils finally clued him in that he had been waiting in hiding here far too long. Perhaps they were running late?

Ozzy’s flailing tentacle dispelled that notion, signaling that someone was approaching the darkened stone entrance and carrying a lantern. That had to be them, Zyn thought to himself as he whispered a spell of Muffle and a mischievous grin creased his lips. Keys clicked in the front lock as the door creaked open and a tall cloaked figure bowed their head as Zyn crept from his hiding spot before crouching to ready a leap, springing into action and having only one foot leave the ground as a finger tapped him on the back just as heard his brother’s voice from behind him speak a Paralysis spell.

The drow lad’s eyes were wide as he tipped over and hurtled towards the rug covered stone, only being saved from the fate by a swift clawed hand grabbing his shoulder.

“It’s good to see you again, Zyn!” The frost troll woman he now called sister in law said with far too much joy in her heavily accented voice as she righted the paralyzed boy and turned him towards his brother bearing a smile wider than any of the grand ravines.

The older drow brother tapped Zyn on the shoulder with another word of the Paralysis spell to free the lad who stumbled a bit as he regained his balance. His smile didn’t wane in the slightest as Zyn crossed his arms and muttered a greeting under his breath to the tall ice blue and white striped woman. “Yeah yeah, good to see you too Aglakti…”

“And no welcome for your dearest brother who was so kind to show you the folly of reusing a known hiding spot and not even checking it for invisible intruders?” The older drow shook his head and chuckled in time with Zyn’s groaning and eye rolling.

“YEAH YEAH WELCOME BACK Jyvan” Zyn shouted as Ozzy finally dropped from his hiding place amongst the drapes to scurry over to his mage’s leg to ascend onto his shoulder perch, finally waving hello to Zyn’s brother. “We’ll get him next time, Ozzy…”

“I should hope so, I taught you better than that!” His brother chuckled again along with Aglakti who had been far too amused by the exchange to interrupt, only now leaning down to share a quick kiss with her husband as Zyn groaned once more. Jyvan’s familiar finally scuttled in after them, the large tunnel squid hauling in a medium sized trunk with several tentacles, leaving a free one to wave to Zyn and Ozzy.

Zyn sighed and waved back in defeat to Wally, offering a hand but quickly finding himself rebuked as the tunnel squid hauled all luggage with little effort as Jyvan and Aglakti started to settle in.

“When did you get here, anyway?” Zyn asked his brother, hanging up his gray and blue woolen mantle in the clothing nook where the brothers had hid. The frost troll woman had to fold her own mantle to keep it from draping onto the ground from its hanging spot. They had seemingly gone with a matching theme of purple and blue attire that managed to look inspired by both of their respective cultures. Ilryn in a tunic elegant enough to make their mother proud and Aglakti in an equally intricate dress.

The frost troll woman answered with a chuckle and winking purple eye. “About fifteen minutes ago, Jyvan gets a smile on his face and tells me to wait for Wally to signal us to enter the house because ‘I know my brother’.”

The younger drow groaned before looking them over and nodding his approval as realization hit him. “Okay, the whole color combination to represent your blood is actually pretty endearing.”

Both of them froze and shared a look, completely failing to hide the now very apparent realization and guilt as they looked away from Zyn. Aglakti adjusted several of her icey blue braids as she looked around the dark stone dwelling of which she felt like a giant within. “Oh…that is…yes we had…what’s the word in Drowic…known that-”

“We planned it, yes- okay fine, it was a happy accident.” Jyvan threw his hands in the air as he took the lead down the hallway further into the house that the frost troll found lit far too little by the occasional light globe in sconces. He waved a finger towards his sapphire colored eyes “We were…kinda going for eye color and forgot about the blood thing…”

The older brother stopped at the foot of some wooden stairs leading to the second level, taking the trunk from Wally and setting a foot on the first step while turning to Zyn. “Hey, why don’t you show her some of the decorations around the house while I take our things up to my room? She wants to know all about the holiday and wanted to hear about it from an expert-”

Zyn was already grabbing the woman’s wrist and dragging her along, leaving Aglakti only a moment to shoot a bewildered and confused smile to Jyvan who only offered his own grin in response as he and Wally carried their luggage up the steps. What followed was one tall woman being drug around by a drow and his cave octopus through all the festive decorations of obsidian and gold. Which, as Zyn insisted, were very different from black and yellow despite all appearances.

It was in those colors that the home was adorned with numerous crafts of cloth and lace resembling the deep algal blooms that gave the holiday part of its name. Aglakti hunched over one cloth and lace arrangement in a shadowbox case set beneath a number of the family’s ancestral portraits, notably plain and showing its age despite the clear care it had been shown.

