Home Sweet Home|Malagard, Khelek

[Darastrix]

Schuldig blinked at Harmony in surprise. Whatever he'd been expecting, it certainly hadn't been that. "I--" he stopped and sighed. "Come here, kid," he said, patting the seat beside him.

[Kender Bard]

Harmony obliged, coming over and sitting down next to him. She glanced at him with a bit of apprehension; she had hoped he'd simply say something curt along the lines of accepting her apology and they would put it all behind them. Or start to, at least.

[Darastrix]

Schuldig put an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. "Believe it or not, but I'm actually sick of talking. So I'll just say this: I was pissed off at the situation, I was worried about taking care of someone who had a good life instead of what Nagi grew up with, but I still wanted to be able to hold onto something of her. And now that I've got both of you, I'm not giving either one of you up for anything. You're stuck with me."

[Kender Bard]

Harmony smiled at that and snuggled in against Schuldig's side. "And you're stuck with me too. I did warn you I'd do and say mean things... but I love you, Daddy. And I always will. Forever and ever, even." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "And... just so you know... I don't think you had anything to worry about. Cause you raised Nagi and now he's a prince and the nicest, bestest friend-almost-brother ever. So I think that makes you extra-good at this whole raising kids thing."

[Darastrix]

Schuldig snorted softly at that and mussed Harmony's hair. "You're still not getting any younger siblings."

[Kender Bard]

"Damn," Harmony remarked without rancor. "Maybe I'll have better luck asking Locket to have a kid huh?" She shook her head a bit, making the tussled hair even wilder. "Um, now that I'm not mad anymore and stuff, would you mind answering some other questions? No more about your past and things. I was more curious about, like, whether or not I'm going to have special powers now!"

[Darastrix]

Schuldig rolled his eyes. "The only powers you're getting are the ones your sign gives you, just like everyone else. I'm human, your mom was human when she got pregnant, and if she didn't get to keep any Forcelike powers, it's a safe bet you don't get any, either."

[Kender Bard]

"We should all get special powers," Harmony sighed. "I would want... to be able to make anybody do whatever I wanted at any time. What would you want?" She grinned, enjoying this train of thought. Even if Schuldig seemed very confident that she was going to be mundane, she could be wistful.

[Darastrix]

"I'm special enough," Schuldig said. "I don't need anything else." He had to admit, though, that being invulnerable on top of being immortal would be a nice perk.

~Filly, Harmony seems to be taking things a little better since she talked to Nagi and Locket. Think it would be a good time to tell her the other thing, or should we enjoy the peace for a while longer?~

[Kender Bard]

~I wouldn't mind enjoying the peace, but if you think now is the best time, best take it~ Filly replied.

Harmony just laughed at his response in amusement.

[Darastrix]

~Wish me luck, then.~

Schuldig kissed his daughter's cheek and put both arms around her. "I know I just said I was tired of talking, but there's one more thing you don't know about yet. It's not about you, though. It's about me. It might sound pretty amazing at first, but it is serious and it's got to stay a secret. Do you want to know now, or do you want to get used to the other stuff first?"

[Kender Bard]

"Are you a Force too?" Harmony asked, a little wild-eyed at the thought. "Um, I mean, I'd like to know now please." She was a bit relieved he was telling her. "No more secrets, okay? No more big ones like this stuff."

[Darastrix]

"I'm not a Force," he told her, snickering at the idea. Soahc would be the one one who'd entertain that thought for even a moment. "I'm human. Always have been, always will be."

Schuldig paused for a moment, thinking. "Mmm...background. A long time ago, probably a few hundred years ago--I'm not clear on the dates--Taed made a mortal into kind of his personal assassin. I don't know why; boredom, maybe. This assassin is called the Black Swan. It's a blessing and a curse; he can't die and he has to kill one person every month or else Taed inflicts pain on him until he fills his quota. And before you start jumping to conclusions," he interrupted himself, eying Harmony, "I'm not the Black Swan, either."

[Kender Bard]

Harmony closed her mouth, that about to be her next question. She frowned a little at him in an inquiring manner. "But you used to be an assassin, right?" She was never truly sure on that. She knew he was a guard now - and perhaps had always been and just forced to kill on order? But wasn't that what an assassin was?

[Darastrix]

Schuldig nodded. "Me, Farf, and Crawford. We were all trained for it. It was kind of a military or guard setup, but we didn't exactly volunteer to be there. When your training was done, you and your skills were for sale or rent. The Kazimir family built up a nice little fortune with their specialized 'guards.' If someone had wanted to outright buy, say, Crawford, even back when he was eighteen, it probably would have set the buyer back a gold coin at least. Seers are rare. GOOD seers are even rarer. That alone was worth a high price. Then add in the fact that he can actually fight well enough to be a bodyguard or an assassin, and you've got a hot commodity."