Rogue rode in the large carriage with the nurses and babies. The Lion King had loaned them one of the palace carriages and four ebony horses to pull it. Callida was on horseback outside somewhere, guarding them. He knew it made her feel better to be in a position to fight should they meet any unexpected surprises; she’d had a few too many violent encounters on the road in her past to do anything differently. It was fine; such a big carriage would certainly attract attention. But she had to be uncomfortable riding in a saddle so soon after giving birth, right?

Callida’s mount was named Kayun, a tall but sleek dapple gray gelding that had proven himself as a reliable war horse with steady nerves in the many battles they’d fought together against the Griffin Tribe. Kayun had been a gift from Horse Tribe leader Hivand Imana after Callida protected his tribe from being ensnared by the conspiracy behind the Great War; with his origins in the Horse Tribe itself, Kayun was likely one of the best bred and trained war horses in Ulakam. That was speculative; Rogue didn’t really know much about horses. What he did know was how impressive Kayun and Callida looked together from his vantage point looking through a carriage window. Armored and uniformed, impressive would become intimidating. He wondered morbidly for how many dead men that had been the last thing they’d seen in this life.

The twins were now six weeks old and the triplets less than a month shy of their first birthday. Between Callida’s recovery and then figuring out a time when she could take yet another leave of absence, this was the earliest they’d been able to take this trip. Fortunately, it wasn’t a terribly long trip to the North Temple to the Lion Primordial — a three day carriage ride. Tajam and Ddalu had been sleeping through most of the trip, lulled by the perpetual rocking and bumping of the carriage, but the triplets had been complaining about their confinement for the entire three days. To spare everyone some sanity, Callida had been rotating through the triplets, letting them join her on horseback one or two at a time, but Rogue was precariously short on patience by the time Callida alerted him that the temple was finally visible in the distance in the late afternoon of the third day.

“First impressions?” Callida asked as he and the nurses all stuck their heads out the windows to see.

The temple was made from a light, sandy-colored stone and embedded on the perimeter of the only forest they’d seen for miles. It towered over the stubby desert timber, making it an imposing sight on the flat, otherwise barren landscape of golden grasses and sparse, wild shrubbery. From this far away, it was difficult to make out just how big the temple was, even with the trees around it for comparison, but it looked like a fortress more than a temple of enlightenment — another indication that it was very large and just very far away still. “It’s… not what I was expecting,” Rogue said after a moment of reflection.

“What were you expecting?” Callida prompted.

“I guess… I’m not sure what I was expecting. Something more ornate and less… military-ish?”

She laughed at that. “The Lion Primordial is considered the greatest military mind in history, especially in his last incarnation. Why wouldn’t a temple built in his honor be constructed to look ‘military-ish’?”

“I dunno,” Rogue shrugged. “I guess I didn’t think about it like that.”

“Fair enough. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect either. I typically avoid temples… whenever possible,” she added, and Rogue nearly missed the darkness that flashed through her eyes ever so briefly before she shook it off. “We should be arriving in maybe an hour? Maybe two?” Callida estimated.

“Callida, are you alright?”

She met his eyes and smiled. It wasn’t a sincere smile. “I’m fine!”

He frowned at her faltering, fake façade, but he let it go. “How long do you think this will take?”

“The identification? Only a few minutes, but we’re hoping for real answers to explain why this keeps happening. I can’t begin to guess how long that will take. It will depend entirely on how much knowledge is readily known and available and how much is left to research in the temple archives.”

“This is where those spiritualists who identified the triplets are Guardians?”

She nodded. “They did an adequate job identifying them. I… consulted another spiritualist afterwards because they couldn’t commit to any definite answers, but he confirmed their guesses. I’m assuming they won’t be the only Guardians at the temple who are spiritualists, but they’ll be able to do the job if not… assuming they’re here.”

The rest of the ride went more quickly for having the goal in sight, but it did take another hour and a half to cross the unvaried terrain. The path sloped gently upward toward the forest and then cut across to the right, following the same ambling slope another quarter of a mile up to the temple fortress. Massive stone walls barred entry except through a proportionately massive portcullis that was currently raised.

The carriage driver threaded the needle with Callida following behind on Kayun with Tiaki taking a turn to drool on her saddlehorn. The space beyond the wall opened into a great courtyard. They were immediately met by a group of silent Guardians beckoning all to dismount so they could tend to the horses for them. No one complained about getting out of the carriage to stretch and walk around. The triplets, especially, hit the cobbled stone running… in three different directions. Rogue sighed and gave chase.

“Tutella, Calora, go with the driver to the stables. Maybe stick with the luggage? I was told to expect that they’ll put us in a room tonight. We’ll find you after meeting with whomever is in charge here,” Callida instructed, collecting the sleeping twins from them while Rogue wrangled the freshly freed toddlers.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Rogue considered strapping the boys to his chest as he collected them; he had brought a long cloth draped in loops around his neck for that purpose, but he couldn’t blame them for wanting to run around after their long journey. Instead, he attempted a distraction tactic, grabbing a couple of their chubby hands and leading them in a game to find bugs in the cracks of the cobbles. It mostly worked. Manasik and Probus joined in the game readily, but Tiaki couldn’t be persuaded to stop running laps around his mother. That child hasn’t stopped moving since he learned how to walk. Two for three wasn’t bad though.

