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"Fractured collar bone, several broken ribs and fractured, a mild concussion, fractured cheek bone, puncture wound on the upper chest, gash across the lower chest, twisted ankle, dozens of minor lacerations, bruising over more than half of the body, severe muscle fatigue..." The gray hare adjusted his glasses, staring at the clipboard in his hands. "Honestly I have no idea how you're still alive, let alone walking."

Jace stared at the ground. "I don't know." The makeshift infirmary room felt stifling, like it was crushing him. He had always hated hospitals and doctors were always weird to him.

The hare sighed, shaking his head as he placed the clipboard down on a side table. "You need rest and a good healer. And I mean really good." Jace wondered if he could even afford that...healers were known to be expensive. "Otherwise, you're looking at a recovery time of three to four years."

He looked up at the hare for the first time in the last half hour. "Years?"

"Look, Lord Foxern, your body..." He shook his head. "I've seen corpses in better condition than you. You should, quite honestly, be dead. Your muscles are shot, I'm shocked that most of them haven't torn from the stress you've put them under."

This really may be all I can do... "Tsk..."

"I know, not the answer you want to hear, Lord Foxern. But as a doctor, I must insist that you take it easy and let yourself recover." He adjusted his spectacles again. "I am sure that you would have no trouble finding a healer. But other than that, I have done all that medicine can."

"Thank you, Doctor."

He watched as the hare left, and Jersa entered. "Well?"

"I need a healer," Jace said bluntly.

"Really? Is it that bad?" She wandered over to the table, the doctor had left the clipboard and she picked it up. "Honestly it can't-" she stopped. The clipboard shook slightly in her hand. "Hey hey...this...this isn't right...it can't be right..." There was no stopping her tears this time. "It's my fault..."

"Don't start that. It's my fault for going off on my own knowing the threat." He forced himself to stand up and walked towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder. Then he saw what the doctor had not mentioned. 'Expected survival rate: low'. He sighed, shaking his head. "Doctors are all such doomsayers."

Jersa was still standing there, shaking softly as she quietly sobbed.

He sighed again as he put his arms around her, holding her tightly. "I'm not going to just drop dead. We just need to find a healer." He sighed softly as she still did not speak. "Jeez..." He closed his eyes, resting his chin on her shoulder. It was weird...he didn't feel so close to death? In fact he felt oddly normal. When had that happened? The gredane must have been what gave him the concussion, or maybe it was when he hit that cart? Maybe it numbed his body? Flipped some sort of switch inside him?

The clipboard clattered to the floor as her hands clasped onto his arms. He could feel the slight pricks of her claws as she gripped onto him. Several minutes passed before Jersa finally spoke, "I don't want you to die."

"Jersa...I'm not going to die." He felt her grip tighten and he sighed again. "Gods I never knew you could be so emotional."

"I...I've never cared this much...about someone..." she said softly, taking deep breaths. "And I just feel so responsible...for leaving you alone..."

"I didn't think someone would put a contract on me that soon. I was...I wasn't prepared." He had not been in the correct mindset. He had been too busy about building a reputation as Mr. Ozymandias, and distancing himself from who he actually was that he failed to realized how much trouble he was actually causing.

"Still..."

"So...hey. No more crying, alright? I'm..." He paused, not wanting to put himself down, but there was honestly no way around it, "Weak... I need you to be strong for me." It seemed like the only thing he was good at was taking a beating and getting lucky. He knew he was tough, but he never knew the extent of it. Is that the because I'm a mixed? The thought popped into his mind. He remembered his father being extremely tough, too. Maybe it was just something that he inherited from his father...

"I will." Jersa turned around in his arms and placed her hands onto his cheeks. He winced, his cheek bone was still fractured. Still, she was trying to be gentle. "I can be your strength. I can be anything you need me to be."

He couldn't help but smile. "How was I so lucky to find you?"

