“It seems you were right again, my Lisa,” Grim said, his gaze finally leaving the girls.
“Only because I’ve been a parent longer than you. One day they are going to want to watch, and that’s when you aren’t going to want them to.”
“Why would I not want them to?” Grim questioned, frowning at her.
“Because that’s when they are going to be watching the Warriors as a female watches a male.”
“No!” Grim’s denial was loud and had heads turning in their direction. “That will not happen. No male will ever be fit or worthy enough for our girls.”
“I think that will be up to them to decide.” Lisa hid her smile at Grim’s reaction by linking her arm through his so they could walk. “But it will be a long time before you will need to worry about that.”
“A very long time,” Grim agreed.
Chapter Two
“Come on, Dagan!” Miki shouted running passed where he had stopped on the garden path. "Carly is nearly to the rock."
Miki was the youngest and smallest of the three. Because of that, she never got anywhere first, but she tried. Now she was gaining on Carly, but when she looked back to see how close Dagan was, she found he was still at the tree but on his knees now.
Slowing, she turned then headed back to him. "Dagan? What's wrong?"
"There is something in there," he said leaning forward to peer between the full, low-hanging branches that touched the ground.
"There is?" she questioned as she dropped down beside him. "What?"
"I do not know, but I heard it."
"What are you looking at?" Carly asked, coming up behind them.
"Dagan says there's something in our tree," Miki told her sister, her gaze never leaving the tree.
"Really?" Carly dropped down beside them. "What?"
"I do not know," Dagan repeated. "But..."
Just then, a short, sharp screech came from beneath the tree causing all three of them to fall back on their butts.
"There... there is something under there," Miki whispered and quickly flipping over onto her hands and knees crawled closer to the tree.
"Miki, get back," Carly told her. "You don't know what it is."
"Whatever it is, it is in pain. It’s afraid," Dagan said.
"How can you tell?" Carly asked looking to Dagan.
"I just can," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Then we need to help it," Miki said, crawling under the branches.
"Miki!" Carly tried to grab her sister's ankle, but Miki was too fast for her.
"Come on, you two, it's awesome under here."
Dagan and Carly looked at each other. Miki was always doing this. She would just take off and expect them to follow. It had gotten them all in trouble more than once.
"We cannot let her be in there alone," Dagan told her.
"I know," Carly sighed. Sometimes she hated being the older sister. "Let's go."
Together they crawled beneath the bottom limbs and were shocked at what they discovered. The low branches outside actually attached to the tree several feet up, leaving a large, open area that was like a private world meant just for them.
"Wow..." Carly whispered as she looked around.
"I told you," Miki said smugly.
"Look," Dagan said, and their gazes traveled to where he pointed at the dark form near the trunk of the tree.
Suddenly, what had appeared to be a small, non-threatening mass, rose and grew until it was nearly as tall as Miki. It spread its wings, and it let out a screech that had them covering their ears and looking at it in shock.
“It’s a raptor,” Carly whispered, her voice full of awe.
“He is hurt.” Dagan pointed to how the tip of one of the raptor’s wings hung down.
“But he can’t be hurt,” Miki cried out in distress. “He’s the Great Raptor. Who is going to protect us now?”
The bird tipped its head to the side, its purple gaze staring at Miki as if it understood her words. Slowly, it folded its wings back into its sides.
“He can’t be the Great Raptor, Miki,” Carly told her. “He’s not big enough. Manno said he was so big that he could block the sun.”
“Truth,” Miki murmured, “but then maybe he’s the Great Raptor’s son.”
“Manno never said that in any of his stories.”
“Maybe he just hasn’t gotten to that story yet,” Miki stuck her chin out stubbornly at her sister. “He said he had thousands of stories still to tell us.”
“Truth.” Carly had to agree with her sister.
“How do we help him?” Miki looked to Dagan.
“I do not know for sure,” Dagan said slowly, his head leaning to the side just like the raptor’s. “I have never cared for a raptor before.”
“But you have cared for other animals, right?” Miki demanded. “You told us how you healed a kepie.”
“Yes, but that is a much smaller bird.”
“So healing a bigger one should be easier,” Miki told him.
“All I did was keep it warm and make sure it had food and water. The rest it did itself.”
“Oh,” Miki frowned at that. “Well then, that’s what we’ll do for Prince."
"Prince?" Both Dagan and Carly asked.
"Well that's what he is, isn't he, if he's the Great Raptor's son? The Great Raptor protects Luda just like Manno does, and Manno is a King. So the Great Raptor is a King. And his son is a Prince, just like we are Princesses."
Dagan and Carly found themselves slowly nodding at Miki's three-year-old logic, and it seemed the raptor liked it too, as he gave a low caw and then settled back down onto the ground, its injured wing sticking out slightly. Its piercing eyes were just about to close when a call from Ion had them shooting back open.
"Princess Miki! Princess Carly!" Ion shouted, his quick steps followed by Nairn’s and Caius'. "Where are you?"
"We need to go, Miki," Carly whispered, peeking between the branches once their guards had passed.
