There and Back Again Ch. 193

We both laughed at that.

I pulled on a robe as Alistair stepped into some pants before rescuing the puppy from the blankets it was tangled in, and then I followed him down the hallway to the spare room that had been converted into a puppy nursery. We were about to go inside when a door opened further down the hallway, and a dishevelled Cailan emerged from his room looking grumpy.

"Anyone want to explain why this was in my bed?" he complained. I looked down to see a beautiful, tawny puppy in his arms, its tiny tail wagging like mad as it tried to climb his chest. Alistair held out his own burden and shrugged.

I giggled. "Your guess is as good as ours!" The two puppies had spotted each other and started barking, while both men tried to shush them. "Maybe let's put them back where they belong?" I pushed open the door to Lady's room.

Lady was lying there asleep, two puppies draped across her. Prince was nowhere to be seen -- and neither were the other two puppies, including the runt. The two puppies that were present were immediately woken by the playful growls and barks of the two who'd found their way into our beds, and then all four were barking and wrestling adorably, tumbling on the floor together where Cailan and Alistair had put them down. Lady just lifted her head, eyeing the puppies, then huffed a big sigh and closed her eyes irritably. She looked exhausted, I decided, but as the puppies all began to swarm her trying to feed, I knew there was nothing I could do for her.

A growl sounded behind me, and I turned to find Prince standing there, glaring balefully -- both at the puppies, and at the three of us. I didn't know dogs could glare. He went over to give Lady a little lick, and she whined a little bit in response. The puppies, having had their fill, returned to wrestling, and Prince gave us another dirty look.

"What?" I protested. "We're not the ones who made them."

"But where are the other two?" Alistair asked.

I was worried about that too -- the runt needed to feed more regularly than the others -- but a commotion outside prevented me from answering. I poked my head out into the hall to see one of the guards holding the door open as the last two people I expected to see hurried into our quarters.

"Bethany? Carver?" My look of confusion morphed to one of understanding as the siblings sheepishly held up puppies.

"Your Highness!" Bethany did an awkward half-bow, half-curtsy that looked sort of amusing -- and made me wince. "We found these puppies in our rooms," she continued, oblivious to my discomfort. "I don't know how they got all the way down there."

The puppy Bethany held was lying serenely in her arms, its bushy tail periodically whacking her in the face as it calmly watched us talking. In contrast, the tiny runt in Carver's big hands was crying piteously, its barely-developed eyes squeezed shut.

"I have some idea," I grumbled. "Well, you'd better come in here, then." Both twins had visited the puppies before, and they followed me back into Lady's room without further comment. I was relieved to see the little runt safe; the other puppies were big enough to manage on their own for a while, but the runt had only just opened her eyes and could barely walk. She was putting on weight, thanks to our efforts to keep her fed, but she still couldn't go more than a few hours between feeds and wasn't yet getting down any of the solid food the other puppies had been trying.

"Found the other two," I announced. Cailan and Alistair greeted the Hawkes; Cailan put a hand up to stop the awkward bowing before it began. I rolled my eyes as the twins bobbled anxiously, stuck between the protocol they knew they should follow and the King's obvious command. Finally, Bethany crouched to release the puppy in her arms, and Carver stepped forward carefully.

By his expression, Alistair shared my relief as we watched Carver approach and gently place the puppy on Lady's stomach. The five of us watched as she latched on and fed, silencing the pathetic cries she'd been making. And the entire time, Prince huffed and glared at us while Lady just tried to sleep.

"So...what was that about?" Cailan finally asked.

I frowned. "I'm guessing Prince decided that Lady needed a bit of rest. I think he figured he'd share the burden with the rest of us." Prince yipped in what sounded like agreement, and it startled the poor feeding puppy so much that she fell off the nipple and started to cry again. Before I could do anything about it, Carver darted forward and settled her back into place.

"Thank you for bringing them back. I'm sorry they interrupted your sleep." None of the other four spared me a glance as they watched the puppies, finally tired, slump into a pile and fall asleep.

"Can we come back and see them later?" Bethany asked. Carver nodded.

"Oh course." I yawned. "For now, though, I'm going back to bed."

I ushered our unexpected guests out and nodded at Cailan before going back to our room and collapsing on the bed with a sigh.

Alistair flopped beside me. "What are we going to do with all of those puppies?" he asked, sounding somewhere between amused and aggravated.

"No idea." I rolled to my side, putting my head on his shoulder and dozing off.