Stolen - Nhys Glover Page 0,2

was trying to work out what he’d done wrong. Now his features had cleared and his shoulders relaxed.

“I should have been more sensitive to their needs,” the young Danan said. “We were told to avoid the compound. But when the disaster hit, and Jade and her pod were called away for a short time, I offered to watch over the boys for her.”

Sometime during his explanation I’d gone from thinking of him as a kid to seeing him as my peer. Though he could roughhouse with the young readily enough, there was a gravity to his personality that belonged to a far older person.

“You did nothing wrong, Rian. I think the upheaval caused by the storm has affected those women more than most. A few days ago they’d never have done such a thing, even to an adult Danan,” Piety said.

I felt more than saw Rian stiffen at the unintended insult. He saw himself as an adult, in the way all guys my age thought of themselves as adults. Just as I saw myself as an adult. And Piety was the same age as we were. Didn’t she think of herself as an adult? She’d certainly made adult decisions since opting to leave Earth and come to Varga.

“I would have received my brands in a few days, if not for the storm,” Rian said stiffly.

The brands were the last stage of their year-long manhood trials. Once those searing hot iron brands were applied to their brow, nose and pecs, they were considered adults in Danan society. The clearer the brand, the braver the youth.

Piety realized her mistake immediately and blushed. I felt sorry for her. She tried so hard to be nice to everyone.

“Oh, I didn’t mean… You’re also an adult. It’s just that we…” she petered out, her blue eyes filling with tears.

“I know,” Rian said with a gentle smile. “To you, being almost seven makes me as much a child as these rugrats.”

That he used the Earth term for young children amused me. He must pick up a lot of our sayings from Bronwyn, his mother.

Rian made as if to drop his bundle, and the red boy in his arms screamed with delight as he clung on with fierce strength.

My boys had forgotten the unpleasant scene already and were struggling to get down. I gently placed them on the ground and made a big deal of brushing off my hands. The boys found this outrageously funny for some reason and fell around, holding their bellies.

Rian added his boy to the mix, and Piety reluctantly did the same. I could see she was more than a little in love with the M&M babies. I didn’t blame her. Cuter critters you couldn’t find anywhere.

“Are either of you available to mind this brood?” Rian asked, equally as reluctant to part with his assigned task.

“You don’t have to go!” I said, speaking to the youth for the first time.

I felt oddly shy around him. And it had nothing to do with him reminding me of the renegades.

“I’m probably more use elsewhere. I agreed to babysit for a while because I was in need of a break.”

“What were you doing?” Piety asked, taking a seat on a piece of the yellow rubbery furniture that was scattered around the space.

Rian and I took that as a suggestion to join her. The boys were playing quietly at our feet. They had colorful blocks, like Lego, they were using to build towers.

“My skills are more cerebral than my brothers, who’ve chosen to join the rescue effort with our instructors. I was of more use here helping coordinate the efforts. I’m skilled in technology.”

There was no bragging or humility in his tone. He was just stating the facts as he saw them. These people were all skilled with technology, although it didn’t present much in their everyday lives. For Rian to be involved in coordinating the rescue efforts meant he must be even better at technology than most anyone else. I couldn’t help being impressed.

“You aren’t a Spirit-Walker like your dad?” I asked, despite myself.

Rian turned his pale sparkling starbursts on me, and I swore I saw surprise and awe in their peaceful depths as he looked at me properly for the first time. As I was neither surprising nor awesome, I wasn’t sure what he was seeing.

Was it odd that I found him appealing? Was I cradle-robbing by appreciating his handsome feline features, his sparkly iridescent white skin, and his bountiful supply of very adult muscles?

“No,