A Very Special Tiger
"First, have the Mariners watched—Darius above all. The moment that bastard finds the little one, I want us to know at once."
"Understood."
Sirca nodded and turned to leave the dining hall, only to stop short.
"Ah."
Bariya's bowl had been scraped clean.
"...The little one did as I asked."
Thank goodness. At least the child hadn't left hungry. Sirca bit her lip and went straight out of the dining hall. She woke the sleepers scattered through the estate and called the knights to assemble.
"Sabrina, may I leave the search for the little one to you and Sirca? There's somewhere I need to go."
"Now? Where?"
"The Aldros family."
The Aldros were the ibis beastkin house charged with the laws and records of beastkin society. Why Baden would go there, when not a moment could be spared in the search for Bariya, she could not guess.
"Go."
Baden never spoke idly. Whatever it was, it had to be necessary.
"Be careful."
He gave Sabrina's hand a light squeeze, then left the dining hall at a brisk pace. Sabrina went straight to Bariya's bedroom.
It's quiet. So many had yet to wake that the estate lay hushed, and the stillness felt strange. After Rabin died, the house had always been quiet—yet now that same quiet unsettled her.
The little one really has sunk deep into our hearts. So they had to find her. Find her, and bring her back, no matter what.
When she reached the bedroom, Sabrina threw the door open at once.
"White?"
In Bariya's place, White lay sprawled across the bed, clutching the clothes the child had worn in the dining hall the evening before.
"Are you crying?"
White's face and the clothes gathered in her arms were soaked through, as if she had wept the whole night. A wretched whine dragged out of her. She rose at once and flung the dressing room open, plainly meaning for Sabrina to see.
"Ah."
A sigh broke from Sabrina. Clothes were piled high inside. She knew them at a glance—every piece she and Sirca had chosen together.
Bariya had taken none of the gifts they had given her. Only one plain white dress had vanished with its owner.
"Why is that child so good...? She could stand to live a little selfishly."
They had given her so much, and all she had taken was an ordinary dress without a single ornament. If Bariya had not thrown away the rags she wore when she first came to the Caliph Estate, she would have left in those instead.
"Don't worry, White. I'll bring the mistress of this room back to Caliph. I swear it."
Bariya had left for Caliph's sake, not because she hated Caliph. She had to come back. Having her here was what was best for them.
"So let's go. We're going to find our youngest daughter."
A low chuff answered her. Heartened by Sabrina's words, White's eyes brightened.
We can find her. We will find her. Clutching the hem of Bariya's clothes, still wet with White's tears, Sabrina shifted for the first time in a long while into the form of a white tiger. Far larger even than White, she fixed on the scent of Bariya that still filled the bedroom. The child had grown a great deal since coming to Caliph, but she was still small. She could not have gone far. They had to find her before she slipped any farther away.
Sadly, Bariya was already a long way from the Caliph Estate. Three days had passed since she dealt with Darius and left Caliph territory. In her leopard-cat form, she sprang down the moment the carriage she had secretly boarded stopped in a village.
Sorry for sneaking a ride. I hardly weigh anything, though, so please forgive me.
While no one was looking, Bariya darted into a nearby corner and hid. This was hardly her first time riding without paying.
Mm. This place smells dangerous.
Since leaving Caliph she had changed carriages some three times, so she had no idea exactly which village this was. At a glance, it was not a good one. Beastkin scarred across their faces and bodies were strangely numerous, and the air carried not only the scent of tigers, but of other predatory beastkin as well.
I shouldn't have left tiger territory yet. Even so, with this many kinds of beastkin about, she was likely near the border. Bariya thought back to what Baden had taught her during their lessons. Three beastkin lands bordered tiger territory.
Jaguar, bear, and lion.
I hope I'm close to jaguar territory. Bear territory, if nothing else.
The jaguars, he had said, worked with the tigers, and the bears had never had a serious falling-out with them—a strictly businesslike tie. Lions were different. Among predators, lion beastkin held power nearly equal to the tigers'. And the lions, he had told her, wanted Caliph and the Mariners to destroy each other. Before anything else, she needed to learn whose land lay beyond this territory.
After years of being hunted by hyenas, gathering information from hiding was nothing to her. Eating and sleeping well at Caliph had made her a little bigger, but she still looked like a stray cat.
Bariya kept moving until nightfall. Fortunately, no one realized she was a leopard-cat beastkin hiding what she was. Unfortunately, she came away with little to show for it.
Everyone's just talking nonsense. There's hardly any information worth having. She wanted to know exactly where she was, and which beastkin's territory lay beyond, but not a single person said a word about either. And she could hardly wander a neighborhood this dangerous in the shape of a child.
Should I just cross over? If it's lion territory, those hyena bastards won't be able to move so freely either, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad...
She was just settling on that when a presence ahead sent her scrambling into a broken wooden crate nearby. The alley was deep and dark. Not even moonlight reached it.
Such a strong scent!
A beastkin was close by, one whose pheromones were fierce enough to make her fur stand on end. The strongest beastkin she had ever seen were the tigers, and what drifted toward her now was no weaker than theirs.
Who is it?
Soon an unfamiliar voice reached her pricked ears.
"I hear the Mariners are looking for some child."
Ominous from the very first line, the conversation turned Bariya's face grave.
"Yes. A ten-year-old girl, they say, with long honey-gold hair and brown eyes."
Two voices: a young man, and a middle-aged one. From the older man's deference, the young man's rank was clearly the higher.
"How very convenient. Not a few days after Caliph introduced a young girl of that exact description as an honored guest, the Mariners start looking for such a girl as well."
His manner of speaking made plain he was no Mariner. And yet he knew they were searching for her. He was clearly no ordinary beastkin.
"Do you believe they are the same person?"
"I'm certain. Which is why I'm curious. A girl drawing the attention of both Mariner and Caliph, of all houses."
The young man burst out laughing.
"If I'd known something like this would happen, I should have gone when Caliph held that party."
"You didn't even have an invitation."
"All the more reason to go. It's entertaining, watching tigers bare their fangs."
To speak so boldly of Caliph, he had to be from a powerful house of predators—and from its very highest ranks.
"But she does not seem to be at Caliph now. I'm told Darius Mariner went to Caliph, then began searching for the girl elsewhere."
"Is that so?"
Thick curiosity colored the young man's voice.
"And Caliph's movements?"
"They are in an uproar as well, I'm told."
"Don't tell me the girl has left Caliph? Ah. If I'd learned of this even a little sooner, I would have gone there first."
"Will you make a move?"
"No. First I'll accomplish what I came here to do."
"And why did you come here?"
"I hear there's something interesting at the underground auction."
An underground auction? Bariya clicked her tongue. No wonder the place was full of predatory beastkin who looked dangerous. An underground auction dealt only in goods that crossed the law, so every kind of outlaw had reason to seek one out. During her three years on the run, she herself had nearly been sold at auction more than once.
Information or not, I can't stay here any longer. If they catch me, there's no telling what might happen. She had no idea who that beastkin was, but there might be others who knew the Mariners were looking for her. The moment those two left, she would get out of the village fast and head for the forest nearby.
She had just hardened that resolve.
"If it's something interesting..."
"A tiger."
...What?
At the young man's unbelievable words, the middle-aged man and the hidden Bariya both opened their eyes wide.