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Vivian looked back at Kitty’s female and realized she wasn’t moving until Vivian did. So, Vivian went back to her place at the edge of Alexandrus’ blanket.

Alexandrus, sharp and already not missing a thing, focused on Kitty and his family coming closer to him and excitedly started kicking his legs and trying to get to them.

Kitty stopped a few feet away and first sat, then relaxedly lay in the white grass, releasing the kitten he held in his mouth. The kittens started looking around curiously, exploring this new place and new creatures. He looked over his shoulder again at the female shraler, but instead of joining him, she simply sat — much like a sphinx would — watching him and her kittens as they explored more closely to the people than she was comfortable being.

The kitten in her mouth hissed and batted at her face again, his back legs coming up to try to push against her mouth to make her let him go. Obviously tired of holding onto him, she dropped him, allowing him to fall to the soft grass. He was up on his feet in a shot, bounding toward his brothers and sister to cause all out chaos.

“Well, we know who that one takes after,” Quin said.

Vivian smiled. “He’s brought his family to meet us.”

Kitty licked the kitten he’d had in his mouth and when he almost knocked it over, it gave a weak, little mrow. Kitty nosed it closer to the blanket Alexandrus lay on, and Alexandrus pushed himself forward, reaching for the kitten.

The kitten quickly moved out of reach, so Kitty moved close enough to Alexandrus for him to grab hold of his ear. After a few moments of this, all the kittens swarmed the blanket when they figured out their father wasn’t afraid of the curious new creatures. All except for one. The surly one who’d been carried by his mother. He climbed up in Vivian’s lap, allowed her to pet him, then quickly jumped down and charged over to Quin, where he sat back on his haunches and batted at him a few times.

Quin laughed boisterously, his fingers and hands gently tapping at the kitten as he batted at Quin. “I like this one.”

“I wish I could pet her,” Vivian said, gazing at the beautiful female shraler, content to sit about twenty feet away and watch her babies and her mate interacting with the people.

“She’s come around. It might take some time, though. She’s not been raised by people.”

“I’m surprised you’re not worried about the kittens with Alexandrus,” she admitted.

“They can’t sting for several more months. By then, if he keeps bringing them near, they’ll be used to us,” Quin explained. “At this point I’m more concerned with him biting one of them.”

Vivian laughed. “He only bites when he has to.”

“He bites all the time. Especially to get his way,” Quin said, looking lovingly at his son.

“Your mother says you did the same thing when you were his age. It’s probably how you got stung by a shraler when you were a baby.”

“I was never a baby. Babies are helpless. I was a youngling.”

“Of course,’ she said. She reached out her hand, petting several of the kittens before they tumbled into each other and sniffed Alexandrus curiously.

Kitty watched for a while, then got up and walked over to Vivian and flopped down beside her, his huge head in her lap, his belly extended as he waited for his belly rubs. “He’s my good boy,” she cooed at him.

Quin shook his head. “He’ll forever be a kitten with you.”

“As he should be. He’s my Kitty.”

An hour later as Alexandrus finally napped on his blanket with three of the five kittens curled up around him, and Kitty and his female snoozing only ten feet away with the other two kittens, a loud cheer in the distance disrupted the quiet afternoon.

“What is that?” Vivian asked.

Quin shrugged. “Sounds like the warriors training.”

Loud laughing and shouting sounded in the distance again, with hooting and more cheering.

“They seem to be having a great time, whatever it is.”

“It’s most likely some activity Jhan has arranged,” Quin said.

“Jhan?”

Quin nodded. “He’s been on edge since Rokai and the female he brought with him have been gone. And it’s getting worse, so I suggested he come up with a new training program for the warriors and guards. Hopefully he’ll work off some of that frustration.”

“I guess she’s really his mate if her sudden appearance, then disappearance has affected him that way,” Vivian said.

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