“Oh!” Zyn perked up and joined her at her side, smiling as he observed the old craft with a twinkle in his eye. Even Ozzy leered in with wide eyes.“That’s supposed to be from my ancestor Kharnyd! Pre-empire. It was one of the few things they let him keep as a slave-gladiator, and the only thing he had left of his childhood! See that?”

He hovered a finger over the glass, and Aglakti narrowed her eyes at a faded splotch of violet near a torn edge of the faded ‘golden’ fabric.

“That’s supposed to be the blood of a duchess!” Zyn said with whispered joy. “The very same he swore vengeance against at the Golden Bloom Concordat from his youth that he kept this craft from! They didn’t exactly have a lot of resources back then, but see how it still looks like the golden deep algal blooms?”

Aglakti nervously chuckled. “I…have not seen them? I have not seen them but…I wish to! Apologies, I’m not sure of the tense?”

“Ah don’t worry! And if Jyvan hasn’t taken you out to see them yet, that will happen soon enough!” The drow said as he led her back towards the stairs. “As beautiful as it is delicious! And nutritious!”

Jyvan rejoined them with Wally scurrying on through darkened hallways towards the dining room and the scent of dinner making everyone acutely aware of how hungry they were. Idle chatter carried them along to the dining room, with Aglakti catching just enough of Zyn explaining the meaning of the unadorned steel pole standing tall on a pedestal and how it tied into the holiday’s origins.

“It is an honor to have you here, Aglakti.” The boys’ father was the first to introduce himself at the entryway of the dining room. Like his wife, he was a young parent and when combined with drow aging he looked as though he could have been an older brother with red eyes to match Zyn’s and silvery white hair reaching his mid back. He raised a hand to reach out to take hers but remembered the earlier wedding where he learned all about handshakes not being customary there on account of talons and claws. Instead he flourished his hand to his chest and gave a slight bow. “I would have greeted you at the door, but I believe my sons had some scheme planned?”

“You are very kind!” Aglakti gave a warm chuckle. “And Jyvan was successful in thwarting a…oh goodness what was it…evil plot?”

“Evil!?!? I prefer roguishly well intentioned.” Zyn corrected as he held a hand over his heart with a flourish for extra dramatic effect with a smirk to accompany it. A smirk that died and fell into a frown as he noticed Aglakti wincing. “I mean…evil works!”

The troll woman held up her hands in defense. “No! I just could not find the right word, still learning Drowic.”

Jyvan’s hand found hers in spite of the height difference, gently squeezing it as he reassured her. “There’s plenty of time to work on that, just as I would hope I have plenty of time to work on my Taiga Talk. How about we switch to Clear Speech so that we’re all on even ground?”

Aglakti couldn’t help but let a guilty, nervous smile cross her face. “Well I wanted to be a good guest-”

“And we shall not be poor hosts.” The family patriarch insisted in his own accented Clear Speech and flourish of his hand that made it abundantly clear where the boys had got it from. “Zyn should be brushing up on it anyway. Did Jyvan tell you he-”

“YOU SHALL NOT DEPRIVE ME OF THE HONOR OF TELLING OUR ESTEEMED GUEST ABOUT OUR HONORABLE FAMILY’S NEWEST BLESSING, HONORED AND BELOVED SYR!” The family matriarch called out in Clear Speech with full formal register to let all know that drow ears were not for just for show and also exactly what she thought of her husband.

Syr responded in his usual way as he beckoned his sons and guest to follow. “SHALL WE DUEL FOR THAT HONOR, MY MOST HONORABLE AND BELOVED TELLYTH? SURELY IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON WE MAY SHARE IN THAT HONOR?”

Aglakti looked to a grimacing Jyvan for guidance while ducking through another doorway into the kitchen that bore a mouthwatering aroma of roasted deep nautilus and deep golden algae stew. She leaned down to whisper a question in Taiga Talk. “Is…is this a tradition or…?”

“No, this is them flirting.” He said with a shiver. “It is endearing and yet…”

Zyn’s own shudder as his mother very politely challenged his father to an early showing of the Golden Bloom Concordat feats of strength was mercifully brought to an end as Aglakti produced an ornate glass jar of frost berry preserves to silence the feud-flirting couple. She Drowic, with a line that she had been practicing all month. “To the heads of house Syr and Tellyth! I present to you an offering of food from my land to yours on this joyous occasion!”

The matriarch and patriarch shared a look between themselves as they set aside the kitchen knives they had no intention of using for anything more than posturing and flirting. Tellyth straightened out her simple black apron worn over a crimson dress of her own design that put everything else in the home to a shame deeper than The Center Of The World and had the unlikely seamstress’ skills on full display. She took the offered jar of frost berry preserves with a bow.

