The Princess Canine: Chapter 1: Auditions

Story by Ether Simmons on SoFurry

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#1 of The Princess Canine

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Now, this story I like. Let me know what you think of it.

It will be about six/seven chapters long

This story is a continuation of my previous story 'The Den'.


Lexter Alley strode out to the courtyard, with each soft step matching the pulse of the music. With a flourish of his arms, he struck a majestic pose in the center of the stage, and held himself with regal beauty to the audience. He was the wolf prince, one of the suitors to the princess canine, the salvage and unknown presence among all of the royal suitors vying for the paw of the princess in marriage.

The prince of foxes reacted with hatred as he took an opposing stance, and glared at his enemy suitor. He came from the royal lineage of fox blood, and his family used cunning and deceit to work his way to this point. He thought he disposed of the wolf prince a few scenes ago, but apparently it did not work. He held his aggressive stance, with the intent on finally thwarting the wolf prince in the final confrontation. The prince's brother took a matching stance next to him, as they viewed the magnificent glory of the wolf prince.

The Princess Canine lightly danced away from the impending battle sequence, and hid behind the wolf prince. She was the heir to the royal canine line. Whoever married her would rule all the canines. She knew that marriages seldom had anything to do with love, but she gave her heart to the wolf prince, as they danced together under the moonlight two scenes ago. She loved him, and wanted the wolf prince to win the courtship battle, but would dutifully do as her position dictated, and marry the victor.

Lexter Ally watched the princess retreat with an unmistakable love in his eyes for her. Once safely behind him, he turned his attention to the prince of foxes and took an aggressive step towards him and his brother. He flourished his arms again as rage flared on his face, and the music signaled the start of the battle. He dared his opponents to attack.

The two foxes both took a step toward the wolf and halted, returning the wolf's glare with one of their own. With a backward sway, they both stepped toward the princess canine behind wolf, intent on claiming their prize.

Lexter interposed himself between the princess and the foxes, as he performed a dance step sequence and arm swings, catching one and then the other fox, and pushing them back. Again, with regal flourish, he struck a pose, defiant toward his opponents.

The two foxes stumbled back, and regrouped. With a signal from the prince of foxes to his younger brother, they split up and went after the wolf from two different directions. It was a variant feint of the political maneuvering that the royal fox lineage performed time and time again. Attack their opponent from two different directions.

The wolf prince countered first the brother, and then the suitor fox. He thrust them back and performed a double pirouette as he kept himself interposed between the foxes and the princess canine. He held himself up to his full regal height, as the music rose in crescendo.

The foxes regrouped again. Again, they started forward, but the magnificence of the wolf prince overwhelmed them. As the dance seeped out of their posture, they stepped away, knowing that the battle was lost.

Confident of his victory, the wolf prince stood tall and slowly turned toward his prized princess canine, and held out his paw for her.

The princess canine's face lit up with joy, and began a complex dance step toward the wolf prince with joyous beauty. Unfortunately, she mistimed her steps, and landed in the wolf prince's paws a beat too early.

With Lexter's paws on the princess canine's waist, he paused just long enough to sync up to the beat of the music. The princess also paused, and at the right time leaped up into the air. The wolf prince lifted her up, and presented the princess canine, for the entire world to love and cherish.

The choreographer Bilby Hoffman tapped his cane rudely on the dance studio floor, and yelled out in an annoyed voice "Wrong, wrong, wrong, no?" Bilby shut off the music, and while Lexter held the princess in the air, Bilby stepped up to the couple and proceeded to chew out Lexter with a voice reflecting his obvious superiority. "What is this? You're supposed to lift her into the air like she's the princess..." and proceeded to gracefully act out the lift maneuver... "...not like a pile of lumber, no?" and repeated Lexter's lift with an exaggerated focus on the pause. He glared at Lexter and yelled "You know how to dance, no?"

Bilby Hoffman was a 178 cm tall 80 kgs Dalmatian with black ears, who stood with impeccable poise and perfect posture. He dressed in a stylish shirt and dress pants, and gave the appearance that image was the utmost of importance in life. He spoke in a high society tone that seemed fake, but appeared to roll off his tongue as natural. He was in his late 40s, and used to be a star ballet dancer at 'The Metro City Ballet Company' before he traveled the world, dancing and teaching at ballet schools around the world. At a recent invite from his old company, he returned to choreograph 'The Princess Canine' as a test, to see if he could return as a choreographer, and eventually one of the inner circle producers.

