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“You are already doing everything I need you to do by watching after the children for me and taking care of them as well as you do.”
“Thanks, but they make my job as the nanny very easy, and they are so easy to get along with. Sometimes, I feel like I am not really doing much around here.”
“Are you jesting? Did you forget how much you helped me protect them at the cabin? Did you forget the fact that you have been captured once already in the name of protecting the children?”
“Oh, believe me, I won’t be forgetting any of that any time soon. I just feel like I could be doing something to help you put an end to all this chaos and make your life and the lives of the children easier.”
“If I think of something, I will let you know. For now, I just need to let you know that I have reassigned a security detail with men of my choosing to protect you and the children. They will go with you wherever you go if you leave the house, and they will be there while you are here. They are assigned around the clock, so even after I get home tonight, they will still be here just in case.”
“That sounds like an awful lot for just me,” she said almost jokingly. “I understand, though, and I am grateful for the thought and the protection. I am especially happy that the children should be safe if we have people here to protect us. I just hope that since you picked them specifically, they won’t go missing like some of the last security detail went missing.”
“If they do, prison won’t be the punishment I seek for them.” After a long embrace, he left for work, and Mia continued on with her morning routine.
With a protective detail wherever they went, she decided an outing was needed both for her sake and for the sake of Cian and Triat. Before leaving, however, she decided to create an action plan for the children if anything happened to them at any point while they were at home or out at different locations.
They had two soldiers assigned to the security detail for the day, and she wanted to get to know them prior to leaving the house. “Hello, I’m Mia. I know Tharon explained a bit about the situation, but I feel compelled to know a bit more about you if I am going to trust you.”
After the first security guard grunted in response, he realized she was not about to go away quickly, so he complied with her request to know them. “I’m Kasou, and that’s Ewim. We’ve worked under the commander for five years. I can guarantee your safety if we are here. We are very loyal to the commander.”
“Glad to hear it. I’ll be taking the children for a walk in a little while around the lake. I am assuming you will be joining us as you are supposed to be our security regardless of our location.”
“Yes, we will be going with you.”
Mia decided to keep the fact that she had established a course of action for the children’s safety to herself for the time being. After being taken away once already while security was supposed to be present, she wouldn’t trust anyone again … yet. She went back inside to get Cian and Triat ready for their walk.
“Do you have lakes like this where you are from?” Cian was always curious about Earth and anything Mia could tell them about it.
“Yes, although not exactly like this. Our lakes were usually very murky and dark. You couldn’t see into them very well. These lakes, on the other hand, are beautiful with their myriad of colors and elegant transparency.”
“They were made of water, weren’t they?”
“Yes, but it was usually very dirty or contaminated. Some of the water was blue, and in some areas, it was so clear you could see to the bottom of the water. Many lakes we had were man-made, and the bottom was filled with old debris.”
“Wow! People lived underwater!” Triat sort of understood what Mia had told him.
“No, the structures at the bottom of the lake were usually empty by the time the lake was filled.”
“Oh, I suppose that makes sense. We don’t have people here who can live underwater, either. Although there are lots of stories about fictional creatures who live underwater. I wish they were real, though. I would love to meet one.” Cian loved to read adventure stories and folk tales.
“We have those, too, but on Earth, we called them merfolk or mermaids and mermen. What are they called here?”
“Lake people.”
Her language device could have been acting up or not equipped to translate some stoic words. Either way, Mia felt the need to clarify to make sure she had properly understood. “What if they live in the sea or ocean?”
“That’s a silly thought. Our fictional creatures only exist in the lake. If they lived in the sea or ocean, they would be eaten by the water predators.”
“Fair enough point. One of these nights, I’ll have to sit in with you when your father is reading you a bedtime story.”
“That would be great, although I am not sure that has anything to do with our fictional characters. He only reads me historical books. I must acquire and read the folktale books on my own time.”
“Oh … I didn’t know that. I’ll have to talk to him about letting me read to you some nights so you can get some classic fairy tales also. Maybe I will read some of my books to you. I have one called Alice in Wonderland, and it’s a remarkable story.”
“I would love that.”
After their conversation, Cian and Triat ran around together, playing with sticks and trying to get Mia to join them. She remembered her first disagreement with Tharon and decided playing with sticks was not a good idea.
Further into the walk, she noticed something glinting ahead of them, but she couldn’t make out exactly what it was. It appeared to be coming from the nearby tree line. Her instincts went on high alert, and she got the attention of the guards and pointed in the direction.
