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"Majesty, you made it!" Aston exclaimed in English, as previously instructed to by her parents, for the sake of their Zarconian guests, as she dashed out to meet the royal family. Jumping into Dammen"s arms, she ignored the shocked look on his face at her obvious affection for him. Fortunately, Jenny Tompkins had been waiting to take Arian upon the Altairs" arrival, so her efficiency and timing were perfect in that the child wasn"t caught in the middle of Aston"s exuberant embrace.

Aston drew back with a wide-dimpled grin and peered up at the giant. "You brought her! Just like you promised!" Moving to Casina, she gave a bright, welcoming smile, clearly unafraid.

"Welcome, Your Highest! I"m Aston! I"ve been waiting to meet you for ever so long! Oh, come and see, come and see!" Grabbing Casina"s hand, she began pulling her towards the entrance of the large farmhouse. The house lay but a short distance from the main thoroughfare of the village. It bordered a large creek which flowed behind it and separated the house from the village square. A wide wooden, sloping bridge connected the two.

Uncertainty crossed Casina"s features, but she allowed the child her way, following her into the house. Chuckling at Casina"s reaction, Dammen openly displayed an expression of love in his countenance as he watched his mate with Aston. After confirming his guardsmen"s orders to secure the village and protect the home"s inhabitants and guests, he followed his family inside. He made a mental note to bring his men a hot repast and a warming brew later.



Once inside the large, two-story Ulstran-style farmhouse, with a domed, grass-covered roof, Casina felt assaulted in every sense for a pleasant shock awaited her there.

The entry foyer was between two rooms, a large family sitting room to the left and, to the right of her, an oversized dining area where a long rectangular table laden with an overabundance of food tantalized both her sense of smell as well as her taste buds. Memories came flooding back the moment she saw the fire ablaze in the fireplaces, in each of the rooms. Her hands flew of their own accord to press at her heart, to ease the sad ache that suddenly erupted there.

Around her, everywhere, were decorations of colorful, glittering tinsel and garland and flowers and beads, and so much more. At sight of them, Casina gave a gasp of sheer delight for she recognized them for what they were. Holiday decorations. Christmas decorations!

What tickled her most was that there was a fully-attired, brightly-lit, huge tree lounging like a slumbering giant in a corner of the family room, with an innumerable number of gaily-wrapped packages beneath it, half-filling the large room.

With her hands pressed tightly against her chest, she whirled to face her husband, her face glowing with pleasure. He now stood just inside the open doorway behind her, watching her with a strange look on his face, as though uncertain as to how she was going to react to the scene.

"Oh, Uri," she gushed. "Do you see? Isn"t this wonderful? I didn"t know you celebrated Christmas here."

His expression turned more serious. "We don"t. But I knew you would enjoy it. At least this one time," he said. "Besides, I"m usually too busy to celebrate holidays." He stepped inside and finally closed the door behind him. "But I did tell you before. We worship the same God as you, remember? Only we honor Him in different ways here, and without all the idolatry." "I remember," she said.

"I thought that you and the Tompkinses might miss this particular holiday, so I arranged for us to spend a few solarities here. Aston was forever begging me to bring you here because she wanted to meet you, so I thought this a good idea. I enlisted Jenny"s aid, and…well, you can see the results for yourself."

"Yes," Casina agreed. "I can. And it"s all so...wonderful!

She turned into her husband"s arms, just as Aston came scampering out through a swinging door from the cooking area, with Jenny following with Arian.

"I would like to celebrate here, Uri. So much."

Casina snuggled happily against him, hugging him as he put his arms lovingly about her. Sneaking a peek at the tree in the sitting area, she wondered, as a child might, just how many of those gifts Dammen had placed there for her. Imagine, her first Christmas with her husband and son, the two people she loved most in the entire galaxy. Her family. She thought she would faint from the sheer joy of it all. She closed her eyes briefly, not wanting her happiness or her incredible feeling of security—at

last—to fade away.



Knowing her thoughts, Dammen kissed her head and relaxed somewhat, realizing finally that he had given her all that he had hoped he would. Well, almost.



"Isn"t this great?" Jenny said, ignoring the intimate moment the two were sharing. "I can"t tell you guys how excited I am! I"ve been so homesick." She handed a now wide awake Arian over to Casina, who balanced him on her hip a moment.

"Majesty? May I play with the baby? I won"t hurt him, I promise!" Aston had stepped between them and was tugging on Dammen"s sleeve.

"I can see we"ll not have a moment"s peace for a good long while," Dammen whispered in Casina"s ear, drawing a giggle from her. He looked down at Aston. "Do you mind if we hang up our outdoor clothes first?" he asked.

Laughing, Aston blurted, "Of course, Majesty. Just give ‘em to me, and I"ll put ‘em on Mima"s wet rack in the bake room."

"I"ll take those," another woman"s voice interjected. All eyes turned to see the stout, yet regal woman impatiently glaring at them.

