Lolo spent the rest of the evening planning her night together with Fortus in exceptional detail. She picked a window with a view of the headboard of the bed to leave slightly ajar, and the rest she shuttered up tightly. She was suddenly grateful for the oversized, four poster bed with drapes hanging from the three sides that the headboard didn’t cover. Lolo got to work doing her hair and make-up. She made sure to put on her pajama shorts and a strapless undershirt beneath her dress. Then she tucked extra underwear and a camisole under one of her pillows, trying not to think about the awkwardness. Finally, Lolo put out all the lights in the room except for a handful of candles, and, as an afterthought, she wrote a note on a small piece of paper and set it on one of her pillows.

More waiting. In many ways, this was the hardest part, trying to not get nervous as she imagined every possible thing that could go wrong. After what felt like forever, she heard a knock at her door. “Show time.”

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hey-” Fortus started to say, but Lolo pulled him through the door, locked it, and practically tackled him. “Lolo-”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

Lolo worked to undo the buttons on his shirt as they slowly moved toward the bed, finally tossing his shirt on the floor. Fortus picked her up and set her on the bed to make her tall enough to kiss while he undid the buttons on her dress. Before, he could get too far, Lolo pulled him through the drapes of the bed so she could help him get her dress off without revealing the added layer of clothing beneath it. He took off his first layer of pants and Lolo found the spare pair of underwear tucked in his waistband. She handed him the note on the pillow for him to read while she kissed his cheek and collected the clothes, including her own extra set of underwear, to toss off the bed.

Natural reactions. Sound like you are enjoying yourself. Lots of kissing. Wrestling match?

Fortus almost laughed, but Lolo saved him by smothering him in more kisses. They rolled around the bed in an absurd battle. If they hadn’t been kissing, someone might have thought they were trying to kill each other. A sharp jab to his ribs made him grunt. Jerking her head back by her hair made her gasp. The more they strained against each other, the more sounds they made, and the more convincing their performance to someone that couldn’t see exactly what was going on.

“You ready?” Lolo whispered in Fortus’s ear.

“For what?”

Lolo pulled Fortus on top of her, letting their heads fall through the drapes at the side of the bed and exposing her bare shoulders. As Fortus kissed her, she pinched him hard to get a reaction out of him. He returned her vicious pinch and they both laid their gasping and panting before they both sat up in the bed, exhausted and sweaty but thrilled with their own performance.

Fortus looked down to where Lolo had pinched him and gave her a look that clearly complained, “did you have to pinch so hard?!”

Lolo just shrugged and smiled as if to say, “it worked, didn’t it?”

From the intentionally open window, they heard a scuffle and Standig’s voice. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Someone got hit hard.

“Crap!” Lolo jumped off the bed and found Fortus’s shirt to pull on and frantically button up. She removed her pajama shorts as someone knocked on her door. “Just a moment!”

She got to the door with her hair tangled, her make-up smeared, and apparently wearing nothing but a man’s shirt. Standig took one look at her and completely forgot why he was there. He was holding a lion soldier dressed in all black by the collar of his uniform. The soldier had a swelling black eye and a bloody nose.

“Standig? What are you doing here?”

“Ah. Um. That,” he struggled to recover. “I found this peeping tom at one of your windows.”

“Oh!” Lolo feigned mortification and surprise. “How awkward!”

“Yeah. Uh. What do you want me to do with him?”

Lolo looked at the soldier. The soldier looked back at her.

“If you let me go, I won’t tell a soul.”

“You!” Standig made a move as if to punch him again and the soldier flinched.

“Standig!” Lolo stopped him. “Let him go.”

“But-”

“Let him go, Standig. He’s learned his lesson.”

The soldier nodded adamantly, and Standig practically chucked him off the doorstep.

“Are you alright, Lolo?” Standig asked, still confused by her appearance.

“Peachy!” She blushed and stepped back into her room to shut the door, but Standig blocked it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yup! Just tired.” Lolo yawned unconvincingly and waved Standig away. “Thanks for your help. Goodnight!”

Standig returned to his own room feeling utterly perplexed while Lolo shut the door and collapsed to the ground shaking.

