CHAPTER 8

The next morning, Cassidy had a hard time waking up, but she knew she had to. She groaned and went to stand in a cold shower while her coffee was brewing.

She had thankfully buzzed Bernie last night and asked him to be here at 6 a.m. to have a small meeting about a request she wanted him to take care of.

She had just finished her second cup when there was a knock on the door. Cassidy’s hair was in a ponytail again, and she chose sweats because she assumed they would have some physical activity today when they started training. She had pulled the first pair that was on top of the stack, and until now, Cassidy hadn’t looked in a mirror.

She glanced at the mirror by the door, just as she was opening the door and realized they were purple. She looked down, rolled her eyes and thought, great, I look like a grape, and I was going for dignified on the first day.

Bernie looked barely awake. She saw the familiar look in his eyes that said he missed his coffee this morning, so she retreated to the small kitchen and got a cup out for him.

Cassidy made it just as he liked it and then turned back to him. She smiled and thought, he may not think of himself as her parent anymore, but she was going to remind him they were still as close as family.

Bernie smiled warmly when she gave him the cup.

“I haven’t gotten so big for my britches yet that I can’t make coffee,” Cassidy said then sat across from him.

Cassidy explained she wanted Tina to have a small business account set up for her. Tina needed to be able to order things for the offices, like extra desks and chairs for the secretaries they were hiring, and for any other day-to-day expenses that came up.

Bernie agreed with her decision and agreed to go into town and set that up. He also gave her a lecture on the safety of motorcycles but finally agreed to go and order them. Cassidy was excited about her secret gift to her friends.

Cassidy and her friends would be in the library reading the history of the Guilds the Guardians arranged for Cassidy and her friends; they were going to meet Rayne, the librarian, in 40 minutes.

Bernie and Cassidy decided to go to breakfast after their talk. She saw everyone had gotten up early also and were all heading to breakfast. Cassidy stopped briefly to knock on Justice’s door. She felt bad because last night she had just wanted to be alone and had left him with her friends early in the evening.

Cassidy felt even more guilty when he didn’t answer. Where the heck was he, she wondered and continued to walk downstairs with Bernie.

When they reached the dining room, Cassidy was relieved to see all of her friends and Justice there eating. They were very quiet and nodded an acknowledgment to her, but no one spoke. Cassidy thought this was going to be a very long day.

After they were finished eating as a group, they decided to get right to it and went directly into the library. It was a very interesting room; it had hundreds of books lining the walls and couches surrounding a large stone that looked like a chair. They all looked at it confused, and they heard, “Hello and welcome.”

They all looked up and around, but there was nobody there. “I am Rayne, and I will be your Librarian for as long as needed.” Slowly a small woman appeared sitting on the large stone. Kallen shook his head slowly, trying to shake the vision from his eyes.

Cassidy was startled but quickly became angry. People appearing and disappearing, with no one warning them what to expect frustrated her. She had sorted this all in her head already; this was just one more thing, lack of sleep, and feeling a tad out of sorts, that led her to snap.

“Ok everyone, since I am the Warrior thingymaboppy, I am letting it be known now, if anyone sneaks up on, appears out of the blue, has a secret they want to share, or need to tell us something life threatening, it needs announced now because I can guarantee if any of these things happen again in the next few days, there will be hell to pay from me. This is your fair warning that I’m on my last nerve and if anyone stretches or breaks it, there’s no turning back,” Cassidy fumed, flinging her arms out wide and looking at everyone in turn so they knew she was serious.

“Good ice breaker, Cassi, now that we’re all afraid of you going mental. You are the leader, please take a breath. You are not scoring any points in the confidence of your ability to govern the masses department,” Cami said laughing.

Rayne stood and approached Cassidy, opening her arms and hugging her softly, “I am so sorry you are stressed. I am merely a librarian of the Guilds; I have no powers other than appearing when needed to any of you in your castle libraries. So remember, I can be here or gone at a moment’s notice. Like your own talking encyclopedia,” she paused and turned to include the rest of the group. “I was created many years ago by the wizard Guild as a recorder of history, as the years went on, it was easier to call upon me than trying to find the answers themselves.”

“Sit down and get comfortable and we will begin.” The group looked around, and huge beanbag chairs appeared for them in place of the couches. Next to each chair was a small table with a glass filled with Mt. Dew and a plate filled with each of their favorite foods. “Cool, now this is a school I can get used to,” Dyl said jumping into a chair. Then laughed, as the rest of them followed. Justice sat next to her and glanced at her, smiling a little trying to reassure her that he was there to help her.

