The Garden Without End
"Watch the baby. Don't let her run. The moment she turns human, you tell me."
If she had anything to do with the hyenas, sending her away was even less of an option. Anyone could see his relations with them were rotten, but conscience-dead tiger or not, he was not about to drive a child to her death. And if he could crack those hyena bastards across the back of the head while he was at it, so much the better.
Shirca poked the kitten's round little belly.
"Kyarrrng."
She must have found it irritating even in her sleep, because her tail thumped the bed, once and then again. What a temper. Were kittens always this foul? He found himself wondering how on earth she was going to grow up.
"Understood. But if the hyenas are hunting her, she's far safer here. Do you really think she'll try to run?"
"She will. No question."
Those eyes said she would bolt the instant she saw a gap. And the Caliphs were tigers stronger than any hyena. A promise from a tiger like that not to kill her would bring her no relief at all — only suspicion.
"..."
Shirca watched the deeply sleeping cat in silence, then poked the pad of her paw. Soft. Her belly had been softer still than a tiger's paw, and the memory of that give loosened his face before he could stop it. What had it felt like, again, when the baby stroked his cheek as if to say she was sorry?
I wanted to bury my face in this tiny paw and never come up.
To think the heir of the Caliphs would go weak over nothing more than a kitten's paw. And that was not even the whole of it.
Her pheromone is remarkably strange.
Every beastkin carried a pheromone all their own. It revealed their nature more clearly than anything else, and at the same time stood as a mark of power and ability. Bariya's was not strong in the least — faint, if anything — and yet it was strangely addictive, with a quality that stirred other beastkin. Only someone as sensitive as Shirca would be able to sense it, of course. That did not make it any less dangerous. Perhaps that was even why those hyena whelps were so determined to catch the kitten.
"Don't give her an opening to escape. But leave her just enough time to shift into human form when no one is watching."
A beastkin might find the animal form more comfortable at times, but their fundamental shape was human, and given long enough the transformation would forcibly undo itself. It had been five hours since they rescued the kitten from the hyenas and brought her here. By tonight at the latest, the animal form would come loose.
"Her guard is very high. Be careful."
"I'll remember."
Shirca looked at the kitten and smiled, pleased.
Mother and Father have no intention of giving me a younger sibling. Nothing wrong with making one myself, then.
If this nasty-tempered little cat became his sister, he had a feeling a great many interesting things would follow.
The moment sunlight poured through the window and flooded the room, Bariya's eyes flew open. The sun was already rising.
Ah. Sunrise.
It was the first time she had ever watched one in peace. In the hyena household she had lived shut away where the light barely reached, and after she got out she had been too busy running to look at the sky. Unfortunately, this was no time to stare in a daze.
The sun's up. Time to escape!
Tigers were nocturnal. Their night eyes were as sharp as a wildcat's, so slipping away after dark was out of the question. Right now, with the warm sunlight dragging sleep over everyone, was perfect.
Bariya dropped from the bed without a sound and pricked her ears. Beyond the door she felt a presence that seemed to be Tyreen. The woman had not yet noticed she was awake, but the instant a window opened she would come straight in. That much was obvious. Bariya killed her footsteps as best she could, crept to the door, and loosed the energy she had kept buried all this time.
"Huh? Why am I suddenly so sleepy..."
From the other side came Tyreen's flustered voice, and with it the soft collapse of a body to the floor.
Done.
Only quiet, even breathing remained. No one was approaching. Certain the area was empty, Bariya opened the window at once and stepped out onto the balcony. The bedroom was on the second floor, thankfully. A drop like that was nothing to a wildcat. She glanced around, felt no one, and jumped.
"Nngh."
It was rather high for a second story, and her legs twinged, but nothing broke and nothing twisted. Bariya drew a breath and ran, her footsteps silent.
She had known it would come to this. That was why she had memorized the route when they hauled her in yesterday! The Caliph Estate, fortunately, was thick with trees, grass, and flowers, and her small body vanished easily among them. Up until then she had been gleeful, certain she would be free of the place in no time.
It did not take long to realize what a colossal mistake that was.
Something's wrong.
A cold sweat had begun to bead.
Why can't I see the end, no matter how far I go...?
This was the family that led the tigers. She had expected the gardens to be as vast as the house. She had expected it — and yet! Nearly three hours had passed since she left the mansion, and she still had not escaped this damned garden!
Why is it this enormous!