“Lolo!” Fortus rushed to make sure that she was ok, but she had only doubled over in silent laughter. “Geez, Lolo, you scared me!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Lolo gasped between bouts of hysterical giggling. “Did you see Standig’s face?!”

Fortus shook his head as Lolo devolved into a puddle on the floor.

“He was so confused!”

Lolo’s laughter was infectious, and Fortus started laughing more at her than anything else.

“Oh, poor Standig! He has no idea what he’s just gotten himself into.”

Fortus helped Lolo back up to her feet and whispered, "what are the odds that there is a second spy watching us?"

"Probably no one as close as the guy Standig caught, but there will likely be someone else watching the courtyard as a whole. You'd better stay a while, but no more wrestling."

Lolo put her pajama shorts back on and returned Fortus's shirt to him. They got dressed and returned to the bed to place a giant pillow between them and get some rest. It had been a long day.

“Maybe leave your extra pants and underwear here in case we have to do this again?” Lolo suggested.

“I sure hope not,” Fortus chuckled. “No offense to your plan, Lolo. It was brilliant, but that sucked.”

“I warned you that you wouldn’t like it.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that you planned on injuring me.”

“At least I kissed it better,” she teased.

“Come here,” Fortus snagged her arm, dragged her across the bed, and knocked the pillow out of the way.

“What are you doing?”

He turned her around to pull her into a backwards hug. “Lolo, thank you for having my back. You risked a lot for me today.” His hand rested on her tummy, and she knew what he meant. “The good news is, when this is all over, I think we will both have a pretty clear idea of how we feel about each other.”

Lolo rotated onto her back so she could look Fortus in the face. “You’re still confused too?”

“Yeah. I have to admit, it felt good to kiss you today, though, I could have done without the rest of it.” Lolo laughed, and Fortus leaned in to kiss her gently.

“More acting?"

“No. Just this once, Lolo, that one was real.”

***

The next day, Standig was still puzzling over the events of the night before. “Lolo just let him go? That's maybe not so strange, but what on earth was she wearing? I could swear I’ve seen that shirt before.” As he passed a group of soldiers, he realized exactly where he’d seen that shirt before. It was part of a Lion Tribe soldier’s uniform. Standig sprinted the rest of the way to the training field to find Ulana, Lolo, and Fortus setting some things up for their next scrimmage, and Fortus was wearing one of those shirts.

“Hey, Standig!”

Wham! Standig laid Fortus out with one hit.

“Standig!” Lolo shrieked and ran to get in between the two boys.

“He was there last night, wasn’t he?!”

“Standig!” Lolo’s tone was threatening, but Standig barreled on.

“Wasn’t he?! Don’t deny it, Lolo!”

“Fortus was where? What are you talking about?!” Ulana asked, trying to help an incredibly disoriented Fortus sit up.

“I won’t,” Lolo said quietly, leaving Standig all the more distressed. She took advantage of his hesitation to grab his arm and march him off the field with Ulana still asking clarifying questions behind them.

Lolo found a small equipment room in which to talk with Standig.

“You’re not denying it?!”

“No. I’m not.”

Standig looked like he was ready to murder Fortus then and there.

“You’re not to touch him, Standig.”

“What do you mean?!” Standig spat as he moved toward the door again. “That piece of filth is using you! Taking advantage of you!”

“Standig, it was consensual.”

He froze. “It was what?!”

“Fortus and I have an understanding.”

“I don’t believe you, Lolo. Last time we talked about this, you said you were confused.”

“Last time we talked, I was confused. But a lot has happened since then.”

“I don’t believe you,” Standig repeated.

“Try to wrap your head around this, Standig. Fortus and I are in love! We plan to get married.”

Standig resumed his walk back to the door just shaking his head in disbelief.

“You’re not to touch him, Standig!” Lolo was getting desperate.

“And why’s that?”

“Because, if nothing else, he’s the father of my child.”

Standig wheeled around. “He’s what?!”

Lolo moved to block door and look him in the eye. “Standig, I’m pregnant. Last night wasn’t our first time.”

“This isn’t funny, Lolo.”

“I’m not laughing.”

There was a long moment in which Standig searched her face, trying to find evidence that she was teasing him, that this was all just a big joke. But she was serious. Standig had to sit down from the force of mental impact.

“Give me your hands,” Lolo said, sitting down across from the giant bear.