“You honor us with your gift of sustenance, and your presence in our home.” The matriarch said in her dialect of Drowic before switching back to Clear Speech. “Now, make yourself comfortable at the table. Dinner shall be served soon.”

Tellyth shooed them off and Syr led them all to where Wally had just finished setting the table in the dining room with all furniture made of a combination of resin, chitin, and fungal products as though theirs was far from a poor family they were not so affluent as to import wood. However the large painting that Aglakti spent several moments studying showing a stylized scene of The Emperor devouring the still beating heart of one of The Queens did demonstrate that Syr and Tellyth were successful enough in their trades to afford the luxuries of some fine art.

The troll woman had looked away just before Zyn caught sight of her interest and launched into a history lesson, and they all took their seats around the circular stone topped table. Ozzy scurried off to sit with Wally at their own cephalopod off to the side that Syr had crafted years ago. Idle chatter started once more as Tellyth brought out the roast deep nautilus and a number of side dishes consisting of various fungi until the deep golden algae stew was brought out and all conversations hushed and knowing smirks were shared.

The Matriarch paused as she held the stew and set it down just as she took her seat.

“Lyrynnda denied my submitted proposal for the new exhibition at the museum.” Syr said the very moment the pot hit the table while serving out bowls of the stew to all present, even serving up a bowl and walking it over to the cephalopod table as he continued. “She waited until the very last minute before my time off for the festival to give me the news.”

The traditional Sharing of Grievances was off to a lively start as Tellyth scoffed. “Vile woman can’t even dress in the right size, thinks that corset is fooling anyone about how much she’s indulging in her new husband’s cooking.”

Aglakti had heard of The Sharing of Grievances, but still found herself somewhat lost in the tradition as she waited for the cook to partake of the food served first as was drow tradition. Tellyth sneered through sipping the still hot stew as Zyn cut in.

“Did they even see your proposal? I saw how hard you worked on the designs!” The drow lad said between savoring the unique spiced flavor of the stew. “Did she…she picked someone else’s proposal didn’t she?”

The family leaned in with baited breath, Jyvan breaking the silence with the obvious question. “Who was it, father?”

Syr took another sip of stew, face fighting between appreciating his wife’s cooking and the venom he had on his lips for the curse that would soon pass through them.

“Vyrna.”

All but Aglakti erupted into curses against this supposedly infamous woman, even the cephalopod familiars waving their tentacles and chirping away. The frost troll woman took a careful sip of stew, eyebrows raising at the pleasant slightly spiced flavor before offering her own assessment that the woman did indeed sound awful.

“It would be unbecoming of my profession to reveal the true size of one of my clients.” Tellyth mused as she stared into the golden liquid. “But I have such mischievous children who may see-”

“Mother!” Zyn gasped, holding a hand to his heart as his eyes went wide. “Are you suggesting that I may oversee your notes and spread rumors at school about how fat Zystra’s mom really is?”

“My son, you have already been revealed as a mage and accepted into Black Reef Institute.” The matriarch cooed as her eyes grew misty at the long awaited reveal to Aglakti. “Me and your father could not ask for more…but in doing so you would reach new levels of pride.”

Zyn gave a wicked, toothy grin. “The Worm’s size shall be revealed.”

They all raised their bowls of soup in a toast, with Aglakti following after a momentary delay before all taking a hearty gulp of the festive golden stew as the ancestors had done long ago. Forging the bonds of family by swearing shared vengeance against those who had wronged them while sharing a sacred meal.

“Speaking of worms-” Tellyth took her turn, remaining perfectly calm with closed eyes as she started to serve out bits of roasted deep nautilus. “I lost several bolts of fabric to worms because someone left the storeroom at work unlatched. But I know it is that ghastly fiend Velkyn who can’t stand my superior craft!”

“I could go to your shop and keep him busy with a fake order while Jyvan sneaks worms into his food! Live ones!” Aglakti said with enough excitement to have her stop just short of leaping to her feet in excitement. The surprised looks had her hesitate and begin to take her seat before Jyvan took her hand and the smiles started growing around the table.

“Not the lethal worms…” Jyvan mused as he bit into a deep nautilus tentacle. “Just some of the ones that cause severe intestinal distress…”

Syr smiled and snuck a bit of deep nautilus to the cephalopods as he spoke. “Don’t ask how I know, but I know an apothecary that would have those worms available. Full discretion, of course.”

The family then turned to their newest member with expectant gazes as Aglakti blushed a darker blue, playing with a few stray braids as Jyvan squeezed her hand in encouragement. “Well…back home-...back in Yulaya…well I was trying to get something published and the last rejection letter was quite nasty…”

“Tell us the name of the fool who has slighted a member of our family.” Syr said with a grin that managed to be equal parts wicked and endearing, one that the rest of his family bore as well as their newest addition eased up and shared her story.