"It would make sense to kill them too. And be very unwise not to."

"The school is very protected but yeah once the summer holidays start if they're still there and we're still here I'd worry."

"Are you thinking you might be back by then?"

"I have no idea. Maybe we will find the Swedes who were disappeared the same way, lurking somewhere, halfway to a solution. Maybe we will live here for the rest of our lives and the twins will never know what happened."

"We have no intention of letting you randomly die."

"Thanks."

And Maitimo suggests that he go meet his alt and teach him music magic - "maybe you'll compose faster when it's the both of you -" and so he rows across the lake and announces he's come to do that, if anyone is interested in learning magic music.

Rebecca gives the kids to a house elf and turns up right away!

"Uh, hi. Is something wrong?"

"Do you not talk? You can sing it."

"We had a - her - she died - I'm so sorry -"

"- a me? Really?"

Nod. "- she had a daughter -"

"I had Catherine before Michael found me -"

"Kat."

"Where is she -"

"Across the river - probably with the people who sing anaesthetic -"

"- anaesthetic?"

"This is a very very unhappy story from start to finish."

"I'm trying to decide if I should offer to, to adopt her kid -"

" - I think she'd like that. Kat is an orc - would that be a problem - and in pain all the time unless she's listening to the song -"

"...well, we can learn the song - Michael was working on music recording anyway, it's more important if the music is itself magical probably - what else is there to know about her being an orc -"

"Orcs are a species bred by the Enemy to be his, uh, foot soldiers and entertainment and experiment fodder and slaves. Beka - Beka's mother was captured while she was pregnant - Beka was born in Angband - they tortured her all the time so her children would be orcs -"