The lumberyard had changed as much as the rest of the village. Goddess, the last time Ranvir was here, it didn’t even have a name. The mill had been expanded. Storage for uncut trunk, denuded trunks, and logs carved down to size. Even the mill’s blade, turned by the river running past it, had been upgraded to iron. Ranvir couldn’t imagine how much it must’ve cost to transport such a weight of iron all the way out here.

A short man balding man saw him enter the yard and though he didn’t approach Ranvir immediately, he noticed the man slowly circle around to approach him. Ranvir didn’t sense any power coming from him, though someone in the mill had a bit of power. Not a second-stage, so probably not from the academy, though that meant they’d be from the school and therefore unlikely to work here.

“Excuse me,” the small man said as he approached. Ranvir saw his eyes roving over Ranvir’s form. What little of him was revealed that is, “are you perhaps here on military duty?”

Ranvir thumbed the ridge going down his chin, then shook his head. “No, I’m just looking for my father.”

“Your father?” he asked, examining Ranvir closely as he considered. “Was he expecting you? I don’t have any visits on my schedule, unfortunately.”

“No, I didn’t have the time to send a message beforehand. I’ve come straight from the capital.”

“And what is his name?”

“Gunnor.”

The man shifted and bowed. “Of course, sir. Right this way.” Ranvir was led through the camp, the man yelling a few other workers, but soon they came to a pair standing before a tree, axes lying on the ground as they took a drink of water.

“I got it from here,” Ranvir nodded to the Foreman. “Thank you for the help.”

Felling trees went well most of the time. The lumberjacks always worked in pairs in case some happened. The younger man noticed Ranvir’s approach and elbowed the older one in the side.

Gunnor looked paradoxically both younger and older at the same time. His hair was growing silver on the sides, with a few hairs salted across the rest of head. His cheeks were a little fuller and his skin looked a little shinier. There were wrinkles on his face, but they were only just beginning.

His shoulders had perhaps rounded a bit, taking some of his impressive broadness, but more notable was the slight gut. His face was as clean shaven as it always had been. If not for the side-by-side comparison to a man around Ranvir’s own age, Gunnor could’ve easily gone for thirty rather than forty.

Than and the gray hairs.

“Ranvir?” Gunnor’s sound disbelieving as he spoke, then broke into a broad grin. “My boy!” he charged. Ranvir shook his head. Realizing his father wouldn’t stop, he set himself and freed his arms, swooping under Gunnor and lifting him into the air.

It took less effort than expected. That didn’t mean Gunnor wasn’t heavy, Ranvir’d just anticipated something heavier. “My boy!” Gunnor laughed as Ranvir swung him away from the other worker to hide his arm. “You’re back!” then he thumped Ranvir’d on the cheek. “And you need a shave!”

“I get it,” Ranvir said, coughing to hide a smile. “Mom said the same thing.”

Gunnor chuckled and took a step away, taking Ranvir by the shoulders, forcing him to flair his wings. “Well, that’s unexpected. I bet you have some stories to tell.”

“A few,” Ranvir said with a smile, before being pulled back into another hug. Gunnor waddled side-to-side, causing them to spin slowly.

“It’s good to see you, my Boy,” Gunnor pulled back and cupped his head in big meaty hands. “It’s been too long. What took you so long? You know Esmund visits his family twice a year, even that Sansir fellow managed to come up once a year.”

Ranvir shrugged. “I was a little further away than they were. Didn’t Es tell you anything?”

“Some jumbo about an old lady,” Gunnor waved it away. “Let’s get this tree down, then we can go home. Did you bring my granddaughter?” his father was so excited, he bounded away in long leaps before Ranvir could answer. “Of course you did! Why wouldn’t you!”

Ranvir smiled and followed him. “So you’re the long-awaited Son?” Gunnor’s work partner asked, offering his hand. Ranvir hesitated, then bowed over the hand instead of offering his bird appendage. “Pardon, but I’m dealing with an injury,” he said as he straightened.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the lumberjack coughed. “I saw you hugging your dad, so I didn’t think—”

Ranvir freed his left arm and waved it away. “I got a little carried away and forgot about it.”

