FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Death is Unfair

Chapter 43

Zeinara hated waiting. There was an old saying that the easiest way to make a beast go mad was to make them wait for something, and she felt like she'd been waiting an eon for Yeneneshe and the others to return.

Once Yeneneshe was gone, Motsumi had insisted on following her as she went to get the artifacts, and no one had been against him going. Pili didn't trust Yeneneshe and seemed fully convinced she would make off with the stone and dagger, while Ettoras just didn't want Yeneneshe going anywhere alone. Florian was too drunk to care either way, and Shakir was too far removed from any of them to care about what they did: he only cared about nursing Florian. Palesa naturally suggested that she should go with Motsumi, and it was then that Kayya shocked the room by stepping forward and saying solemnly, "No. I will go with Motsumi."

"No, you won't!" Zeinara shouted at once, and it took her a moment to realize she and Ettoras had shouted the same words at the same time. She looked at Ettoras with pricked ears, and he looked at her with a similarly baffled expression. But they both regained their composer and looked at Kayya as if she were insane.

"It's too dangerous, Kay," Ettoras said soothingly.

"You'll go over my dead body!" Zeinara added brusquely, her paws in her pockets.

Kayya drew herself up, and she was so small and pretty, the effect was not intimidating - as she likely intended it to be - but sort of . . . adorable. Kayya was trying to be tough. Zeinara held back a smile: how cute.

"I should be the one," Kayya angrily insisted.

Pili's lip curled. "Do not be absurd, child," she said in her purring desert accent. "If they catch you touching those artifacts, they will slice you in half and hang your skin on the wall. If anyone should accompany Motsumi, it should be me. But I must remain at Zeinara's side. It is my sworn duty." She looked at Zeinara with adamant eyes, then looked away again.

Given the way things had been going lately, Zeinara wasn't certain Pili could really protect her anyhow. She was still trying to figure out what was the matter with her father's assassin. Pili had let Howlett's soldiers have their way with her far too easily. It wasn't like Pili to just . . . give up.

"It is indeed too dangerous, Kayya," Motsumi added with a frown. "I am fully capable of going alone --"

Kayya scowled. "Would you all stop bitching," she snarled, startling the room at large, "and listen to me?! Palesa can not and should not go. She is too torn with grief!" she cried, waving a paw at Palesa, who did indeed look hollow-eyed. She looked at Pili. "As you said, Pili, you should stay here and guard Zeinara and Ettoras. But, Motsumi, you should not go alone. So that leaves me. End of discussion." She looked around the room with hard eyes, waiting for someone to protest. No one did.

And that was how Zeinara found herself pacing the room, tense and unhappy, waiting for her Kayya to come back to her.

But could she really call Kayya her Kayya? Kayya was afraid of Zeinara. Wouldn't look at her. Wouldn't speak to her. Zeinara felt the sting of it each time their eyes met. She and Kayya were relieved to see each other down in the dungeons, but the relief had been short-lived, as Kayya had gone back to avoiding Zeinara at all costs. Kayya was terrified of Zeinara, and Zeinara didn't think there was anything she could do without terrifying her even more.

They spent the night waiting for the others to return, and it was then that Zeinara saw him. Wilmer. He was standing over Palesa's shoulder as she stood at the window, looking out at the stars. No one else seemed able to see Wilmer, but the Dalmatian was there clear as day, dressed in the servant's clothing he'd been wearing when he was shot, a bloody hole in his chest, his white mane loose and wild. He looked at Palesa with tears in his eyes, and Zeinara saw him raise his paw, as if he wanted to touch her. But he couldn't bring himself to. He dropped his paw again and just stood there, staring at her with the sort of longing only a ghost could possess.

Eventually, Zeinara whispered, ". . .Wilmer?" Her whisper was so faint, she was surprised when he heard her.

"You can see me?" Wilmer said in astonishment, and his voice seemed to echo, as if down a long tunnel.

Zeinara went to the far side of the room, and Wilmer followed. No one seemed to notice her odd behavior except Ettoras, who leaned against the wall and folded his arms, watching Zeinara with a curious expression.

"You can see me," Wilmer repeated, and this time, he sounded relieved, not surprised.

"Yes," Zeinara muttered under her breath. She wished Ettoras would stop watching her. "I don't know how or why. I just looked up and suddenly you were there."

Wilmer snorted. "That's exactly how death feels," he said glumly. He went to a bookshelf and reached experimentally for one of the books. He frowned sadly when his paw went through.

