"Place your hand to the orb." Lord of Shadows ordered and keric obeyed, laying his fingers faithfully against the white shell of the orb passing through the purple outer ring. The circle darkened for a moment but then turned bright again. A face now filled the Orb.
A small round face with fair white skin and long black hair. A little girl smiling sweetly as she sat beside a familiar zither. Her hand ran over it inexperienced but quite skilled for her age. He couldn't help but smile at the little girl trying so hard to be professional behind her instrument. Beside her however, a elegant hand passed into frame. The girl looked up beside her and the orb zoomed out once again. Kyera's face came into view as she showed the child how to fix the chord she had missed.
"Its Her…" The Lord whispered, he knew it was the child but he wanted to hear it from keric. The wolf could hardly keep from smiling at the little girl, ready for bed and practicing her zither with such diligence.
"Yes. It seems the lady has chosen this child to be like her own. I do not know if it was intentional or not but it sure seems that way. There is a Skin Kin guard that has been assigned and then she has asked the shadows to be weary of dangers for the child. She even wears Kyera's crest on her ear." Keric explained and the Lord of shadows nodded slowly, watching as the pair interacted throughout the lesson.
"Then We shall accept Kyera's intentions whether or not she is aware of them. She may not be consciously making her a child of shadows but we will treat her as such." He replied with a nod and Kyera looked up as it was said. Suddenly the Lord was looking into the happy soul of his daughter. The warmth and soothed nature of those normally choppy waters made a smile crack across his lips. It had been a long time since he felt this deep rooted joy from Kyera's soul. He very much hoped it was permanent.
"Keep an eye on her then. Both Kyera and the Child. I want to know more about them both. For now, Leave me." The Lord replied his smile softening his hard eyes. Keric stood and stepped back nodding at him with understanding.
"As you wish, My Lord." Keric's words were to no one as the lord had already been drawn into the scene the orb shared.
He watched as the lesson continued. The little fairy dancing across the Zither strings. After a hour or so his daughter put the child to bed, a man dressed in robes, apparently the child's father kissed her forehead and tucked the little girl in.
"Goodnight, Raina." the man whispered adjusting her blanket before leaving.
The shadows watched their lord in silence. No one dared speak a word as a lonely tear began to trail down his pale face. How he longed to have those moments with his own children, yet never could.
******************
The Rebellion House
It was well past dark when Kyera made her slow climb into the tree house. To her surprise Mally and Lazren were up, sitting at the table with Tang, a panda Skin Kin.
Tang's body was thinner than you would expect from a skin kin whose second form was a red and white furry thing. Overall her form was petite, her long red hair streaked with white was braided and wound to look like a rose on the side of her head. She smiled as kyera entered.
"There is our fearless tigress. Have you decided what your going to do tomorrow?" Tang greeted with a grin. Kyera froze at the entrance rifling through her memory for tomorrow's event and coming up blank. Lazren laughed at her reaction.
"You forgot?" he guessed with a teasing smirk and Kyera glared at him. She stuck out her tongue and he made a biting motion. In response to which Kyera raised a brow. "reflex." he coughed looking away.
"I have been a little preoccupied saving the Empress from death. Please remind me?" Kyera suggested sitting down as Mally handed her a cup of tea. It was warm and smells faintly of lavender blossoms.
"The loyalty ceremony is tomorrow. I am fairly sure the lions and the Pride will bow to Bastil." Mally offered with abit of a grimace. Kyera instantly shook her head.
"So we are NOT siding with them. What should we do?" Kyera asked looking at the other three. The group seemed a bit shy now, even Mally was averting her gaze.
"Honestly we were either going to bow out or bow with the pride." Mally replied twirling her curls. Kyera blinked slowly as she recalled how Mally became a concubine to begin with.