It surprised him how fast her face turned red. "W-well, it was unlucky for me. You nearly got me killed, after all." Despite her words she was smiling. "But I guess it worked out...right?"

"Right. Now...let's go get Lily and go find a healer. I need-" he paused, suddenly remembering his tooth. "I wonder if witches can heal?"

~

Lily was laying on the bed, fast asleep as they entered one of the rooms in the palace that they had been temporarily been given. "She's still asleep," Jersa said softly as she closed the door behind them.

It was pretty easy for Jace to assume that whatever ceremony had happened last night had exhausted her. He walked over slowly and sat upon the bed beside her.

"Can I ask you?" Jersa had walked over as well, looking at Lily. "Why her?"

He looked over at Lily. "A few reasons..." He reached out and gently rubbed Lily's cheek. "It was...a surreal moment when I met her. The moment felt fake. Like nothing existed outside of that little room. It was just me and her...talking about how fucked up our lives were and all the things we had in common."

"What sort of things in common?" Jersa said as she sat down beside him, leaning against him slightly.

"Like how our fathers were killed...though they killed her mother as well..." He reached over and grasped Jersa's hand. "And how we're both hated...because of what we are."

"I think it's stupid." She squeezed his hand.

"Yeah, me too. Hunted because she's a witch. Hunted because I'm a Mixed." He sighed deeply, closing his eyes and leaning into Jersa.

"Pureblood bullshit," she said softly. That statement surprised Jace a bit and he looked over at her.

"It's been a while since I've heard the word Pureblood..." he said as he looked down at their clasped hands.

"Vuna is full of that talk..." she muttered.

Jace felt the pang in his chest. Vuna is worse than Grusk. Where Grusk hides their murder of Mixed...the Vuna Isles put to death not only the Mixed, but all of the connecting family. And they aren't even the worst in this world. Auser, Has-Haven, Sprats, and Muyfla were the only place that had no laws against Mixed in some manner. "You're..."

"From Vuna," he could hardly hear her. She stared up at the ceiling before continuing, "All I remember...is being poor and hungry. Starving on the street... My parents hated that they had a daughter...because a daughter can't work as well as a son. A daughter can't amount to anything.They can't marry off a daughter to increase their position...especially one as unattractive as me."

Jace put his head on her shoulder. She had grown up with parents who treated her poorly because of something she had no control over. "I think you're beautiful."

A smile crept onto her face as she leaned her head against his. Jace had to admit that it was a bit strange to be with a girl taller than he was. Usually he was the tall one, but at the same time he didn't have any real complaints about it. "It would be nice...if we could stay like this forever..."

"Yeah..." It was almost painful for him to admit it, but, "But...we can't... The best I can offer is to stay with you until I die."

He felt her claws prick into the back of his hand as he grip tightened. "And Stella? And Lily? We'll...all be together...right?"

A soft chuckle escaped him. Even now she wasn't thinking entirely for just her own sake. "If it is within my power...I don't want to let any of you go."

"Good..."

Again he chuckled softly. "I had such a hard time pinning you down..."

"You didn't have that much trouble pinning me," she said with a small smirk.

He clears his throat. "That's...not...that's not what I meant. I meant how you act. You put up such a front. Just like me."

"Neither of us had a choice. We fit so well. The Lord who had to pretend to be a monster. And the thief who had to pretend to be a man."

They both laughed a bit. "Such an odd pairing we are."

"And then you throw in...the obsessed assassin. And a young witch."

"Obsessed?" He lifted his head off her shoulder.

"Oh gods, yes." She turns to him, placing a hand on his cheek. "She is absolutely, utterly, and completely obsessed with you. You should hear the way she talks about you."

"I...have heard a bit." He thought about the way that Stella had talked to him after discovering, or confirming, who he was.

"How can I compete with that?" Her eyes slowly wandered over his face.

"Are you obsessed as well?" he said with a smirk.

