Father and son entered the archway which led down a long passage into the inner courtyard of the castle. As they came out of the tunnel the amazing sight of the faintest tinge of sunset in the distant sky was obvious. The storm was gone. The cool breeze of the evening was no colder than a brisk summer day. Salor even smelled the scent of Honeybrew Vines, which were no longer surviving in the cooler Autumn season.

He squinted while trying to remember the visit he’d taken with his eldest Shasis over three hands of years before. She and her brother were quite distant in age and Salor recalled very little. There’d been no black castle, no marble statues, and he’d traveled in good weather from what he remembered. His mind held only calm and sure, but fuzzy memories. He certainly did not enter the Skaveen lands through those magical metal gates. He drew a blank on most, but the actual reading for her. Shassis was her father’s daughter and read like his own, able to mettle the harsh role of the protectorate with her inner strength.

Spirito started to wander toward a few figures in another distant alcove with his instant childish energy but Salor reached down and grabbed his paw to pull him back, keeping him close.

He grinned up at Salor, his little nose wrinkling.

“Don’t wander off. Our invitation was not to explore the whole castle.”

“Yes, Da.”

They followed the silent Skaveen, listening to his walking stick click regularly with each step as they crossed the courtyard and moved toward a stairway. Going up the stairs they came to a tall wooden door and the elder waved his staff. The doors swung inward. Salor tried not to look too impressed when he saw there was nobody inside to open them. He managed to close his mouth and look down. He noticed Spirito with wide eyes.

They entered a foyer and turned left to move down another hall. The rich wood smelled of lemon and wax, it gleamed everywhere. The glass cabinets held strange objects, some that glittered and were lit up, and some that looked like weapons. They passed a room with a partially open door. A group of Canid in short robes were kneeling on mats in meditation. Salor noticed a few Alteric males, this foreign race was becoming more common as the planet was now included on the gateway portal of the primary International Space Consortium (ISC) wormhole locations. The shorter upright forms and clean hairless skin were significantly different than his race. One glance revealed a dark head of hair and a nicely groomed beard gracing his prominent chin.

They heard voices coming out of the next room discussing the element of energy and its conductivity properties. Other rooms further down were empty but held interesting displays—an arrangement of portraits, a distinct collection of cataloged boxes stacked all along a far wall, books and more books, and other unknown items. But still, they moved deeper.

Spirito looked into each room without fear, his tongue panting with curiosity. The guide glanced back at him on two different occasions. They stopped at an entrance near the end of the hallway. The doors swung open again. However, these were opened by a doorman who was of the Cinthu race. He wore the short pants and vest of the traditional doorman but his huge lizard tail sprung out from the seat. It swung with his lumbering gait. His big eyes, giant curved nose, and scaled shiny green skin were prominent. “Please enter.” The Cinthu’s voice sounded dry like the dying rice plant of late summer, the scrape of the paper-thin leaves as they blew across the fields.

Salor and Spirito moved inward, passing the Cinthu, to find the inner room occupied. Introductions were not made from the two other full-robed Skaveen and a single short-robed. The silent guide pointed them toward some comfortable thick cushioned chairs and a small table with small objects lying on it.

“Welcome to the Temple of Brumial,” one of the Skaveen said as Spirito and Salor moved to the sitting area.

“Thank you, master,” Salor spoke with deep respect.

“Today we will discuss your destiny, Spirito. Do you know what that is?”

Spirito shook his head slowly, his ears twitching.

“Destiny is the course of events that you take in life to become the grown-up you.” His smile was toothy.

Spirito tilted his head a little an ear perked to listen.

“Today we are taking a reading of your choices.”

“How does that happen?” Spirito leaned forward his nose wrinkling.

Salor nodded, unconsciously in agreement.

“Well, we already started when you entered the gates.”

“You did? I didn’t see you?”

“Yes. Sometimes we prefer to remain unseen to see exactly what takes place, like someone listening into conversations when they are not supposed to.”

Spirito panted, his ears tilted backward and he looked down at his paws.
Salor recognized his son fidgeting for what it was. He’d mentioned more than once to him about his long-nosed tendencies. He looked over at the Skaveen and noticed the other elder with disturbing scrutiny being turned toward himself. He scratched a claw on his knee and clenched his jaw. He felt a small measure of guilt at the passing judgment. He looked away back toward his son, he was surprised to find Spirito had picked up one of the small objects from the table between them and now held a small wood puzzle piece in his paws.

“I didn’t feel anything except the cold.”

“Did the cold frighten you?

Spirito shook his head. “My Da wrapped me up. He’s a protector, you know? So he keeps me safe.”

Salor drew a deep breath and blew it out silently.

Spirito pushed a small knob in on one side of the mess of wood and the other side pushed outward in reaction. His eyes lit up. “Is the test done?”

The Skaveen shook his head. “We do not consider the reading final until we have shared the results.”

“Oh. So, I get to know? Shasis didn’t tell me that.”

“She is not allowed to. That is part of our offering.”

Spirito set the now perfect cube back down on the table and looked at the Skaveen. “What else do I need to do?”

“Do you agree not to tell others who have not been tested about the process?”