"But what about Prince?"
"He will be fine here, Miki," Dagan told her. "It is why he chose this location."
"But... he needs food and water, and look," she pointed, and they all saw a shiver go through his black body. "He's cold."
"We'll come back with those, but we have to go, Miki. Otherwise, Ion will tell Manno we didn't obey him, and then we won't be able to come see Prince."
"Oh, all right," Miki grumbled, obviously not happy but agreeing. But as they started to crawl back out, she stopped and looked at the shivering raptor. Slipping off her cape, she crawled toward the deadly creature. "Here, take this. Padma made me another one."
Carefully she draped the cape over the bird, not noticing how close she was to its sharp, deadly beak. "I'll be back as soon as I can with food and water. You just rest and try to get better." With that, she crawled out from under the tree.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
"Miki," Lisa waited until the gaze of her youngest rose from the dinner plate to her. Both girls had been unusually quiet during the meal. "Ion says you lost your cape today. How?"
"I... umm..." Miki's gaze went to Carly before returning to her mother. She'd never lied to her mother before. Well, not really. She didn't count saying she'd only had two cookies when she'd actually had three. But this... "I took it off so I could explore one of the trees and forgot to put it back on."
"But it was cold out," Grim said frowning at her.
"It wasn't that bad, Manno."
"I'm disappointed in you, Miki Renee," Lisa told her. "Padma worked very hard on creating that cape for you, and you just left it?"
"I'm sorry, Mommy." Miki's little eyes filled with tears as she looked at her mother.
"Tomorrow we will go into the garden and find your cape."
"Yes, Mommy."
"Now finish eating." She looked to Carly seeing she had hardly eaten anything either. "Both of you. Then go get ready for bed."
"Yes, Mommy," they said together.
They both quickly finished their meal, then as they rose, Miki paused beside Grim. "Will you tell us another story about the Great Raptor, Manno?"
"I will, once you are in bed," Grim told her wondering why she was asking. He always told them a story, but before he could ask, they were gone.
"They're up to something," Lisa said watching the girls hurry out of the room whispering to each other.
"What could they be up to?" Grim asked frowning. "They had guards with them all day."
"Then where were they when Miki took off her cape?"
"I..." Grim realized she was right. That shouldn't have been possible. "You are right. I will find better Warriors to guard our girls."
"Grim, no, that's not what I meant. Ion and Nairn are the perfect guards for the girls." She instantly defended the two Warriors. They had more than proven themselves in her eyes with how they sacrificed themselves so she and the girls could get away when Luuken had tried to take them. "They give them the space they need to play and explore, to be little girls, while still protecting them. What I was trying to say, and apparently not doing a very good job of it, is that our girls are smart and if they wanted to keep something from us they could."
"You think that is what they are doing?"
"Yes."
"Then I will go get them to tell us what it is." Grim stood, meaning to go after his girls.
"No, Grim."
"No?" He turned to frown at her. "What do you mean? They shouldn't be keeping things from us. What if it is something that harms them?"
"Are you telling me you never kept things from your manno growing up?"
"I..." Grim's cheeks darkened. "Yes, but that is different."
"Really?" Lisa smiled as she rose and stepped into his waiting arms. "Why?"
"Because I'm male, and they are female," he told her gruffly, enfolding her in his arms.
"Really?" Lisa leaned back in his arms giving him a teasing look. "That's the reason you're giving me? Because you’re male?"
"Females..."
"Have as much right to do what they want as any male does."
"They need to be protected," he argued.
"Truth," she agreed. "But doing one doesn't mean you can't do the other. They need to explore, Grim. Need to find their place in this world. And they can't do that if you lock them away. If you don't give them some freedom. The garden is a safe place."
"It wasn't for you," he growled, remembering Luuken.
"And that will never happen again. Not only because Wray recognized me as your Queen, but because you have tripled the guards along that portion of the wall." She reached up to gently cup his cheek. She knew it still bothered him that she was attacked in their garden. "We are safe there, Grim. Because of you."
"You mean everything to me, my Lisa. You, our girls, and the one yet to come." He reached down running a careful hand over her protruding stomach.
Lisa couldn't help but smile. Grim loved her changing shape. He was always touching and caressing her, especially her belly. He still couldn't seem to believe that his offspring was growing there.
"And you mean everything to us."
"Manno!" The girls’ little voices called from their room. "We're ready for our story."
"And it seems the ones we currently have are impatient for their story."
"Yes, they always are." He smiled slightly at that. "So we let them keep their secret?"
"For now, yes. They won't be able to keep it to themselves for long," she told him, and together they went to their girls.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
"Manno?"
"Yes, my Miki?" Grim asked, sitting down beside her on the bed she shared with her sister.
"Can you tell us a story about the Great Raptor's son?"
"His what?" Grim looked at Lisa, who was on the other side of the bed next to Carly and frowned.
"Male offspring," Lisa supplied. There were still times when Earth words slipped into their conversations that Grim didn't understand.
"Oh." He looked back to Miki. "Why would you think he had a son, Miki?"
