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Hi there guys! Like I promised, I managed to get the next chapter out right after the previous one! Yay! this is a personal record for me :3 Anyway, this chapter is just the continuation of the previous one. I figured it was going to be too long if I stick it in just one chapter. Oh, there's a surprise for y'all waiting at the bottom!

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Canines and Felines: A Kingdom Divided

Chapter 7

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The afternoon sun was beginning to set over the horizon. Merchants were out screaming and advertising their wears, with enough water and wine to last their throats through the night. There was music and festivites on-going in the square. People eating and drinking to their hearts' content.

In the city of Andriel, Capital of the Eastern Kingdoms, it was a normal day, full of joy and laughter that spreads throughout the entire land.

"This is unbelievable." Calindel mumbled as he walked along the castle's busy market streets. He scratched the back of his head as he breathed a deep sigh.

"Bah! Have more faith in yerself, lad..." The old deerhound reassured, patting his shoulder. "The princess has faith in ye, an so do Ah. Yer a brilliant knight, ye are, Cal. Don't ye forget it either!"

Calindel sighed as he nodded, letting the facts sink into his head.

"Although," He grinned slyly, "Brilliant as I may be. I think 'Best knight you ever trained' would be a more fitting title to you, wouldn't it?"

The old deerhound howled heartily with laughter. "Ach, tahahaha! Aye, tit'would be fittin tew be proud o' somethin'. An' if it 'ad to be yew, then so be it!"

Both canines laughed heartily as they walked up the streets and into a fork. There, they shook paws and embraced each other tightly, a sign of camaraderie among knights.

"Ah best be goin' home now, laddie..." He said, patting his shoulder once more. "Ah've got tew get 'ome afore me wife gits worried."

"Alright." Calindel replied, laughing softly. "I have a few matters to discuss with my sister. I'll see you tomorrow at the courtyard, then?"

The old deerhound nodded slowly, and the two then waved each other goodbye as they went their separate ways. Calindel walked toward the palace gates, where a pair of guards saluted him as the gates opened for him. He bowed back at them in reply as he entered the palace halls. Maids and butlers bowed and greeted him when he passed by them; courteously they greet him with either "Good day to you, Lord Calindel." or "Milord, it's so good to see you again!" The young wolf would only nod in reply, smiling weakly at them as he made his way to the throne room.

He pushed against the grand doors, opening them with a loud crack as he slowly marched toward the throne at the end of the hall. As Calindel had expected, his sister, the same she-wolf who gave him his title, was seated comfortably on her throne. Her lavender eyes glowed with radiance as she stood clad in a teal dress, the small tiara shining on the top of her head. She slowly walked down the steps just as Calindel knelt before her, unsheathing his blade and stabbing on the ground to lean on.

"Lucy, " Calindel greeted, "Princess Regent of the Eastern Realms, to what do I owe the pleasure of you summoning me here?"

Lucy breathed a sigh of annoyance, clenching her paws tightly. "Must you always be so formal with me, Calindel?" She asked, feeling her cheeks flush.

Calindel looked up to face her, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. "No." He said, "But I sure like it when it gets under your skin and bothers the living days out of you."

Lucy put her paw on her forearm, resisting every urge to slap her twin brother while he was still kneeling on the floor.

"Oh whatever, Cal!" She growled in frustration, walking away from him. Calindel slowly stood, following her.

"So, dear sister..." He asked as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him. "I'll ask again. To what do I owe the pleasure of you dragging my sorry tail all the way home?"

Lucy bore her eyes into the sky blue eyes of her brother's. "You know exactly why, Calindel..." She growled softly. "Do not deny that, especially when it's this crucial."

She looked around the entire hall, checking for anything suspicious. "Leave us." She commanded to her guards, who saluted her and left the hall. The two of them stood still as the echoing sound of metal greaves left the hall, everything going silent after the sound of the grand doors opening and closing shut.

"Come with me..." She whispered to him, leading him out to the balcony.

Calindel could sense an air of unease around his sister. She was nervous-no, scared, about something. What it was, he didn't know. But it seems he was going to find out.

"Anything the matter, Lucy?" He asked, seeing the sorrow in her eyes.

"I-it's father again..." She whispered, her voice getting hoarse as she tried to hold back her tears. "H-he's done it again... arranging a marriage for me and all..."

Calindel held her by the shoulders, looking into his sister's tearful eyes. He sighed softly as he cupped his sister's cheek. "I don't understand, sis." He told her, confused. "I thought it was your life-long dream to get married? Wasn't it one of your goals when you sat on your throne? Have you had a change of heart recently after all this fighting?"

At the sound of his words, Lucy broke into tears, covering her face with her paws as she leaned against Calindel's snowy white chest. The young wolf embraced his sister lovingly, cradling her in his arms as he whispered words of comfort in her ears, rocking her steadily to calm her. She sobbed a few minutes more before pulling away, Calindel being a gentlefur and wiping her tears with a cloth hidden in his armored suit.

"Look, I understand you're scared." He assured her, kissing her cheek like she did in the tent. "But you have to keep your promises, especially those that belong to father."

Lucy nodded in reply, feeling herself calm down. "Y-yes..." She stammered, clutching her brother's arms. "I-I've always wanted to get married. B-but... only to the one who has... s-stolen my heart..."

Suddenly Calindel's face was dragged toward his sister's as the two locked their lips together. Calindel's body froze in shock and awe, his brain figuring out just what was going on. Eventually, the feeling of his sister's lips pressed against his own caused him to close his eyes, his body melting into the kiss as he kissed her back; their lips never left each other until the lack of oxygen forced them to part.

When they pulled away, both Lucy's and Calindel's faces with flushed pink, both trying to take in what just happened. Calindel's body finally recovered, his eyes going wide with the sudden realization. "M-Me?" He asked her, with a raspy voice. "I-I am the one who stole your heart, dear sister?"

Lucy only hugged him tighter, her lavender eyes shimmering brightly with her tears. "P-please, Cal..." She pleaded to him, "There is no one else in the world I would allow to touch me, save you." She then took hold of one of Calindel's paws, placing it over one of her breasts, close to where her heart was.

"I-It hurts here, brother..." She sobbed, "It hurts so so much here..."

Calindel's nerves were about to break. He knew that he was stuck in a rather sticky situation, and he had no other option but to make a choice, right here, right now.

But was he willing to give in to Lucy's feelings? Give in to the sin of lust and incest, and break all codes of morality?

Or will he remain sane, and break his sister's heart with a decline, all for morality's sake?

He had to choose, time was running out...

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Boom! How's that for a cliffhanger? So, once again I ask you readers to help Calindel out here! He's got himself in a bit of a snag, and he needs your decision to get him out of there! Fair warning though. Whichever choice you make will affect the entire story in general, so please choose carefully and wisely. I'm thinking there are just three more chapters of the 'Calindel' Arc before I run back to Port Kogar again.

I won't continue until I at least get a good number of comments. Which ever choice gathers the majority vote well, wins, I suppose.

Until then!

"Living it my way..." ~Periosha