“I won’t tell, I promise.” Spirito held up his fist to his chest and pushed it out. It was the gesture of the symbolic oath-taking of a Red Clan acolyte during the acceptance trials.

Salor bit his inner lip. He would have to tell his wife to have her training sessions in closed areas. His son is learning too much for his own good. Again he felt the elder looking at him. He rubbed his ear.
The silent elder Skaveen tapped his staff on the floor. A nod from all three occurred simultaneously and the room suddenly became still.

“Wait here.” He heard the command inside his head. A slight hum enveloped him as he watched, frozen in place, Spirito stand and without looking back, follow the short-robed figure to a far door. Salor moved his gaze to the two remaining Skaveen’s and with another wave of a hand, he was released from his state.

“We are only taking him to the courtyard. You may observe from the balcony if you wish?”

Salor soon found himself standing at the balcony edge scanning the field to find his son below.

Spirito stood in front of another statue alabaster statue. Salor looked closer and his eyes widened. It was Asterina, keeper of the skies and stars. Her bare hands were raised high in supplication as she gazed at the sky. Salor looked up as well and felt his stomach clench. High above the planet, something bright moved in the darkness beyond the planet’s gravity, the brightness of a star but in motion, passing in a black ocean, a clear sign of life beyond their world.

Spirito stared at the statue, fascinated. He pointed to the sky and they looked at the shooting starship.

“She is the goddess of light and stars, my mama told me.”

“She is also the mother of worlds,” the younger Skaveen acolyte said, smiling, his dark eyes and speckled pelt put him from the southern regions.

Even at the distance they were parted, Salor did not have issues hearing the conversation.

“Do you like learning about the stars?”

“I like it.” Spirito nodded his head rapidly. “The stars are all animals you know? The Breek-bea is up there, even the wings. And the Torti is too. I like that one a lot cause Mama says the outer three stars at the end are its tongue and it reminds her of me when I am eating melting cream.”

“The stars are the blanket above the world and tell its stories. Did you know other planets have different stories?” The acolyte questioned.

“You mean like Alka or Miro?” Spirito mentioned the nearby planets within this solar system. The visitors to the Royal house have arrived from there. I hope I can visit them one day. My father says I am to be bonded as a protector like Shasis. She is a protector to potentate Litak. My mama says Shasis will have to take a lot from him.”

“Do you know what that means?”

Spirito tilted his head to the side and squinted. “I’m not sure.”

“Perhaps it means your sister will work hard?”

”She is a good protector, my Da said so.”

Salor frowned at the turn of the conversation.

“What is a good protector?”

“Well, my sister looks out for potentate Litak to make sure he stays safe.”

The acolyte leaned his head forward listening.

Spirito looked at him and away, he rubbed his cheek. “She keeps bad people away from him. And she can fight really good.”

“This is what you are going to be? A protector to a royal subject? Is this what you’d like to do? Become bonded with another to protect them for the rest of your life.”
Salor’s frown deepened. There was no choice. His son was the next protector of the royal house. Why would the Skaveen ask this?

Spirito picked up a pebble from the ground and looked at it closely. He turned it over and over. His gray eyes were hidden from the curious eyes of his companion.

“I will be a good protector. I know how to fight and my Da and sister will teach me. I want to do good.”

The Skaveen remained silent.

“So what animal does Alka tell about from the stars?” Spirito tossed the pebble away and looked up at the Skaveen.

The Skaveen chuckled and began to tell Spirito about a sharp-toothed beast called the Koon. Salor listened as the two continued to discuss various topics in some random manner. When they spoke of the other two statues Spirito encountered in the open field, Salor shivered. Spirito’s engaged telling was completely excited toward both. The boy recounted every detail of the outfit Gias wore and what he thought the items meant. His guesses were not far off. Salor felt his wife’s training in every word. Then he recited Valerian quotes as if he were already in his training.

“Don’t make moves unless there is a gain.” His child’s tone was more serious. “Water flows through the hand like the state of any battle.” His ear twitched for a second. “A warrior must understand the enemy cause the exact moment to win in battle is given by the enemy, themselves.”

Salor was amazed knowing he must have spoken those phrases either to Shasis or his cousin during a hard-won game of Chittel.

“Yes, I worry about my sister.”

Salor refocused on their conversation.

“She is very brave, but does not talk about stuff like Da does.”

“What do you mean? How is she different?” The young guide sat his hind legs resting behind him on the grass.

Spirito did as well. “She mostly says things when she is angry. Da sometimes doesn’t hear it, I think. But Shasis is angry a lot.”

The questioning guide remained silent.

But Spirito did not expand. Salor was thankful. People outside the protectorate role should not hear things within. Not that it was a hard fast rule, but Salor could not remember a time his father gave voice to someone who held naught but another protectorate or someone with direct relation to the ruling king.

“Do you like what your sister and father do?”

Salor leaned forward and rested his hand on the balcony rail.

Spirito’s little shoulders shrugged.

The guide tried again.

Do you have anything else you’d like to share?

The boy scratched his ear. Salor recognized the delay tactic he himself often used. He worried about Spirito giving voice to most of his mother’s fears—war, growing tension of the peerage toward the Protectorate role, the acts of violence that entail the job. But he still had confidence Spirito would find his role as protector as fulfilling as his father once did.