A Fox in the Works
                    Singularity Collapse

                             By

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter One

01/05/2000:

Fifty thousand things, it seems like I always leave fifty
thousand things to do at the last minute when I do anything.
Even with a month of planning I was still running around the
house trying to find all of the things I had forgotten. It
was always the small things too: soap, a shovel and other
items we would need when spending almost two months in a
world without indoor plumbing.

Ravindar chuckled as he followed behind me. "Fox, you need
to relax. I've taken care of everything we need for the
trip."

I nodded, letting out a sigh as I forced myself to stop in
the kitchen. "Right, right, it's just that I'm paranoid most
of the time," I said as I turned around.

The white tiger had a look of amusement on his face, his
arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in a simple
laced shirt and brown pants with a sword at his side. I was
in similar clothing, though where his shirt was white mine
was a soft blue. We both had guns at our belts, tucked under
the clothing so they weren't obvious to the casual viewer.

He nodded and brushed his paws over his shirt and then
tugged at the cuffs. It was the first time he had been in
non-modern clothing, and he wasn't quite as used to it as I
was. "Not as much as you should be," he grumbled.

"You'll never think I'm paranoid enough," I said with a
laugh as I walked past him towards the cupboards. I took a
moment to pull out my supply of Rithin tea so I could bring
it with us. I didn't know how often I would be able to get
hot water, but I wanted to be ready when I could.

"Probably not, but I can try to teach you," my bodyguard
replied.

I nodded and stuffed the tea into the sack I had on the
table. I left the leaves in the plastic bag they came in as
there wasn't anything I could safely move them into, and I
doubted anyone would be searching my bag.

"Are you still here?" Oriana asked as she placed her paw on
my shoulder.

A smile melted over my face as I turned around to look into
my wife's deep green eyes, the slits narrow in the warm
light of the house. I gave her a smile as I leaned forward
and gently kissed her full on the lips. She let out a
pleased purr as she returned the kiss, her arms reaching
around me to hold my back.

I broke the kiss after a few minutes and smiled at her. "I
wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to you," I told her.

She smiled, her leonine features pleasing as her ears moved
to match the expression in her eyes. "Well I think last
night did a good job of that," she said, poking me gently in
the belly.

I chuckled and nodded, returning her smile. She and I had
spent a day and a half at Rose's house, doing just what we
had talked about the week before. It had been both a
pleasant and strange time for me, and for us, but it had
been worth it.

Pulling out of her grasp I ran my hands down her shoulders.
"I'm going to miss you," I told her.

She nodded, reaching over to run her fingers down my chin.
The feel of her pads felt odd on my smooth skin.  Beards
were highly uncommon on the world we were going to, so to
keep ourselves less visible, I had applied a six-month
depilatory to my beard.  My face felt naked, but it would
keep all of us safer.

"Just be careful," she told me.

I nodded, "Yes, love," I said, stroking her neck.

She smiled at me, and finally turned away, "Samantha is
almost ready, she's still trying to work out where to keep
her cigarettes," she said.

I nodded again, noticing that Ravindar and Santhera were
standing hand in hand. The two tigers didn't say a thing,
but I could tell they were thinking the same things Oria and
I were.

<<I wouldn't be too hurt if she couldn't bring them along,>>
Rhea said from inside the hallway. The lioness was sitting
on the rug, looking relaxed as her tail tuft flicked over
her paws.

"I know, I know," I said, walking over to the non-morphic
lioness who was some times my other wife and some times my
sister. Her nose was a lot more sensitive than mine, or
anyone else's in the house, and the smoke annoyed her. In
fact she was the only one in the house that it really
bothered, and Samantha had been good enough to simply avoid
smoking around her.

The lioness tilted her head to the side, and flicked her
ears backwards, <<So, why are we still sitting around here?
Weren't we supposed to be leaving first thing in the
morning? It's nearly lunch time!>> she said, the tone of her
mental voice echoing her annoyance.

"Because I'm always running late," I replied as I picked up
my sack, "but I think I finally have everything I need," I
said as its weight settled down on my shoulders.

"We just need Samantha," Ravindar said.

As if cued by her name, the young human woman walked into
the room. She more a flowing top tucked into a long skirt
that hung around her feet. She didn't carry a sword, but
kept her guns holstered in plain sight at her hips. The
black cloak hanging from her neck trailed down the center of
her back and hid her cloth tail. She had her own pack in her
hand.

