I’d reached that point of tired where I swore that I was beginning to see things that weren’t there. Like Queen Nehalennia holding Ruyah.

  But as I approached the throne and her long fingers ran through a sleeping kitten’s silver hair, I realized that I wasn’t hallucinating. Those sharp red nails were indeed stroking Ruyah’s scalp.

  Why does she have my kid?

  I stopped about five steps away from the stairs leading to the throne—it was about the same distance as when we’d first come to the castle, if I was eyeballing it correctly. I’d struggled with what to say to her before she was holding Ruyah in her arms, seeing as I hadn’t uttered a word during the meeting with Cailu. He’d made it sound like I’d lose my head if I said the wrong thing, and I was willing to trust him on this one.

  Queen Nehalennia was, in a word, intense. Even as pregnant as she was, her violet eyes searched me as if she were begging for the moment I disappointed her. I’d seen her turn them on Cailu, and, if I’m being honest, they were terrifying.

  I bowed as we had before and licked my lips. “Queen Nehalennia.”

  “Matt. What a darling kitten you have,” she said.

  That was the sort of thing the wolf said to Little Red Riding Hood before he ate her. I straightened, my eyes never leaving Ruyah. “Thank you.”

  “Her eyes are so pretty!” one of the queen’s daughters exclaimed. The only name I’d heard so far was Hotaru, and she was sitting at the queen’s feet, poking at a doll in her lap. “I’ve never seen eyes like hers!”

  “That’s, er, kind of you to say.” I tried to emanate a fraction of Ceres’s etiquette. Maybe a few classes in Venicia wouldn’t be the worst thing ever for situations like this.

  “Where is her mother?” Queen Nehalennia asked.

  I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and clasped my arms behind my back. Dad had preferred this kind of ‘at attention’ stance, so I hoped it would work here. “She died in the Defiled attack the other night. Outside of Ronona.” It was still weird to say. Weird to think.

  The two older kittens’ eyes widened. One of them gasped. The younger three continued playing with their toys.

  “May Saoirse welcome her with open arms,” Nehalennia said. She looked down at Ruyah. “You must forgive my surprise at having discovered her presence in the castle. Kittens without their mothers are typically raised by nyannies and not the men who sired them.”

  Maybe I was overthinking it, but it felt like she was trying to avoid saying the word ‘Father.’ “I know. I’m sorry that I brought her here without asking. I just…” How could I explain it? Ruyah would have been just as well-protected with a nyanny in Ronona. She was probably too young to ever remember me anyway, and catgirls were raised detached from their fathers. “I want to keep her close.”

  “And why is that?” It was impossible to tell if Nehalennia was asking for her own amusement or if she was serious.

  The two older girls watched me intently. Cailu’s girls, I realized, as I glanced at the same weighted teal-colored stare he liked to give me. Whatever I said was going to stick with them, too. For all the shit he’d put me through, dragging him through the mud in front of the queen and his daughters didn’t seem like the right choice.

  “Because I want to bring her back to Ni Island. She has a sister there.” I looked pointedly at the girl who had remarked on Ruyah’s eyes. “Do you think she’d enjoy growing up with her sister?”

  “O-oh! Yes! I love my sisters!” the girl exclaimed. “I’m sure her sister will enjoy taking care of her, just as we do each other.”

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  I nodded and returned my gaze to Nehalennia. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble for you or the nyannies. I can either pay you for what she needs or take her to another nyanny outside the castle until we leave, if that would be better.”

  “It is no trouble at all, Matt. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.” Nehalennia’s expression contradicted her words—she didn’t look satisfied at all. “Ruyah is an excellent reminder of what we have to look forward to with my kitten.”

  I thanked her again with a bow. It felt so mechanical and foreign. How the hell did Ceres, Ara, Destiny, and Lara keep this up? “If I can ask one more favor, Sam wants to take me outside of Ronona for a few days to train. Is it alright if I leave Ruyah with the castle’s nyannies?”

  “But of course. My hospitality extends to both you and your daughter while you are here. Whatever you may need.” Her eyes flicked to the left, and a tiny smile curled at the corners of her lips. “In exchange, Makoto has a request for when you return.”

  Makoto abruptly stood and smoothed her skirts with both hands, then bowed. She looked like the oldest of the bunch, somewhere around nine or ten, if I had to guess. But as she descended the stairs, she carried herself like a woman. Her head just barely reached above my elbow, but she held her chin high and looked at me as if we were the same height. Her purple hair was tied back in elegant braids, highlighted with streaks of blonde, and she had the same steely green gaze as her father.

  “I wish for you to train me,” Makoto said.

  …What? I swallowed the question. Then I fought back ‘Why’ and ‘How.’ “Are you able to access your Class already?” From what the others had told me, she seemed too young.

  “No. But I have watched Shizuku, Sam, and you as you train and fight. I believe there are skills and methods that will transfer well when I am finally able to choose my Class.”

  Makoto spoke more eloquently than any of the friends I’d had back on Earth. It was jarring to hear the certainty and confidence in her voice while staring down at a kid. “Why not Shizuku or Sam, then?”

  She clasped her hands in her lap, and her ears twitched forward. “Men are the most powerful allies of Nyarlea. It would be an honor to have one as a teacher.”

  I didn’t want to be that guy who undermined her wishes by asking her parents, but this was risky. Even if it was limited to just the training grounds, she could get seriously hurt. “Are you really okay with this, Queen Nehalennia?”

  “I believe that you would adopt the same level of care and protection to Makoto as you have Ruyah, would you not?”

  I flinched. There was a sharp undercurrent to her words that made them sound like a threat. Hurt Makoto, see what happens to Ruyah. But she was impossible to read—her face was like a mask. “Of course I would.”

  “Then I do not take issue with this transaction.”

  I worked my jaw and looked back at Makoto. “Can I ask what you hope to do with this training?”

  “It is as Setsuna said. We love our sisters, and I wish to protect them as best as I am able,” Makoto replied.

  What about the guards? Cailu? Who’d put the thought in her head that she may need to defend herself one day? Why? There was something she wasn’t saying. This is above your pay grade, Kelmer. “Alright. I’ll talk to Sam, and we’ll come up with a plan. I’ll be your teacher.”

  Makoto beamed up at me, her smile brilliant and perfect. “Really?” she said excitedly, then seemed to remember herself. “T-thank you, Matt. I will be a perfect student!” She turned and skipped back up the stairs to her mini-throne. Her smile never left.

  Honestly, I hoped I’d get to see more of her acting like a kid rather than a princess. Baby steps.

  And speaking of babies.

  “If it’s alright with you, Your Eminence”—that’s what Cailu had called her, right?—“I’ll take Ruyah back to the nyanny. I’d like to spend some time with her before I leave.” And get her out of your claws.

  “Yes, of course. It is a pleasure to meet you and your daughter, Matt. I look forward to our future exchanges.”

  She gestured for a woman standing off to the side, who hustled up the stairs and gently took Ruyah out of her arms. I felt like I could breathe a lot easier once she was back in mine. I couldn’t exactly tell the queen what to do in her own castle, but ‘Keep your hands off of my kid’ was dangerously close to spilling out of my mouth.

  “Likewise,” I said instead. “Thank you for your time.” I managed a half-bow without waking Ruyah and left the throne room.

  This was going to be a very long camping trip.

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