Lexter held his temper in check as he gently placed Sandra back on the ground. With careful and controlled voice control, he responded "I'm sorry sir... It won't happen again..." I wouldn't mind drop kicking you back to ballet school, spotty doggy, Lexter thought to himself as he looked at Bilby, and worked hard on controlling his anger.

Lexter Alley was a good looking gray and white furred 102 kgs husky who stood at 185 cms. He dressed in a loose t-shirt and borrowed shorts. He was very muscular, and fit the part of the wolf prince for the ballet production 'The Princess Canine'. He majored in dance and computer graphics at 'The Metro City University', and attended school on a dance scholarship.

His mother used to be a star dancer at the dance company, and Lexter dreamed of following in his mother's pawsteps and dance at that same prestigious ballet company. When he graduated from high school, he auditioned at his mother's old ballet company, and for a dance scholarship to the university, and passed both. After much careful thought and consideration, he turned down the ballet company's offer, and accepted the scholarship. At the university he double majored in both dance and computer graphics, so that he had a fallback in case dance didn't work out. But he still longed to dance with the company, and with his one chance now, he didn't want anything to go wrong.

Sandra, who played the princess canine, nervously spoke up. "Bilby... um... that was my fault... I..." Sandra stood at 170 cms tall. She was lithe and talented border collie ballet dancer at the company, and dressed in simple loose t-shirt and shorts. She was a second tier dancer at the company who worked very hard to rise through the ranks and talent pool of dancers, and wanted to make this role work for her career.

Flustered about being interrupted, Bilby turned toward Sandra and commanded "Silence!" He let his magnificence shine down on her as Sandra lost her voice. Slowly, he turned back to Lexter and glared at him.

The Metro City Ballet Company was putting on a special one night production of 'The Princess Canine' as a tribute to one of the company's primary donors. The Worthy family were a family of well off cougars in the community. The family suffered a severe loss when Shina Worthy suffered a car crash. The whole family died except for the husband Alexander Worthy, who was severely injured. The ballet company wanted to show their support for Shina by performing a special dance of her favorite performance. Unfortunately, the ballet company was on tour, with all of their star dancers on the road. So they utilized all of their second tier dancers. Nerveless, the dancers performed their task with professional grace, until the lead dancer broke his leg a week ago.

With a quick search through the city database, the company found out that Lexter Alley danced the part of the 'Wolf Prince' a year ago in a university production. He also danced it when he was 12 years old. With permission and time off from his college dance professors, he secured an audition. He sailed through the first two auditions with admiration and praise from the reviewers.

Today, he performed the climatic part in the dance studio at 'The Metro City Ballet Company' for the choreographer Bilby Hoffman. However, when it came to impressing him, it seemed as if Bilby took an inordinate amount of pleasure in chastising him on every minor and trivial part. Lexter knew the dance inside and out, but nothing seemed to impress Bilby. Lexter desperately wanted the chance to dance for his company, so he took the criticism and held his tongue.

When Lexter showed up to the audition earlier, he made it a point to show up early. He dressed in a simple tank top and cut-off knee length jeans. However, Bilby chewed him out on his choice of dress. So, with a quick trip to the changing room (and a wardrobe borrow of shorts from another dancer), he returned to the dance studio appropriately changed. Then, Bilby chewed out Lexter for being late. Lexter quietly noted that he was on time, but the studio clock was set ten minutes ahead. He held his tongue as the audition got underway. Bilby's personally set Lexter's temper on edge, which he worked on keeping under control.

Bilby spoke out at Lexter as if the husky was a simpleton. "You do what I say, not what you feel like, no?" He prodded the end of his cane into Lexter's chest, emphasizing his point.

Lexter yielded and stepped back, as he considered how wonderful it would feel to beat the crap out of the arrogant dalmatian. Yeah, just keep it up, you dumb dog, he thought to himself. "I... will do that... Bilby..." he said, in his controlled voice. Just get through this, and I can dance the lead.