"I see everyone is already here, so are we ready to go?" she
asked.

I smiled as I appraised her clothing, "I guess so. Where did
you get the cloak?"

"Sora gave it to me," she answered as she reached around and
pulled the fabric over her shoulders. It fell down over her
body, and hung just above the hem of her skirt, effectively
hiding her clothing and her weapons.

I nodded as I walked towards her, "Well it does seem to fit
you, just keep those guns hidden. We don't need to start our
problems any earlier than we have to."

"Of course," she said with a smile that should have made me
worry.

Looking around at my friends and my wife, I gave a nod. "I
guess that we are ready to go, then," I declared.

Everyone glanced at each other, and Oriana gave me a look
that was a mix of love and worry. She didn't like my leaving
her at home with the kids, but agreed with my logic for the
choice. Personally I would have liked her at my side, but
the risks were too great if we were discovered. Both Rhea
and Ravindar created similar risks, but nowhere near as bad.

We moved as a group out of the kitchen and towards the fold
room. My wife fell in at my side as we walked, and I reached
out to place my hand on her back. With each step it slowly
drifted down until I was stroking the base of her tail. She
let out a low purr as we moved, giving her ass more of a
wiggle and her tail an extra swing. I smiled, and the two of
us shared a knowing look as we reached the heavy steel door
that separated the fold from the rest of the house.

Ravindar's fingers danced over the control panel, unlocking
the door and sending it silently sliding open. I held back a
bit as my friends walked into the room, just enjoying the
few extra moments with my wife. Once everyone was inside I
bent down to give her a kiss and separated from her.

While my bodyguard was in the process of collecting a Matrix
Chip and a controller I collected a harness that we had
specially made for Rhea. My sister walked over to me and
held herself in place as I strapped it onto her.

<<I hate being a pack animal,>> she said, her ears hanging
low as she shifted her shoulders under the straps.

"This was your idea," I told her, giving the fur of her ears
a ruffle with the tips of my claws.

<<So? That doesn't mean I have to like it,>> she replied
with a soft sigh.

"True," I told her as I picked up the bags for the harness
and strapped them onto her back. It was mostly made up of
camping supplies and bedrolls, along with the replacement
for the item we were going after.

I pulled the straps tight and stood back up, looking her
over. "How does that feel? Does it interfere with your
mobility?" I asked.

She stood up and took a few steps around the room, rolling
her shoulders under the weight of the harness. <<It's fine.
It may chafe a bit, but Samantha said she could help with
that.>>

"It's a minor spell to heal abrasions," Samantha said when
she heard her name. "We'll probably all need it at some
point in time. I've been practicing it for the last few
days."

I smiled at her and gave her a short nod. "I'm kind of glad
about that. It's reassuring to know one of us thought about
that sort of thing."

She returned the smile and pulled her pack over her
shoulder. She might have been about to say something but we
were both distracted by the light of Ravindar's Matrix Chip
coming on line. The light fell away, leaving him looking
like a normal male human, so he would be able to blend in
with the local population.

I gave him a quick once over then nodded my head. "Well,
that will do it than," I said, and turned to look at Oria.
My wife moved forward and we hugged tightly, "I'll see you
in six weeks," I told her as I gave her a kiss.

"I'll be waiting here for you," she said kissing me in
return.

I nodded to her, and gave her one more kiss as I pulled out
of her arms. Turing around I looked back at my friends. "Are
we ready?"

"I'm ready," Samantha said.

Rhea nodded her head, <<As ready as I'll ever be.>>

Ravindar smiled and motioned to me, "My job is, as it always
has been, to follow you."

"That's good to know," I told him as I walked to the fold,
opening it with a flick of my mind. I took a deep breath as
the fold opened, watching the swirling light as I pulled my
pack tight against my back. With a glance back at my wife I
let the breath out and walked through the fold. I turned
around on the other side, and watched as my friends
followed, one by one. Once they were clear I let the fold
go. It closed like a door slamming shut.

We were in a forest, surrounded by trees with trunks bigger
around than I was (which at the time was more than usual).
They towered high above us. Through the thick canopy a soft
green light shone on everything around us. In the background
I could hear a few birds tweeting about, disturbed by our
arrival.

"This a pleasant place," Samantha said as she walked to one
of the trees, touching the off-white bark that covered the
trunks. "It's quiet, I like quiet."

