The Tiger Within

The skies turned dark as rain clouds gathered, the rumbling of the G.o.ds rolling over the hills. The birds found their ways to their nests, settling in to ride out the coming storm. Coach wheels rolled at a fairly quick pace back toward the palace, trying to beat the coming storm. Alexi and his men had chose to ride alongside the carriage, unwilling to leave the wounded Prince alone.

Kyera sat quietly on her side of the carriage. Though she did sit straight, at a proper position it did send shock waves of pain through her. No whimpers or gasps escaped her lips however. as she focused all her energy in appearing mildly affected by the fight.

Clovis however, did not have to act much. His side was a bit bruised and if he twisted much or tried to breathe deeply he could hardly move. However as long as he moved slowly and in control manners he felt a bit of pain, but not much else. She had obviously taken the brunt of the fight.

"I can"t believe I went down like that." he stated allowed, honestly fuming at how weak he had been. As Fourth Prince he couldn"t even protect the lady who had accompanied him. Kyera shook her head.

"Fourth Prince, you should not judge yourself so harshly. Even First Prince would have struggled with those people." Kyera tried to sooth him, and wanted to continue but talking in long bursts hurt. A slight wince escaped her and his expression darkened more.

"You think First Prince is better than me, then?" he asked honestly surprising Kyera who looked back at him. Her expression was rather confused and tinted with curiosity in a dark way.

"Do you?" she asked, chunking the question back at him. In her mind he was concerned with a insignificant detail. Clovis narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I see." he replied shifting his gaze to the window at his side. Kyera felt the misunderstanding and pulled her energy together to support the wounded ribs before speaking.

"You truly do feel your inferior to your brothers." Kyera tossed the words out there while reading his body language. It was clear what she said was true, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. His eyes cut back to her, a fiery glare that couldn"t be contained but was missaimed.

"Prince Clovis, let me be honest with you. I believe your First brother has more skill in fighting than you do. Your second brother can handle domestic and foreign affairs like a warm summer breeze." Kyera pointed out both his older brothers high points. His annoyance and anger at her gathered.

"I see so I measure up to neither then. You will learn just as the others my true worth." he replied but Kyera raised a hand.

"You asked me a question. At least let me finish answering it before you decide where I stand between enemies and friends." Kyera added smoothly, honestly unruffled by his fiery response. It was so similar to a cat with something to prove. She wanted to show her neck to placate the beast, but knew it would do no good. "Your brothers each have their talents, but so do you." Kyera replied honestly.

He waited for her to continue, but she did not seem ready to. Her eyes met his, clearly waiting for a response. "I see, and what do you see as mine?" Kyera waited several moments, looking into his eyes as if pondering how to answer. He felt a slight heat creeping up his neck.

"Balance and Heart." Kyera replied after several moments of consideration. The obvious confusion on his face caused her to chuckle at him. There was a certain endearing quality to his disbelieving expression.