Rayne settled on the boulder again and waited until we had settled down. “We will start at the beginning. Over four hundred years ago there were seven families who came together to make the Guild community.” Cassidy raised her hand.

“Aren’t we supposed to read?” she asked. “I mean. I’m all up for a story, but I thought we were supposed to read the history ourselves.”

Rayne smiled indulgently at her and said, “This is reading for us. The books are too old and frail to be handled, only ones that are of recent history will you actually touch. So continuing, your ancestors settled next to a stream that came directly from the highest mountain in the range.”

Rayne saw Cassidy and her friends get ready to interrupt her and raised her hand to stop them. “I realize you have already heard this, but I still have to go over it for training purposes. There are very strict guidelines we have to follow.”

Rayne the librarian continued, “This gift would travel down the generations, and to ensure its survival, only those who were direct descendants of these seven received the gifts and powers. Others joined their community, but they received weaker powers that would help them, but they were dependent on the Seven for guidance. The Warrior received the knowledge of creation and rules for them all to live by and the strength to watch those who were jealous and wanted all the power. The angels gave him a sword, to be used to defend the laws, and the people from those who would hurt it. The Wizard was given the power of magic to help hide the chosen ones from the greedy people, and the ability to easily share knowledge with all the members who would not target them. The Elves obtained the ability to mold any metal into gifts that completed a royal Guild members powers, and the gift of organization and tactical skills for war. The Gnomes received the ability to influence trees and plants, what would grow where, and fertility of soil. Because the angels felt the Warriors and the Fairies needed to work together, they split this gift into two with twin brothers. Fairies obtained the power of the weather: they could produce rain, snow, sun, at any given moment. Solaris received the ability to control animals to find food and to help the members find other lands to spread the Guilds. Finally, the Rangers had the ability to communicate with any animal. Although similar to the Solaris, the Rangers could speak and communicate with animals. Over the years, these Guilds have developed and grown into an intricate and necessary part of the human world. As you know, there are those who believe that they are so special they could rule over all the Guilds and humans. When the Warrior Guild responded to these rebels, they created a different Stronghold and traveled in search of people who agreed with them. Slowly they began to capture the Warriors who tried to silence them with the laws. They would dare not kill a Warrior, so they have enslaved them with magic and keep them high in the mountains where we have been unable to find them. Many years ago, the Queen and King of the Warriors decided all the Guilds should have a choice in how our Guilds were run. So, in their great wisdom, they created a Guilds Council and there were members from each Guild present and able to contribute directly from the members what they wanted. It worked very well until some rebels noticed if they disrupted the Council gathering then they were unable to vote on laws and punishment for those who defied them, in essence, they shut down the Guilds government, and they spread terror and unease throughout each Guild. Many members have taken to hiding those newborns with special gifts in order to stop the corruption of the rebels at a young, impressionable age. So now, we come to your destiny. Each of you was given a very special gift when you were born. Under the wrong influence, any one of you could have destroyed our Guilds, but together, you can save them. So our first lesson is to trust only each other when you leave this sanctuary, none of your Guardians are allowed to follow you, and you will be on your own.”

“Cassidy, you and Justice are from the Warrior Guild, and as such, are the leaders of this group. What will be your first rule you will establish?” Rayne asked. “Remember, as a group, you will be required to follow and enforce when Cassidy establishes a rule, and should you break it, there will be punishments.”

Cassidy sat deep in thought as the others complained about punishments. Cami stated, “I’m too old for timeouts, and I will be damned if I will be spanked, so what’s the punishment?”

Rayne smiled and looked at Cassidy as she lifted her head, ready for the first rule. “Should I or any member of the Council create a decree, it must pass by a majority vote among our Council,” she stated firmly. The rest of the members raised their hands in a positive vote. Cassidy laughed, “Just spreading the love, now we have the ability to create or veto any laws that we feel acceptable or contrary. We are a democracy, not a dictatorship. Fair?”

Rayne smiled. “Excellent choice, you have established trust among the members of your circle because you are not being a dictator. I think we have made wonderful progress and think it is time for us to retire to our rooms for meditation before you have your next lesson with Liam.” She disappeared into thin air.