Bilby gruffed out loud, as he glared at the other two dancers. "Well, we will see about that, no?"

The dancers who played the part of the foxes obediently nodded, not wanting to cross Bilby. Wally, a lightly muscled 173 cm leopard, danced the part of the prince of foxes, and Spika, another lightly muscled similar height cheetah, played the part of the prince's brother. They meandered about the dance studio, as the confrontational drama played about.

Lexter kept his voice in check as he carefully asked the question "So, is there anything else I need to do... Sir!?" He put a bit of unfortunate emphasis on that last 'sir'. Just say that I'm in the performance, you arrogant fur-ball, Lexter thought to himself.

Bilby jerked his head back at Lexter, took a long look at the husky from head to toe paws, and said in a slow voice "Well... I guess you will dance the part..."

Lexter's face broke out to a broad smile at the words. Finally, he thought. I did it!

Bilby stared at Lexter with disgust as he continued to speak. "...as we have no choice, no?"

Lexter almost yelled at Bilby, but caught himself and managed to remain silent. He visualized his fist going into Bilby's stomach, and that forced Lexter to remain pleasant. "Thank you, Bilby... I won't let you down." He said with his controlled voice. He turned to gather his things up as his anger simmered. You... uptight... arrogant... incompetent... butt-sniffing...

Bilby's voice rang out with an air of authority. "The dance is in three weeks on a Friday, Lexter." His voice dropped into a condensing tone. "Now, you will be able to take time off from your little school and make it, won't you?"

Lexter snatched his things and turned toward Bilby with his pleasant smile still plastered on his face. "Yes, I know I can ask for time off from school and work."

Bilby pounced on the comment with zeal. "Oh! No doubt you clean the slop off of the school cafeteria trays! Good for you!"

Lexter's smile faded as he felt he had enough of this. Although that was his first job when he started school, he was fed up with all the snide comments. "Actually..." he said as his voice cut through the air. "...I work at a bar called 'The Den'. But what is wrong with working for a living?"

Bilby gathered his things as he snickered. "So you serve drinks to fat sloppy furs! Good for you!" Lexter stifled another outburst, and remained silent as his anger simmered.

Not getting the response he wanted, Bilby raised a finger into the air and said with louder emphasis "Little pup! This is 'The Metro City Ballet Company'! The company doesn't make time for others, others make time for the company! Understand?"

Not trusting himself to remain in control, Lexter nodded as he forced himself to calm down. After a moment, he said in a careful controlled voice "I understand... you can count on me... Sir."

Bilby seemed offended by the comment, but simply nodded. "Good." His voice dropped down to resignation. "Get the paperwork from the front office." And with that last word and things in his paws, he pranced out of the dance studio.

Lexter finally let loose a small growl at the door before he let himself relax.

After the audible retort from Lexter, the other dancers gathered around him and praised him. Wally spoke up. "Hey, don't let that arrogant bitch hit you down. You did great." He patted Lexter on the shoulder.

Spika nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, you're perfect for the part."

Lexter smiled from the praise. "Thanks guys. I needed to hear that."

Sandra gathered her things up and spoke to Lexter. "I'm sorry about my mix up, Lexter. It was my fault, and..."

Lexter smiled at Sandra and shook his head. "Please, don't worry about it. I can't tell you the number of bobbles I've made when performing. Especially when it counted."

Sandra smiled with relief. "Thanks. I feel better. But Bilby shouldn't have chewed you out."

The four of them stepped out of dance studio and walked toward the changing room.

Lexter continued to speak. "I guess that Bilby wants to make sure this gets done right..." He glanced down the hallway Bilby went. "...I guess..." and stuck his tongue out in that direction. That caused a laugh from the others.

As they walked, Wally spoke up in a flirty voice. "So, Lexter, you work at 'The Den'?" He put extra emphasis on 'The Den'. That caused a bit of a chuckle from Spika.

As they passed by the girls changing room, Sandra ducked in with a quick 'bye'.

Lexter looked at the leopard confused. "Yes, I do." The three of them entered the boys changing room. "Why?"