"Yes." That wasn't the answer he had really been expecting. She pressed her forehead against his, a smile on her face. "Utterly...and completely... Gods I've never felt like this before..."

"Yeah...this is all... I thought I'd been in love before...but this is on an entirely different level..."

Jersa pulled back, her face a bright red. "L-love?"

There was quite a large smirk on his face. "Probably. I don't know how else to explain this feeling. At this point, it's hard for me to even imagine you betraying me-"

"I would never!" she snapped. "I...I wouldn't... I couldn't..."

He closed his eyes, leaning into her hand. "Even if you planned to...it wouldn't matter to me." He chuckled softly. "Gods I'm a pathetic mark."

She pressed her mouth against his, sliding her hand behind his head and holding him to her. Moments passed of their mouths moving together before she pulled away, panting softly. "The only thing I want from you, is you."

"Well...you already have that," he said softly.

"I want more..."

He cracked one eye open, looking at her with a bit of a smirk on his face. "Jersa, there is a child present."

She leaned back a bit, her face turning red once again. "N-not that! I didn't mean that. I meant...I just...I dunno...I thought it would be nice if we could all be like...a family."

He blinked a few times at her. "A...family?" She nodded. "Hm. Well, I mean that's kind of what we are already, aren't we?"

Now it was her turn to stare at him and blink. Both of their attentions were suddenly drawn to their right as Lily shifted. "We're a family?"

Jace smiled at her. "Well, I think we are. As long as you want to be."

Lily was practically grinning at him as she quickly moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Mhm!"

He chuckled softly, gently stroking her hair. "Lily, how long have you been awake?"

"Uhm..." She looked up at him and then buried her face in his shirt.

"I'll take it that means pretty much the whole time," Jersa said, shaking her head.

"Not the whole time...but you're loud, Miss Jersa..." Lily mumbled and Jace had to nod in agreement.

She frowned at the two of them. "It's not fair to gang up on me..."

Jace laughed, and then winced. "Nng..."

"Jace!" Jersa moved over in front of him.

"It's okay...I just...oof..." He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.

"Mr. Foxern?" Lily whispered softly, tilting her head to the side.

"It's okay, Lily. I'm just really beat up." Lily nodded. "We wanted to ask, if you knew how to heal. If not we'll just go find a healer."

Lily stared at Jace for a moment, her face quite red, before she shifted away from him, staring down at the ground.

"Lily?" Jace watched her. "It's okay if you can't."

"I..." She shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "I can...but it... Aunty Violet would be mad if she found out."

"What about my tooth?" he asked.

"Tooth?" Jersa looked into Jace's mouth, almost prying it open.

He had to fight her off a bit. "It's fine. It's fine now. I had lost a tooth, but Lily fixed it."

"I don't know anything about witch magic," Jersa said as she leaned forward to look at Lily.

"Neither do I." Jace also turned his attention to Lily, who fidgeted under their gaze.

"It's...a contract," Lily mumbled. "You have to give...to get..." She finally looked up, and pointed to the tooth that she previously had pulled, but was still there. "I used blood and pain, cus they're the strongest."

There was something more to it, Jace could feel it. That wasn't all there was to it...was it? "And?" Lily seemed to flinch at his word. He reached out and gently rubbed Lily's back. "Hey...it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

"B-but I did..." He could see the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "I made a contract without permission."

"And that's bad?" Again Lily nodded. Jace sighed and grabbed Lily, pulling her into a hug. "You're going to have to explain it, Lily."

"I-it's...a contract...between two," she started as Jace began to rub her back once again. "It's what gives witches their power... I made a contract with my broom, I take care of it and it allows me to fly..."

"That makes it sound like contracts can be very one sided," Jersa said as she shifted around to the other side of Lily, trying to calm the little girl.

Lily nodded. "I made a contract with Jace...using my tooth and pain and blood as my part of the contract."

It was clear after a few seconds that she was not going to continue without prompting. "And...my part of the contract?"