<<It is nice,>> Rhea said as she moved to my side, her tail
flicking gently against my leg.

I nodded, looking up at the sky to get my bearings from the
bright golden sun. "There is a small city about three hours
that way," I said as I pointed off in the general direction
I thought we needed to go.

"It's a little more to the right," my bodyguard said,
pushing my hand slightly to the side.

I shook my head as Samantha let out a small chuckle. "Yes,
yes, it's that way," I said with a smile, "Now can we get
moving?"

"Of course," she said as we started walking through the
trees.

* * *

The town was of a decent size, as it acted as a hub for the
many small villages and farms that surround it. One of the
area's major trade roads passed near by, caravans moving
along its length every day.

We had been in sight of the town for about an hour now, the
stone wall of the city a dull smear on the farmland around
it. The four of us had come down out of the hills and
started to follow the road, mingling in with other groups
that were heading into town.

Ravindar and I chatted with them while Samantha walked along
quietly as she worked on learning the language. Rhea didn't
need to learn it; apparently her telepathic ability had more
in common with a babble fish than anything else, and skipped
the concept of language as a whole.

Rhea attracted a little bit of attention as we walked into
town. Lionesses were not that common in this world, and I
doubted that anyone there had even seen a big cat before,
let alone one being used as a pack animal. She seemed to
enjoy the extra attention, giving a few flicks of her head
when she caught someone staring at her.

"Stop hamming it up," I told her as we walked past the
guards and into the town.

<<Sorry, I can't resist,>> she replied, only allowing me to
hear her words.

I chuckled, looking around as we entered the cramped streets
with the tall narrow buildings that pressed in on us. "I
know. I would do the same thing in your place, but we just
don't want too attract to much attention."

"So, now that we are here, what do we do?" Samantha asked in
English as she leaned in close to me.

"We catch a caravan to the Holy City," I explained as I
looked around the streets. "Once there we take care of
business and head back. It should be a piece of cake."

She nodded, pulling her cloak around herself. "As long as
it's not coconut cake. I hate coconut," she said, sticking
her tongue out at me.

"I'm not too found of it myself," I told her as I led us off
the main road and down a smaller street. The buildings
around us closed in, the tops almost touching and casting
everything in a deep shadow. Even the temperature seemed to
drop as we moved further down the road.

"Are we still going the right way?" I asked Ravindar as we
moved into territory that I didn't recognize.

"We are," my bodyguard replied as we continued to walk down
the narrow street.

I let out a soft sigh and nodded my head. "I think I'll just
let you lead the way for the moment," I said, motioning for
him to move ahead of me.

The disguised tiger laughed and moved past me. Rhea jumped
ahead to walk at his side, her tail flicking in amusement. A
moment later Samantha joined them, casting a smirk back at
me.

I stifled a short laugh and shook my head, following behind
the three of them, and not saying a word.

After a few more minutes we reached our destination, a small
inn that was pressed up against the walls of the city. It
was out of the way, but it still had enough people moving
through it that we could find a caravan to travel with,
without too many questions being asked. Ravindar and I had
been there before, laying the ground work for this
adventure. Now, if all went well, it would pay off.

Ravindar pushed the door open, and held it for us as we
walked into the main room. He fell in behind me once we were
all inside. The main room was large, arching two stories
high with a staircase running up one wall and a large
balcony. A huge fire pit dominated the center of the room,
the light from the fire illuminating most of the room, with
torches in the darker corners. There was a bar running the
length of the far wall with three people standing behind it.
The room was populated with various people; all talking
between themselves, but most of the conversation came to a
stop as we entered, Rhea taking most of the attention.

"What is that?" someone asked.

"She's mine," I said as I walked towards the bar, "and she
is not for sale."

"Just keep the mess off the floor," someone else yelled.

Rhea flicked her ears in annoyance, <<I am house broken,>>
she said to me.

"I know, I know," I said, reaching down to pet her ears.

She gave a shake of her head, her ears flicking against the
tips of my fingers as the four of us approached the bar. One
of the bartenders, a skinny little man with an orange
pockmarked complexion watched us through his crudely made
glasses. His brown eyes tracked every move we made as we
approached him, a look of minor annoyance on his face.

"Hello, Ark," I greeted the man as I reached the bar.

