The Tiger Within

Tension in the room was almost stifling while The Shadow King started at them. His sister still sat quietly beside her niece, brushing Kyera"s hair out of her face. The Princess"s chest slowly rose and fell, much too slowly for her to be awake, and too irregularly to be sleeping. It was the slow ragged breath of someone breathing past the pain. Bryson stared at her, pain in his eyes. He had meant for it to be quick, painless and yet he had failed her. No one had any idea when the man and the woman had entered, but no one really knew what to say. They were frozen by his presence, the anger in his eyes and force of his existence. It was as though ice froze their blood until no one could move. A whooshing sound broke the stoney silence, bringing everyone"s attention to the hearth.

Sansor was kneeling there, taking two wooden handles in his hands and pushing them together. This motion contracted the small bag between the wooden panels, sending a woosh of air into the fire"s base. Flames jumped and danced in response, increasing the amount of heat given off by that small stone hearth. The Shadow King"s lip twitched slightly, as if curving up into a smile. Bryson could have face palmed at his son"s inability to read the room around him.

"Well? Is anyone going to tell me why my daughter had a blade sunk between her ribs or shall I start with your fire tender over there?" The Shadow King demanded his hands flexing, honestly itching to take a pound of flesh. Sansor looked back at him and slowly stood up. He calmly dusted his pants off before walking forward, standing tall before the Shadow King.

"Lady Kyera tried to give her life for the safety of our clan, Shadow King. There is little more to say." Sansor replied keeping eyes with the Shadow"s Master. He noticed a shocking lack of fear in the young lad"s eyes.

"I see, you know who I am and yet you show no fear." The Shadow King asked raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Perhaps the boy had not just failed to read the room. He seemed to simply not care who he or the lady were.

"Yea, really hard to show fear when I know your daughter so well. Let"s be honest. If Kyera did not want to give her life willingly, would any of us be able to take it from her? If it wasn"t for Clovis being lost in the Shadow Realm and Grandmother dying from the flower, I doubt we would be having this conversation." Sansor replied, smoothing his hair back and dragging his hand down the the high ponytail sitting on the crest of his head.

"Wait, Clovis is where exactly?" He asked, slightly distracted as he realized his son in law was indeed not in the room.

"Who is Clovis? Why would my niece give her life for him? Is he a demiG.o.d as well?" The woman on the bed asked raising an eyebrow. Her question was aimed at her brother, rather than the meaningless mortals in the room.

"He is Kyera"s husband and mate. She married not long ago, they have a daughter but Kyera is very bent on the child not being raised without her father." Bryson offered and the Reaper nodded, seeming to understand him.

"I see. Why did he go into your realm, brother?" She asked seeming rather curious as she continued soothing her niece, trying to take as much of the pain away as she could. Though she had stabilized her niece, there was some healing that would still take time. The child was in no risk of dying as long as she took care of herself now.

"He went after the nectar to feed the Vitality Bloom." He explained looking back at his sister. She raised a brow slowly.

"You mean my flower that you gifted to humanity so long ago? There is a easy way to feed it, why on earth would a Mate of a Shade Princess go after such a trifle item? Come now, a drop of her blood would be more than enough to revitalize it." The Reaper G.o.ddess asked as she stood up, walking over to him. She looked into her brother"s eyes, or at least tried to. He looked away and she frowned.