Yes, her legs were still short, but this was going too far. Even the hyena family's grounds had not been like this. Anxiety was climbing — any moment the tigers might notice and come after her — when she heard it.
A carriage!
One was racing in from the opposite direction of the house. It was immense. Afraid the head of the Caliphs might be riding in it, Bariya flattened herself as low as she could. Please just pass. Just pass...
The wheels screeched. As if to spite the wind itself, the carriage stopped — right beside the place where she was hiding.
"Strange."
The moment that languid voice reached her, every hair on her body stood on end. She knew from the voice alone. Not the head of the Caliph family. A woman. And someone far more dangerous than the family head.
"There's a strange smell on my estate."
Bariya, holding her breath, nearly sprang out of hiding. Shirca, and now this unidentified beastkin — why did they keep saying she smelled? She had bathed yesterday!
A sharp click of a step.
"White."
Something heavy dropped to the ground with the footsteps.
"Find it."
A low growl rolled out, and Bariya saw it: a pure-white tiger the size of a house, charging straight for where she lay. She burst from the grass to dodge the body lunging at her.
"Ack!"
She had been too frantic. Her foot caught a tree root, and she went tumbling head over heels. Then, as if nothing whatsoever had happened, Bariya landed neatly on all fours, looking rather splendid about it. For a moment neither the woman nor the white tiger made a sound. Bariya stared back at their dumbfounded faces, utterly shameless.
"...A cat?"
The woman standing before the carriage wore a dazzlingly ornate red dress. Glossy silver hair, a beauty so stunning it emptied the mind, an aura no one could approach — and vivid blue eyes that stirred a strange familiarity, as if Bariya had seen them somewhere before. A growl broke the spell. Dazed for a moment by that shocking beauty, Bariya snapped back to herself when she saw the white tiger baring its teeth at her.
Oh? Not even a beastkin — a mere animal — and it dares show its fangs in front of me?
"Shaaak!"
Bariya hissed savagely and cracked her tail hard against the ground. A whimpering growl answered her. Completely crushed by her presence, the tiger shut its mouth at once and backed away, whining.
Hmph. Getting cocky.
"Did a kitten just threaten my White?"
Bariya could overpower the tiger. That woman was another matter. Once she was grown, perhaps. Right now, she could not win. Not a chance. She read the situation in a flash, spun, and ran. The scent clinging to the carriage told her everything.
The outside isn't far now!
"White, bring her. Let her get away and you're in trouble."
The tiger roared and came on. Sure enough, it feared the woman more. As if it had never tucked its tail at all, it charged. The white tiger was closing in, and desperation set its teeth in her.
I am magnificent. My short legs are not!
In the end, before she had managed twenty steps, those enormous teeth closed on her scruff.
"Kyaong! Kyaooong!"
Let me go! If you don't, I won't let this stand!
A startled whine. Thrown by her thrashing, the tiger whimpered, but it did not let go. Dragged at last before the woman, Bariya glared murder at it.
I really will not let this go!
"Remarkable. White fears no one but me, and yet here she is, completely cowed."
The woman studied Bariya and the tail-tucked tiger with open fascination.
"I'll hear the details once we're back."
And so Bariya was forced into the carriage. The distance she had fought to cover over three hours was erased in a single ride back, and she flung tears in every direction.
Tigers. I will not let this stand!
Dragged into this wretched estate twice. Bariya stepped inside with her face swollen plump from crying.
"My lady — Sabrina!"
Baden, head of the Caliph family, came running in a single bound, startled.
"What brings you back so soon this time?"
Sabrina Caliph. Daughter of a noble white-tiger family and mistress of the Caliph household, she spent more days roaming outside than she ever spent within the estate. She simply hated staying still in one place. Because of that, everyone knew her husband, Baden, lived in a constant thirst of longing for her.
"Not that I mind, of course — I'm simply overjoyed... Welcome home, Sabrina."
Once Sabrina left, she did not return for three months at the least. This time she had come back a full month early. Baden could not hide his joy, and he smiled shyly. He was not a fierce-looking man, but he was frighteningly large all the same, and the sight of that shy smile left Bariya thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Something came up. Before any of that, explain why this thing was wandering around my garden."
"Hm?"
At Sabrina's words Baden turned his head, puzzled — and met the eyes of Bariya, dangling by the scruff from White's mouth.
"Little one, why are you there?"
That was precisely what Bariya wanted to ask.