Zeinara's ears pricked forward curiously. "What d'you mean?" she asked sympathetically.

Wilmer shrugged and let his paw fall to his side. "One minute . . ." his eyes grew distant as he remembered, "I'm on the ground bleeding, and all my life is slipping away, and the only thing I can hear . . . are my love's screams." He swallowed hard and glanced across the room at Palesa. "The next minute . . . I'm surrounded by darkness and someone is singing. Singing sadly . . . as if they were mourning me! I swear I spent an eternity there. And then it was like I woke up, and I was back here with Palesa . . . only she couldn't see me." Wilmer bowed his head and his ears went back in his mane. "I thought I was in Hell. I thought I'd gone to Hell because I'd turned my back on the Creator. Standing over Palesa's shoulder, watching her cry for me, helpless to comfort her, unable to touch her . . . . I . . . I couldn't think of a more fitting punishment."

Zeinara frowned sadly and shook her head. "No, Wilmer. This isn't Hell. Though I can't blame your for the assumption," she added wearily and glanced around, wondering if Kayya was alright.

Wilmer frowned. "Then why am I here? And why are you the only one who can see me?"

Zeinara shrugged unhappily. She set her boot against a nearby armchair, her paws in her pockets. "Beats me. I suppose I can see you because I'm a child of Death," she said, a lick of golden mane tumbling in her frowning eyes. "Nkwe used to talk to me about spirits. He said sometimes if the soul isn't ready to go, it doesn't pass back into the earth. It lingers. He was trying to explain to me that the forest outside Thalsin was haunted." She smiled sadly. "I wanted to run away and he was trying to scare me out of it."

Wilmer smiled as well, watching Zeinara fondly. "I'm glad you're alright," he said. "I spent a long time in the darkness, waiting for you to join me. I thought maybe they'd kill you all right there."

Zeinara looked at him with sad longing. She'd never had any real friends before Wilmer. Axel had always been more of a servant and a pet, while Pili had barely taken the time to play with her. And then . . . there was Robin. Robin, her first kiss. Robin . . . her first love. But as the feud between Etienne and Jonathan accelerated, Robin's family stopped bringing her to Wychowl, and the rift between them grew wider and wider. As a result, Zeinara had spent most of her time in Wychowl alone, crying where no one could see, daydreaming about a mother whose warm arms she could only just remember. Now her first real friend was dead. Life wasn't fair, and neither was Death.

"What'd they do with my . . . with my body?" Wilmer asked with difficulty, but before Zeinara could answer, he said over her, "No! . . . I don't want to know."

Zeinara nodded and looked at the floor.

"Have you seen spirits before?" Wilmer wondered.

Zeinara knew he was trying to keep her worried mind busy. Or perhaps distract himself from Palesa. Or perhaps both.

"I think I have," Zeinara realized. "When I was a child, I'd see strange beasts around the castle. They were the source of my paintings. Of course, they looked like normal beasts, not see-through or anything, just sad or wounded." She glanced at Wilmer. "Like you. Think I was too young to understand that they were actually dead. There was this Pointer who used to hang around the chapel graveyard. Wretched bloke with the saddest puppy eyes you'd ever see. He had . . . the _darkest_rope burn around his throat . . ."

"I wonder if this is it for me, then," Wilmer said hollowly and looked with longing over at Palesa. "Will I just follow Palesa around? If she loves another . . . I . . . I don't know if I could take it. I want her to be happy, but it would . . ." He swallowed hard, staring at Palesa with haunted eyes like candle flames. "Listen to me," he said with a bitter laugh. "I betrayed her with Underdog, and I'm worried about her moving on?"

Zeinara smiled sadly. "You know you're the only one who actually calls Pili Underdog?"

Wilmer smiled faintly but didn't take his sad eyes from Palesa. She was still at the window, crying silent tears, her back to the room so that no one could see. Her long gray mane touched her tail, and the yellow feathers braided in it seemed devoid of color in the gloom of the candlelight, not warm as they had been before.

"I'm a child of Death," Zeinara reminded Wilmer. "Maybe there's something I could do. Maybe I could appeal to Maret and . . ."

"And what?" Wilmer said glumly, his voice echoing. "You really think Maret would bring me back?" He shook his head, as if Zeinara were naïve.

"Maybe I could bring you back," Zeinara said stubbornly. "Maybe I'll unlock some secrets at the SummerValley. Maybe I'll find a way."

