FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Shiba tried for the umpteenth time to stop herself from walking back and forth in the anteroom and forced herself to remain still with her back against the wall, her arms folded and her head on her chest. Once again, he breathed deeply and tried to calm down, with her eyes closed.

Not being able to know what was happening in the throne room made her feel more than nervous; it wasn't natural for a Sentinel like her to be away from the one she protected, not even when the monarch asked for it. That was one of the few times she had lost sight of Ike in the five years she had been his Sentinel. If anything happened to the lion at that moment, something more than her honor would be at stake.

But Alekai's Sentinel, Anassi, was there too. Standing next to the door, gazing into the infinite and without showing a hint of emotion in her face. One of her paws remained on her sword that hung from her waist, but that was the only gesture of tension she displayed. Shiba looked at her briefly, wishing secretly that she could keep calm as the older tigress did.

Her movement didn't go unnoticed and Anassi turned her head and looked at her. Shiba shook her head, uneasy.

It wasn't difficult for her to forget that Anassi was her mother, mainly because she had never behaved as such. For as long as the young tigress could remember, her mother had treated her more like an apprentice than other thing. When the other children had just started to play in the streets, Shiba already had to withstand her tough training sessions, day and night, as her mother hoped someday she would become a useful Sentinel.

Some would say that Anassi's training had been successful. Shiba had stood out immediately amongst the people her age. So much so, that even Alekai Embertooth, the imperturbable monarch that had massacred a whole race, did congratulate her more than once, before finally deciding to entrust her with his first-born's protection. But her mother hadn't seemed surprised, anyway.

Even now both were just a few meters away from each other, Shiba couldn't help but think she could never be further from her mother. She would have been afraid of the other tigress saying something, but she already knew she wouldn't.

Then, the throne room's door opened and Ike came through it, still carrying Zèon in his arms. Shiba analyzed both of them carefully, trying to find wounds of any kind. He hadn't even finished to do that before the lion turned to her and, looking at her urgently, he murmured:

-Shiba, I need you to do something for me.

The tigress blinked a few times, surprised.

-Of course. What is it?

She had noticed the low tone in the lion's voice, so she deduced that no one but them had to know and she copied his tone. She saw out of the corner of her eye how Anassi walked into the throne room, moving almost like a shadow.

-I need you to go find Koi in the palace gates -the lion informed her. Shiba comprehended it was important when she noticed the nervous gleam in his eyes -. You must escort him to my room, making sure no one sees you. Quick, if possible. Can you do it?

Shiba hesitated for a few seconds. The way to the lion's room would be full of prying eyes, and once she got to the Embertooths residence, the guards and the courtiers would only make it more difficult. <<I can use one of the secret tunnels to avoid the commoner's area, but we would be exposed once we put a foot on the palace>>. She shook her head and contained a sigh; it would be difficult, but it didn't have to go wrong necessarily.

The only problem she found in that was that, once again, she would have to go away from Ike. She didn't particularly like that prospect, especially knowing that the palace wasn't exactly the safest place in the world for the young lion.

-Alright -she agreed, finally, stopping herself from asking more questions -. I'll be in your room in half an hour. I'll make the usual sign.

Ike nodded, apparently relieved that she had accepted without questions. The tigress gave him a last look, trying to warn him not to do something stupid, and then turn her back to him.

As soon as she disappeared round the corner of the corridor, Ike let out a long sigh, still with Zèon in his arms. However, he had to remind himself that he should remain alert: he still had to go through two long corridors and take the stairs to his tower, and he had to do it without finding anyone in his way. He hugged the arctic fox a bit tighter and breathed in deeply, trying again to summon his courage. <<If everything goes right, I won't have to worry about this for a while>> he told himself, trying to stay optimistic.

Silently, he walked through one of the long corridors that connected the throne room with the west wing, trying to be as stealthy and fast as possible. Fortunately for him, dinner wouldn't be served until a few hours so there shouldn't be many servants wandering in the corridors. If he had arrived a bit later, it would have been much more difficult to hide the young kane in his bedroom without anyone noticing.

When he was halfway down the first corridor, he heard voices not far from there. A chill ran down his spine when he realized that they came from the same direction he was going to, and he turned around nervously, looking for a hideout. He found, just a few meters from where he stood, an old wardrobe in which the maids kept the sheets and blankets, if he remembered correctly. When he was younger he had hidden many times in that wardrobe, continuously trying to disappear; however, now that he had grown up it was physically impossible that he could fit in there. He bit his lower lip, seeing only a possible solution.

Seconds later, a lynx and a cat came round the corner and started walking through the corridor. The lion tried to hold his breath, with his back against the wardrobe's door and looking down. He was aware that he was not particularly good at pretending and if those people asked him what he was doing in the corridor he wouldn't know how to give them a convincing answer. Although, did he even need to?

