A Lion's Heart (20 page)

Chapter Twenty One

The creatures of the desert were canny, but Shakra was determined. He shifted downwind, trying to make his body slink like a werelion's. The bucks were nipping at sparse tufts of grass and moving at a slow pace across patches of sand. Ears flicked, tails batted flies, and eyes were constantly darting about.

“You,” Shakra breathed as he spotted one that was limping from some injury. Not only would he be slower than the others, but it was a kindness. The buck couldn't run with an injury like that one and it would soon fester.

Shakra sprang from hiding and the bucks scattered. The injured one slewed in the sand and tried to do the same, but the leg buckled and it staggered. Shakra was on him in an instant, snapping the slim neck quickly and landing on top of the heavy weight of the beast as it died and fell.

Shakra enjoyed the hunt, but he didn't think that he would ever have Tamarind's taste for raw meat and hot blood. Fastidiously, he took hold of the buck and began dragging it. He wasn't prepared for the heavy weight that suddenly pinned him down to the ground, his face inches from the dead buck's wide eyes.

Katze was very large and powerful. Shakra felt himself trembling at the sheer size of the claws on either side of him. He didn't have a chance. The white werelion was going to snap his neck easier than he had the buck's.

“I don't know how you managed to route my clans, but your interference in my plans ceases, now,” Katze hissed in his ear. “These lands are mine. Tamarind is mine. He will replace Kiva as my mate and my right hand. Nothing will stop that.”

A nose sniffed along Shakra's head, his ears, and then there was a snort of irritation. “What does he see in you? A stinking dog? A hairy, spotted, tailless...”

“Prince,” Shang's voice interjected. “He is my prince. You will release him at once.”

Shakra dared to turn his head then, feeling the hot breath of Katze. Shang was armed and standing ready to defend him.

Katze laughed out right. “You threaten me as if you were a serious danger to me. The sun has baked your brains, werelizard.”

“You don't look well, Katze,” Shang observed coolly. “Were there rebellions after your defeat? Did they want to slink home with their tails between their legs? It must be difficult to motivate an army that wants only to fill their bellies and sleep in the sun, especially after they had their noses bloodied. You must have fought many battles to remain their king.”

Shang's bravery shamed Shakra. The werelizard was willing to die, taunting Katze in the hope that the werelion would leave Shakra and try to kill him instead. That sacrifice was unacceptable. Shakra suddenly twisted about under Katze’s rising weight as the werelion gathered himself to spring on Shang.

Katze’s appearance shocked Shakra. He was full of deep gouges and claw marks. His huge body was a war zone of injuries and his mane was soaked here and there with blood. This was a full grown werelion, despite all of that, though. This would be Tamarind's future size, a small corner of Shakra's mind noted in amazement and trepidation. Even though Katze was injured, Shakra wasn't any match for him. Still, Shakra surged up, defying logic, defying fear, and snapped his sharp teeth onto Katze’s jugular.

It was unexpected. Katze’s entire focus had been on the werelizard, believing that intimidation and fear had made Shakra his prey. Shakra knew that it was going to be a short lived victory, though. In another heartbeat, Katze would tear him with his claws.

“Let him go!” Kyrill snarled. Jewelry flashing and fur bristled with anger, the small werefox landed on Katze’s back, a dagger sinking into the vulnerable shoulder. He jerked it out again and stabbed down into Katze’s heart, as the werelion reared and twisted to get at him, roaring in shock.

“I will kill you all!” Katze roared. “I will be king of all these lands!”

“No!” Shang exclaimed as he jumped into the fray and sank in his own daggers into Katze’s white hide. “You will only be king of the dead.”

Katze died, huge body sinking down slowly as he struggled to fight on. Shakra felt claws rake him, but he held on, even when Katze’s weight crushed him to the ground and took the breath from him.

Shakra whined, ears flat, as he struggled out from under the dead body, trailing blood from wounds and from Katze. He became quickly aware, though, that Kyrill was looking off to the side, eyes wary as he kept his perch on Katze's back. Shang was staring that way as well, a long line of his scales damaged and bleeding, his daggers lodged in Katze’s body.

Werelions, injured and looking ragged, were standing in a loose group. There weren't many. Katze hadn't been able to control them all.

