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Eleanor's face brightens up as Amon mentions the rest of the family. "My dear, what a wonderful idea! I will go see them and ask if they have time, and then I'll discuss with Sabrina what she can make for dinner for all of us at such short notice. You go up in your room and rest. You look tired." She hurries out of the room.

When Amon crosses the entrance hall (either to follow his mother's advice or to go anywhere else) he is met by a tail-wagging Dogmeat who is obviously asking to be petted.

Amon supposes he is a bit tired. He hadn't done much today to physically exhaust himself, but emotionally, it had been draining.

Upon finding his loyal hound, he stops to squat down and give the dog a few ear scratchings and belly rubbings. Once finished, he will head up to his old room for lack of anything else to do at the moment.

In Amon's old room, the bed is ready waiting for him with clean sheets, covered with a colorful blanket to protect it from dust. The bookshelves have a few empty places, because his study books are not there, but the favourite books from his childhood are all still there.

Amon enjoys a brief sojourn down memory lane as he walks around the room, basking in recollections of his youth as they washed over him.

He had spent a lot of time in here, mostly reading. But that wasn't to say he never went outdoors. Quite the contrary, really. He often enjoyed taking his horse out for rides or enjoying the sea breeze on his father's personal yacht.

At the thought of sea breezes, Amon heads to the window and opens it, looking outside and enjoying the fresh air. With naught else to do until dinner, he decides to take a brief nap. Surely mother will send a servant to rouse him when the meal was ready.

Indeed, John, who has been with the Cousland's for all his life (like his father before him, in fact) knocks at Amon's door just as the sun sets. "Master Amon, dinner will be served in a short while" he says formally, then enters the room. "It is good to see you again" he says with an affectionate smile. "Your father has spoken highly of you, how you used your brains to get all of your group to safety. He finally seems to be proud of his second son, too." With that, John turns and closes the door behind him, to give Amon time to gather himself and get ready for the family dinner.

When he comes down, before he can even greet his brother or sister-in-law, his nephew nearly jumps into his arms. "Amon, Amon, Dickie said he and Pete found strange men with dog's heads in the Adams's shed today. They were lying, weren't they?" he wants to know.

Getting up, Amon nods. "Thank you," he says, his mood taking a nose dive. While he realized John's words were meant to make him feel better, his choice of wording ("finally proud") only reinforced the idea that Amon's father had not been proud of him previously.

After freshening himself up, he departs his room and is greeted by his nephew.

"Amon, Amon, Dickie said he and Pete found strange men with dog's heads in the Adams's shed today. They were lying, weren't they?" he wants to know.

"My, what an imagination those boys must have," Amon says evasively, feeling guilty about not being completely honest about the situation, even to the child.

"I told them they were lying, I told them!" Oren dances around Amon until a severe look from his mother, Oriana, stops him. He takes Amon's hand and asks "Next time you go on an adventure, can I come with you?"

"I somehow doubt your mother would much like that idea, Oren," Amon comments, casually tousling the child's hair with his free hand.

Qwen catches his uncle's hand, makes a face at Oriana, then lets go of Amon who at last can greet his brother and sister-in-law. Oriana offers a graceful hand and a friendly smile with the words: "How nice to have you for a family evening once ever so often. Your master does not need you tonight?"

Amon returns the smile and lightly takes her hand a moment in greeting. Amon always thought Oriana was so beautiful and graceful--a woman, not like the girls he had dallied with in the past. Those traits, combined with her light accent (she was originally from Furyondy), made Amon silently wish more than once that he had met her before his brother had.

But he had not, and that was that, as far as Amon was concerned.

"It would seem not. I suppose even Master Soulstaff is generous enough to allow a brief holiday after the whole smugger incident," he says, answering her question.

"Especially for the man who brought them all out of that adventure safely." Fergus's hand lands heavily on Amon's shoulder as he turns the younger brother towards himself. Before he can elaborate, Eleanor calls from the dining room. "Children, come, you can talk over dinner. Don't let the food get cold!"

The dining room is warmly lit with candles, the fire burning low since the air is mild after the sunny day. Among chatter and clatter, the family enjoys a meal of vegetable soup, baked fish, then a lamb roast and finally the first strawberries from the garden. By the time they are finished, Oren's eyelids begin to droop, and Oriana says goodbeye to her in-laws to bring him to bed. "I'll bring you home and then return so we men can talk" Fergus offers.

Amon enjoys the meal and the company. It's nice to spend time with people who aren't anything at all like Echo and Daos. That is, people who are friendly and outgoing.

After dinner, Amon nods to his brother. "Very well," he says, wondering what this is all about. It sounded like he was going to say something before dinner. Amon could only speculate.

While Fergus escorted his family home, Eleanor, Bryce and Amon enjoyed sweetmeats and small talk. When her older son came back, Eleanor excused herself and bid them a good night.

After accepting a last drink from his father, Fergus started to speak. "You know I was out with Tristan last night, to see if maybe we could spot a few fish swarms, and to check if no one was violating our fishing grounds. When I arrived at his house, I heard him argue with his sister Greta, who makes him herbal remedies against his stiff joints. She claimed he will have to see Ara soon because his complaints are getting beyond her healing powers. He said no, it was only because she no longer dared collect her herbs during Luna's new moon, when they are most powerful. He shouted at him, saying that the Gods sent her a warning, every new Lunatide she went out, there were flashes of light on the water, and she was not going to get out on such days. Strange, isn't it?"

(OOC: Greta, as befits a herbalist, lives a little outside of town, her hut is the closest of any inhabited buildings to the old mansion, and the garden is overlooking the sea)

"That is very strange, I suppose," Amon agrees, not sure where this is going.

"I wonder if anyone else has seen these flashes, or if Greta is just making things up" Fergus adds. "I mean, this tale of the God's being angry with her is just an old woman's tale, but there could be some truth in the flashes of light, couldn't there?"