When Lark, Conan and Shamira finally caught the cub, she allowed Shamira to carry her back to camp. As they approached Harold, who was waiting for them by the vacation bus door, Shamira turned to Lark. “Are you going to name her?” She nodded to the cub purring in her arms.

Lark rubbed her ear. The purring seemed awfully loud for a tiny little cub. But then again, she had grown up with a dog, not cats.

“It might make it harder when I have to let her go, but yes,” Lark said sadly.

“You won’t have to part with her,” Conan promised.

“You seem awfully sure about that.” Lark raised an eyebrow as they joined the line for a food-laden table next to the bus.

“First, let me explain a bit about the forming of our worlds. The terraforming process of a planet takes time,” Conan started. “When a planet has been deemed a good candidate, the machines that help create an atmosphere are brought down.” He held up his hands. “Before you ask a bunch of questions, I’m not a scientist. But thanks to Josh, I know a little bit. Only a little bit.”

Lark nodded, even more eager to meet this third member of the Cynbel family.

“Once the atmosphere is established, it becomes self-sustaining. But each planet has a different makeup, resulting in different plants and colors based on the core materials and chemicals.”

Lark smiled, thinking about the jeweled meadow they had just come from. She took the cub from Shamira and deposited the cub on her shoulders so all their hands were free to load their plates with food.

“In an attempt to make the terraformed planets safer for the human occupants, the predatory animals that were introduced to the new ecosystems were given some cocktail of drugs targeting their brains so they wouldn’t be as prone to attack humans. Some species seemed to eventually grow out of it, while others became noticeably easier to domesticate. Nobody knows the exact reason, but felines didn’t seem to do well on terraformed planets.”

Concerned, Lark scratched the cub’s ears, not sure if she was trying to soothe herself or the tiger. She followed Conan and Shamira to sit in the shade of a nearby tree.

“The entire species are considered endangered. Any cats, especially the large breeds, found in nature are protected by all governments. I’m not sure why, perhaps because they’re the biggest breed of cat, but starting from a long time ago the tiger was widely viewed as a symbol of power. Royal families and governments reserved the sole right to keep tigers as pets, on the condition the tigers themselves accepted them. Most kept their wild instincts, but very rarely there will be a tiger with a disposition closer to a house cat. But it’s uncommon even catching a glimpse of a tiger, much less forming a bond with one. Anyone in power that could prove a bond would practically have all four planets salivating over them. It’s viewed more as a status symbol nowadays, but legend has it that anyone with a Tiger Bond was more powerful and special, their influence rippling across the galaxies.”

“Personally, I think it’s just because people give those with a Tiger Bond more power and influence since they seem special.” Shamira shrugged.

“But I’m nobody.” Lark frowned, wanting to cry. “There’s no way I could keep her.”

When Lark had pulled the crying cub out from under the rock, they had seemed to instinctively reach out to each other. For the cub, it was probably just the real need for a replacement of the mother she was still dependent on. But now that Lark had responded to that need, she didn’t want to give it up.

“No one will question your right to keep her.” Lark jumped from Harold’s unexpected voice coming behind her.

“Why?” Lark began to feel a little suspicious. “You said…” She stood and glanced around at the uncomfortable faces of her companions.

“King Avi is the ruler of this land, Lothar,” Harold said in an infuriatingly calm voice. “You made quite an impression on him. When he got back from that trip, he adopted you and your brothers, and named you heir to his throne.”

Lark blinked. “Excuse me?”

She looked at everyone waiting for her response, not sure if she was looking for confirmation on Harold’s statement or not.

“Why would he do that? He only knew us for a couple weeks, then disappeared, never contacting us again,” Lark said. She would rather die right now than admit to the tiny part of her that warmed for no good reason at the thought Avi wouldn’t have tried to separate her family. As wrong as bringing her whole family to the future might have been, it seemed like he would have accepted all of them.

Harold shrugged. “That’s something you’ll need to ask His Majesty yourself.”

“How did he even adopt us? We’re all adults,” said Lark.

“What the king wants, the king gets,” Harold said, almost apologetically.

Lark raised an eyebrow. There had to be more to it than that.

“He was awfully insistent about you.” Conan seemed to study her intently. “But he wouldn’t tell anyone why.”

“I would imagine he will tell you when we get home,” Harold said, although Lark didn’t think he sounded so sure about that.

Lark wanted to rub her temples to alleviate the headache she suddenly found she had. Seeming to sense something was wrong, the cub meowed and pawed at her chin. Lark decided to leave the endless questions swimming in her head for Avi. The people here either didn’t have the answers, or they were going to give their king a chance to explain everything himself.

“So, not only did I somehow end up with weird little organisms that changed my very genetic makeup, but brothers and I have apparently been adopted by some king, old enough to be my grandfather, from a different planet, two thousand years in the future. Did I get that right?” Lark didn’t bother keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. “And the person who decided these things were okay without my consent also happens to be said king.”

