Page 43 of Rule

“All right, meena. But make sure youcolour in your colouring book only. I do not want to find the walls and allthe pictures in your bedroom coloured on like last moon. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Papa.” Bella slid off Evie’s lap andskipped out of the kitchen.

“She’s very sweet,” Evelyn said.

“Yes, she is.” Bran drank some water beforepointing at the juice sitting in front of Evelyn. “Drink your juice.”

She drank a few swallows and ate a bit morestew before smiling tentatively at us. “So, you guys have been friends for along time?”

“Since we were small boys,” I said. “Our familieslived next to each other and our mothers were very good friends.”

“That’s nice. Were your mothers’ human?”

Bran shook his head. “No. The breedingprogram had already started with the humans, but our mothers were some of thelast of our female kind. It was a miracle that either of them even bred successfully.They were both very old when they had us and even at that point, our femaleswere having difficulty conceiving children – male or female. My mother diedwhen I was ten and Court’s when he was thirteen.”

“I’m very sorry,” Evelyn said.

Her tone was genuine and the look on herface suggested she knew of the same pain that Court and I felt. Before I couldask, she said, “How long do the cold months last on Draax?”

“Only three or four moons,” I said.

“Okay, that’s good,” Evelyn said.

“Are you cold, human?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” she said with a nervous look atboth of us. “I’m not used to this type of cold, but I’m sure I’ll adaptquickly.”

“Is that why you did not bring enough warmclothing?” Bran said.

“Um, yes.”

Krono, the human was a terrible liar. I feltthe familiar annoyance that she was lying and tamped it down. Female humanslied. It was what they did. I should not be surprised that Evelyn was nodifferent. But for some reason it bothered me that she lied to us.

“Our planet is very pretty during the warmmonths,” Bran said. “You will enjoy it. The flora and fauna on Draax are,” hepaused searching for the right word, “incredible.”

“There is a garden in the palace withartificial light in the cold months,” I said. “During the cold months when it isnot storming, the king opens the gardens to all in the province who wish toenjoy it. You will have access to it every day.

She set down her spoon and crossed her armsover her torso. “So, do you know much about the king?”

“He has not been king for long. He used tobe the head of the king’s guard and his older brother was king. But hisbrother was killed in a ship crash before he had any heirs and Quillan wascrowned king.”

“Is he,” Evelyn hesitated, “a nice king?”

I shrugged. “We do not know him personally.”

“He has a reputation of being impatient andshort tempered,” Bran said.

The human paled and she rubbed at her side.“He does?”

“A bit.” Bran studied the human. “What iswrong?”

“Nothing,” she said.

She was lying again. It was obvious that whatBran told her had frightened her. I was not surprised that she was scared. Shehad a very timid nature and if the king was impatient with her, no doubt itwould terrify her.

The thought that our king would frightenher, sent a strange wave of possessiveness over me for the little human. Ididn’t like the idea that she would be at the castle, alone and terrified, witha Draax who did not have a reputation for being patient.

Suddenly eager to ease her fear, I said, “Hewill be kind to his queen.”

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