Editing Hesperax's Pet (section)

=Epilogue=

“Buuuttt Dad!”

“Don’t you ‘Dad’ me, Reri. Your mother is right. You can’t go flaunting being a Trueborn just to get what you want from others. It’s a sign of weakness, hiding behind your mother’s accomplishment like that. Do you think it was easy for someone like her to hide that she was carrying you? How many attempts on her life, and mine, do you think we had to deal with?”

The small Dark Eldar pouted, crossing her arms and pursing her lips. “Mom did all of that. You just sat there and…”

“Enough,” interrupted Lelith. “I will not have my daughter turn out to be disrespectful too. Your father contributed in his own way. You know that there are other forms of strength and that not every field of battle is physical.”

Reri opened and closed her mouth several times, then let out a puff of air. “Finnnnee. I’m sorry, Dad. I won’t do it again…”

“Good. Because otherwise I know for a fact your mother’s favorite Corsair needs its hull repainted.”

“But...But that’s slave work!”

“Reri…” growled her mother, drumming her fingers on the table before her. 

“Hmph… I know… I know. Alright… I’ll stop using mom’s name then…”

As Reri’s head dipped, Avitus reached over and propped it back up. “Hey, none of that. You know we’re just trying to do what’s best for you. People expect a lot from ‘the Princess of Commorragh,’ so you have to set an example. Doubly so, since you’re part human. Now, run along.”

His teenage daughter did not waste time in slipping away, leaving the former-acolyte with his beloved. Before he could speak, though, her head came to rest on his shoulder. “I seriously hope I was not that uptight when I was young…” Lelith grumbled, closing her eyes.

“No, you were probably worse. But she’ll come around, in time.” That earned Avitus a quick nip on his neck, but he had come to expect that sort of thing by now. Silence fell over the pair, only broken when Reri popped her head back into the kitchen.

“Since we’re trying to set examples, would you two mind being a little more quiet tonight? I’d like to get some sleep without hearing you two going at it like…”

The girl giggled with joy as a dagger embedded itself in the doorframe mere millimeters from where her face was, and she scampered off before her mother could chase after her. Such was life in the Hesperax household.