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Soul of a tiger - chapter III PaoTir sat on the throne, her husband's throne, like she had so many times before when he had been away. The feline sat upright, proud, beautiful and unapproachable, like the natural leader she was. But now, her eyes looked almost glassy, as she stared towards the massive, two-winged door at the opposite side of the hall. When her messengers had reported that most of the city, including the barracks and the citadel had been overrun by enemy forces, she had made a decision. The captain of the palace guard had protested, but she knew that she would serve her husband better alive in an occupied city, then dead in a plundered ruin. And so she had ordered her guards to open the gates and surrender. Finally, the doors were opened by two goats, grinning evil as they entered, enjoying the frightened looks of the few courtiers and servants still in the room. PaoTir was glad that she had sent away her dancer when the fighting started. Her thoughts traveled back to him for a brief moment, he was an agile and smart man, she was sure he had been able to get away. But now, she had to concentrate on much more important things. The two goats were followed by a single antelope. PaoTir hadn't expected such an individual. She was small, at least a head smaller than the goats that guarded her, even with her horns. She was slender and petite, not hard to tell, for her dress was more than revealing. She was attractive, PaoTir had to admit, though much of that was from obvious effort, almost to the point of being tasteless. Her arrogant look only added to that impression. "Ah, Lady PaoTir." The antelope hinted a bow, but smiled mischievous: "So glad to finally meet you." "Who are you? What are you doing in my city?" "Your city? As far as I know, you're just the Amandir plaything of my lord's father." The antelope mocked and then continued: "But there's no reason for these niceties. My name is Eria, Lady Eria to be precise and I am the new chancellor of this city." "And who proclaimed you?" PaoTir asked, knowing that she had to be careful. "Lord Kuarnuk of course." Eria smiled overbearing. "Kuarnuk? He's behind this all?" PaoTir knew the answer, but she just had to ask. "Yes, of course. He took what is rightfully his. But you can count yourself lucky that I am here to negotiate with you, instead of him. I hope you appreciate this. RachnaKhan is dead, the guard defeated, the city under our control." "So, why do you waste time on me anyway?" PaoTir asked curious. She couldn't belief that her lord was dead. "You know the city and the administrative better than anyone else, I want you to help us rule this city." Eria explained. "What? You can't be serious!" PaoTir would have laughed if the situation hadn't been that severe. It was just too implausible. "But I am, I want you to serve me." Eria renewed her request. "And if I refuse?" PaoTir almost hissed, how could this ordinary woman demand such a thing from her? "Oh, that would be most unfortunate. In that case, it would take much longer to gain full control of the administration. During that time, I couldn't ensure the supply of the population. You wouldn't want your people to starve, would you?" PaoTir remained silent and so Eria continued: "Also, I would have to find another use for you, but I'm sure, my guards would be more than glad if I made you their, well, wench." PaoTir growled, but still didn't answer. She would we willing to suffer such a fate, but could she burden her people those suffering? Eria's eyes fell on Taja: "Of course, your servants would follow you." PaoTir's head dropped: "Fine. You win." "Marvelous!" Eria clapped her hands: "I told Kuarnuk that you would be reasonable. Now get up and let me sit on that throne." When PaoTir left the throne and Eria walked pass her, the antelope whispered: "You may see, I can be rather generous with my servants. --- Keshi's vision was blurred by a red veil, her head hurt and so did almost every muscle of her body. Still in a half unconscious state, she tried to understand what was happening. Something, no someone pulled her up by her arms, while her feet were roughly dragged over a dusty ground. The warm wetness with which a strand of hair adhered to her forehead indicated that she had been wounded. Then, the young warrior princess remembered what had happened. She had tried to help the defenders of her town, but on her way to the front-line, she had been overwhelmed by her rage and cockiness. So it had been easy for her enemies to bring her down. She was lucky to be still alive. But maybe death would have been a much more gracious outcome then what her enemies had in charge for her, now. The cat-tiger hybrid tried desperately to get back to her feet. The two boars dragging her along the street made little attempt to give her