Kallen chuckled and said, “Too bad you didn’t vote in the bitch slapping because she just disappeared on us.” The guys all high-fived each other laughing. Justice also chuckled under his breath until Cassidy glared at him, and then he realized he was in trouble.

Cassidy waited as the others all planned for a meeting with their secretaries and then lunch before they would find Liam. She listened as their voices faded and then turned back to the stone Rayne had just left wondering how she was supposed to get her back. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Rayne appeared in front of her.

“Yes, Your Highness, can I help you?” she asked.

Cassidy nodded and asked, “Do you know a book that my mother left me, a picture album maybe?”

Rayne smiled and said, “Of course I do,” and she led her to the far wall and pulled a huge book from the shelf. “Your mother gave this to me shortly before she was captured, there are notations inside to tell you where the photos were taken and who is who.”

Justice appeared next to her and helped her carry the large book back to her suite. She sat and looked through the photos during her break. Cassidy had only made it halfway through the album when she realized that she was looking at pictures of her family. Not only was she there, but there was an older boy in the pictures too.

Cassidy closed her eyes and tried to remember, and then as if struck by lightning, she remembered playing in the garden with a boy. They were playing hide and go seek, and he teased her about always hiding in the same spot. She struggled to remember his name. When she opened her eyes, she knew she had an older brother named Chase.

Cassidy jumped up and went to the main floor to find Bernie. He had to know all about this, why had he kept this secret? She found him in the dining area with Justice getting ready for lunch.

“Bernie, where is Chase?” she said in a quiet voice and Bernie froze, and turned to her.

“Cassidy, where did you get that name?” he whispered back to her. Cassidy knew from the look on his face she was not going to like the answer to her question.

“I was looking at a photo album, and I saw him and I remembered. He was my brother, wasn’t he, where is he?” Cassidy asked and tears were already forming in her eyes. She felt Justice come to her side and touch her hand as she waited for Bernie to tell her the bad news.

“My dear, I am sorry to say I was told he was killed in a car accident during the attack. He was sent with his Guardian to hide in another place, and during their travel, they were attacked and Chase and his Guardian were killed. I am so sorry, I should have told you, but you have lost so much in the last few weeks I could not bring myself to tell you such heartbreaking news. Your parents do not know either,” he said and gave her a hug.

“Why is all of this happening?” she said and cried into his shoulder.

Justice left the room and stood guard outside the room, giving Bernie and Cassidy privacy they needed. He explained what was going on when the others came to eat. By the time Cassidy was done mourning yet another loss, they were past time to eat lunch.

Bernie found Liam waiting with the rest of the group in the hallway. After talking briefly, Bernie announced they would still be training after lunch, he instructed Cassidy to go and wash up then return as soon as possible so they could start.

Cassidy did as he asked and knew not to push it too much because, even though she may be Queen, she still needed to show her elders respect. She just wasn’t sure she could just turn off her feelings as quickly as Bernie seemed to. She had returned in minutes, and Liam nodded in approval that she had been so quick, and he began talking about their lessons while they ate.

“You need to be in better shape than you are right now. Until you receive your soul’s gift, you are defenseless against an attack. We will be training the next few weeks in self-defense and endurance; if attacked, run. That is what you will do until you have your powers. Not heroes yet, OK?” They all answered in agreement. They finished their light meal and went to the courtyard.

“So today we will start by doing a 3 mile run followed by weight training inside, so let’s begin. You are to run to the road into town and back. Begin.” He started with a quick pace.

Cassidy was doing well because she had always been good at sports and activities, but the twins had not been as conscious in the past year, leaning more towards the gossiping side of high school. They could have told you who was dating who and who had broken up.

After the first mile, they were looking a cool shade of red and were moving slowly. They were stubborn and refused to admit defeat, and so they just kept moving. Cassidy smiled and thought: good for them, this wasn’t easy; then she began to feel her breath getting shorter and legs feeling heavier.

When they returned to the courtyard, Liam had barely broken a sweat and the rest of them were laying on the grass gasping in misery. “Walk it off guys, into the weight room,” he clapped and Cami replied, “Hey, Master Yoda, give us a minute to catch our breath. You know, you could have warned us about this last year, when we were sitting on the couch listening to MTV and eating Twinkies, that we needed to stay in shape. But no, you just gave us a lecture on healthy eating.” She grumbled and tried to sit up.

Liam just laughed and pulled her up. “Move it,” and pushed her toward the door.

