To stryck‘s prompt. Antler will always remind me of @Inventrix’s Addergoole character Leofric, and then of his son Vidrou, and so I took it out one step further to his son, by the girl in the icon.

Ce’Rilla sh’Orlaith by Accalon and Vidrou sh’Cynara by Leofric

Anyway! Forward to Year 41…

“He has antlers. Antlers, Eleri, isn’t that adorable? Well, antler buds.” Laufeia ran her hand over her new Kept’s skull, pushing his sandy hair out of the way to reveal the little nubs that would be antlers in a year or two.

He didn’t pull away, because he’d been ordered not to move. But he hadn’t, yet, been ordered not to speak. “You should let me go.”

“Oh, that’s silly.” Laufeia smiled indulgently at the boy and spoke over his shoulder to her crew-mate. “Isn’t he adorable, El?”

“He might be right, Fei. You now that there’s people you shouldn’t mess with. He could be, especially if he has antlers.” The redhead brushed her hand through the boy’s hair.

He once again did not pull away. His eyes were fixed on Laufeia. “Your grandmother and my grandfather have a history. You should let me go before my grandmother finds you.” He thought about that for a moment, and then altered his sentence a bit. “My grandmothers.”

“And what about my grandmother, mm? And how do you know my lineage?”

“I made a hobby of lineages, before I came here. And I asked my family a lot of questions.” He seemed to stretch, even though he still could not move. “You should let me go.”

“I’m not going to let you go. That would be silly.” Her laugh belied her nerves, trilling up too high. “Besides, I’m sure your parents were Kept, and their Keepers survived it, didn’t they?”

“I’m not sure my sister’s dad did, actually.” The boy sounded more thoughtful than anything.

“Fei…” Eleri was backing away slowly.

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