"S"lma, you are too kind," Dammen said, handing over their wraps to her care. Snorting, Mrovia turned and disappeared back into the cooking area, or bake room as Aston called it. "I"d say she"s a little stressed already. I really wanted her to enjoy this little holiday, but I suppose she feels as if she needs to be doing something."

"As should I," Casina responded, stomping the remaining snow from her wet boots. "Perhaps I should go and—"

Before she could finish, a commotion broke forth from the bake room, and the mild-mannered Jim Tompkins came storming out in a huff. When he saw the Altairs, his face turned red.

"They booted me out," he said sheepishly. "Said I was in the way and only making everybody more work."

"Why"s that?" Dammen asked, his face etched with humor.

"Probably because I was," Jim replied, his lips curling as he shoved an Ulstran cookie morsel into his mouth.

Laughter followed this admission, just before a loud knock hit the front door. Manaham, Aston"s father, stepped from the bake room to greet his honored guests. He had been busy out back getting more firewood when they had arrived. But introductions had to wait as he went to answer the door.

"Grif? What are you doing here?"

"I came at the request of the Altair."

Manaham stepped aside as Dammen moved to greet the elder, while Casina took Aston into the sitting room to play with Arian on the floor, well away from the fire and the enticing presents stacked all over. When Jenny relieved her, Casina returned to stand uncertainly with her host, introducing herself and making small talk until her husband returned from outside.

"I"m certain my mate won"t mind having you in the bake room, Majesty," Manaham said to her in Kathian, "if you want to."

"All right," Casina replied nervously, not sure what Dammen would say. But since she didn"t know what else to do or say, and since Arian seemed to be in good hands, especially with Jim Tompkins as overseer, she figured, why not? After all, she had always enjoyed cooking, unless it was done under duress, as when she had lived with the Maddocks, and didn"t think anyone would really mind if she just observed what was going on.

Entering the large bake room, she found both Manaham"s mate, Jina, and Mrovia busy chopping up vegetables, stirring steaming pots, basting whatever was in the strange oven, and basically rushing about trying to do a million things at once. At sight of Casina, Jina hurried over and, without so much as a word of greeting or introduction, shoved a peeling knife into her hand. The woman then directed her to a table near the back door and told her to start cutting up any of the variety of fruits resting in several large baskets on the floor. It took Casina a few moments to decipher the Ulstran directives, but it wasn"t difficult to figure out what was expected of her.



"Where"s Kaaniga Altair?" Dammen asked Manaham several micron later, reentering the house with both Grif and another young man, dressed in brown-gray warrior"s togs.

"In the bake room, Ziros," Manaham told him with reservation. "I believe m-my mate has her…helping prepare the meal."

"What!" Dammen said in outrage. "She knows better than to—"

He made toward the bake room, only to have Grif grab his arm to stop him.

"No, Highness!" he said gruffly. "Don"t stop her! The people will love her for this. It shows her willingness to understand them and to help them, if necessary."

Dammen glared down in fury at Grif"s hand grasping his arm, then shook him away. Calming himself, he gave a loud sigh of resignation.

"Perhaps you"re right, Grif," he said. He turned thoughtfully to the young warrior with him, nervously giving him a once over. "I guess that now is as good a time as any. Go on in." "Aye, Majesty."



The three women in the bake room were so busy, they barely noticed whenever anyone else happened to wander in from outside or trudge through to the back door. Mrovia"s husband, Iddo, and their six daughters were in the barn out back. They were secretly wrapping presents they had brought with them and sharing tales and hot juices made from Ulstran fruits grown right on the Manaham farm. So they were unaware of much else going on in the house at present.

At sight of the young man entering the bake room, Jina and Mrovia were quick to nod at him then exchange looks with one another. They shot Casina a quick glance, carefully lowered the heat on a few pots, covered them, then hastily exited the room.

Casina, happy to be able to help, to finally feel useful, had started humming Zarconian Christmas carols to herself when the young man came in and was unaware that Jina and Mrovia had left her alone.

The visitor slowly walked over to stand just behind her, watching her quietly for a moment. She was humming her light-hearted rendition of a familiar favorite when a strong male voice startled her.

"You know, that"s exactly the way Mom used to chop up stuff. She was always humming or singing when she worked, too. So I"d say you"re a chip off the old block."

His perfect English words brought Casina to an immediate, wide-eyed standstill as a sudden cold chill flew down her spine even faster than the speed of light. Frozen, unable to react to the deep male voice behind her, Casina found she could only tighten her grip on the blade she held. She felt it painfully slicing into her fingers. Then suddenly, a warm hand was on her shoulder, turning her around to stare into familiar blue eyes.

"Cas?"

He was smiling that mischievous grin she remembered so well. Speechless, she started to tremble. It can"t be! she told herself. It…just…can"t! She was squeezing her knife so hard now that it was cutting as deep into her flesh as reality was cutting into her heart.

