Alder Canaric was quiet that night over dinner. The silence was hardly noticed, given the rest of the table was rather loud-- and rather crowded. He smiled at the other dinner-goers, the new residents of the house he and his wife had put their impressive resources towards building for them, but as he ate of their house-warming meal, he only gave them half of his attention. The rest of it was turned inward, thinking.

While Humain and the children had retrieved belongings from the Watcher house and got them reinstalled at their new home, Alder had cornered Deiv and Chaith to ask them a question or two about Cacopheny and, more specifically, what they knew about him-- which wasn't much: just that he'd been "owned", in a way, by a demoness named Rao, been rescued, and then brought to Sanctuary to bond in the hopes that he might gain "stability", though they didn't know what that really meant, either.

Alder himself had found out quite a bit more than he'd expected, when he'd tracked down the half-demon's former guardians, Light dragon Chiya Diemicana and Fire dragon Ketvia Pariyani. He knew them both vaguely from the war on Tris'Hath; though they'd never been put into the same squadron, the pair was minorly famous for how well they worked together. They hadn't been particularly difficult to find, once he knew where they'd been stationed, and what they had to say on the subject was far more than Sentio had told him.

Cacopheny was half demon and, they surmised, half human; demons thought of such mixes as delicacies. The pair who produced Cacopheny had a number of others which, Ketvia had guessed, they were selling, though none of them were as old as him. The only reason they kept Cacopheny as long as they did was the female of the pair-- Chiya and Ketvia didn't have a name for her, which was the only tidbit of information the daemons had that he didn't, though Ketvia had assured him she'd burned her to ash-- kept him for her own interests, which the two daemons had guessed at, after a fashion. They knew he'd been abused, but not to the extent Chiya had revealed. Chiya had actually touched his mind and memories, just to communicate, and she knew far more than she'd even told Ketvia, judging from how the Fire shot surprised looks at her mage-partner every now and then.

Relating the extent of Cacopheny's abuses had been uncomfortable for Alder; he didn't know how Chiya had managed it without turning funny colors under her pale fur. Even he, experienced in chasing down demons, very nearly having made a study of Air demons over the years, didn't like discussing it. It was easier to explain the results of that abuse, which Alder hadn't even suspected, though now many things that he hadn't understood before made sense. The life Cacopheny had led fractured his mind: he was, quite literally, insane. Though Chiya assured him, and he in turn assured the Watchers, he was largely harmless, just prone to hallucinations and random changes of personality from time to time. However, that, plus the complete lack of socialization, made for a very strange and unpredictable personality, one which he felt Deiv and Chaith ought to be aware of, if their daughter was going to live under the same roof with him without their watchful eye on him.

Alder had expected surprise, protests, questions... but the daemons hardly seemed to think on it. They had been quiet during his tale, hardly reacting, but for one moment when they tensed slightly: the moment when he'd relayed that the demoness had been killed. Instead of commenting on Cacopheny's story, Deiv launched into an explanation of his own-- one that sent a chill all the way through him.

"Alder," Deiv had said earnestly, "the demoness is not dead. We know her name because Akija and Sentio had the misfortune of meeting her. It seems Cacopheny disappeared from your manor one night, and all the children went looking for him, Sentio leading. They found him in a cave up in the hills... and Rao found them. We don't know where she came from or how she got Cacopheny, but Kenjista called us for help and we rallied some of our kin, and we were able to drive her away."

At his initial shock and sputtered questions, the Watchers assured him no one was badly hurt. Sentio wasn't even hurt at all, just badly frightened, and the demon hadn't been seen nor heard of since. They shared as much information about the kidnapping and attack as they had, and Alder went back to the new house with his thoughts very full. First and foremost, however, was why his son hadn't even told him he'd been in a situation in which he might have been killed....

After dinner, again he left Humain with the children-- though Cacopheny and Akija really couldn't be called children, exactly-- for a little chatting, and brought Sentio upstairs for a few minutes to ask him exactly that. The boy looked a little nervous, as if he knew what he was being pulled aside for.

"Sentio," he began quietly, "I've been talking to the Watchers."

"Cacopheny told me," Sentio answered in a small voice, surprising him but confirming that his nervousness had a base. He hadn't realized Cacopheny knew about the little discussion at the old house....

Putting that thought aside, he simply nodded. "They told me about you and Akija meeting the demoness. I must admit, I was surprised to hear about it from people who are mere acquaintances rather than my own son."

Sentio bit his lip but said nothing, looking at the floor. Alder could guess his motivation. "You didn't think we'd react well, did you? Maybe you thought we wouldn't let you live here with Cacopheny and the others?"

"How did you know?" Sentio blurted, looking up sharply.

"It wasn't hard to guess," Alder smiled faintly. "Sentio, you could have told me. You're old enough to make your own choices, and understand the risks involved; otherwise, we would never have sent you to bond."

"But you don't like Cacopheny, and if you thought he was dangerous--" The kit bit off that comment, looking away again.

Alder put his finger under his son's chin and tilted his face back up. "I don't dislike Cacopheny, Sentio. I don't know him well enough to say whether I like him, but I do respect him, for putting up with so many dragons looking down on him and mistrusting him here, if nothing else; for coming through the life he has with enough decency left to attract my son, as well." Sentio flushed a little under his fur. "Perhaps you might be right, if you'd gone to your mother; she isn't quite ready for the idea that you're growing up-- which is why I haven't told her all I know about Cacopheny and this demoness, nor do I intend to." Sentio looked a little relieved at that, and Alder released his chin. "But I am less likely to panic than your mother, and son, I would like to be informed on your life, dangerous or not."

"And you're sure you won't-- like-- be angry with him?"

Sentio's eyes were pleading, and Alder relaxed enough for another small smile. "I can't promise I won't feel anger or protectiveness, for you are my son, but I can promise I will not take any of that out on either of you. You made a choice, Sentio, and I have a feeling you have enough on your shoulders with that choice without my heaping disapproval on you, as well."

The rest of the tension went out of him, and he buried his muzzle again in Alder's tunic. "Thanks, Dad," he mumbled into the fabric.

Alder put his arms around his son's neck. "It's the least I can do for my boy. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"He won't hurt me," Sentio promised, and there wasn't even a hint of uncertainty there. Sentio was so rarely entirely certain about anything that there had to be something that had proven this fact to him, beyond a doubt. So, Alder resolved to be certain of that fact, as well.

"But others might," he reminded him, instead, thinking about a certain demon who he expected would not give up on her lost possession so easily. "Promise me you'll be careful-- and tell me if more life-threatening situations come up. All right?"

Sentio rubbed his muzzle with a forepaw, smiled wanly, and nodded. "I promise."

"Good. Now come downstairs and tell your mother good night while I say our goodbyes to the rest of the little group."

"Yessir," Sentio nodded, and Alder put his arm around his shoulders as they went back down the stairs together.