"Well he would have to... wouldn't he? You have mommy and us. The Great Raptor must have a family too."
"I..." Grim realized that in all his existence it was something he had never considered. The Great Raptor just was. But looking at the expectation in his daughters’ eyes, he knew he couldn't disappoint them.
"The Great Raptor's son helps him guard the skies of Luda...."
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Lisa released a tired sigh as she rested her head on Grim's chest with a leg thrown over his, her hand resting over his heart, as her rounded stomach nestled against his flat one. Grim pulled her close, his hand gently caressing her belly.
"You did too much today," he growled gruffly.
"Not too much," she denied. "I didn't meet with Ull, as we planned, but it was a long day."
"You will see him and those with him tomorrow."
"With him?" She tilted her head up to look at him. "I thought it was just Ull I was meeting with."
"So did I, but it seems there is a Kaliszian ship traveling with him."
"Why? Because of the Ganglian ship the Kaliszians found with Earth females?"
"Yes, that is my belief."
"Then we need to get up and meet with them." Lisa started to rise, only to have Grim's arm tighten, stilling her.
"Ull has already gone back to the Searcher. He and the others will return tomorrow after you have rested."
"Oh." She laid her head back down and snuggled in closer, silently glad she didn't have to get out of bed. "You did a wonderful job coming up with that story about the Great Raptor's son."
"It was that obvious?"
"Only to me."
"They continually surprise me with their questions."
"They make you look at things differently, don't they?"
"They do," he agreed, reaching up to touch the blue and green thumbprints attached to the necklace the girls had given him just that morning, and how they requested to call him Manno.
Lisa covered his hand with hers, knowing what he was thinking. "They love you very much, Grim. So do I."
"I know," he told her gruffly, his fingers tightening on hers. "It makes me the most blessed male in all the universes, Known or Unknown. Now rest, my Lisa."
Chapter Three
"Eat up, girls," Lisa told her daughters the next morning. "Once you're done, we are going to go find the cape you forgot in the garden yesterday."
"Yes, Mommy," they said, but Lisa caught the look they gave each other. Yes, there was definitely something going on that they didn't want Grim or her to know about. She'd have to keep a close eye on them.
"Lisa." Grim walked back into their room. He'd left a few moments ago to take a comm. "Ull and the others have transported down. They are waiting for us in my Command Room."
"Already?"
"Yes, it seems General Rayner wants to get back to Pontus as soon as possible."
"General Rayner?"
"He is the Supreme Commander of Kaliszian Defenses," Grim informed her. "The other ship traveling with the Searcher is his. He also has his True Mate with him."
"True Mate?"
"I forget you have not met a Kaliszian yet."
"No, I haven't, but Kim told me about the one that gave her a blade."
"Yes, that was General Rayner."
"It saved her life on Vesta. I would very much like to meet the male that defied Wray and gave her that blade."
Grim's lips tightened as he remembered Wray telling him exactly what had happened between him and the General. Had the General not backed down, the two Empires might now be at war, something neither wanted. They needed each other too much.
"Rayner is not a male you wish for an enemy," he told her. "That he has his True Mate with him is surprising though."
"Why? Do the Kaliszians hide away their True Mates the way you Tornians do your females?"
"No, there is no reason for them to. Whi
le Kaliszians have more than enough females, they haven't had True Mates since the Great Infection struck."
"You mean besides taking away their ability to feed their people, the Great Infection also took away the Kaliszians’ ability to find true love?"
"Yes."
"That seems doubly harsh."
"Two were harmed, my Lisa," he gently reminded her, his gaze going to Carly and Miki. He had always believed he understood the horror of what Emperor Berto had done to his young females. But now, looking down at his daughters gazing up at him with so much love and trust in their little eyes, the true horror of it hit and sickened him. That type of betrayal was so unthinkable to him, so evil. If any male even thought about his girls that way, he would end them. Painfully.
"Grim?" Lisa asked quietly, pulling his attention from the girls. She didn't like how hard his eyes had gotten or how his skin had darkened. She'd only seen him look this way once before, and that had been after Luuken had attacked her. Looking back to her daughters, she realized what had him so upset, the thought of their daughters being abused that way. "It will never happen, Grim. You would never allow anyone to harm them."
"It wasn't anyone, Lisa," he murmured, looking at her.
"No, it wasn't. But that is something you would never do." Reaching for his hand, she rested it on her stomach. "To any of our offspring."
"I wouldn't, my Lisa." His hand curved protectively over her stomach. "My vow."
"I know." Stretching up on her toes, she gently kissed his lips.
"Sire." They turned to find Alger standing in the doorway. "Warrior Ull and General Rayner are waiting."
"We will be right there, Alger."
"Yes, sire," Alger bowed slightly to Lisa then left the room.
"Girls." Lisa looked to them. "Your manno and I need to go meet with some people. Ion and Nairn will stay with you."
"Can they take us out into the garden so we can find my cape?" Miki asked.
Lisa frowned. When she had informed the girls that directly after first meal they would be going to find the forgotten cape, neither had been enthusiastic.
"You want to go find your cape?"