“Hey, Napoleon has lost his attitude and would like it back,” Cami yelled over her shoulder and led the others into a huge gym. Cassidy hadn’t even known they had one.

During their exercising, Cassidy had been thinking. She knew they would have to travel to the other castles in order for her Council to get their soul’s gift.

They couldn’t finish their training with her until they went there. If they disguised themselves and went on the road in a few weeks, they may be able to have all of their gifts by the end of summer. Then be able to finish their training before Christmas. They could then plan for an attack in the spring before the thaw.

Cassidy needed to work out some logistics, but was certain this plan would work and was happy she thought of it. Therefore, when their session ended for the day, Cassidy went directly to her room and had a meeting with Tina and Bernie again. She asked them to keep her confidence and not tell the others what they had planned.

Bernie left to go into town and find the motorcycles she had asked him for during their earlier meeting. Tina and Cassidy sat making reservations and firming up an itinerary for the first leg of their trip. She calculated the time it should take them, but she couldn’t plan for everything so she left a gap of a few days in order to plan for delays. Cassidy went to find Justice because she wanted his opinion on her plans.

She knocked on his door, but Justice didn’t answer once again. Frustrated, she was turning to go find him when he came around the corner with Sam; they were involved in a deep conversation and didn’t notice her at first. Cassidy cleared her throat and Justice looked up, startled that she was there. He hid his surprise easily with a disarming grin, but Cassidy knew something was up. She decided not to broach the subject yet and wait to see if he talked with her about it.

“Hey, I have been trying to find you; Tina and I have been working and I wanted to run a few things by you. Do you have a minute?” Cassidy asked.

“Of course I do,” Justice replied and turned to Sam. “Go and help Tina, and we will finish this later,” he said and turned to give her his full attention.

“So, what do we need to discuss?” he said taking her hand and pulling her towards his rooms.

“Well, I wanted to plan ahead for our trips to the other castles. Since we have never been allowed to go anywhere, I thought it would be fun to travel on motorcycles together. It’s a way to bond, and also to give ourselves some freedom. What do you think?” she said and sat on the living room couch as he closed the door. “I have ordered the motorcycles from your shop; do you think you could get all the accessories we’ll need to ride?” she finished.

Cassidy and Tina worked through dinner together, and she was deep in thought when Bernie came back home with a huge smile on this face. He told her that he had placed the order and paid extra for them to be delivered the day after tomorrow, so they had time to practice before they were due to leave.

Cassidy couldn’t quite figure out why Bernie was in such a good mood, but shrugged it off, and the three of them got down to business. They made a list of things Cassidy had to do before leaving her castle, and she looked online and found some needed accessories her and her friends would need for their travels and ordered them. They worked until late, but Cassidy had wanted to tell her friends tomorrow when Bea was talking about all of their soul’s gifts.

Cassidy fell asleep on her couch and woke with a crick in her neck. She had her three cups of coffee before attempting to get dressed for the day. When she walked by her office, she saw Tina still working and ordered her to get some sleep; Tina just smiled and told her she had.

She showered and dressed in record time, and she ran into the office to get the specifics for their travels and then ran downstairs. She didn’t have enough to eat so she went straight to the living room where everyone had been waiting for her.

Cassidy had to apologize again, and she thought this was becoming a habit; she needed to get it together. She waited for Bea to begin but the woman had taken pity on her, and she put a plate of pastries in from of her. Cassidy smiled at her, grabbed one to eat, and settled back, happy she was finally getting something in her stomach.

Bea was sitting in a huge chair and had her dog, Rafe, next to her as if he were leading the lesson not Bea. “I am sure Kallen has told you that Rafe is my soul’s gift. He is my connection to other animals and gives me the ability to find people or other animals. You will all receive a soul’s gift also, but it will be more powerful than most. I believe we saw that with Cassidy; her sword, it glowed from strength; they have a very special bond. The spirits wanted the royals to have this power in order for them to maintain order in the Guilds. I will explain why we were given each gift for each Guild, today I will start with the obvious, and that is Cassidy.”

Everyone turned to her and she smiled with a full mouth, she swallowed quickly and said, “My sword is stored in my room, and I didn’t bring it.”

