The girls tumbled over each other to explain about the kittens and wanting to pick the right ones and how everything had turned out for the best. Sol's expression grew grimmer with each word. Before the children even finished their explanation, he snapped, "Be silent! Go into the parlor and sit. Do not dare to speak another word!"

Chastened and fearful in a way they never were with Kieran and Kiel, the twins burst into tears, shuffled past their father, and ran into the parlor.

When Kieran and Kiel would have followed, Sol held up a hand. "I'm going to ask you to remain out here. I need a few chimes in private with my daughters." He closed the parlor door.

Standing outside in the hallway, Kieran and Kiel both heard the blistering lecture Sol delivered to his reckless daughters. They heard the scrape of chairs, Lillis's and Lorelle's remorseful weeping, then four loud smacks followed by even louder weeping.

A moment later the parlor door opened, and Sol stepped aside to let Kieran and Kiel enter.

Despite his earlier desire to spank the girls himself, Kieran felt his heart almost break at the sight of Lillis's tearstained face. Nei, he could never have done it. Not even for their own good.

Lorelle's eyes were tear-bright, but her small jaw was set and her arms crossed. When she saw Kiel, she blinked and spun quickly to give him her back.

Kieran sighed, his anger gone. There was no need to chastise them further. He knelt by Lillis's side, pulled her to his chest, and let her cry until all her tears were gone. Kiel just stood silent behind Lorelle until her spine bent enough for her to turn and lean against him.

When at last they were both quiet and calm, he asked. "How did you get outside the weave without being seen? I am not angry at you. But I do need to know which Fey were not watching as they should."

"It wasn't their fault." Lillis sniffed. "We didn't let them see us."

Kieran frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We made them not see us," Lorelle said.

Kiel's eyes widened and he shared an astonished look with Kieran. "You…you made yourselves invisible? Like Kieran and I do?"

"No, not like that. It's more like we made everyone look somewhere else," Lorelle said. "Besides, you and Kieran are never really invisible. You go all purple and glowy, but we still see you."

Kieran rocked back on his heels. "You see our Spirit weaves." Mortals could not see magic. Maybe a hint of great magic, but nothing so simple as an invisibility weave. Not unless they possessed considerable magic of their own.

"Mama made us promise never to tell." Lillis looked up at him earnestly.

Sol grabbed for the back of a nearby chair as his knees started to give out. "You…your mama knew you could see magic?"

Lillis nodded. "We saw hers once, and she made us swear we would never tell anyone—not even you or Ellie."

Sol's wooden pipe fell from his shaking hands and cracked in two on the stone floor. "Your mama…had magic?" Sol's voice trailed off weakly.

"She made a fire stop in the kitchen when we were five." Lorelle bent down to pick up the broken pipe and handed the pieces to her father.

"She glowed shiny red when she did it," Lillis added.

"She was so afraid when we asked her about it." Lorelle shook her head. "She even cried."

"So we knew we had to pretend we were just like everyone else, just like Ellie and Mama did." Lillis gave Kieran a hopeful look. "Can we can stop pretending now? We're tired of it."

"You mean you're tired of it." Lorelle sniffed. "You're not as good at it as me."

"Oh, yes, I am," Lillis shot back. "Nobody ever guessed about me, not even Love when I was holding her."

"Girls," Kieran interrupted. They both wiped the scowls off their faces and looked up at him, a pair of sweet innocents. He felt the tug of love and affection, as he always did when the twins turned their big, soulful eyes upon him, only this time, for the first time, he felt something else too. The tiniest thread of… influence. A faint ephemeral weave of illusory compulsion, coming from them. "Why don't you both stop pretending right now. About everything. Would you do that for me?"

Lillis and Lorelle turned to their father. "Can we, Papa?"

The woodcarver nodded mutely.

Kiel stepped closer, his blue eyes filled with unveiled interest. "What is it you've been hiding, little Fey'cha?"

Ellysetta's sisters shared a final look, then shrugged and said in unison, "This." The illusion of unprepossessing mortality dropped from them like a discarded candle shade, and while the children didn't suddenly blaze like the Great Sun, they did very noticeably…glow.

Kieran caught his breath in shock and wonder. Their skin was softly luminescent, almost Fey in appearance. And cupped in the hollow of her palm, each twin held a small, leaping, twirling sphere of magic: Red Fire and green Earth in Lorelle's hand, white Air and blue Water in Lillis's.

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

Gaelen caught the downward sweep of his opponent's seyani longsword between his two meicha in a lightning-fast move, locking the curved blades tip-to-hilt. One swift twist of the blades, and his opponent's blade whipped out of his hands and fell to the ground.

"Tairen's Bite," he growled to the disarmed man. "You know the move, and you know how to protect against it, but you're still too slow." He sheathed his scimitars and bent to scoop up the other man's sword. "Practice, Char. Have one of the Earth masters fly sparring-swifts for you. When you can strike down a dozen all at once without a single feather laid upon you, you'll know you're improving."