Wally nonchalantly shrugged as he went to his locker. "Oh, nothing. I'm sure that it is a 'nice' bar." He put another bit of extra emphasis on 'nice'. He stripped off his shirt.

Spika sat down, got his things out and began to change. He remained silent.

Lexter got his things out and began to strip down, to change. "Well, it isn't a bad bar. I'm used to it, and the furs there are great." He stripped off his shorts and handed them back to Wally.

Wally took the shorts with a wink and a smile, while he stripped down naked. With a secret glance to Spika, he spoke to Lexter in a sexy voice. "Lexter, why would you go after that type of fur, when you could have someone like me?" He motioned with his paws to his lightly muscled dancer physique, with an inviting smile.

Spika glanced up and shook his head, as he stripped down.

Lexter put on his pants. "Uh... guys? I'm not gay."

Wally's paws fell to his side despondent, as his voice fell flat at those words. "Really? Not... gay? Really?"

Spika spoke up. "Well... neither am I." Not getting a response, he stood up nude and began to scrub down his fur with a towel.

Lexter stood up and did up his pants. "Nope. Not gay." It didn't bother him when others mistook him for being gay. It had happened a few times, but wasn't a pressing issue for Lexter.

Wally sat down, a bit dejected. "Oh..." He moved to put on his underwear. After he put it on, he paused and looked at Lexter. "So... why do you work there?"

Spika stopped his scrub down and look at Lexter for an answer. "Yeah. Why?"

Lexter put on his tank top, grabbed his bag, while he thought about the question. What the... he thought to himself. In a snarky voice he said "Cause I'm addicted to paying rent, boneheads!" He left the changing room, muttering about the IQ of certain dancers.

Lexter worked his way down to the main administration office of the building. He approached the front desk, and asked for the paperwork that Bilby told him about. The clerk gave him several papers for him to review and sign. He took the papers with a smile, skipped all the pages with fluent 'legalese' written on it and signed his name where it said 'Dancer for Wolf Prince'. What the fur, he thought. If it's important, then someone will sue me. He handed it back, got his syllabus and schedule for the practice sessions, along with a pass that allowed him into the building and the dance studios.

Lexter placed the stuff into his carry bag with a wide smile on his face and a rapid wagging tail that threatened to shake his ass. As he turned around, he saw Sandra standing in front of him. She smiled at him. "Hey there. Someone's a happy dog."

Lexter smiled back, as they walked out of the administration office together. "Well, what do you expect? It's always been a dream of mine to dance for this company, and I finally got it." He grinned with a goofy smile as his fantasy came to life.

Sandra laughed with him. "I know what you mean." They approached the main doorway to the building, and left. "I was so excited when I got to work for the company." She balled her paws up as she tersely spoke. "But I've always been relegated to background dance parts, or as an understudy. I need to make this work."

The two of them walked along the city sidewalk, alongside the main building. The hum of the city thrummed by. Lexter said "Don't worry. You're good. You have real talent. I am sorry about the other guy breaking his leg, but I'm glad the Metro City Ballet Company is giving me the chance to fill in. I know what it's like to be given a chance."

Sandra chuckled, and lightly shoulder bumped him. "Thanks, Lexter. I guess we're in this together."

Lexter smiled as he thought about his mother. "And my mom will be so excited about this."

Sandra looked up to Lexter as they walked. "That's nice. Is she a ballet fan?"

Lexter's smile grew even wider as they walked around a corner. "You could say that. She used to be one of the top dancers at this company before I was born. So, I'm following in her pawsteps."

Sandra stopped cold as her jaw dropped open. "Really? Wow! That is so amazing!" she gushed out.

Lexter looked at Sandra and beamed. "Yep. Like mother, like son." The two of them resumed walking, as they crossed the street.

The two of them walked in silence for a half minute. After a moment, Sandra spoke up. "Lexter? Can I ask you about something? I'm kind of curious."

Lexter nodded. "Sure." They passed by several shops in the city, as they walked.

Sandra shrugged as she searched for the right words. "Well... you go to the university and major in dance there, right?" Lexter nodded. Sandra continued. "You've got amazing talent. When I dance with you, I can see your impressive ability. I'm willing to bet that there are very few other dancers at the company who can perform at your level."