He nodded his head, and then tilted it down to glower at
Rhea, "I do not appreciate your bringing a pack animal in
here with you. You should tie her up outside with the rest
of the beasts."

I let out a sigh and gave Rhea's ears a gentle tug, "Don't
make too much of a scene," I told her as I pulled my hand
away from her.

She nodded her head, then with unexpected speed she reared
up on her hind legs and placed her paws on the bar. Lowering
her head she looked directly into Ark's eyes, her ears
pulling back as one lip lifted just a hair to show the edge
of her teeth. <<I maybe an animal, but I'm not a beast. I'm
just as smart as you, and significantly faster, remember
that,>> she sent, loudly enough that everyone in the room
probably heard her.

Ark pulled back a bit, biting one lip as he lifted his hands
from the bar tap, "I didn't realize it was a homunculus...
it's not one of the normal shapes."

I smiled and nodded my head as I brushed my hand down the
back her neck. "Just don't make the same mistake again. If
anyone is with me they should be with me and Rhea should be
with me. Now that we have everything sorted out, do you have
a caravan for us?"

"No," he said, watching the lioness intently as she settled
back down to the floor. "Things have changed a bit since the
last time we talked."

Ravindar cleared his throat as he moved to my side, "I was
under the impression that we had a deal."

The young man nodded, pushing his glasses back up on his
nose, "We had a deal at the time, but things have changed in
the last few days."

"What things?" Ravindar asked.

"The King has died."

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said, reaching across the top
of the bar to snag one of the glasses that was sitting next
to Ark. "But I'm unclear as to how that becomes a problem
for us."

The young man laughed softly and nodded his head, "No, you
wouldn't understand would you? I was under the impression
that you and your friends were on a pilgrimage to see the
Holy Relics?"

"That was the plan, yes," I said, sipping at whatever was in
the glass, finding it to be a pleasant ale of some kind.

"Then it affects you," Ark said as he reached over and took
the drink out of my hand. "Prince Alexander will be
appointed King in just over two weeks, and at the same time
he will be married to Princess Astadia."

I shrugged, reaching back over the bar and grabbing a
different glass. "I'm unclear as to how that causes us a
problem."

Ark smirked and shook his head, "You really are new to the
country. All three of the Holy Relics will be at the City of
the Crown for the coronation, and they will stay there for
the Month of Ascension before being returned to the Holy
City," he said, explaining it as he would to a small child.

I let out an 'ah' of understanding as I gave an exaggerated
nod of my head. "So, things have changed a bit since the
last time we spoke," I said with a sigh.

"Yes, they have," he replied with a knowing smile. "I
believe I can find you a caravan heading for the City of the
Crown, if you are interested," he said, tapping his fingers
on the bar top.

"We're interested," I told him as I placed two copper coins
on the wooden surface.

The young man smiled a bit, and nodded his head as the coins
vanished into his hands. "I'll go arrange a meeting with the
head rider. You three go sit down, and have something to
eat, I'll be back shortly." He then reached over and took
the second glass from my fingers, "and you don't want to
drink this, it's what I use to clean the counter top."

"Fine then. We'll take three glasses of whatever I was
drinking before," I said, and felt Rhea's tail smack into
the side of my leg. "And a bowl of it as well, along with
four meals."

Ark nodded and passed the order on to one of the other
bartenders as he motioned for us to leave him alone.

I turned away from the bar, and headed towards the far
corner of the room, avoiding most of the crowd around the
large fire pit. We attracted a few looks, but most of the
inhabitants had apparently decided we were harmless for the
moment.

Ravindar moved past me as we got to the table, taking a
chair that put his back to the wall and the whole room in
his line of sight. Samantha and I took up seats flanking him
as Rhea settled down at my feet.

"Three hours... that has to be a new record for me," I said,
dropping back to English as I leaned back in my chair.

Samantha lifted her eyebrows as she crossed her arms in her
lap. "Record for what?"

<<For a plan to last before it goes to hell,>> Rhea said.

"I see, and are we still going to go through with what's
left of the plan?" she asked, trying to work out what had
gone on, being excluded from the conversation because of the
language.

"The location has changed, but the core of our plans are
still intact," Ravindar said, watching as one of the
bartenders came over with our drinks, and without asking set
the bowl on the floor for Rhea.

I pick up my drink and took a slow sip of it, letting out a
soft purr as it went down. It was really good beer. I could
clearly hear that Rhea shared my sentiments as she lapped at
her drink. Samantha got a tight look on her face as she took
a drink, "Oh, that's nasty!"