“That’s ok, Cassidy, that is another reason I chose you. I intend to show you the power of the connection and the magic that was bestowed on your soul's gift. We will start by having you stand up and relax, just as if it is any other day. I will ask Kallen to get up and approach you from behind and surprise you by attacking you.” They both looked at each other and got up eagerly to do the experiment. Cassidy and Kallen had always enjoyed a bit of a competition against each other over the years. They had both wondered who would win in an all-out fight. Their Guardians would not allow it before now, and Cassidy was ready to kick some ass.

Bea raised her hand to get them all to quiet down and said, “Cassidy, walk around in a large circle, as if you were maybe shopping, Kallen step out into the hall and plan your attack.”

Kallen smirked, said, “It’s on!” And walked out of the room.

Cassidy flipped him the bird and started to walk around the furniture looking at the trinkets on the tables. She was trying to relax and had made several trips around the room before she really relaxed and allowed her guard down.

Kallen was taking his time attacking so she started to think about the plans she would reveal when the lesson was over. He took so long she began to lose track of how many times she had circled, went through her surprises in her head, and was just thinking she hoped they were not mad.

After all, she planned this by herself without any of their input, and then she felt a kick in the back of her left knee and went down on her hands and knees. Kallen had just begun to approach her with a wicked grin on his face when there was a loud crack. Cassidy and Kallen jumped back startled, as Cassidy’s sword was floating in front of her right hand ready to fight. Cassidy grasped it and Kallen backed way up and frowned.

“Not cool, chickadee, wait till I have my gift, and then we can do this for real,” said Kallen then went and sat down, pouting.

Bea frowned at him and began to explain, “Cassidy, you and your Council will each be protected by their individual soul’s gift, in addition to having a special bond with your sword. It also has the ability to know when you need it, or you call it. You don’t have to carry it around like others do, you just have to call, and it will appear. So Cassidy, when you have a quiet moment, just sit and think of something to call your gift, a name will help you remember.”

Bea continued telling stories of other royals and the names they had used. Cassidy already knew what she was going to call her sword. She had begged Bernie when she was young for her own fencing sword, and he always refused.

She had to use the ones in class, and so she called the sword she used Vern. So, she used tape to put the name on it so she could always find it when she went to class. Her teacher had allowed it because he saw her talent and thought it was cute. Therefore, her sword's name was Vern, and that was it. She stopped listening and began talking to her sword in her head. She was ignoring everyone, finally she noticed the silence that had fallen in the room, and she looked up.

Everyone was staring between her and her sword, and Cassidy couldn’t figure out why until she looked at her sword that she had laid on the table in front of her. On the hilt of her sword, the name Vern had appeared, right next to Dare’s name, in bright red ink.

Shit, she thought, maybe she should have put more thought into it, but she shrugged and started to laugh. Her friends all joined in and told her they felt sorry for her kids because she had bad taste in names.

After they finally settled down, Bea told them this lesson was over and the Guardians had changed their schedule. They were so out of shape. They would have alternate lessons in the morning, but every afternoon they were to be with Liam.

They all groaned but Cassidy because she knew they had revised the schedule because she was taking them traveling, and they needed to be ready to protect themselves.

Cassidy stood up and asked for their attention. “The reasons for the change is because I have decided we need to get your soul’s gifts and claim your castles as soon as possible, we need them to complete our training. So I have had my secretary make arrangements for all of us to travel to all of your Guilds beginning in a few weeks. We have until then to learn to protect ourselves because you will be without anyone to help but me and my sword, Vern. You should remember that when you’re making fun of his name, I think it hurt his feelings,” she teased and then continued, “We will be going to California first, then we will go to Louisiana, Idaho and finally the longest trip which I made last. Because we need as much help as we can get to travel across the country to Indiana. We have been tracking when we should leave from each place, if we stay on the itinerary, we should be ready to finish the final training by September. Then plan an assault to get our parents back in the spring. It will take a lot of help to get this plan done, so I would like to vote on it now and get to finalizing the plans.”

She looked around the room expectantly, waiting for their response. They all picked up the papers and began looking at the specific travel plans. No one was upset she had done this, and they seemed to agree with most of the plans.

Until Eli put the papers down and asked, “This looks fine; I would like to know how you figured the calculations and what our mode of transportation is. Looking at these times, I think there is a more efficient way we could travel.”

They all nodded their heads in agreement, and Cassidy thought she should have known that her friends were too smart. She also had a response planned but knew it sounded weak even to her, but she had to try. “We will be taking a vehicle in disguise so we will be hidden in plain sight.”

