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"Meddlesome woman!"
Dais angrily said. He had an ice pack over his one good
eye so
he felt basically blind. She had caught him by surprise but he
had to admit
that it was a
good hit.
"Blind as a bat, aren't
we Dais?" Cale's voice said out of his darkness. He
lowered the ice
pack and glared at him.
"What are you doing here, Errand-boy?"
"Just to see how that looks
and to deliver a little message from the Lady
Mia."
"Well? Off with it then."
"She told me to specifically
tell you that you are to not get near either
twin without me,
Anubis, or Mia herself nearby. If she finds out about it,....you
should
already know the
consequences."
"If she ever does that
again," Dais said, getting in Cale's face, "I will
make sure that I pay
her back with him there or not."
"Then you better look out for me, too."
Cale left his room and headed
for his. He was deep in thought and didn't
notice two little
forms heading his way. One of them ran into his leg with the
other right
behind him. He
looked down and found both twins on the floor, looking up at him.
"What are the two of you
doing?" Cale knelt down and looked at them. Both
were still
in subarmor and it was great to figure out which one was which.
"Mama told us to never listen to Unky Dais again," Kiefer started.
"See. I told you he didn't like us," Kieran answered.
"And your parents have,
don't tell me, gone to sleep, right?" Cale had a
basic idea where
or what they were doing.
"Actually, I think they
were fighting again," Kiefer answered, getting up and
helping
Kieran.
Which leads to the same thing, Cale thought. "What were they fighting over?"
"If we can go back or not," Kieran said.
"Well, I want to go back,"
Kiefer said, crossing his arms, making him look
even more
like the Warlord of Cruelty. Cale shook his head and focused
again. "I like
fighting
against that big guy."
"Big guy? Oh, you mean Hardrock?" Cale stood up.
"He was orange," he answered.
"How about you Kieran?"
Cale turned to the other boy. They headed for the
door to go
outside.
"I had the light blue armor,"
Kieran answered. "He didn't want to fight
though."
"That's because he thinks
you're just a kid. That was Torrent too and he
wouldn't hurt
anything like you."
"Then why do we hurt him?"
Cale stopped and looked down
at the boy. What brought that up? When did
they get so
smart? They were still five, right?"
"Well...because...they're...they're
against Master Talpa! Yeah, that's it!
They're against
Master Talpa."
"Did they do something
bad to Sofu?" Kieran asked. "They didn't look like
they
could."
"Well, they...they...they
fight him. They're trying to keep him out of the
Mortal World
because they think he's going to destroy it. But the only thing
your 'Sofu'
wants it to
go there."
"And visit like Mama?" Kieran asked, eyes bright.
"Yes! Exactly like Mama!
He just wants to see it but the Ronins wouldn't
let him.
That's why he's mean to them."
"Oh, okay." Both
kids walked off and started sparring. They accepted his
explanation
and dismissed it.
"I should go tell Anubis this."
***
Mia slept peacefully next to
him. Anubis had his back against the headboard
an her arm
across his waist. He was content to just stay up all night and
watch her
sleep. At that
state, she looked very weak and vulnerable and all he could think
of was
protect her. It
was at times like these that he wished the situation was different.
He had
envisioned a
very different place to raise a family in.
"But I had promised you
happiness," he whispered to her ear. "This is all I
can do. I
hope it's enough."
"Anubis," she said sleepily but didn't wake. "I love you."
The Warlord of Cruelty blinked
at the comment.