You don’t have to convince me, sweetie.” Jirni cut her daughter’s pitch short. “You did the right thing by not bringing them here sooner, and I thank you for your thoughtfulness.

“We needed time to grieve your sister and these creatures to turn into useful weapons.” Nobody missed the implications of her words, but no one said anything either.

“My only question is, why did you have Protheus come to us while pretending to be you? What were you trying to achieve?”

“I wanted to show you how good he is before you had the opportunity to kick us out in a fit of rage.” Friya blushed a bit, bringing her left hand to her womb. “I also hoped that seeing his shapeshifting skills in action might give you a few ideas, Mom.”

“That’s a wonderful thought, pumpkin, but useless.” Orion sat down as well, trying to keep the edge off his voice. “Doppelgangers were so effective during the War of the Griffon because normal humans couldn’t distinguish them from the people they impersonated.

“The Gernoff, however, are all Awakened and cautious sons of a dog. They won’t ever attack someone just because they look like your mother. Having one or more body doubles is an old trick the Gernoffs will expect, and they can expose Protheus just like I did.”

“I know he can’t take Mom’s place.” Friya replied. “Yet with his ability, he can hide in plain sight and shadow Mom around. He can protect her.”