My disguised bodyguard nodded as he set his drink down on
the table, "Definitely an acquired taste," he commented
dryly.

I looked down at my glass, and then back at Rhea, "There
might be something in it that reacts differently with us.
Personally I find it pleasant."

"Just don't drink too much of it," Ravindar cautioned. "If
it goes down that easily you might not notice till you're
drunk on your ass."

I nodded, "I got it," I told him as I pushed my glass away.

"So, back to the subject," Samantha said as he leaned over
the table. "Do you think there will be more guards now?"

Ravindar shrugged a bit as he tapped his fingers on the
tabletop. "Probably, but we never knew what the guards were
like in the first place. We'll have to see what the
situation is like once we get there."

"And if it's bad?"

"If it's bad we go home," I said as I glanced back out at
the bar. "We have a tight schedule here, but not so tight
that we can't try again later."

<<The first time is the best time, we do this too often and
people will notice us,>> Rhea said, lifting her head from
her bowl and licking her lips. <<Well, more than they
already do,>> she added.

"I agree with that; being subtle is definitely important,"
Samantha said, smiling a bit as our meal arrived. It was
pretty simple; a metal plate with a large slice of bread on
it, on top of the bread was a thick cut of meat and some
sort of ground wheat mash. We got a small utensil that was
almost a fork with each of the plates. Once again the
bartender put one plate on the floor for my sometimes
sister.

The meal might have been a mouthful for Rhea, but the rest
of us pulled out the small daggers that we carried to
supplement the forks. The meat was mostly rare, and cut
easily under my blade. That was no surprise as it, like my
sword, was made of an alloy that was at least a thousand
years ahead of the present world's technology level.

"Good food," Samantha said between mouthfuls. "It's better
than I'm used to having in places like this."

I chuckled and said: "It's the best thing about this
place... might be worth coming back for every now and then."

Ravindar nodded his head as he quickly worked though his own
food. "I would like to bring Santhera here. She's not used
to this kind of world, nor am I for that matter. It would be
best if we learned more about it."

"Just be careful, you don't want to get hurt," I said.

"Why are you so worried about that?" Samantha asked glancing
between me and Ravindar.

I let out a sigh as I set my knife down, "Morphs are
discouraged around here, and they are all created by magic
of one sort or another. The problem is that there is a
certain level of intelligence they are suppose to have. If
they show too much they will be destroyed. Too much is
somewhere just above moron level; most of the males are
over-muscled labor machines, and the ladies are... well,
toys would be the kind word for it."

"And a toy that thinks is something no one would want,"
Samantha said as she chewed her food. "I see why you didn't
want Oriana along," she said with a gulp.

I nodded, "Right, and Santhera would be in the same boat, so
we have to be careful."

<<I have less of a problem with it being perceived as an
animal,>> Rhea said as she licked the plate. <<I just need
to keep my head down, and not attract too much attention.>>

"Less than we already have attracted," my bodyguard said as
he finished the last of his meal.

I shrugged, "Some things are necessary. It's probably the
only time that we'll have to put on a show," I said, unsure
of that fact.

Ravindar nodded and pointed out towards the main room, "It's
time to get back to work," he said.

I turned around slightly and watched as Ark came towards us
with a large smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes. A
second man, significantly larger than he was followed
behind, measuring us up with each step.

"Good news!" The young man said as he reached the table, "I
found you a ride, but it's going to cost you a bit more than
I originally said."

"Of course," I replied as I settled down for what was
looking to be a long set of negotiations.


    Chapter Two

01/13/2000:

Rhea paced along side the wagon, watching herself as she
moved near the large wooden wheel, her tail flicking back
and forth as she caught the scent of some small animal
moving off the side of the trail that was laughingly called
a road. At least it was better on her paws then the roads on
Prid, the loose dirt and grass were soft, and gave easily.

She was grateful for that; after a week of traveling with
the caravan her paws would have been killing her if it had
been a paved road. As it was they only bothered her near the
evening at the end of the day's travel.

The end of the current day was approaching as the sun was
setting over the horizon, the golden light filtering through
the trees that lined the road. She felt there was only an
hour before the head rider called a halt for the night.