Lexter smiled from the compliment. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Sandra nodded as she continued to speak. "You could have auditioned for the ballet company. I know you would have been accepted."

Lexter felt like strutting with pride. He held himself up with a bit more posture. "Actually, when I applied for my dance scholarship, I also applied to the ballet company." He turned toward Sandra and gave a half-bow. "And I was offered a spot with the company two years ago."

Sandra's expression turned into stunned surprise as she glanced at Lexter. "Wow! That is so howling!" She faced forward as they walked. "But, why didn't you accept it? With your talent, you could have become the top dancer. Easily."

Lexter, who had this argument with himself many times before, said "Because I wanted to have a back-up plan, in case dance didn't work out for me. Right now, I'm doing a double major in dance and computer graphics at the University."

They both stopped in front of a coffee shop. He faced her. "When my mom danced at the company, she was the star dancer. But then she became pregnant with me, and had to give up dancing." He shrugged. "She didn't have any other skills other than dancing, so she stripped for a living to raise me. She really struggled. If dancing doesn't work for me, I'll be able to do something else, and I'll be OK."

Sandra dropped her gaze and thought about Lexter's words. "Huh. That makes so much sense." She looked up at him. "I don't have much else going for me except dancing, and dancers don't have that long of a career lifespan." She smiled warmly at Lexter. "That is so smart."

Lexter smiled back. "I'm just learning from my mother. She is fine now, and has a good job. I also want to be OK."

Sandra reached forward, grabbed Lexter's paws and held them in her own. "Well, my mighty wolf prince, I hope you don't mind if the princess does this." And before Lexter knew what was happening, Sandra stepped forward, took Lexter into her arms, and passionately kissed him.

Very surprised by the action, Lexter momentarily lost himself in the kiss before he pulled back. "What... what are you doing?" he exclaimed, very surprised.

Sandra coyly played with his chest fur through his tank top while she held him with one arm. "What does it look like?"

Lexter gulped nervously as his arousal grew. He hastily stepped back, not wanting her to notice. "But... but, I'm involved."

Sandra looked at him confused. "But I'm sure your boyfriend won't mind one kiss from me."

Lexter looked at her with a stunned expression. For the second time today, someone thought he was gay. "But... but I'm not gay. I have a girlfriend."

Now Sandra looked at Lexter with a surprised expression. "Really? Not gay?"

Lexter felt a bit miffed by that reaction. "No. As a matter of fact, I'm meeting my girlfriend here..." he motioned his paw to the coffee shop they stood next to. "...right now..." His voice trailed off to silence as he looked in.

In the coffee shop window stood his girlfriend Jamie. She was a large sized female husky, who stared at Lexter with a very hurt expression. The pain in her face tore into Lexter.

"Oh no..." he muttered to himself. "What have I done?"

Earlier, Lexter and Jamie had a cutting argument, due to the study partner that Lexter failed to mention to Jamie. The study partner was a very attractive female rabbit, who was assigned to Lexter to work on a computer graphics project for homework. Jamie spotted the two of them together at a coffee shop, laughing up a storm. When she confronted Lexter, he said that the rabbit was only a study partner and nothing more. But that didn't stop the argument. Lexter asked Jamie to meet him at the coffee shop after his audition to discuss the situation. But, as Lexter realized just now...

Jamie turned, and bolted for the far exit.

Lexter ran toward the coffee shop entrance, in hope of catching up to her and explaining that it was an 'accidental kiss' (yeah, right, Lexter thought to himself). He entered the coffee shop right when Jamie ran out the other door.

Lexter bolted toward the same door, dodging around a waiter and two customers when he finally left the shop. He saw Jamie slam the door shut on her car. He ran after it, waving his paw in the air. "Jamie! Jamie!" he yelled. The car skidded out of the parking spot, and sped off down the road.

Lexter slowed down and stopped as he watched the car leave.

Sandra finally caught up with him and nervously spoke. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I thought you were gay..."

Lexter jerked toward her and yelled at her "Well, you thought wrong!" He caught himself and forced himself to calm down, in front of a wincing Sandra. "I'm sorry..." Oh fur, how will I explain this to Jamie, he wondered.