The list of siblings that they share was still longer than Mesec expected. He hadn’t known about the other two sisters - and he committed their names to memory so that he would recognize them if he heard them again. What was more surprising than learning he had two sisters that he had never heard of before, was learning that one of them was with them in the Edge. While Sacre beamed proudly at the fact that she was a healer, Mesec felt dumbfounded. “We have a sister here too??” Mesec’s surprise about this information is incredibly plain. What were the chances of that?

Clumsily, he tried to explain why this was so incredible to him. Because it wasn’t just flesh and blood family that Mesec had here - but more beyond that (once) flimsy bond as well. “My adoptive sister is here too…” He spoke it in a musing tone, still baffled by how incredibly coincidental this was all turning out to be. Not for the first time, he had to wonder whether his mother had known - if her encouraging words to bring his young twins to the Edge had been because she knew he would find the family he longed for in these borders. That thought, quietly spoken, was followed by a hasty explanation. “Her mother took me in after I left the Basin.” And then Mesec regretted sharing this information as soon as he said it but can only hope that it did not bring Sacre any pain or discomfort. Mesec’s foal hood certainly wasn’t Sacre’s fault, but the red-accented boy gave the impression that he cared.

Mesec wished that he had better news regarding Roux, but he gave what little information he had as honestly as he could. “It’s been a while, almost a year and a half since I last saw him. But we crossed paths in the Deep Forest.” How different this meeting with Sacre was going than the first time Mesec had met Roux. “I’m afraid I made a rather poor first impression on him, I doubt he’ll be excited to see me when he does return.”

Sacre’s apologies were met with a sad smile, and a whispered “It’s okay.” Because, even though it was very much not okay, that was what you said when someone apologized and it wasn’t their fault. Besides, his brother went on to explain that he hadn’t seen much of their father either - and Mesec wasn’t sure whether that made anything worse or better. And then, when Sacre asked whether d’Artagnan was saveable - Mesec didn’t know what to say. Because, of course, Mesec’s answer was a loud and firm yes. They could save him - there was always hope.

But what did Mesec know? Who was he to make any sort of claim that he could save the father he never really knew?

So he left the question alone, happily attaching himself to the next one - thoughts of his children bringing forth a smile that chased away the darkness and clouds in Mesec’s silver eyes. “Vesper is well, she’s taken to living in the Edge very nicely. But my son Virga… I haven’t seen him in some time. I think he might have gone looking for his mother, and I do hope that is the case.” And then Mesec realized that Sacre wouldn’t know what he was talking about, so he explained. “Their mother, Ki’irha, lived in the Basin. She was - or is - one of the warriors there and needed to leave on a patrol outside of Helovia. So I brought the twins to live with me here in the Edge. It was a lot of change to happen in a short period of time for them, and I think out of the pair Virga was the least happy to leave the Basin and their first home.” He frowned then, doubt creeping in. “I still don’t know if it was the right choice.”

And then, because they were sharing stories and information - already having learned so much about each other as they tried to catch up on years of wasted time, Mesec can’t help but ask “Do you have any kids?” Sacre seemed young to Mesec, and it likely would have come up already, but speaking of foals seemed safe and he might as well ask to find out for sure whether there were any nieces and nephews to add to the long list of family he had not known existed.