Harold winced. “Looks like you have a lot to talk about.”

“I’m so excited,” Lark deadpanned.

Harold cleared his throat before giving her a small bow and escaping the awkwardness.

Lark watched him walk away, then turned toward her lunch companions, who seemed like they wanted to be anywhere but there.

“So.” Lark paused, not sure what to do. “How do you all fit into the picture? Are you my bodyguards?”

To her surprise, Conan nodded. “The royal guards are known as the Wysteria Corps. But we, your own personal squad, are called the Spur Corps.”

A painful thought occurred to her. “Are there rules about us being friends?”

Shamira shook her head. “There aren’t any set rules forbidding it, although it really depends on the person.”

“Dad and King Avi are actually very good friends,” Conan said. “The king always treated my brother and me like his grandkids.”

“I’m glad,” Lark said softly before taking a large bite of pink-colored mashed potatoes. “Wow, this is delicious!” They were so creamy, and perfectly seasoned. It seemed like food was still excellent in the future.

“Enjoy it, because this and tomorrow’s breakfast will be the last meals with real food until we get to Vusal,” Shamira warned.

Hmm. Maybe I spoke too soon.

“What do you mean ‘real food?’” Lark asked.

“We took advantage of the vacation bus kitchen these first few days,” Conan said. “But starting tomorrow, we will just have replacement rations.”

Lark wrinkled her nose. She had no idea what those were, but they sounded nasty. Before anyone could tell her differently, the cub made a play for the steaming slab of meat on her plate.

“Whoa, little girl!” Lark laughed, pulling her away from the food. “I’m not sure what your stomach can handle right now.”

Shamira laughed. “She really is adorable! When she’s curled up, she looks like a big, fluffy, black and white snowball.”

“Snowball!” Lark and Shamira gasped at the same time.

“Snowball what?” Conan looked up from his plate.

“I think we just found her name.” Lark smiled.

After dinner, Lark decided to go to sleep and rest. It was her last chance to use the comfortable bed, so she might as well make the most of it. Besides, she was tired. Tomorrow was soon enough to learn more about this strange new world.

“I’ll join you in a minute, girl.” Lark smiled as Snowball—Snowy for short—made herself at home on the soft bed. “I’ve got to get changed.”

As she pulled out those silky pajamas from before, Lark pondered about her skin. It still felt stretched just a little too tight. Flexing her hands a few times, she studied her arms. They looked normal, but maybe they felt a little hard? Difficult to tell, not having a gauge of her new strength.

Hmm. Lark fingered her pocketknife. What would it hurt? I heal pretty fast now, even if the blade does cut. Glancing at the door to be sure no one was spying on her, Lark pressed the blade to the back of her arm. And pressed. Nothing? Wow. Lark narrowed her eyes, remembering her broken arm earlier. Pretty tough on the outside, but not quite as indestructible from the inside?

Wondering how much this hardened skin covered, Lark first pinched her legs and stomach before trying the knife on those areas. Not even a dent. Wanting to test her back, she slipped the knife in her pocket and called for Shamira.

“Did you happen to pack a mirror?” Lark asked when Shamira came in.

“Oh, I’m sure there was one. Let me see.” Shamira dropped to her knees and started rummaging through a chest she pulled out from under the bed. “Here it is!”

“Thank you,” Lark said, taking the small mirror. She glanced at her reflection, and nearly dropped the mirror from shock. “What?”

“What’s that matter?” Shamira leaped to her feet.

Lark turned to her new friend and pointed at her own face. “What color are my eyes?”

“Oh, they’re beautiful! I’ve been wanting to comment about them all day. A deep sapphire blue and dark metallic silver. We were told you had blue and gray eyes, but not that they looked like jewels!”

“That’s because they didn’t! Not two days ago! Or two thousand years ago. Whatever.”

Lark spun back to the mirror. Why this little detail threatened to overcome her, she wasn’t sure. But looking at those unfamiliar eyes only reinforced how much had changed over the last two days. She might know every thought and feeling of the reflection in front of her, but she no longer knew the woman looking back at her.

Must everything about my brothers be taken away from me?

“I would like to be alone.” Lark’s voice was rough with emotion.

“Are you sure?” Shamira asked.

Lark nodded sharply, not willing to show the tears pooling in those strange, foreign eyes. And to think she had envied the jewel tone of Shamira’s emerald orbs. She heard Shamira gently close the door behind her.

Lark took one more look at the interloper in the mirror. Three days ago, she had been wrapping up her part-time job, getting ready for premed classes. Today, she was expected to rule and protect a kingdom she hadn’t even known existed.

There was no going back to her past life. She knew that. Not with a tiger and superpowers. And she really was willing to make the most of what she had. She would try to learn her place here and figure out how to use her new resources for her family. But for now, just for now…

She curled up on the bed, clutching her dog tags, with the comforting warmth of Snowy against her chest, and let the tears flow.