"You're part...was never fulfilled..." She had her eyes closed.

He sighed softly. "And what does that mean, Lily?"

"It means that...part of you..." She looked up at him, he could see how much of an effort she was making to not cry. "Belongs to me..."

There was silence for a short moment. "Is that all?"

Both Jersa and Lily blinked at him. "Y-you're not...mad?" Lily said softly.

He shook his head. "Of course not. Why would I be mad?" He smiles down at her, petting her head softly. "Honestly..." He shakes his head. "So you...what, own my tooth?" She stared blankly at him for a few seconds and then nodded. "I don't see why that's a bad thing."

"I-it's cus it's a taboo! I could do something really, really bad!" she exclaimed, grabbing at his shirt.

"But you're not going to." He continued to smile down at her. "After all...we're family, right?"

It was finally too much for her and she broke down, crying and sobbing into him. "I think you're making light of quite a serious situation...she owns part of you."

"I'm not worried," he says as he rubs Lily's back. "She's not going to hurt me. And I wont ever let anything happen to her." He looked down at Lily, he just couldn't seem to stop smiling. "You're just worried because of all the bias built up towards witches. Lily thinks that, too...because everyone tells her witches are bad...she thinks that it's true."

Lily looked up at him and he gently kissed her forehead. "I don't want to hurt you..."

"And you wont," he said with a chuckle. "Now, we just need...to get me healed. I understand if you're not comfortable doing it, we can-"

Lily was shaking her head. "No. I can do it." She pulled back from Jace and stood up on the bed next to him, looking him up and down. "You're super beat up."

"Mhm." He leaned back, resting on his hands. "So...what exactly is a contract made up of?"

"Mmm..." She grasped her chin as she looked up at the ceiling. "I dunno...it's all super...vague," she said as she gestured randomly with her hand.

"Does it have to be something physical?"

Her brow furrowed. "I don't...think so..."

"What are you thinking?" Jersa asked from behind Lily.

"I'm wondering if societal concepts could be considered as part of the contract. Such as how I claimed that she is my little witch, or when I said that I would help her become the greatest of witches."

Jersa's brow furrowed as Lily blushed. "I'm guessing I wasn't there for that little revaluation."

"But would something like that work?" he asked as he looked at Lily.

She folded her arms in front of her, closing her eyes as her head tilted to one side. "Mmm...no. Cus you already promised it?"

He thought on it for a moment, watching as Lily's head tilted from side to side. "What if I adopted you?"

"Wh-what?" Jersa stared blankly at him.

Even Lily seemed quite shocked. "A-ad...adopted...me?"

There was a smile on his face as he nodded. "I think it's a rather large thing. You would become a Foxern, gain the title of Lady." He was tapping his fingers as he counted the different things out. "Have access to numerous resources, live comfortably anywhere in Auser if you wanted to-"

"And...you would be my papa?" she said softly, looking down at the spot on the bed next to Jace.

He couldn't help but smile even more. "Mhm."

"That's not fair," Jersa said with a frown and Jace couldn't help but laugh. "I'm serious! I...I want- nng..."

"I could marry you?" he said as his smile turned into a smirk.

Jersa's face went redder than he had ever seen it. "M-m-m-mm-mmmarry?" she stammered, shaking slightly.

Lily pointed at Jersa. "You would be mamma." Jace laughed again, wincing slightly as he did.

"What!? Th-that's! I- that's-" she continued to stammer, looking around the room like a cornered animal looking for some means of escape.

"Well, I guess I could marry Stella, though that would cause some serious political issues..."

"No!" Jersa managed, frantically trying to form words.

"Miss Stella would make a good mommy," Lily said as she nodded.

"Wh-what! Wait- no!" Jersa was looking back and forth from Lily to Jace.

"Mmm you think? I'm sure she'd be very excited to hear that. Especially since Jersa seems to oppose the idea of-" Suddenly Jersa grabbed his shoulders. "Hm? Yes, Jersa?"