time for that, but even though she knew she would be unable to resist, she at least wanted to reach the place they were bringing her on her own feet. And then she saw him. The man who was responsible for all of this. Her half-brother Kuarnuk stood on a small square, surrounded by his commanders, both goat and boar warriors. To their feet lay Takash. The man who had trained both her and her father. "Kneel before your new ruler!" One of her filthy captors punched her hard in her back, causing the feline to stumble and almost fall to the ground. But Keshi didn't give Kuarnuk the satisfaction to fall down in front of him. "Leave her alone!" The male tiger shouted, earning a grouchy wheeze from the soldier, as he made one, two steps backwards. Kuarnuk then walked closer towards Keshi, a white rap in his hand: "I'm sorry they've been so rude to you." Kuarnuk tried to dab away the half-dried blood from Keshi's forehead, but the woman backed away. "But I'm glad that you aren't really hurt." "How could you do this to us?" Keshi growled, hatred and grief in her voice. "What? Take what is rightfully mine?" Kuarnuk asked back, taking Keshi by her arm so that the still rather shaky woman wouldn't fall and at the same time couldn't get away from him. "I'm sure you thought about this in the past yourself." Kuarnuk continued. "N- no, never!" That wasn't really true. Even as the youngest child and a half-blood, Keshi had sometimes fantasized how it would be to take over the post of her father. But doing that by force, and even worse, by treason and guile. No, that wasn't the way of a warrior, that wasn't her way. Kuarnuk shook his head: "I'm very sorry it had to come this way. You know, our father was once a proud and powerful ruler, but now." Kuarnuk tried to fake a sad undertone: "He had become weak, unwary, old. It was only natural that his strongest descendant would replace him. Had he be more reasonable, he would have known that himself, but as things were, I had to use force." "So what now?" Keshi hissed, trying to buy some time. Maybe an opportunity for her to kill her hated brother would occur. "Now? Well, I have to rebuild the town, surely some of the stubborn administrators on my domains won't follow without me convincing them, well you see there's a lot work to do." "And what about me? Are you going to kill me like you killed Takash?" To her own surprise, the thought didn't really bother Keshi, she had lost the fight, lost her right to live, the only thing she regretted was the fact that she wasn't strong enough to die with her fangs around Kuarnuk's neck. "No, no, no, kill you? Never!" Kuarnuk brought his face closer to Keshi's: "You are my sister, my own blood. I want you to stay here and be by my side. You want to be a warrior right? I will make you general of my army. But if you want something different gold, slaves, I can give you that as well. You see, it will be very worthwhile to be by my side. As my princess-" His voice became a whisper: "And my queen." Keshi felt sick. While her brother had shown a nasty, even sadistic tendency early in his life, he had been rather friendly to her all the time. Now she realized why that had been the case and it only added to her hatred towards him. Raising herself up as best as she could, Keshi looked her brother into his eyes and then spit into his face. Immediately, the young tiger growled in anger and pushed his sister back violently, before he whipped her saliva off his face. His guards once again took hold of Keshi's arms. "You're as stupid as your father." Kuarnuk growled in a mixture of anger and disappointment: "Bring her to the citadel and throw her into the dungeon. Maybe she'll make up her mind there." As he said the last words, he looked at his sister with a touch of hope, but Keshi just clenched her teeth as she was tugged away. Kuarnuk watched as his warriors dragged the woman away. Even now she was struggling against them. He could only hope that she would make up her mind and join him. Not that he really wanted to have her by his side as his queen, as an equal. In his mind, he saw her more like his dearest trophy, a formerly proud tigress fallen for his slyness and his charms, now his eager toy. The tiger pushed the thoughts aside, turning to one of his officers, a goat with a scarred face: "So, where is RachnaKhan?" "I'm sorry my lord, we weren't able to find him so far, maybe he died in battle somewhere in the streets." Kuarnuk's eyes narrowed: "Then go and find out!" He hissed, causing the goat to bow and turn around quickly. Keshi hardly noticed her own struggling, everything fell apart around her. Her city defeated, her father most likely dead, she to weak to keep on fighting, condemned to spend the rest of her short life in a filthy dungeon, her only chance to survive being her submitting to her hated brother. Suddenly, a new