"No, Zeinara," Wilmer insisted and gave her a sad smile. "You worry about yourself and Kayya. Don't worry about me anymore."

"Myself and Kayya?" Zeinara said, averting her eyes. "I don't have a clue what you . . ."

Wilmer laughed sadly. "You love her. Or you will. It's alright."

Zeinara pushed her weight off the chair and sat in it instead. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, legs spread. It was a very undignified way for a princess to sit, and she saw Pili glare disapprovingly at her before looking away.

"Fine," Zeinara admitted under her breath, "so I care about her. But it's not alright. Wilmer, she's afraid of me."

"She'll move past it," Wilmer said soothingly. He came to Zeinara and stood beside her chair, but his smiling eyes were fixed on Palesa. "I was afraid of Palesa for a while. The first time I saw her shoot fire from her eyes. . . ." He shook his head and whistled softly under his breath. "I was caught somewhere between scared and horny. Probably no different for Kayya."

"I want to make her happy, Wilmer," Zeinara said miserably. "I want . . . to live with her in the forest. Whatever she wants. To hell with Varimore. To hell with everything."

Wilmer snorted in amusement. "Unbelievable. The world's likely about to end, and you're thinking about pussy."

Zeinara laughed, suddenly and loudly, but stopped abruptly when everyone looked at her in amazement. She coughed and dropped her eyes. "What d'you mean the world's about the end?" she asked Wilmer under her breath.

Wilmer's face grew solemn. "Motsumi has a theory that Hildrith'el grows weary. They believe the goddess is dying, the way the sun will eventually burn to nothing. I mean . . . she is the sun! If no one takes her place, the world will end. The other gods know this. They vie to take her place, they vie for power, they vie to set their children in power . . ." He glanced sympathetically at Zeinara. "They have known for many years. I understand now more than ever why Maret would want you to go home, Zeinara. If Ayni succeeds and takes over Skkye, she will turn her gaze on Varimore next. She will turn her gaze on you."

Zeinara swallowed hard. "And I have to be prepared for her."

"Exactly," Wilmer whispered. "Go home, Zeinara."

"But . . ." Zeinara paused unhappily. "I want Kayya."

"I know," Wilmer whispered soothingly. He lifted his paw to touch Zeinara's mane - just as he used to - but seemed to remember that his paw would only go right through. He dropped his paw again and looked away.

Ettoras eventually made his way toward Zeinara, and Wilmer drifted back in the shadows, as if he feared Ettoras could see him.

"What are you doing? He can't see you," Zeinara muttered under her breath.

"No," confirmed Wilmer in a whisper, "but he can feel me. Maybe even hear me. He's the child of a goddess, a spirit of light. He can sense spirits, even if he is mortal. Why do you think he's the only one who's noticed us chatting?"

"Who the hell," said Ettoras, leaning against Zeinara's chair and folding his arms, "are you talking to?" He was speaking in the language of the foxes, under his breath, as if for fear the others would hear. "I've spent the last five minutes watching you mutter to the shadows like a fruitcake."

Zeinara held back a smile and answered in fox tongue, "Don't call me pastries. You'll make me hungry."

Ettoras laughed shortly and shook his head. "How can you make jokes at a time like this?" he asked and the question was sincere. He even sounded amazed. "I'm so worried, I could explode." He tightened his folded arms, as if he was hugging himself. "But you . . . you're always so calm." He laughed softly. "Unless someone makes you mad, of course."

"I got the joking bit from our father, the lummox_,_" Zeinara answered wearily. "Or so I'm told. You got the worry-too-much bit from him. Congratulations, by the way."

Ettoras laughed tonelessly. He hesitated, and Zeinara got the feeling he wanted to ask what Etienne was like, but at the last moment he changed his mind and said in a low voice, "So . . . who were you talking to?"

"You wouldn't believe me," Zeinara said, suddenly feeling very tired.

Ettoras looked off miserably. "Was it our father?"

Zeinara snorted and looked up at him in amazement. "What is it with you and our father!"

Before Ettoras could answer, Motsumi burst in the door. Everyone got to their feet, and Palesa rushed to him with her mane and tail streaming. The old sorcerer wasn't alone. Kayya and Yeneneshe had come with Motsumi, and while both were splattered in blood, neither appeared to be injured. Ettoras ran at once to Yeneneshe and took her paws, examined her face. Zeinara snapped to her feet. She wanted to run to Kayya. Their eyes met, but Kayya rubbed her arm and looked away, hiding behind her white mane. Zeinara just stood there, feeling sad and frustrated.

