“Up!”I scooped the small Sheowon child and tossed her into the air, causing her to burst out into a fit of giggles. After a few throws, I set her back down, but she raised her arms back up to me.“Again!”“Only if you ask nicely, Mowala,” I said.“Up, please!” the little girl said, making grabby hands.“Well… okay then,” I said, scooping and tossing her again.It was a few years after Ibriya and Shappi’s Bonding, and not much had changed in my life, save for the introduction of Mowala to it. That hadn’t taken very long at all—as soon as the next mating season hit after they were Bonded, Shappi was pregnant, and Mowala entered the world later that year.Despite not being a surprise, it did force me to reevaluate my plans.Ibriya and Shappi had developed their Blood, though not as fast as they would have with another pair of Sheowon in their Bond. Considering they didn’t particularly require Blood to run the smithy, the fact that they put serious work into developing it, just to Bond with me, was nothing to scoff at.Still, I continued to decline the Bond, and I was glad that I did. I needed to return to my people to fulfill the All-Bonded’s mission, but with Mowala in the picture, things were different now.Returning to the Uli homeland had always been a dangerous prospect, and even more so for a Sheowon. I was not all-powerful, and I could very well end up facing problems I couldn’t protect others from. Once we were bonded, any threat to my Bonded family was a direct threat to me. Bonded or not, had Ibriya and Shappi joined me despite the risks, it would be because they were adults and made that choice themselves. But there was no way I was dragging Mowala across the ocean.The fact was, I would almost certainly wind up needing to fight to establish myself when I got home. I didn’t want to kill anyone, but it was the way of life for the Uli. In order to make change, I would almost certainly (...)