sound added to the stamping of heavy boots and the sounds of the scavengers devastating house after house. It took Keshi a moment to realize what it was. Water, the sound of rushing water. --- "PaoTir sweetie, please tell me, what are the largest rooms in this palace?" Eria asked in a whisper. The addressed lowered her head and blushed softly underneath her cream-white fur: "That would be my quarters." Eria laughed her cold laugh: "I guessed that. Well, tell your servants to clear those rooms, I'll need them for my studies. You can have some of their rooms, I'm sure when I'm done with this lazy bunch of humans, there will be a lot of room free." "Eria, I think you're sitting on my throne." Kuarnuk said as soon as he entered the audience hall. His sorceress was sitting on his father's gold-decorated throne like she owned it, arms casually by her sides, legs crossed. As she heard his voice, she slowly rose like an old woman that couldn't get up faster, but the tiger was sure that the sorceress was just playing with him_ "I'm sorry my lord, I just wanted to keep it warm for you." As Kuarnuk walked towards the now empty throne, he looked left and right. Eria had lined up her personal guards as well as some of the courtiers, of course only those she felt like she could trust: "Why is this cat here?" Kuarnuk growled as he saw his stepmother. "PaoTir has agreed to help us govern the town and rebuilt what the sloppy reign of your father has damaged." Eria explained as PaoTir lowered her head. The antelope continued "It wouldn't be smart sending her away, you know that." Kuarnuk growled once more: "Well, she can stay than." He sat down on the throne and smiled triumphant: "Now citizens of Kolmarkarr, greet your new lord!" And immediately, the gathered crowed sank to it's knees, some willingly, some because they had no other choice. --- The soldiers dragged Keshi over one of the bridges, connecting the western parts of the town with the east. The Mijani River that cut through the city wasn't an overall big river, but it had a deep, rocky riverbed and it flow fast. Still, Keshi knew that river was her only chance. Gathering all her remaining strength, the tigress jumped to the side, ramming into one of her guards, who, with a grunt, fell to the ground. And while another boar laughed at his alleged misfortune, a third already grunted in alarm, as Keshi ran, hands still bound, towards the railing. Before the soldiers could even react, the tigress had jumped over it and fell. Her landing wasn't as elegant as she had planned it, but at least she was away from her captors. Struggling against the gushing water, she tried her best to keep her head out of the water, as she saw two of the boars with crossbows on the bridge, aiming for her. The drift carried Keshi away from the bridge and the crossbows aimed at her, but in the water, she could hardly avoid the bolts. As long as she was in reach of those weapons, she was in grave danger. So Keshi did the best thing she could and, even though it was dangerous, she dove down. Only a moment later, bolts shot through the water around her, drawing thin lines of bubbles through the turbulent water. Suddenly, something hit Keshi's shoulder with the force of a hammer. Pain shot through her nervous system, causing her to let out a groan of agony, while she was still under water, precious air escaping from her lungs as she did. She had to get up quickly, or she would drown. But her arm wasn't working properly anymore. The pain almost caused her to faint, but she managed to fight herself back into consciousness. One of the bolts must have hit her she thought when she broke through the surface. And yes, there was a cloud of blood all around her, the red liquid mixing with the cold water. She couldn't hear the curses of her guards anymore, apparently, the river had carried her away from the bridge, but now she had to act quickly. Already, her vision started to blur, not long and the pain and blood loss would take it's toll and then she would drown. Her shoulder hurt, but she could handle that, what caused her more trouble was the fact that she still couldn't move her arm properly, maybe a sinew was damaged. That way, she wouldn't be able to pull herself up the rugged bank of the river. She struggled and fought to keep her head over water, but slowly, her strength faded away and she was still inside the city, then suddenly, she saw something. A tree trunk had fallen into the water and was now floating downstream. Gathering all her remaining strength, Keshi swam over to the wood, always fearing that some of Kuarnuk's warriors would see her and open fire on her. But finally, she managed to take hold of a branch of the tree, so she could pull herself over to it, clutching it and pulling her head up, while she growled in pain. Then finally, unconsciousness took hold of her.