"Here, let me take that," the young man said with concern. Carefully prying the knife from her bleeding hand, he put it safely aside. He was quick to grab a cloth to wrap her wound. "Yes, it"s me.

Jimmy." At this, she felt the color drain from her face, and her slim frame began quaking in disbelief. "Cas?" he said worriedly.

"J-Jimmy?" she managed after a moment, before snaking a hand out to grip his arm, an arm more muscular, more solid than the one she remembered. "Brandon?"

"Yes," he chuckled. "Sis, it"s really me. I"m not dead, like you thought. Kaanig Altair rescued me from the Maddock barn that day and helped me recover. The coffin was empty when they buried it. Hammersfeldt knew it. And I"ve been here in Valtor since that day, waiting, wanting to see you again. Dammen had promised Dad he would look out for us, so he kept me here so I"d be safe, yet away from you." Jimmy"s voice dropped to a whisper, so no one else would overhear.

"Dammen told me he had fallen in love with you when he first saw you, Cas. He wanted to be certain you would love him back. He said he wanted you to love him for who he was as a person, as a man, and not as the powerful ruler of an entire galaxy. He wanted to be sure of his relationship with you before he would let us reunite because he didn"t want you to love him or feel obligated to him because you were grateful to him for taking care of me. Cas," he continued, searching her face intently, "do you understand?"

Casina gave a mute nod and continued gazing at the man before her. No longer the boy she had known, Jimmy Brandon had grown into a young man of superior proportion, even for one his age.

She gave herself a mental shake, understanding now that her wonderful, thoughtful husband had taken care of Jimmy from the beginning. He had let her believe her brother to be dead all along, just so she would grow to love him. What kind of a man was able to keep such a secret and be so patient with her? What type of man would do all of this for one woman, unless…unless he truly loved her, as he professed to, with his entire being? Raising a hand to the young man"s smooth, handsome face, she choked back a sob then fell into his arms, wrapping hers about him and crushing him to her. How she

had missed him!



"Where is the Altair?" Casina asked Aston"s father when she and Jimmy exited the bake room awhile later. Manaham was crouched near a fireplace, stoking it when they appeared.

"He"s waiting outside, Majesty."

Taking Jimmy"s elbow, she thanked her host then led her cherished sibling into the family room. At sight of him, Jenny gasped in immediate recognition. Jim was on the floor beside Arian, who was playing with blocks that had alien symbols on them. His eyes widened, too, as soon as he lifted his head to peer up at the visitor. He had observed Jimmy"s initial arrival but hadn"t recognized him. But now, his jaw sagged with disbelief as Casina reacquainted them.

"If you"ll excuse me, I need to find Dammen," Casina said, leaving them alone to discuss this incredible miracle, since all of them had believed Jimmy to be dead. Understanding, they nodded as she anxiously dashed out the door to find her husband.

She paused just outside the door, her eyes scanning the grounds for some sign of him. It was so much darker now, so when she couldn"t locate him, she resorted to questioning the closest sentry. The man directed her to the wooden bridge leading into the village, on the north side of the house. The eerie landscape was still bright enough to illuminate the area. So, turning, she moved in that direction, easily spotting Dammen standing alone on the wide bridge. He was leaning over the rail, peering intently into the water below, deep in thought. At Casina"s page, he started, then slowly lifted his head. He straightened and waited for her to join him, an uncertain fist pounding passively against the railing. His entire countenance revealed an uncommon fear that surprised her.

"Oh, Uri," she whispered as she moved closer. She paused to stare up at him, her face pale as she studied his odd expression. Her hand clamped onto the rail, as if to steady herself. But it was only to pull herself nearer to him, because of the slope of the bridge. Then, without warning, she flung her arms about him, unable to contain her sob of joy. Expecting this, Dammen remained silent as he held her, allowing her all the time she needed to come to grips with her latest shock. When she was finally able to draw away and look up at him, he was watching her with concern.

"Thank you so much. I never dreamed - I mean, I knew you had come back from the dead...but to bring Jimmy back..." She couldn"t finish. More tears erupted as she buried her face against him, while he tenderly squeezed the back of her neck. "You are indeed a powerful man, and I love you so much," she managed between sobs. "Th-thank you. Oh...Uri!"

"You"re not angry with me for keeping this a secret for so long?" he dared ask.

She pulled away to look up at him. "How could I be angry, Uri? This is one of the most wonderful gifts I"ve ever received." She ran the back of her hand across her wet face. "You are truly the man everyone here says you are." "And what is that?" he asked.

She grinned through her streaming tears. "Why, Kaanig. A man I didn"t believe really even existed." She peered up at him in awe. "But...you really and truly do. And I love you so much..." She pressed her cheek against him, hugging him tightly.

Content, both lost in thought, they remained that way awhile. Until Casina gave a happy sigh and lifted her head to peer up at him.

"Uri..." she whispered, smiling.

"Hm?"

"Thank you so much...for rescuing us, for keeping your promise to our father, and for...bringing us here."