“What?”

“Give me your hands,” she repeated. “I’m going to try to help you understand.”

Lolo was trembling as she took Standig’s hands in hers. She’d never been successful leading a partner meditation before, but the urgency of the situation seemed to require that she try. She closed her eyes and started breathing slowly, trying to clear her head and relax her body. She focused on Standig, how much she needed to tell him the truth, how his life, her life, and Fortus’s life all depended on this connection. She breathed, Standig synchronized, they both relaxed.

Standig heard Lolo and Fortus talking. "Do we have to be more than friends just because we find each other attractive? I don't want to run the risk of ruining a great friendship by becoming more than that without knowing if I feel more."

"I have to admit, Lolo, dating you has been fun, but I don't know if that's because I've enjoyed being in a relationship or if it's because I've enjoyed being with you. So, we're still just friends?"

A nighttime scene came into view, Lolo and Fortus were lying in bed next to each other with a giant pillow between them. “I shouldn’t be here.” Fortus was saying. “We're both attracted to each other, and if I really wanted to do something to you, a pillow wouldn’t stop me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The scene disappeared, and Standig heard Fortus say, "Lolo, last night was a mistake. I would never be able to forgive myself if I'd hurt you or taken advantage of you. We said we are just friends, right? We need to start acting like we are just friends. Whatever this is, it’s getting too confusing."

"Are you dumping me?" Lolo teased.

"I guess I am."

Suddenly, Standig felt afraid. He watched as a soldier took Lolo into one of the gardens. “My sources tell me that you and young master Arum are already sleeping together. You seduce someone into getting you pregnant, and the deal is sealed. I think we might be of use to each other. Fortus Arum never needs to know that he wasn’t the one to get you pregnant.” The soldier had Lolo trapped against a wall, and Standig nearly broke the meditation from how furious he was.

“Exactly what business do you have here with my girlfriend?” Fortus pulled the soldier off Lolo and the soldier left.

“Fortus, someone saw you come to my room that night. We need to talk to your father. I've got a hunch that there is more going on here.”

Standig heard the Lion General talking. "We've managed to procure a time and a place for a meeting. Someone is planning a coup. Fortus, come up with a plan in case you are caught. Huo Lohse, I'm counting on your talent for improvisation."

"I give them two minutes to have us surrounded," Fortus was saying. “I'm going to need your help to pull this off." Standig watched as Lolo and Fortus staged a compromising position in time to be surrounded by a group of soldiers.

“Evinco let two potential spies go on the premise that we had no idea what we’d stumbled into, are planning to elope, and I just told you that our one night of indiscretion got me pregnant. Our lives literally depend on our ability to look super cozy together. See you tonight.”

A new scene appeared and Standig felt supremely uncomfortable. Lolo and Fortus were tangled up on her bed in a sort of fight that sounded like something else. Then he heard his own voice. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Everything went dark. “Standig,” he heard Lolo speaking as though she were far away. “Standig, I don’t know if you can hear this or not, but I hope you understand what is going on. We need your help. When I release this merge, I need you to act like I just validated my relationship with Fortus to you. Our lives depend on it.” An image flashed through Standig's head of someone listening into their conversation from one of the windows in the equipment room. “Squeeze my hand if you understand.”

Standig squeezed, and the meditation ended.

“Do you understand now?” Lolo asked somewhat nervously.

He nodded.

“Will you help us?”

Again, Standig nodded. “Lolo, if Fortus screws this up, I’ll kill him.”

“If Fortus screws this up, you’ll have to get in line,” Lolo laughed and hugged her friend.

“I hope you know that you always have friends in the Bear Tribe.”

“Thank you, Standig. That really does mean a lot.”

“You’re really going to be a mother?” he added coyly.

Lolo started to laugh, but it quickly transitioned into tears. While this made for a good show, Lolo was genuinely crying, releasing the stress and anxiety of the past twenty-four hours and feeling the relief of having another trusted ally.

Standig scooped the little wolf into his lap to hug her properly. “It’s going to be ok. Now that I know Fortus is serious about you, I have to admit, he’s not such a bad guy.”

“High praise,” Lolo laughed through her sniffling.

“It’s the best I’ve got,” Standig chuckled.