"Just go over to her," Wilmer whispered at Zeinara's shoulder. "Don't say anything. Just stand beside her."

Zeinara scowled. "Why? So she can wet her knickers?"

". . . yes," Wilmer teased.

Zeinara smiled. "I didn't mean that way."

"Go on," Wilmer insisted softly. "Stand next to her. She'll like it."

Zeinara didn't know why she listened to Wilmer, but she crossed the room and stood beside Kayya. She was so hurt, though, that she avoided looking at her and instead put all her focus on Motsumi. Thankfully, Motsumi had the artifacts and was telling everyone to get their things: it was time to use the shrine.

"Now's your time to shine, your highness," Zeinara said sarcastically to Florian, who was rubbing his aching head.

Florian scowled at Zeinara. "You needn't concern yourself, your highness," he returned irritably. "I remember the way to the shrine. I shall have us away from here in no time." He drew himself up.

Pili nodded. "I'll hold you to that," she said darkly.

Florian paused to look at Pili, and Zeinara knew he was trying to decide if her words were a threat.

"Let's go! Now!" Palesa cried. She was already at the door with Motsumi.

They made their way quickly through the manor. All the guards seemed to ignore them completely, as they were too busy running up the stairs, bellowing orders, and strapping on weapons. They heard some shouting about Captain Howlett having escaped or the marquis being in danger. Zeinara lifted her brows and glanced at Kayya, wanting to know what all the fuss was about. Was Simon dead? What had happened in the marquis' bedchamber to cover them in blood? And Howlett had escaped?! But there was no time to ask questions.

They ran breathlessly, full tilt, through the manor and down into its bowels. Zeinara was surprised by how closely Kayya stayed to her, when before, Kayya had constantly been in Ettoras' shadow. Now Kayya was right beside Zeinara, glancing at her and blushing on occasion. When they finally found themselves in the underground maze of tunnels beneath Canderly, they were consumed by the darkness, and Zeinara felt Kayya's small paws fumble for hers. After the way Kayya had kept her distance before, Zeinara was baffled by her clinging but couldn't deny that she was enjoying it. With her heart thudding, she took Kayya's searching paws and drew her close, even held her. Her heart skipped a happy beat when Kayya snuggled her mane under Zeinara's chin and whispered in the darkness, "Zeinara . . . I'm sorry." Zeinara held her tightly and didn't know what to say. Finally, she whispered back, "It's alright, darling." Kayya's big soft breasts crushed against hers, her downy soft fur, her warm breath . . . it was Heaven.

The others were panting in the darkness. And suddenly, Zeinara was intensely aware of the stale scents, the cold air that filled the tunnels. She was not glad to be back.

"Didn't . . . didn't think we'd bloody well make it for a second there," Florian panted somewhere to Zeinara's left.

Shakir whispered a prayer in his language, and Zeinara heard Florian laugh.

"Yes, pray for me, love," Florian said. "Because I'm not quite sure which way the shrine is. I don't even know where we are."

"I knew you were useless," Pili complained. "You were _pretending_you knew where the damned thing was so you could escape with us! I should just drag you and Zeinara to Wychowl and forget this foolishness."

"Tch," spat Florian in the darkness. "It's not my bloody fault Hawkeye altered the passages! How d'you think you and the princess were captured? She used magic to force your way into my cell."

"Alright," Motsumi said wearily, and light blossomed in the darkness, hovering like a yellow moon above his paw.

Zeinara could see everyone huddled together in the corridor. Palesa was next to Motsumi, her breasts rising and falling as she sought to catch her breath. Unbeknownst to her, Wilmer was standing, bloody and sad-eyed, behind her shoulder. Pili was standing beside Zeinara, looking impatient and cross. She glanced disapprovingly at Zeinara and Kayya's hugging before turning her bitter eyes back to Florian. Ettoras and Yeneneshe had also noticed Zeinara and Kayya. Yeneneshe glanced at them indifferently, but Ettoras watched them with pleasant surprise. Shakir was making a fuss over Florian, muttering prayers under his breath as he smoothed down his mane.

"Arguing will get us no where. Florian," Motsumi said, looking at the prince, "lead the way as best you can."

Florian was bent over, holding his knees and panting. He nodded and straightened up, and everyone watched as he came to Motsumi's side.