"I accept!" she blurted out, staring intently at him.

"Wh-what?"

"I'll...I'll marry you!" She was gripping his shoulders quite tightly, reminding Jace painfully that his collar bone was fractured and that Jersa had quite the sharp claws. "Y-you...can marry Stella, too...but...but I am not getting left out!"

"I...Jersa...I was..." He wanted to say that he was just joking, teasing her, but the look on her face gave every impression that if he said anything of that sort she would be crushed. "I wasn't going to leave you out," he said softly, placing a hand on top of hers as her grip loosened.

"I'll have two mamma's?" Lily said, her brow furrowing.

Jersa looked like she was about to explode with how red her face was. She couldn't form words anymore and just whimpered. It was the most vulnerable he had ever seen her, and he had seen her laying near nude, unconscious under a tree in a frozen landscape. "Well, I guess that depends on if Stella is willing to forsake the Carnafor name and become a Foxern." Jersa collapsed into him, burying her face into his chest.

"What's a Carna for?" Lily asked, her brow furrowing even more.

Jace couldn't help but laugh. "They're pirates."

He saw the way Lily's eyes suddenly lit up. "Stella is a pirate!?" she exclaimed, jumping slightly on the bed.

"Well, her family is." He sighed softly. If she did marry him and take on the Foxern name, her family would throw an absolute fit. Probably. He honestly had little to no interaction with that family, as far as he was aware.

"That's so cool!" she said excitedly, doing a little twirl on the bed.

Jace chuckled softly. "Well, I suppose so. But...what do you think about the contract?"

She leaned in towards her, a grin on her face. "More than enough!" She stood up straight once more, giving another twirl. "Mr. Foxern will become my papa-" it was suddenly a weird thing to hear for Jace, but he figured he'd get used to it. "And I will heal all of papa's injuries. That is our contract!" She danced a bit on the bed with excitement.

"How...exactly are you going to be healing me?" He glanced down at Jersa, who was taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself down.

"The contract gives me the power." She held up her hand and closed her eyes. "The stronger the contract...the stronger the magic..."

"What makes the strongest contracts?" he asked, something that he should have asked earlier when figuring out what to offer.

She giggled as she leaned forward again. "Love, usually."

He smiled softly at her. "Well, then this will be a very strong contract." Violets words entered his head. 'She will not walk down that road with you. Lily has her own path to take. Your road leads to nothing but despair!' He wondered what she had seen to make her think that. He would never let anything happen to Lily. He loved his little witch.

Lily stood up straight once again, and quite to the surprise of Jace she was holding his knife. "You wont fail, or fall," she said softly but excitedly as she ran the knife over her hand.

He was about to protest, but remembered what she said. The strongest catalyst was blood and pain. But the second cut across her palm was hard to watch. "We'll be family," he managed to say, trying not to seem ungrateful for what she was going through.

"Yes," she said through clenched teeth, tears streaming down her face. This must have been what Violet had seen. It was hard for him to imagine worse and he wasn't about to try. He closed his eyes as she reached out towards him, placing her hand on his forehead. He could feel the heat flow down his face. He could smell the familiar scent of blood; he could even taste it.

Suddenly he felt very, very tired.

~

It was hard for him to force his eyes open. Again he had blacked out, but at least the room was mildly familiar. There was a weight on his chest and as he looked down her could see the top of Lily's head, an arm over her. He followed the arm to Jersa, who was laying pressed up beside him. This felt like one of those little moments that he would cherish for the rest of his life and look back on in the moment of his death. Everything felt good. There was no more pain, he hadn't realized quite how much everything hurt until it was all gone.

He took in a deep breath, gently reaching up and laying his hand on top of Jersa. Once his eyes had focused more he realized that there was someone else in the room. "Stella?" he said softly, trying not to wake the other two.

"What have you done?" He rubbed his face a bit, recognizing the voice but not entirely figuring out who it was. "What have you done to Lily?"

