The Tiger Within

Each motion was slow and deliberate as her skirt and hair swished around her, bringing the blade to flash with sunlight. Two men stood nearby, one called out a string of numbers, and each number seemed to guide the girl through a carefully ch.o.r.eographed dance, the aim to teach her to move fluidly with the weapon. Her little face was filled with concentration, even as she put her heart and soul into every motion.

"Very good, Princess. Kyera will be proud of you." Lazren praised her and Raina smiled back, looking over her shoulder at her teacher. He smiled and nodded "why don"t you go for a run, Princess, once around the field." He ordered, not wanting her to tire her arms out before the rest of her body was well worked. Raina nodded and slid her sword back into its sheath. She took off at a rather quick jog.

"Pace yourself, Raina." Mordrin reminded her as he watched her change her speed to match his warning. Lazren walked to his side frowning.

"A gold for your thoughts, Prince Mordrin?" Lazren asked holding a single coin up between thumb and forefinger. Mordrin glanced back at him for a moment chuckling and taking the coin. He flipped it over in the air a few times, catching it as it fell back toward his hand.

"There has been no word from Kyera in nearly three weeks. It isn"t like her not to have some sort of contact. They were going into dangerous territory… something doesn"t feel right." Mordrin replied, keeping his eye on the Princess as she ran the perimeter of the fields. The men were mindful, and he knew she was safe but it was better to keep eyes on her, just in case she had trouble.

"Kyera wouldn"t have gone if she couldn"t handle it. They are probably enjoying some time as newly weds. Come on, they barely had time to get to know one another before they married, and they didn"t have much of a wedding night. Maybe they are taking a moment for them and lost track of time?" Lazren offered, trying to be optimistic. Mordrin shook his head, his concern and disbelief in that theory clear on his face.

"Lazren, they are late. It"s been nearly a month since they left. She intended to be gone a week to two at most. When have you ever known her to fail to alert when she was going to be later?" Mordrin asked and Lazren sighed. Once again, he was reminded that out of everyone here he had known Lady Kyera the shortest. Mere months, and most of that was spent with him being a patient.

"There"s nothing we can do about that. We should focus on what"s important at the moment. Raina is our charge, until we have contact there isn"t much we can do. Even if something went wrong, what are we going to do? Storm into The SnowDrop Palace and demand Kyera or heads will roll?" Lazren asked and Mordrin thought about it for a moment, weighing the option. Realizing this Lazren sighed deeply looking the prince beside him over from head to toe. Seeing this man with Raina and the little prince had completely erased what Lazren had known about this man before. The b.l.o.o.d.y prince of Shadow Vale was much harder to fear when you knew he spent every night reading "The Prancing Pony" to two little ones, using voices and a hand puppet. "No, you can"t do that. Kyera would not appreciate it if you barged in and everything was perfectly fine. War isn"t the best first step in this situation." Lazren corrected himself and Mordrin sighed nodding as well.

"Yea, we would win, I mean our army is like six times the size and once you control the three farm lands you just have to starve them out. However, that being said, Raina would be upset too. Little thing has a soft heart." Mordrin agreed as she came up the back stretch.

"Umm no, she is what we call normal. You however, Prince-heart-of-ice… are your own breed." Lazren replied through a bright, fake smile. He couldn"t help but grin as Raina turned toward them. Her little feet picking up the pace.

"Push, Finish Hard!" Mordrin cupped his hands around his mouth to shout to the child. She was looking winded and tired, perhaps close to giving up. However his words seemed to help her find that little something extra she needed to push through the end of her run. However, just before she reached them another form rushed her, sweeping her up into his arms and spinning around tossing her in the air.

Lazren ran in the direction of the man who had picked up his princess, but Mordrin just stood back and sighed. He began walking down that way, listening to the Princess shrieking. "Dad, you should really try not to scare the h.e.l.l out of the child"s guardians." Mordrin told him while Lazren stopped and watched as Emperor Mordakai tossed his prize in the air and caught her again.

"Oh come now, both of you have been monopolizing her with your training regime. I wanted to steal her for a moment." Mordakai replied as he brought little Raina down to sit on his hip. She giggled setting her cheek on his shoulder. Mordakai kissed her forehead and smiled at her.

"True enough, we should probably stop for the day. Raina is doing well, no need to work her so hard." Mordrin agreed and Lazren frowned. He was from a totally different culture. This was normal, training was their only pastime when he was a child. Here she had so many options… perhaps they were right.

"Princess, why don"t we go enjoy some tea and maybe go for a horseback ride? I need to survey the back lands, care to go along?" Mordakai asked and she smiled.

"Yes Please, Grandfather. Let me go change into a riding dress." Raina replied smiling brightly at him. There was a sparkle and excitement in her eyes that he couldn"t help but chuckle at her. He let her down and she dashed away.

"I should go see my boy and his mother. I want to take Vella lunch." Mordrin nodded at the other two men before walking off in the direction of the kitchens.

"Wait, Mordrin… come back." Mordakai replied, his expression darker as his son turned back.

"Yes, Father?" He asked not liking the look on his face. Mordakai folded his arms across his chest and cleared his throat a bit tensely.

"I got a letter from Clovis. It seems he went to the shadowlands, and when he came back Kyera had been gravely injured. She… she hasn"t woken up." He broke the news as gently as he could. There was a long moment of disbelief, before the sound of wood cracking and a tree shuddering broke the silence. Blood gathered on the broken skin of Mordrin"s knuckles.

"I knew something was wrong. d.a.m.n. d.a.m.n d.a.m.n d.a.m.n. How long?" Mordrin demanded completely frustrated. He had promised to take care of Kyera, he swore he would do his best. Now, she was injured… again.

"Mordrin, she"s been asleep for a week." Mordakai replied softly, setting one arm on his shoulder. "They won"t be back till shes awake again. At least another week. Clovis… he asked we bring Raina to him within the week if we don"t hear anything else."

"I will prepare to escort her. Vella will understand. I can"t send Raina to the Frost Lands without someone we trust there to take care of her. After this, honestly I don"t want to send her with anyone other than you or me. Right now, I am a better option." Mordrin explained his thought process before his father had a moment to disagree. There was too much going on at this point for any of them to disagree. They had thought that the last trip was completely safe, that hadn"t turned out to be the case.

"Alright. For now, I am taking her riding. I want her to have some fun before I put something so heavy on her shoulders." Mordakai replied sighing deeply. He really wasn"t looking forward to talking to her about this.

"Alright. I will go talk to Vella." The three broke company then, Lazren left standing still on the field. His expression lost as he looked up at the sky. A gentle wind blowing across his skin. A silent prayer for safety entered the wind and vanished on its waves.