They made their way down the passage, guided by Florian's uncertainty and Motsumi's light. Zeinara thought they might have traveled an hour without getting anywhere. She was getting tired. And damned hungry. She glanced every now and then at Kayya and wondered what was going through her mind. Kayya seemed very sad and very . . . afraid. Zeinara took her paw, and Kayya smiled at her warmly.

"Florian is right, Motsumi," Palesa said eventually. "Hawkeye has altered the way to the shrine as well, to keep us from reaching it. I can feel the magic."

Motsumi kept walking, unperturbed. "Do not underestimate our powers as Guides, Palesa. Hawkeye is very powerful, it is true. But she can make mistakes like the rest of us . . . look there." He pointed, and Zeinara looked where he had indicated to see an odd hole in the wall. It was actually one of many holes. "She rushed to alter this passage," Motsumi said, "and it shows. We could simply follow the tears to find where the shrine lies. We can see the deeper passages if we look through the holes."

"Shoddy craftsmanship," Florian agreed with a tisk.

"Filthy magic," Pili corrected under her breath.

Fortunately, Motsumi was right. They found the shrine, standing large and imposing in a small dark room, its long shadow rising high against the wall, its altar covered in winking candles. A bird statue loomed over the altar, wings spread, looking down upon them with glittering black jewels for eyes. Beneath the bird stood an archway, devoid of light and guarded by two stone vixens, tall and curvaceous, who stood with their heads bowed as if in mourning.

Florian nodded triumphantly and looked at Pili with hooded eyes. "Told you," he taunted her.

Pili sneered and rolled her eyes. Zeinara knew she would have been unhappy either way: if they didn't_find the shrine, they would be stuck, and if they _did find the shrine, they would have to use it, and Pili hated magic.

"Why did this dog lord," Yeneneshe said with quiet malice, "have a shrine to one of our gods beneath his home? Do the gods hear the cry of dog beasts now?" She shook her head in disgust.

Florian laughed softly. "More often than you think, love."

As Yeneneshe looked at Florian darkly, Motsumi moved past her and went to the panel. He hesitated and touched one of the symbols. The archway swirled at once with light, setting the statues either side of it aglow.

"It is done. Let us go," Motsumi said and swallowed hard. But he didn't move. Zeinara thought he was afraid to use the portal. Palesa touched his shoulder and smiled at him encouragingly, and together, they passed through the archway and through the light. Wilmer followed after them, walking slowly and calmly. He smiled once at Zeinara over his shoulder, and then he too was gone.

"Alrighty," Florian said with a deep breath. He took Shakir's paw, for the slender black dog also seemed paralyzed with fear. "I won't let anything happen to you, love," he told him, and Shakir smiled.

"Let's go," Shakir said in common tongue, and he and Florian stepped through the light.

Zeinara wasn't surprised to notice Yeneneshe had also stiffened with fear. After all, they were not using the shrine to teleport to some distant forest. They were using the shrine to enter the SummerValley, the place where all life was said to have begun. There was no telling what they would find there.

Ettoras rubbed Yeneneshe's shoulder, and she seemed to blink away her fear. She lifted her chin and stepped through the light without him. He followed.

"Go, your majesty," Pili said beside Zeinara. "I will go last to ensure your safety. I heard someone following us through the passage. They shall not have you, whoever they are."

"Hawkeye!" Kayya whispered, her eyes wide with fear.

Zeinara slowly smiled, looking down at Kayya. "I could carry you through, if you wanted," she teased, jerking her head at the swirling light.

Kayya laughed softly.

"There is no time!" Pili barked. "Go!"

Zeinara took Kayya's paw, and together, they stepped through the light.

When the light faded. . . they were in another dark tunnel. Zeinara looked around and couldn't believe it. She would have sworn they were still under Canderly if not for the glass ceiling above them. Looking up, she could see another passage above theirs, layered smoothly on top of their own.

The others were gathered in the tunnel, not huddled, for it was much wider than the ones under Canderly. Motsumi's light shimmered in everyone's eyes, dancing from face to face, but was a subtle glow in the darkness nonetheless. When Motsumi saw Zeinara and Kayya, he went to a torch on the wall and lit it from his magic. The torch glowed with his yellow fire, pushing back the darkness to reveal that the walls were covered in bright depictions of foxes at battle with dogs. The foxes in the images . . . were losing. Dogs stepped on their faces, dogs raped vixens, and dogs snatched screaming fox cubs from their mothers' breasts. Zeinara turned away, unable to look.