Suddenly he realized who it was. "Ah...Miss Violet. Breaking and entering now?"

"I told you-"

"Leave," he snapped. "I would hate to have to explain to Lily why I had to kill the woman who helped raise her." The coldness of his Mr. Ozymandias persona slipping back into place.

There was hesitation before she spoke again, "I just want what's best for Lily."

"Maybe you can't extrapolate from extenuating circumstances properly." He could feel the tenseness in his muscles, he had been thinking quite a lot on the matter since Lily had first mentioned it. As far as he could figure out, it had to do with the decisions the person made in the future. "If you do not leave, or if you try to take my Lily from me, I will kill you."

"Your Lily?" she sneered.

"Yes." His hand shifted off of Jersa's and onto Lily's back, his eyes traveling down to look at the sleeping face of Lily. "My little Lily..."

"You...how dare you. What have you done to Lily?" He could feel the shadows of the room press around him as the entire room shifted and warped slightly.

"Lady Lily Foxern," he said quite mater-o-factually, as if explaining something that is common knowledge. "I adopted her."

Everything seemed to freeze at once. "You...you what?"

"Gods you are a poor excuse for a witch. Lily said that you could see the future, but apparently you're far too biased to be able to do it properly. I adopted her," he repeated. "She is, as by the powers I hold as Eldest son of Lady Tiffana Foxern, The High Lord of Auser, my daughter."

There was silence for a moment as the room seemed to melt back into it's natural shape. "Y-you're...daughter."

"Yes. Sealed not only in my word as a Lord but in a witches contract." He could see her shifting in the dark as she began pacing. "You seem surprised."

"Of all the possibilities there was...this wasn't..." she was muttering to herself and he couldn't make out anymore of what she said.

"Like I said when we first met," he said as he finally was starting to calm down. "You know nothing about me." He felt Lily shift and lowered his voice before continuing, "You can't see passed my decisions because you don't understand me or the decisions I'm making."

He could feel the glare aimed at him in the darkness. "We'll see if I was wrong." And suddenly she was gone without another word.

"Ugh..." He put a hand over his face.

"I was worried I was going to have to kill her..." Stella said softly, which caused a brief tension in his muscles once again.

Jace took a slow, deep breath. "Are you ready to talk?" he asked softly.

There was a shift to his left as she sat in the bed. "Yeah..."

His eyes wandered over to her. "You're a Conafor?"

She nodded. "Mhm...did you really adopt Lily?"

He nodded. "Mhm." It took him a few seconds to find her hand, grasping it, and being thankful she didn't pull away.

"I...I don't know what to say..." she mumbled, refusing to face him.

"I'm not mad...I'm more mad that you ran away." He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Do you think you could give up the Carnafor name?"

"What do you mean?" she said as she looked over her shoulder at him. "How?"

There was a soft smile on his face as he looked up at her. "By marrying me."

Even in the darkness he could practically feel the heat from her face as it turned red. "M-marry?" she mumbled.

He chuckled softly. "Jersa had a similar reaction."

"You...you asked her to marry you?" She turned more of her body to face him.

"She wants us all to be a family." His gaze wandered down to Lily. "So does Lily. And so do I. But I understand that it's a big decision, turning your back on your fa-"

"I accept!" she exclaimed, grasping his hand with both of hers. "I accept! Oh gods I accept!"

Again he chuckled as Jersa slowly sat up. "Wazzat? Who's there?"

Stella grabbed her, hugging her tightly. "We're gonna marry Jace and be Foxern's!" she said quite excitedly.

Jersa's face went red immediately. "Y-yeah..."

"We're gonna be family..." she said softly, as Jersa slowly returned the hug.

"Yeah..." she said as she closed her eyes.

"And you'll both be Lily's mothers."

Both of them looked down at Lily, who was either still asleep, or pretending to be asleep. "Yeah," the both said.