An hour or so later the couple departed, daughter in tow. Corinne had given them a great deal of good advice. Flame was very glad she’d met her. She had tried not to show it at the time, but having Littlespark all alone without anyone to tell her what to expect had been a frightening experience. Only the fact that Aidan had been so panicked had helped her to be calm. She’d found that when she had to act calm for his sake she actually became calm.

Aidan was just glad that the woman had been so accepting of their odd family. He’d met people who were disgusted at the thought of having a non-humanoid like Flame for a wife, or at the idea of her being married to a vampire, but Corinne hadn’t batted an eye at either situation.

They passed through the market square, now empty as the sun set, and Aidan though of one person who was definitely not so tolerant. But the manic preacher didn’t put in an appearance, and the three of them made their way back to the inn without incident. There was no reason for them to stay, so they just returned the key and headed home.

They made monthly visits to Snowcap after that to see Corinne and make sure that the twins were doing all right. On their next visit she confirmed that the second child was a boy. “He takes after his mother no doubt,” she said, “but he’s got something of you in him too, Aidan. He’s developing a cute little pair of wings.”

Aidan didn’t care if the children took after him or not, he just wanted them both to be healthy. Each visit reassured him, as Corinne’s reports were always good. “Twins sometimes mean extra complications,” said Corinne on the fifth visit, “but these two are coming along beautifully. Not a thing wrong with either of them, though I do wish I knew more about firecats.”

“Are you worried something might be wrong?” asked Flame.

“No! Both of them really are healthy, but the little kitten has the most unusual aura I’ve ever seen. It’s somewhat similar to your own, Flame, but in some ways very different. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s completely unlike anything else I’ve ever seen, and I wish I knew if it was something common among your people or not.”

“What’s so odd about it?” asked Flame, curious.

“It’s hard to explain. Different species have different aura patterns, and each individual’s aura is unique. There are a few species that have truly strange auras. Your husband, for example, has one of the more interesting ones I’ve ever seen. The blending of vampire and aerian is peculiar. And yours isn’t like anybody else’s either. I would expect your children to have an aura somewhat like yours, somewhat like his, only without the vampirism, as that isn’t genetic. And in Spark’s and the one boy’s case that’s exactly what I see. But the other boy… his aura has some similarities to your own, but there’s almost nothing of your husband’s in it. And really, his aura is almost as different from yours as your husband’s is, or mine, as if he were some other species entirely. That’s highly unusual. Children generally take after their parents.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t explain it any better than that.” She smiled then, and winked. “If I didn’t know better I might think you’d been with someone else, the child has so little of his father in him. But there’s no question he’s Aidan’s.”

“I knew that anyway,” said Flame and she put her arm around Aidan. He smiled at her. He didn’t have any doubts either.

“We had better get going,” he said. “We don’t want to overstay our welcome.”

“You’re more than welcome to come as often as you want and stay as long as you like,” said Corinne. “I enjoy your company, and Ariana likes having someone close to her own age to play with.”

They claimed their daughter from the back yard where she and Ariana had been playing hide-and-seek. The silver-haired part-elven girl waved goodbye to the white-haired half-aerian. The two had hit it off from the first, perhaps because both of them were quite different from the rest of the world. Littlespark, who was wearing human form so she could show off another new dress, chattered excitedly about the games they’d played.

The little family headed off through town. The sun was still up, though it was nearing the horizon. Littlespark suddenly ran ahead, laughing and full of energy. Aidan ran after her, while Flame, her stomach large enough now to be awkward, followed at a more sedate pace. They were almost to the market square when they became aware of the sound of a crowd with one shouting voice overriding the murmur of the others. Aidan caught up with Littlespark just as she reached the fringe of the crowd. He took her hand. “Don’t run off love, I don’t want to lose you.”

Branson was in his usual place on a raised platform at the far end of the square. He immediately noticed Aidan, the latter’s white wings being hard to miss. “Evil is among us this moment!” he shouted. “Beware! Look, the very son of hell is here!” Aidan gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to stick around and listen to this, but he didn’t want to lose Flame Song either. He tried to tune out Branson’s harangue, glancing behind him anxiously. Soon Flame caught up with him. He took her hand and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Where’s Spark?” asked Flame. Aidan looked down. He hadn’t even noticed the child freeing her hand, but she wasn’t there. Then he heard Flame say, “Oh no,” and he looked up. A familiar little white-haired head was coming into view over the crowd. Littlespark was climbing the stairs to Branson’s platform with a determined expression on her small face. Aidan started through the crowd. Some people gave way, some he had to push by. He noticed more than a few that recoiled from him as if he was indeed the demon Branson had painted him as. He ignored them, just wanting to get his little girl safely away from here before something happened. The crowd around him suddenly quieted and he could clearly hear his daughter’s voice.

“You are being a mean person, mister. You shouldn’t be so mad at my daddy. He isn’t a bad guy, he’s a good guy.”

Branson sputtered, and for a moment Aidan wished her were taller just so he could see the expression on the man’s face.

“My daddy always says that you should be nice to people, but you’re being very mean. Your mommy and daddy would send you to your room if they heard the mean things you said about my daddy.” A murmur of laughter ran through the crowd.

“You are a child of evil yourself!” the preacher finally concluded after a second round of outraged sputtering.

“I’m not,” said Littlespark firmly. “I always say please and thank you, and I put things away when I’m done with them, and I try really hard to be nice to everyone. You ought to be nice to everyone too. My daddy isn’t evil, and it’s rude of you to say he is. You need to say you’re sorry.” The crowd laughed again. This was far more entertaining than just listening to Branson speak.

Aidan made it to the platform and bounded up the steps. Branson was staring at Littlespark, who stood at the top of the stairs, with a comical expression of confusion on his face. When he noticed Aidan coming up the stairs his expression changed to one of wide-eyed horror. He held out his holy symbol. “Back, spawn of hell!” he shouted. Aidan, ignoring both the man’s holy symbol and his antagonistic attitude, picked up Littlespark. After assuring himself that she was all right, he turned to Branson and, inclining his head politely, said, “I apologize for my daughter’s intrusion. It won’t happen again.” Then he turned and left the platform. He made his way back through the crowd, and this time the fearful expressions were far outnumbered by looks of amusement. The crowd had been charmed by Littlespark’s performance. Not only that, but Aidan had completely failed to live up to Branson’s accusations.

Branson cold tell he was losing his audience. “Evil may turn a fair face to the world, may deceive with pretty looks and good manners, but evil is still evil!” Aidan continued to ignore him, and so did most of the crowd. He reached the spot where Flame was waiting and the three of them left the square, Branson’s voice echoing behind them in a futile attempt to regain the attention and approval of the crowd.

“Spark, you shouldn’t have done that,” said Flame Song.

“He shouldn’t have been so mean to Daddy,” said Littlespark.

“You might have gotten hurt,” said Aidan. “We were worried about you.” He was also quite surprised. Littlespark was a bright child, but the small sermon she’d delivered to Branson had been something else.

He hugged his daughter close the rest of the way back to the inn. He resolved to stay far away from the fanatic preacher on their next visit. Unfortunately in making that resolution he hadn’t thought that the preacher himself might have other plans.