Shade rarely let matters drag on. To continue investigating the words Chloe had left him from the Fifth Epoch, he went to Green Lake early Friday morning and, at seven thirty, met the Follen Brothers outside the Kasonlik Embassy in Green Lake City.
He revealed his identity to the brothers, and the three of them then entered the nearby Green Moss Tavern. Even among the generally rather old buildings of Green Lake City, this tavern was astonishingly antiquated. That was also part of its appeal; entering it felt like returning to more than two hundred years ago.
Early morning was when the tavern had the fewest customers. Even the bartender behind the counter looked half-asleep. Servants were clearing away the rubbish left by the last batch of all-night drinkers who had departed before dawn, while the cooks and their helpers ate breakfast together in a corner of the kitchen.
The three declined the yawning bartender's sales pitch for Green Moss Beer. After each ordering a cup of hot tea, they took seats against the wall. Shade did not waste time with pleasantries and first took out their bloodline assessment report:
"Your great-uncle, Alphonse Edwardz, was indeed not adopted."
"I think the family bloodline is more important than whether our great-uncle was a member of the family."
The brothers stared at the results on the report in surprise:
"We're actually half-elves?"
Although the brothers' manifest elven bloodline was not as strong as Megan's or Audrey's, it still barely exceeded ten percent. They truly counted as half-elves. Yet the elven blood in the Edwardz lineage did not seem to show much in their appearance. At least from the outside, there was no sign of pointed ears or anything similar:
"You should count as such. Keep this report safe; perhaps it will be