Meanwhile, Callida had successfully strapped the twins to her chest using her own sling wrap, freeing her hands to chase Tiaki. Rogue watched the game of cat and mouse unfold. Tiaki realized his mom was on to him and changed directions; Callida feinted left then sprung right, cutting him off and snagging his shirt. The child protested and was tickled for it. Callida released him, allowing him to stand up and run again, and she chased, capturing him for a second round of giggly tickles. The game repeated many times over until Tiaki began to wear out. Instead of getting up immediately after being released to run away, he rolled on the ground a few times first, staggering to his feet and half-heartedly dodging his mother’s snatching, and then he surrendered to her tickles by flopping into her arms. When Tiaki allowed Callida to hug him, Rogue knew he was ready to cooperate and called him over to look at the tiny sugar ants Probus and Manasik were accidentally crushing with their curious fingers.

“Well done,” Rogue congratulated Callida, his arm wrapping around her waist and drawing her cheek close enough to kiss. “Any idea where we are supposed to go from here?”

“No, but I’m not in any hurry. The boys need the time to get their wiggles out.”

“The twins are going to get hungry though. We should probably at least figure out where we need to go before they get too fussy.”

“Fair point,” Callida said with a sigh and began looking around the courtyard for a Guardian who could direct them. “Rogue, there’s no one here,” she whispered after a moment.

Preoccupied watching the triplets, Rogue looked up, startling to realize that she was right. Except for their family, the giant courtyard was empty. “Huh. That’s weird.” He glanced at his wife and realized that her own reaction to the vacant courtyard was a lot more extreme than his. She was tense, her hand on the hilt of her sword at her hip, her eyes darting quickly about the space seeking movement of any kind. “Callida?”

“Something’s not right,” she whispered quietly.

“Callida, isn’t it possible that they’re in a prayer meeting or something?”

She didn’t answer. Instead her head snapped to where a pair of double doors opened and a group of three Guardians emerged with their hands tucked in the sleeves of their cloaks in front of them — one Guardian in front, two following behind. They descended a short set of stairs and approached briskly. Callida less than subtly moved to position herself in between the Guardians and the rest of their family, her hand still teasing the hilt of her sword.

“Lion General Yudha!” An older female Guardian stepped forward from the back left of the group. “We’ve been expecting you!” In front of him, Callida stiffened further, and Rogue finally recognized the Guardian from when the triplets had been identified.

“Guardian Vanha,” Callida greeted her with a slight nod of her head and much less enthusiasm. “You’ve been expecting me? Expecting us?”

“Certainly,” the Guardian smiled tightly. “We saw you coming, after all, and after our last visit, it seemed only a matter of time before you would seek the wisdom of the temple.”

“Only a matter of time?”

Vanha only smiled again, her eyes briefly darting to Callida’s sword. “Allow me to introduce to you the Oracle of our temple, General.” She gestured to the stern and androgynous older person at the front of the group. “This is Oracle Guardian Okos, and, of course, you’ve already met Guardian Haluton.” Callida nodded to each of them in turn, and her hand, at long last, dropped from her sword.

Rogue relaxed and turned back to the triplets who had lost interest in the ants and were now wandering the courtyard together. He allowed them to explore while Callida talked with the Guardians, shepherding them just enough to keep them in a cluster.

Callida joined him a few minutes later. “Rogue, the Guardians have invited us inside the temple to identify the twins and re-identify the triplets,” she said with a scowl darkening her eyes.

“Is something wrong,” he asked in a low whisper, picking up on her anxiety.

“I’m not sure.” Callida shook her head. “Goldie is not happy to be here. I’m not sure why. I suspect that it might have something to do with her last experience at a temple, but it might not. I’m mostly worried about the ‘it might not’ part.”

Her eyes were still darting about the courtyard, her body on high alert. Indeed, something was bothering her. “Callida?” Rogue subtly set a hand against her back, finding the space between her shoulder blades before leaning in to kiss her. The kiss had very little to do with expressing affection or reassurance, but the intimate contact aided Shyaam in creating a stronger connection with Goldie much more quickly, giving him a brief window through which to see and feel what was going on. Goldie was in obvious distress, but it was unclear if this was a post-traumatic response or the result of some instinct warning her of danger — exactly as Callida had said. “What do you want to do?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t know.”

“We came all this way,” Rogue prompted.

“The bigger issue is there isn’t a graceful way to say ‘never mind’ and walk out. They have our horses and our luggage. If we try to walk out now and there is something nefarious going on here, we’ll only tip them off. I think we have to move forward and tread carefully.” He nodded and turned to collect the boys, but before he could get very far, Callida’s hand shot out to grab his wrist, her voice dropping even lower and becoming urgent. “Rogue, if I tell you to run, you take the boys and run. No questions asked.”

He met her eyes, fierceness smothering fear, and he nodded, swallowing with a dry throat as the gravity of the potential danger hit him full force, and a dark memory threatened to surface. She released him, and Rogue collected the triplets, tying them to his back with Callida’s help in an unspoken agreement that being able to run at a moment’s notice would be easier with the toddlers already strapped on. But maybe this is just an over abundance of caution? He could only hope.

The boys fought the sling — fought being contained again, but they quieted down as Rogue bounced and spun, giving them a fun ride for their troubles. Callida led them back to where the Guardians were waiting for them, and the Guardians, in turn, led them back the way they’d come into the temple.