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“Until it switched and the only place people could smile was internally with their mates.” Shiloh let out another deep breath to steady his emotions as he finished the explanation, and Baldron nodded. “Why didn’t you change?”

I think we all wanted to know that but it took Shiloh to ask.

Baldron swallowed hard and took a moment to answer. “Because my children loved to laugh and I used that to hold on to the hope that I would see them again.”

“And when the hope started to fade, you went to the seers.” Shiloh closed his eyes and steadied his emotions before opening them. “Are there any seers left here?”

That was another good question.

Baldron’s frown said he did not know before the words came out. “Possibly? At the time, the last of their children were on the other side of the portal and I do not know if they had any others later. They were…even more devastated than us because it was completely unexpected.”

That would have been heartbreaking.

“No.” Shiloh’s response brought all our thoughts to a stop. “Ulin knew but he was too young to understand what he had seen. From what he wrote later in life, his mother told him it was a dream because the seers don’t come into their powers until puberty.”

“He was so young.” Baldron closed his eyes and let out his first truly unsteady breath. “His mother…she never said but her life…”

Going silent, he took a moment before opening his eyes and forcing a smile. “He must have been an incredibly strong seer.”

Nodding, Shiloh looked as unsteady as Baldron, so I stepped closer and pressed my chest against his back. His breathing was still shaky but I could feel warmth coming through the bond. “He was the strongest seer of his generation, possibly more, but we don’t have those records to compare.”

“Because none of what you would call the librarians had gone through the gate.” Zorin looked steady and had stopped his outward anger but his emotions felt like they were tainted by shock. “I…I can help you organize that information when you are ready.”

My mates needed…something.

“We will work out a plan for that information later.” Pulsing warmth and positive feelings through the bond, I decided that as Master it was my job to bring the conversation to a stop.

Turning to Baldron, I showed respect as I took my mates’ hands. “Is there any other information you need at this time?”

He had been waiting a very long time to hear about his children, so I knew we couldn’t judge him if he was not ready for Shiloh to leave yet. Thankfully, he shook his head. “This was…this was more than I expected.”

“I’ll pick out some of their diary entries and write them down for you, but…” Shiloh’s voice trailed off as he smiled. “I’ll warn you. Your littlest one…he only talked about food and girls in everything we tracked. So I’m going to be careful with his. I hope you’re going to like hearing about his wife’s bread recipe and the fruits they got from trading with some of the native people.”

Baldron was still laughing as we took our leave and finally left the nearly empty conference room. Whatever spell kept people from noticing how odd his behavior was still worked because as we left, his caretaker was fussing over him like it was a perfectly normal council meeting.

Shiloh glanced back at the doorway as we left but kept his voice low. “That’s weird. I’m glad that isn’t part of my job.”

His job?

He thought having his magic taken by force was his job?

Trying to sort through how he saw it, I nodded slowly. “He chose a difficult path.”

I do not know what I would have done in his situation.

Zorin opened his mouth and closed it without any words coming out. It was the first time I had seen him like this and I didn’t know what to say to make it better. Between us, he was the one who truly understood what had been done to Shiloh and it was eating away at the caretaker inside him.

Squeezing his hand, I tried to give him support and a moment to process how he was feeling, so I focused on Shiloh again. “I think you have been holding back on giving us good stories.”

He looked over and blinked at me several times, but after a moment a smile showed on his lips and I could feel happier emotions in him. “Noo…that would make me naughty.”

“I agree, which is why I need to think about your behavior.” Narrowing my gaze at him as we walked earned me a naughty giggle. “Zorin especially loves stories and you have been hiding the best from him.”

Shiloh leaned closer to hide his face against my shoulder, but he was still laughing quietly as I slowed our walk. “Sorry, Master.”

Making a hum that was supposed to make me sound skeptical, I shook my head as we turned down our hallway. “I don’t know if that is going to be enough.”

Zorin still did not feel steady to me, but he was ready to play along as well because he sighed dramatically. “I could have been getting bedtime stories. Daddies love those and he hid them from me.”