The Tiger Within

It was a much calmer trek with Keenan along. The creatures gave them both a wide berth, not willing to pick a fight with their eldest prince. Even the winds seemed to guide themselves around them, as though brushing over his skin could be considered a.s.sault on a royal. Silence settled between them as the dark forest gave well to a much thinner woodland. There was s.p.a.ce to move.

Shadows seemed to dance and play in the moonlight. It seemed like children were playing all around them, some shadows and some in human form playing in the garden like eden. Clovis watched with a smile on his face as the children moved past. It reminded him of his Raina, he missed her. At least now he had a chance to return to her.

"So, how did you meet my sister? I can tell you aren"t a shifter." Keenan asked honestly deciding to be more blunt about his question. There was no real point in dancing around it. Clovis chuckled for a moment, remembering those first few moments when he had seen the beauty his daughter called the warrioress.

"Well, to be honest, I first met Kyera down the sites of a bow." He replied with a bit an amused smile. Keenan shot him a glance out of the corner of his eye. For the second time since they met he wondered if his brother in law knew how protective they were of Kyera. His ease admitting he had trained a arrow on her suggested he didn"t.

"Okay… perhaps more elaboration is in order?" Keenan suggested, there was a certain edge to his voice that warned this was more than just a suggestion.

"Oh, of course. You see my daughter, Raina had been kidnapped. We were taking off after the brutes when they split off. It was difficult to tell who had Raina so in the end they ended up slipping off in different directions. One of them, apparently lost site of Raina and Kyera stumbled upon her. We found her at about the same time but were just a bit too far away to get to her." Clovis explained completely unaware of the confused look on his brother in law"s face. Oblivious, he continued on "You see Kyera apparently decided that my daughter looked like a lost cub and scooped her up, intending to return her to the palace. She didn"t get the chance though as those brutes doubled back and tried to take Raina from Kyera. There was a bit of a battle then. Kyera was insane, she managed to protect Raina on one hip and hold her own fighting against insane odds. We intervene when it got a bit rough. I was worried Kyera or Raina would get hurt so we shot the attacker"s down." He finally noticed there was something odd in Keenan"s expression and his smile slowly feel. A bit concerned he coughed gently, a bit awkwardly.

"I know it wasn"t romantic, and not quiet how one should meet their bride but, Kyera and I met on several other occasions and the feelings grew. She is a fantastic woman, your sister and a AMAZING mother. You should see her with Raina. They are closer than even me and Raina some days. Well… Most days." Clovis admitted a bit sheepishly.

"You have a daughter? Is my sister your concubine?" Keenan asked, there was a fire suddenly flaring in his eyes. The respect he had regarded Clovis with previously seemed to have died as he faces him. There was a sense of anger and danger in his eyes that made the young prince rather uneasy.

"No, Kyera is my wife, and my mate. My daughter but it is complicated. I doubt you want to hear that story." Clovis replied rubbing his neck but he had his brother in law"s full attention.

"Come now, Brother, tell me more. We have quite a walk yet." Keenan replied in a way that hinted that they weren"t leaving this topic any time soon and Clovis sighed deeply. This was a wound he would have preferred to leave alone, but he couldn"t blame him. Clovis remembered having a similar talk with Mordren just before he married Vella.