Shakra panted, ignored his pain and injuries, and straightened his body. He walked out to them, but kept a healthy distance. In a loud, clear voice, he said, “Your king is dead. Go back to your clans and live as you were meant to. This is done.”

They looked at each other, dazed, as if only Katze's will, his fierce personality, had given them purpose and cohesion. Then, almost as one, they turned and began loping back into the sand of the desert, heading home.

Kyrill said a small prayer of thanks and then slid off of Katze. “It's done,” he said in disbelief, “How did we accomplish what an army couldn't?”

Shang snorted as he examined his damaged scales. He picked a few off. “Sometimes, fear is enough to make someone fight. They feared Katze and now they don’t have to.”

“We feared him,” Shakra reminded him softly as he looked down at the body of Katze. It didn't seem so frightening now, empty of the werelion's personality and limp on the ground. Shakra took a deep, steadying breath and then moved around it.

“What are you doing, my prince?” Shang asked.

“Getting Tamarind's buck and going home,” Shakra replied as he took hold of the carcass.

“Home?” Kyrill asked, perhaps thinking of the long journey back to the Keep.

“My tent,” Shakra told him.

Kyrill smiled, understanding then.

“Where ever Tamarind is, that's home,” Shakra explained and then began the painful journey back to his love.

**************

“I like this place,” Tamarind sighed as he stretched out on a warm rock, a morning breeze drifting over them and the sun just starting to bake pleasantly. “I'm glad that we decided to stay.”

Shakra yawned and rolled an eye at Tamarind. He was using Tamarind's distended belly as a pillow. Full of desert buck, Tamarind wouldn't be inclined for much more for days to come. “It's not the forest,” Shakra agreed, “but I'm finding a love for it as well. I only wish...” He trailed off and became thoughtful.

Tamarind turned his head and became worried. “What is it?”

“I'd like to know what's happening to my kingdom,” Shakra finally confessed. “I might have been irresponsible, not a wise choice as their prince, but I do still care.”

Tamarind nodded. “I understand that, but were you truly ruling? Did you truly have a hand in their welfare?”

Shakra grimaced. “No. In fact, Kol wasn't doing a bad job. I only thought that he wanted war. It seemed that it was necessary after all. Katze really had been a threat. Tikena and Tal want peace. They will make sure that my land is taken care of.”

Tamarind licked one of Shakra's ears. “Send a note with a trade caravan, if it will make you feel better, but you know in your heart there isn't any need.”

Shakra smiled. Tamarind's tail end flicked along his face. He caught it between his teeth, grinned and began thinking that, perhaps, Tamarind could be convinced into mating even with a full stomach.

“Not in front of the children,” Shang said coolly. He was suddenly there and stretching out on warm rock. Smaller versions of himself came to settle all around him, sighing contentedly. Sahri settled with a more imperious air higher up.

Shakra blushed and then smiled at the sight of a maternal Shang and his new clan. He didn't show an ounce of affection, but Shakra saw him watching his children under half closed eyes, making certain that they didn't get too close to the rock's edge.

Shakra thought of his own lack of children, and his lost chance with Tikena. If he had stayed, he would have been Prince, ruling his land and siring heirs.

“You can, you know?” Tamarind whispered.

Shakra looked at Tamarind in surprise.

“Have pups, you know, if you want to?” Tamarind elaborated. “I'm sure there's some werefox lady who might oblige. They aren't that different from you.”

Shakra snorted. “I'm not interested in that,” he replied and rose to nuzzle Tamarind's face. Lying side by side, he kissed his mate. He frowned in the next moment. “Pups?”

“Yes, dog,” Tamarind snickered, but seemed relieved.

Shakra nipped a rounded ear. “That for your insolence, cat.” but then more seriously, “There is no one else for me, but you.”

“And you are the only one for me,” Tamarind breathed and kissed him again.

“Children,” Shang reminded them irritably.

“There are other rocks,” Shakra said to Tamarind suggestively.

“Let's find one... a private one,” Tamarind agreed.

They rose as one and moved away. Shang watched the ungainly werelion and tailless prince go. Love was indeed blind, he thought, but then blinked against the sun to look up at his own mate. He smiled warmly. Very blind.

The end