Wasn't he Ike... Alekai the Second, the son of Alekai Embertooth? If there was someone who could demand explanations, it was him and not the others. He was trying to get rid of those thoughts when the cat who was passing him suddenly stopped.

-Alekai? -he asked, astonished -. Alekai, is that you?

Ike looked up, afraid of what he could find. The cat had stepped towards him, although he stood at a safe distance from the lion and looked at him in disbelief. It took Ike a few seconds to recognize the black spot around the cat's eye, which stood out in his white fur.

-K... Kodu -he murmured, surprised.

-Is it really you? -the cat smiled then, apparently relieved to hear the lion's answer. He approached Ike and immediately gave him a warm hug -. Damn, Alekai. The next time you disappear without leaving a trace, at least have the decency to inform me on your return.

-Oh... yeah -the lion murmured, hugging the cat back, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Kodu belonged to the Royal Guard, an army that defended the king of the fehlar and had sworn, many centuries ago, allegiance to the crown. The order might seem similar to that of the Sentinels at first sight, but these only swore loyalty to a person in their whole lives, whereas the Royal Guard existed specifically to protect the king. That meant that, if someone took possession of the throne, the Royal Guard would have to swear allegiance to him, even if the new monarch had been responsible for the fall of the previous one. That had generated many conflicts with the order of the Sentinels and that was why there existed a certain rivalry between both societies.

Unlike many other courtiers in the palace of the Embertooths, Kodu came from a large family which, in spite of its noble blood, had been declining for a long time. In the past, the Snowcoals had become allies with Raiknas Blackpaw, who had been king before Alekai Embertooth. When the last one had taken the throne by force, the new monarch made sure they paid for their mistake. At the moment, Kodu's family didn't owe any land but their own house. As the eldest son, the young cat had had no choice but join the Royal Guard in order to maintain his family.

Ike had known Kodu when both were only children. His father often said that he used to make the less appropriate friends for his position, and that wasn't an exception. The friendship among them had been the talk of the court for a long while, especially since Ike's father had been responsible for Kodu's family's misfortune. However, none of those past conflicts had dirtied the friendship between both fehlar.

On the other hand, he wasn't the most scandalous friend that the lion had had in the palace.

-What are you doing here? -Ike asked, confused. Privates were supposed to patrol the palace surroundings, not the corridors.

-That's what I should be asking -the cat answered, stepping back and giving him a questioning look -. Not long after you disappeared, the old Danre died. His position was vacant, so...

-...so you got promoted to captain of the Royal Guard -Ike comprehended, blinking a few times -. Wow. I'm so glad for you. You really deserved it.

-And where have you been, if I may ask? -Kodu questioned, tilting his head. Ike could see, under the helmet of the cat's armor, the other black spot in his ear.

-Haven't you heard my father? -Ike scoffed. He couldn't help but feel irritated by the way his disappearance had been used to direct more hatred towards the kane. However, he had to be careful if he didn't want to break the pact he had made with his father.

Especially, when Zeon and Koi's lives might be at stake.

The cat gave him a new questioning look, as if he felt there was something beneath those words. However, he shook his head.

-Well -he said, after a few seconds -. I'm glad to know you found the way to... break free from your captors.

-I'm also glad I came home -the lion murmured, looking away. In fact, he was starting to wonder whether it had been one of the worst decisions he had ever taken in his whole life.

Kodu smiled.

-Listen, I have to go down to the west courtyard to coordinate the inspection of some new good that have come to the palace. But I hope we can talk soon. -He placed a paw on Ike's shoulder -. I missed you, friend.

Ike couldn't help but smile, feeling a wave of warmth in his heart. Silently, he thanked that in the middle of such a hostile environment, he could still trust someone.

He said goodbye to the cat and watched him walked down the corridor with the lynx. As soon as they disappeared round the corner, Ike quickly turned to the wardrobe and opened it, a bit anxiously. The light of the torches illuminated the body of the arctic fox, lying in the wardrobe and surrounded by sheets.

-I'm sorry for leaving you alone, Zèon -Ike whispered, taking him in his arms and starting to walk again towards his room.

Fortunately, he didn't find anyone else in his way. Once he had closed the door of his bedroom behind him and left the arctic fox in the bed, he slumped on an armchair near him and let out a long sigh. That had been close.

Silently, he watched again, as he had many times before, Zèon's unchanging face.

Even though his conscience had been turned off brutally, the arctic fox maintained a calm, rested expression, as if he was just sleeping. His chest rose and sank slowly following his peaceful breathing, weak but steady. The first hours after Zèon had lost his conscience, Ike had been constantly worried about his pulse, as if in any moment the fox could pass away. However, after a while, he had finally assumed that, just as Sophia had said, Zèon wasn't dead, but simply gone. Disconnected, she had said.