Her friends looked at her, waiting for more of a response when she rolled her eyes and said, “It’s a surprise OK, stop asking.” Which of course had the opposite effect and they bombarded her with questions. Cassidy finally yelled so they could hear her. “Guy’s, let’s vote please, on the matter at hand.”

They all raised their hands and said, “Yes,” and then resumed their discussion of what the surprise could be.

“Lunch,” Bea called and walked toward the dining area. When they were done they were given an hour of quiet time in their rooms. Cassidy used her time to make sure the bikes were being delivered on time.

Tonight was going to be a great night, she thought, and went to look for Justice again. This time she found him sitting in his living area reading and trying to study.

Cassidy smiled and said, “Another discovery about you, huh, you are a teacher’s pet.”

“No, I am trying to impress this cute girl in my class, you may know her,” he said and took her hand and held it firmly on his knee.

“Hmm, let me think. Is it the girl who is always trying to find you? She is very obnoxious sometimes!” she teased and laid her head on his shoulder.

They sat in comfortable silence and Cassidy almost fell asleep she was so relaxed. Justice gently nudged her and said it was time to go and be tortured.

Cassidy was glad for the rest because Liam was ready to run their butts into the dirt that afternoon. By the time they were done, she was ready for bed again and was so sore, she could barely raise her arms up.

She didn’t even go to dinner, choosing instead to get into a hot bath and soak for as long as she needed to get the knots out of her neck and shoulders. She had ended up falling asleep in the tub and had only woken when she realized she was cold. Cassidy jumped up because she knew the motorcycles were being delivered any minute, and here she was, still soaking wet.

She dressed quickly and ran to Justice's room to get him. She discovered he was already downstairs so she took the stairs two at a time. Cassidy found him in the courtyard with a younger man who he appeared to know.

“Cassidy, this is Tommy. Sam arranged for him to take over the shop for us. He personally painted the designs on the bikes; they are in the back of the truck.” Justice stretched out his arm and pointed to the back of the big truck.

Cassidy excitedly moved toward the doors. She hoped the bikes were what she had thought of. When the doors opened, she could see the first motorcycle and grinned, it was hers. The bike was multicolored; it had all the colors of the Guilds incorporated in it. The gas tank had a sword across it matching Vern.

“Perfect,” was all she said and Justice nodded in agreement. The bikes were Harley Davidson Sportsters. They had two seats and a traveling case on the back. Cassidy jumped in the truck and straddled her bike. She ran her hand over the handlebars as she pictured Justice and herself driving the roads together with her friends, seeking their own soul’s gifts.

Cassidy looked further in the truck; the next bike was Kallen’s. It was both gold, silver, and had a picture of a black panther and a white bear on the tank. Bea told them it was Kallen’s soul’s gift and his mate’s gift also. He would be very excited, Cassidy thought, and looked at the next bike. Each one had their soul’s gift and their mate’s gift on the tank with the corresponding colors. They would look great, she thought, turned, and grinned a Justice.

“Let’s get them, shall we?” she said and jumped down to the ground.

“Absolutely,” he grinned and grabbed her hand and turned toward the door.

Cassidy and Justice ran through the door and called to her friends to come and meet them. It took a little while, and the twins even grumbled saying they were trying to relax.

Cassidy let go of Justice’s hand and smiled at her friends. “You know we have made plans to travel to each of your castles. I wanted to travel in a way that we could experience the country, as well as grow together. Therefore, without further suspense, Justice and I have bought you each a gift. They’re in the courtyard, take a look.”

Cassidy smiled as her friends went to the door and opened it. Kallen was the first out, and she heard him yell with excitement. Then, the rest of her friends joined in and Cassidy and Justice followed them out of the door. They saw them all circling their bikes, and touching them like they were going to disappear any minute.

Kallen turned and ran to her and lifted her off her feet to hug her. The rest of her friends joined in and then Cassidy saw all the Guardians come outside too.

Bernie smiled and Bea shook her head, but Charlie and Liam both exclaimed over the bikes, making the boy's puff their chests in pride for their gift.

Bernie clapped his hands, smiled, and waited until all of them were paying attention.

“We have changed your schedule to include lessons with the motorcycles. You each have to pass the tests to drive, so we have a lot of work ahead of us in order to be ready by your travel dates. So look a little longer, and then to bed; we have a full day ahead,” Bernie said and turned to look at the bikes with the Guardians.