Changelings Read Free

secret.”
    “I used to have the same problem,” Sean grinned. “Until I taught myself not to fur up the moment a drop touched me. But I had no da to show me the way, and they do. Meanwhile, if you need help with the family secret, well, we’ve plenty of family here who know all about it. They’ll help. And the four-foots will watch to make sure no outsiders come close enough to learn more than they should.”
    “You say that, Sean,” Clodagh said, speaking quietly into her soup bowl, “but there are outsiders who’ve seen
you
change, and one of them may take it upon himself to wonder if the twins inherited the ability and need studying.” She looked up, her moss green eyes fathomless and deep as one of Petaybee’s many artesian springs, seeming troubled. She hated bringing up such worries on what should be a flawlessly happy day. “You know how much scrutiny this planet is under.”
    “Well, how the hell could they possibly interfere with my family peculiarity when Yana and I have the final say as governors of this planet?” Sean asked.
    Clodagh shrugged.
    “As long as the four-foots are their guards, no one will get near them,” Yana said with far more conviction than she felt. “And Nanook and Coaxtl will keep them from being seen, won’t they?” A nervous tic started in her cheek. She rubbed it. “Will the cats follow them into the water?”
    “Yes,” Sean said positively. “
If
the little ones elude them long enough to get near water, Nanook and Coaxtl would follow them into the mouth of a volcano if necessary. The cats do converse. We just have to make it plain to them how dangerous it would be for the kids to be caught half in, half out. Like I was.”
    “We’ll hope they don’t take arrows in their anatomy to induce such a condition,” Yana said, referring to what was nearly a mortal wound for him. “And I thought leading training troops on landing parties for the Company Corps was a heavy responsibility!” She shook her head as if to clear it. “We’re borrowing trouble. It’s not as if shape-changing is a viable occupation.”
    “Oh, selkies would be real useful on water worlds,” Sean argued.
    “Yana’s right, Sean. There’s trouble enough right here and now without borrowing any,” Clodagh said in a cajoling tone. “Don’t fall into
that
water until the ice breaks up. For now your biggest problem is to decide what these babes of yours are to be called. I will think on it, remember the stories of our peoples, see if there’s some appropriate names there. You and Yana should sleep while you have the chance. The cats can’t take care of all the needs those babes will have.”
     
    T HE DRUMMING BEGAN shortly after sunrise. Inside the nursery cube, the twins opened their eyes to the brightness pouring in through the piece of sheeting that covered the cube’s single small window. The babies whimpered and wiggled.
    Nanook’s ears were the first part of him to wake up. They pricked to attention. Coaxtl’s tail lashed restlessly before the snow leopard stretched a sleepy paw. The kits had awakened. Both cats stretched and rose, poking their noses over the sides of the cots.
    “Rrrow,” Nanook told his friend. “I’d cry too if I smelled like that. Where are those humans when you need them?”
    “These cubs leak,” Coaxtl agreed. “And they’ve got these things tied around their haunches to hold the leakage in. One wonders how humans come up with such ideas. This arrangement keeps the nest clean but the cubs dirty.”
    “Sean would not want his kits to be dirty,” Nanook said.
    “Can one pull these haunch harnesses off so one can clean them?” Coaxtl inquired.
    “Yes, they are meant to be removable. But take care with fang and claw. We want to remove the harnesses only, not the kits’ pelts. Humans, lacking proper coats, have very sensitive hides.”
    Nanook’s nose touched the kit’s leg as he grasped a pinch of cloth in his teeth. The kit stopped whimpering. He