The archway they had come through was still swirling with light, and curiously enough, it was wound up and down with flowers and bright green vines. More flowers and vines snaked along the glass ceiling, obscuring the passage above in some places and leaving the glass clear in others. Zeinara could only assume it was life sustained by magic alone, for the sun could not reach this place.

The flowered archway stood on a shrine that depicted no goddess statue, and no demigods had been carved to guard it for all time. Beside the archway, a panel of symbols stood, and Zeinara was relieved: they could leave the SummerValley the same way they'd come. They weren't trapped.

"Where is Pili?" Motsumi asked into the silence.

As if she had been summoned, Pili staggered through the portal. Her lip was bloody and her face cut.

"Pili!" Zeinara gasped.

"What happened!" Palesa demanded.

Pili straightened up, her eyes glittering rage. "Just as I suspected, that whore was following us. I forced her out of hiding. We struggled, but she is on my heels --"

Motsumi leapt forward and slammed his paw on the panel. The light swirling in the archway immediately evaporated, collapsing into so many winking diamonds before disappearing entirely. The portal was shut.

Panting and clutching her throat, Pili nodded approval.

Motsumi turned to face everyone, his expression grim. "It seems Pili has bought us time. Hawkeye will recuperate and she will follow. We must move quickly."

"You can say that again," Florian muttered.

"You found the shrine, well done," Motsumi said to Florian and patted him on the shoulder as he moved beyond him.

Florian lifted his chin and wagged his brows tauntingly at Pili. Zeinara expected Pili to make some sarcastic retort about the prince's uselessness and was surprised when the assassin said nothing at all. Pili dabbed at her bleeding lip with a bit of red ribbon, glared irritably at Florian, but otherwise made no real acknowledgement of his teasing.

With the yellow light of the torch held high, Motsumi stepped forward and led the way into the darkness. The others followed, glancing in silent curiosity, shock, and horror at the graphic depictions on the walls.

Zeinara thought Ettoras and Kayya were the most shocked of all. Neither of them had likely ever seen such violence before and were probably wholly unaware of what ancient wars had happened on Aonre. Zeinara found it very odd that the foxes on S'pru - especially Azrian - would not teach their youth about the past. Dog's reveled in the past. They glorified it, as their religion was comprised of stories of dog conquest, and all in the name of some creator god, who supposedly sent King Antony to tame the "savage" foxes. While it was blasphemy to admit that the foxes had ever had kingdoms or palaces to begin with, the dogs still readily admitted that there had been something there to conquer at all. And conquer it, they did. With blood and fire. And then, as the story went, the water came down . . . and washed it all away.

Kayya fumbled for Zeinara's paw, looking with frightened eyes at the murals on the walls.

"I'm just glad you don't look at me like that anymore," Zeinara muttered. She hated how bitter she sounded. She didn't mean to.

Kayya glanced at Zeinara apologetically. "You keep forgetting I'm new to your world. I've never seen magic used violently before! Violence isn't allowed on S'pru. I don't know what to make . . ." She shook her head and frowned at the murals. ". . . of all this." She dropped her eyes to the ground. "I'm starting to understand why Mother didn't want me to come here. It's more dangerous than I ever dreamed."

Zeinara looked away as they walked, paw-in-paw. "Do you regret coming here?" she asked unhappily.

"You mean do I regret meeting you," Kayya said with a wise smile.

Zeinara rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Well . . . . yeah. I wasn't going to say it, though."

Kayya laughed softly. "The joy of living," she said warmly and squeezed Zeinara's paw, "is to live ones life without regret. Why should I suffer and cry for a past I can not change? I would rather revel in the present. You are here with me now. That's what matters."

Zeinara smiled at the ground as she listened to Kayya, and suddenly, she felt as if she could fly. She had never in her wildest dreams dared to believe that a female as beautiful, as sweet and kind as Kayya would ever . . . like her. And suddenly, her mind was teeming with thoughts of kisses, soft breasts, sweet scents . . . wet pussy lips swollen with arousal. She wanted to hug Kayya close and bury her nose in her mane. She wanted to feel her softness in her arms.

". . . do you regret meeting me?" Kayya asked in a low voice.

Zeinara was startled to hear how sad Kayya sounded. "Regret it? You're the best thing to happen to me since . . . Well, ever. I'm scrambling to find some way to hold on to you."

Kayya smiled and seemed content with the answer.

Good, Zeinara thought. When Kayya was happy, she was happy.