Ike tilted his head, trying once again to find the logic in the strange abilities of that woman. If what she had said was true, she could see their thoughts, and also disconnect the conscience of each prisoner of the Box, as easily as she had disconnected Zèon's. Unless whatever she had done to the arctic fox the night he had disappeared had given her more control over his mind.

And if that wasn't the case, how could that woman have let them revolt? If she controlled them so easily, why hadn't she used that to prevent them from escaping?

<<She is lying>> the lion thought <<She has to be lying>>. That was, of course, the only possibility that made sense. However, he couldn't totally believe that was the right explanation.

He shook his head. That was beyond his understanding. He knew he would never be able to understand what had happened in the Box, nor the reasons of that hateful woman. He wished that, at that moment, Sophia was wandering alone and hungry in the most inhospitable moors of Lykans. He imagined what would happen to her if Kainn's gang finally managed to catch her. He was surprised to notice how much he enjoyed that possibility and shivered, a bit afraid of the strength of his own hatred.

Then, he leaned closer to Zèon and, as if with that he could cool the ire that had taken over his heart just a few seconds before, e licked the arctic fox's forehead affectionately.

-You are going to be alright... -he whispered, caressing one of his cheeks -. I promise.

There wasn't a reaction in his face, but he didn't mind.

At that moment, the door of his bedroom opened suddenly and Ike almost jumped in his seat. He quickly moved away from the arctic fox and turned to the door, afraid of who he could find there.

-Ali! -someone exclaimed from the entrance; someone the lion knew very well -. Oh, Ali! I missed you so much!

Still too astonished to react properly, Ike watched a slender, golden-furred lioness enter his room running and leap on him, giving him a warm hug. The lion immediately froze in the other's arms, as if something icy had just caressed his insides. However, the lioness didn't seem to notice, since she just rest her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, with a smile of pure happiness in her face.

-My dear, lovely brother... -she whispered, in a tone that almost seemed like a purr -. You can't imagine how glad I am that you are back... to palace.

Ike gulped. He was mortally pale and trembled slightly in the lioness' arms.

-Ka... Kathreen -he managed to say, after a few seconds -. W-what are you doing here?

-Isn't it obvious, silly? I heard you had come back and I had to make sure everything was alright and those bad, bad kane hadn't hurt you -the lioness answered, stepping back and shrugging. She was still smiling and that made Ike feel even more uneasy -. But I see they couldn't beat you. No, of course not.

That said, the lioness turned her back to him and started wandering in the room, scanning everything as if she hadn't been in there for a long while.

Ike still remembered how she walked, moving her hips back and forth in an elegant but subtle wiggle, as her tail drew brief arcs in the air. A lot of fehlars in the kingdom had felt attracted by those moves and had been trapped in the sensuality that the lioness projected. A few had got to go to bed with her, and had left it in the next morning, with long scratch marks in their arms and backs, but a stupid smile in their face, as if that had been the best night of their lives.

Of course, none of them had ever come back to the palace.

The lion told himself that it was disturbing to say the least that the first thing that had come to his mind now he had seen his sister was the men she had slept with.

However, he didn't have much time to think about it, since at that moment he noticed that the lioness was leaning over Zèon and was analyzing him with real curiosity.

-Oh! Look at this, you made a new kane friend!

Ike reacted almost instinctively. Before he could even know what he was doing, he had grabbed his sister's wrist and had pulled her away from the bed Zèon lay on, not sharply, but firmly. Their gazes found each other and, for an instant, it was as if two swords clashed.

-Keep away from him -the lion groaned. An unpleasant memory sent a new shiver down his spine -. D-don't you dare... don't you dare to...

Kathreen's golden eyes looked back at him, apparently calm, but Ike could feel a defiant storm under their surface. The smile that had lit her face before seemed to be frozen now, and like that it just looked like a weak grimace.

However, after a few seconds, she seemed to collect herself and gave him again a charming smile full of innocence and sympathy.

-Oh, you're so sweet! -she exclaimed, caressing her brother's cheek affectionately -. You have nothing to worry about, Ali. Your secret is safe with me. You know you can always count on your little sister for whatever you need. -That said, she winked at him mischievously.

Ike looked away, trembling violently. His sister, however, didn't seem to notice the fear she inspired in the lion, since she just giggled and then walked towards the door. She seemed about to leave, but then turned and gave Ike an intense look, resting her body against the door frame.

-I heard you convinced dad -she said, biting her lower lip -. Who'd have thought it? You disappeared being little more than a kid... and you came back behaving almost like a man.

Ike forced himself to remember that he was the older brother and the lioness he had in front of him the younger, so that comment was simply out of place. However, when he looked up to reply something, he realized she had already left.