Gunnor gave him a pensive look, but as was his way, he dismissed it for later and returned to the topic at hand. “Let’s bring this bad boy down.”

It didn’t take them much longer, as they’d already done most of the work with saw and axe.

“Timber!” the partner, Hauk, yelled.

Ranvir helped carry it to the lumberyard, where they dropped it off just as the Foreman came over.

“Well done,” the small man said, looking up from his tablet to Gunnor. “I assume you’ll want to stop for today?”

“I’d like that,” Gunnor agreed.

“See you tomorrow?”

Soon, Hauk was assigned to a pair of workers that had just returned.

“He’s new, isn’t he?” Ranvir said, as they returned to the village.

“He is. Not much labor in him, but he’s sharp as a whip and quick too. It was a little slow in the beginning, but he really knows how to get the most out of us.”

“That’s good,” Ranvir paused as a figure emerged from the mansion on top of the hill. She blazed for a moment with the power of a second-stage, a freezing divot of power. Behind her, he caught the briefest flash of red hair before she shut the door. Her tether-sense welled out of her, brushing over the nearby area. “I think the Lord wants to talk,” he muttered, tapping his power briefly and feeling her lock on to him.

“Oh?” Gunnor asked. He squinted up the hill and nodded. “You might be right. You got stronger eyes than I remember.”

Ranvir snorted a laugh. “A little bit.”

Isgerd, the Lord of Rime’s Shadow, trekked down the path from the hill to village and made a beeline for Ranvir and his father. “Ah,” she said once within polite talking distance, “I thought I detected a new tethered in town. Ranvir,” she offered him her hand. “it’s good to see you’re back. I’m sure your parents are very pleased.”

“Pleased as can be,” Gunnor said, bowing slightly to her.

She smiled at him. “I figured. However, there are a few questions, mostly formality, that I need to ask you, since you are a tethered and we have to keep track of your movements.”

Ranvir nodded. “Sounds fair.”

“Good. Why are you here?”

“Visiting family.”

“How long will you be staying?”

Ranvir shrugged. “I’m not sure, a little while. Maybe a few days, maybe longer.”

“And how will you be returning?”

“My powers.”

She continued like this with a dozen more questions, most of which were different ways of asking why he’d come here and if he’d told anyone. Finally, she let out a long breath and rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the help. Trust me, I understand how asinine those questions are, but you know how powerful tethered can be.”

“Doesn’t your assistant usually do these?” Gunnor asked.

Isgerd gave him a deadpan look. “Usually, but this time I decided it would be smarter if I did them.”

Gunnor, looking slightly chastised, nodded. “Probably smarter.”

“Have a good day, you two.”

A child had pushed through the door, dark hair streaming behind her as she sped down the hill. Ranvir saw another flash of red hair in the doorway before the person stepped away. The girl appeared to be around the age for the ceremony, though he sensed no power from her.

“Oh dear,” Isgerd muttered and hurried away.

Ranvir raised his eyebrows, looked at his father. “She’s just reaching that independent age, which means whenever she hears of a tethered, she goes to see them.”

“Who?”

“The Lord-Heir,” Gunnor said, nodding towards the dark hair, suddenly veering off the path and disappearing between the buildings. Isgerd let out an exhausted sound and changed her path as well, though she was clearly too dignified to run through the village.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Gunnor said, as they got moving again. “My granddaughter is back in my home, waiting to see her grandfather!”

“Vasso’s there as well,” Ranvir added, remembering what he’d been thinking before Gunnor’d run off to fell the tree the last time.

“Vasso?”

“My adopted son.”

“Oooh,” Gunnor said, sneaking closer. “What’s he like?”

“Quiet, shy, and brilliant.”

A shadow passed over Gunnor’s face. “And you left him alone with your mother?”

“Yeah?” Ranvir said, drawing the word into a question.

“Ranvir,” Gunnor said, suddenly hurrying down the street. “No offense to either you or your mother,” he turned to glare over his shoulder. “But you are your mother’s child.”

Ranvir frowned after him before jogging after him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”