CHAPTER 8

Kris

I wanted to be ready for Tara, Nick, and Lon when they came to pick me up from the Infirmary.I needed them to know from the beginning that I'd always be ready—for anything.

They found me up and out of bed, back in uniform with my arm out of that sleeve, looking as if nothing had happened.I was ready to begin my new duties—all of them.There were other people in the room, some of whom had come to pick up their own friends who had grappled with the Soorns' mutations, and there were doctors present to give all the affected Guards a final scan with handheld medical sensors.Everyone checked out fine, and the Infirmary honored the usual protocol of having floater chairs brought out to bring all the patients to the lobby.I grumbled about this—"I don't need to be floated out; I'm fine"—but like everyone else, I stuck to the protocols and Tara, Nick, and Lon, along with a nurse, walked out with me while I sat impatiently in my chair.The moment we got to the lobby, I bolted up and wanted to get out of there.

"So what's the plan for today?" I wanted to know."There is one, isn't there?"I wanted to emphasize that I was definitely recovered.

"Yes," Tara said."There is one.We're going back to the Manor to get some provisions.And then we're going to have a little outing."

"An outing?" I said, disappointed.I had assumed we were going to get right to a particular thing once the Infirmary gave me the all-clear and let me out."But I thought…"I looked at Lon and Nick, who already seemed to know what Tara had in mind for this first day of the three of us being together.

"Just follow the Princess's orders, Lieutenant Tynan," Nick told me, "and don't ask questions."

Tara nodded at me, and I accepted what I was told like a good Guard.With that, we were quickly on our way.

*****

We went back to the Manor, where Tara changed her outfit for off-white riding clothes and boots.We got supplies for her planned outing and loaded them aboard a hover car.Then we took a short ride across the property to the Regency Stables, where our day would really begin.

Tara had arranged for the four of us to ride melobeasts out into the countryside.She told us she had learned as a girl to ride these magnificent animals, which were like mighty elks the size of Clydesdale horses, and how to groom them and keep their huge antlers trimmed short.All Canis Guards were also trained to ride them in case they were called upon for Mounted duty, and the melobeasts themselves were carefully conditioned not to react with instinctive panic to humans who were also wolves.There was one beast that Tara always rode, and Lon, Nick, and I each picked out one for ourselves.Nick had me take us three guys' saddle bags up to the loft on the second level by myself—the lowest-ranking member of Tara's personal guard having to take on the grunt work.I took orders without complaining and got the bags to the space up above the stalls that Tara had reserved for our later use.Then the four of us got up in our saddles on our beasts and rode from the stables and into the lush, green fields that awaited us outside.

When we trotted the beasts out into the wide-open spaces with the Manor grounds behind us and a forest in the distance before us, we spurred our mounts into a gallop and we Guards went immediately into formation.Nick charged ahead of the rest of us, putting himself in the lead, while Lon and I galloped along either side of Tara.At the same time, Nick reached into a pocket on the top of his uniform and tossed something into the air.The little drone took flight and spun up and away, positioning itself exactly above Tara and keeping perfect pace with her.No matter how fast she had her beast gallop, and no matter where she might turn, the flying device would stay exactly where it was, relative to where she was, while we three guards would skillfully keep ourselves in our protective triangle formation around her.We would have her 12, 3, and 9, while the sensors and scanners in the drone would watch above and behind us and sound a warning if anything came in from above.She was inside our defensive perimeter, and we would act instantly at the first sign of any danger.

I looked ahead to Nick, galloping a few lengths ahead of Tara, he turned and looked over his shoulder at her.He had a confident, almost cocky smile.On the other side of her from me rode Lon, glancing her way and laughing as he went.The Lieutenant's manner suggested that the fun of this day was not even getting started.From Tara's right-hand side, I smiled as broadly as the other two, my eyes narrowed in a laser-like focus.I looked over at her and ran my eyes up and down her body from where I sat in my saddle.This melobeast was hardly the most pleasing thing I'd be "mounting" today.I broke into a laugh to match Lon.Everything that I had already been through to protect her would soon prove to be very much worth it.

Not far from where the field ended and the forest began, we brought the beasts to a stop at a hitching and watering post.We Guards dismounted first.Nick walked over to Tara and offered her a hand as she swung a leg over and climbed down.Kris detached her saddle bag, the one that we'd kept, and we tethered the beasts to the post and let the animals rest and have a drink.The three of us walked over to a spot nearby and Kris opened the bag.From it we took a big blanket and the food and wine that Tara packed with it, and together we sat down with the Princess for a picnic lunch.

We whiled away part of the afternoon entertaining her with stories about where we came from and our experiences in training.I now started to learn about the two men whom I'd be sharing this duty with.Lon belonged to a very important and influential family in one of the newer settlements of Lycia.They were new in society, coming up the ranks politically and starting to gather influence.When Lon told Tara that his father planned to run against Prime Regent Landon in the next election, and that if his father won it would make Lon a Prince, Tara laughed."If you become the next Prince of Lycia," she said, "you'll have the whole colony talking about who you're spending your time with."

Lon gave her a wolfish grin."I guess I'll have to find some Guard woman to keep me busy—unless someone else has some other ideas."

"At ease, Lieutenant," said Nick, pretending to snap at Lon but winking at Tara as he did.Nick's story was just as interesting.His family had been established on Lycia since the first humans and lycanthropes came to settle here fifty years ago.The Travis' were a Canis Guard family, through and through.Nick had been raised with the Guard and raised to become a Guard, and was proud of it.He had learned his leadership skills from his father and his own brothers.As he put it, "My human self was practically born in a uniform.This is the only life I've ever wanted.I mean to be Alpha Commander someday."And from the short time I'd known him, I totally believed he would be.

We talked and drank and ate, and I mostly listened to the other two, continuing with this opportunity to learn about them.I mentioned my own brothers and their civilian pilot careers, and Nick and Lon joked about how "the runt of the litter was turning out to be the real wolf in the pack after all."

I laughed softly at that, but something in me felt proud to have the other two speak that way about me.As the lowest-ranking of the Princess's three Guards, I was just as ambitious as Nick and Lon were, and took a quiet pride at the way they seemed to be accepting me.

When we finished lunch, we packed up Tara's bag again, unhitched the melobeasts, and galloped back to the Regency Stables in the same formation as we'd ridden out.With every mighty stride of my beast, my heart jumped a little hurdle, anxious to get started with what Tara had planned for the rest of our day.