Still too altered to think clearly, the lion slumped on the armchair near the bed again and closed his eyes. Until that moment, he hadn't thought of the great threat that Kathreen could be for Zèon and Koi, especially now she knew of their existence. For some reason, during his stay in the Box he had almost completely forgotten his sister, what her smile hid, and the secret danger behind their apparent halo of innocence and sensuality. If he had thought more about it, maybe he would have taken another decision and never brought the kane with him to the palace. If he had thought more about it...

He shook his head. It wasn't worth thinking about it. He had gone to palace because it was the only place he could have gone. If he had taken Zèon and Koi with him it was because, after all and even after meeting Kathreen, he thought they would be safer with them than in a kane refugee camp, where anything could happen. Besides that, if things were like when he had disappeared, his father wouldn't rest until he found each of those camps and eradicated them with his army. That would have made Koi and Zèon extremely vulnerable, especially now the arctic fox wasn't even... conscious.

He gave Zèon a long look again and sighed. <<I'm sorry>> he thought, sad <<It seems that, whatever I do, I can never protect you as I should>>.

However, Kathreen had said that "his secret was safe". Did that mean that she wouldn't do anything that could hurt the arctic fox? Ike wasn't totally sure. He couldn't take her sister's words seriously, let alone believe in them. Especially, after all that she had done.

Then, someone knocked on the door. They were four knocks, done in a rhythmic way, and although the possibility that someone else might enter his bedroom initially made Ike's fur stand on end, it didn't take him much to understand that was Shiba's signal.

-Come in -he said, loud enough so she could hear it.

Immediately after, the door opened and Koi entered happily to the room, watching everything with bright eyes.

-Can I talk now? Are we there yet? Oh, is this your room, Ike? It's huge!

Shiba walked behind the little husky, with a frown that made her bad mood evident. It didn't take her much to approach the lion and give him a glance full of exasperation.

-Never again, Ike -she muttered, and the lion was about to laugh -. Never. Again.

-Was it so difficult? -he asked, raising an eyebrow.

He hadn't even finished asking that when a noise of wood cracking drew his attention and he turned, just in time to see Koi leaning out of the window and exclaiming:

-Wow! This tower is really tall!

Ike turned pale.

-Kai, keep away from the window. Now -Shiba commanded, giving a brief and worried look at the lion.

However, it didn't take him much to collect himself and, as the husky did reluctantly what the tigress had asked him, he stood up and walked until he was by his side. Once there, he put his paws in his shoulders and crouched down to look him in the eye.

-Koi, I think you don't understand how important it is that only Shiba and I know you're here.

-Of course I understand -the husky answered. His smile had faded away, and he looked at the lion with bright eyes -. It's like playing hide-and-seek, right?

-It's much more important than hide-and-seek -the lion corrected him, smiling -. We can't let anyone see you. Do you understand?

The husky looked away. For some reason, Ike thought he could see something below his expression, something he had never seen before in the little husky, and for a few seconds he seemed to be much older than he really was. It was so brief and faded so fast that if it were not for his next words, he would have never thought about it.

-Yes. I understand. It's not the first time. -He paused and, suddenly, a wide grin lit his face again -. But this place is so huge!

-I know -the lion said, and smiled at him -. And I promise that if everything turns out well, I will show you around as you deserve... someday. But for now, you have to stay here. Okay?

Koi held the lion's gaze for a few seconds, until he finally nodded, satisfied. Still smiling, Ike moved away from him.

-Has anyone seen you? -he asked, turning to Shiba.

-No. We've been lucky. Really lucky -the tigress emphasized, resting against one of the walls and letting out a soft sigh. Then, he turned her head to Ike and frowned -. Now, can you tell me what's happening exactly?

Ike shook his head and fixed his gaze in Koi again. The little husky had climbed into the bed and observed Zèon carefully.

-My father has agreed to allow them to stay here, as long as no one can see them. In return, I have to corroborate his account of the events. -He rolled his eyes.

-I see -the tigress murmured, a bit surprised -. So... you faced up to him.

Ike gave her a tired smile.

-Oh, no. I was really afraid, actually. I don't even know how I found the words to talk. He could have... -He stopped and gulped -. He could have killed Zèon right there if he had wanted.

-But he didn't -she replied.

The lion hesitated for a few seconds. Even though he would have liked to simply accept the tigress' words, something inside him resisted believing he deserved all the credit.

-It's not that easy -he said, finally -. And if I had really faced up to him, I wouldn't have to continue his lie now, don't you think, Shiba?

-Krysha -she corrected him, gently.

Ike turned to look at her, a bit surprised. The tigress gave him a bitter smile.

-That's my name, not Shiba. -A gleam of hatred went through her deep blue eyes -. I don't want to give that woman the satisfaction of thinking she has changed something in me.

Ike blinked a few times, comprehending.

-In that case, I will still be Ike and not Alekai -he decided, after a few seconds -. I know I'm giving in to Sophia if I do so, but... -He paused, giving the tigress a somber look -. I prefer that, rather than giving in to my father.