Through various means, Iron Bull and Dorian become the fathers of two baby girls. Dorian struggles with how to knit his family with his House, with the Magisterium, and how to give his girls the life they deserve. Bull learns to be more than just a caretaker. And this is all before the war.

“What,” Kakuzu says flatly. The redheaded witch who foiled his assassination sips her tea, for all the world like Kakuzu isn't trussed up like a sacrificial offering at her feet. “I said my husband thinks you're handsome,” she repeats, as if that will remove the sheer insanity from those five words. “I tried to kill him,” Kakuzu says incredulously. “I stabbed him in the chest.”