With a soft thump Fox jumped down from the wagon, and moved
to walk next to her. The slow pace of the horses pulling the
wagons made it easy for both of them to keep up. She noted
that he had his shoes off and was apparently enjoying the
soft ground as much as she was.

He walked easily, his arms behind his back and his head held
high. If he had a tail he would have been sweeping it with
some pleasure. She could also see that he was holding back
the instincts that were a part of him, the same instincts
that she allowed to flow over herself. She didn't understand
how he could repress them, and sometimes she found it hard
to believe that at one point in her life she was him.

"You seemed pleased," Fox said after a few minutes passed.

<<I'm enjoying the trip so far,>> she said, narrowing her
voice so that only her human twin could hear it. <<It's nice
to get out into nature like this.>>

He nodded as he reached down to run his fingers over the
scruff of her neck, letting the claws slide free. With
familiar skill he managed to hit just the right spot to
elicit a purr. "I agree; we should go out to the old house
more often," he said.

<<And bring Ravindar again, he was cute when he was non-
morphic,>> she replied, noticing they were getting a few
looks from the other caravan members, but they were less
interested than in the first few days. The others had gotten
used to the way Fox liked to talk to his 'pet'.

"Maybe we could get Oria and Santhera as well, it would be
nice to have the full family together out there," Fox said,
a touch of a smile crossing his face.

She nodded happily, enjoying the idea. She wasn't sure if
Oriana knew it, but Rhea had just as much affection for her
as Fox did. The idea of being the third in the marriage had
come from that affection, and it had only grown since the
day they had traded vows. The thought of being with her as a
full lioness was therefore an attractive one to Rhea.

Fox brushed his fingers over the lioness's neck as they
continued to walk next to the wagon. She noticed that
Ravindar was following along behind them, talking casually
to someone in the following wagon. The disguised tiger
looked human, and acted reasonably so, but his scent still
gave him away. Luckily she was the only one of the group
with a nose that was sensitive enough to notice the
difference.

A new scent crossed the air. It was thin, wafting past on a
momentary breeze. Rhea lifted her head and took in a deep
breath through her nose, pulling the strange smell in. It
took a few moments to place it as a horse, but it wasn't one
of the now familiar scents of the horses in the caravan.

She tilted her head to the side, trying to catch a second
whiff of the scent, but finding that the breeze had carried
it away. Raising her head up she let the remains of the
breeze brush over her whiskers, moving across the trail and
towards the wagons.

With a flick of her ears she turned her head to the side,
looking at the trees on the edge of the trail. The fading
sunlight created moving shadows behind the rows of trees.
She wasn't sure, but she though she saw something moving
with the caravan, following them.

"Is something wrong?" Fox asked, finally picking up on
Rhea's diverted attention.

<<I don't know, but I think there is someone in the trees,>>
she replied, starting to angle herself slightly towards the
edge of the trail.

"Are you sure about that?" Ravindar asked, suddenly
appearing directly behind them, his large paws dropping on
both Fox's shoulder and Rhea's back.

<<As much as I can be. I would have to get closer to be
sure,>> she replied, a little annoyed by the tiger's paw.
She held her self in place out of respect for him, and his
clear intent of keeping her put.

"I can't see anything," Fox said as he peered out into the
woods.

<<I smelled a horse,>> she sent, her annoyance growing.

Fox smiled, "Rhea, that's not all that surprising," he told
her. His smile started to fade away as he saw the head rider
coming their way. "You might want to keep your voice down as
well," he cautioned.

The head rider brought his horse pasted them, and turned it
tightly so he was riding at their side. He was a tall man,
his skin darkly tanned, with a reddish tinge to it, his
brown hair was cropped short around his head and he was
missing his left ear.

"What is going on?" he asked in a low voice.

Fox chuckled, "Nothing that you need to worry about, Deca,"
he said.

The man looked down, his eyes glancing between Fox and Rhea.
"Now was it my imagination, or did your homunculus say
something about someone being in the trees?" he asked.

"She said something about that, yes," Fox replied.

Deca turned his attention directly to the lioness, "Tell me
exactly what brought you to this conclusion, and keep it
down. I'd rather not have everyone know if something is
going on."

Rhea nodded, surprised at the respectful tone the man took
with her. She quickly ran though what she had seen and
smelled, including why she believed it wasn't from the
caravan.

The head rider nodded, casting his eyes towards the passing
trees with a concerned looked. "I see. You are right to be
worried. I think we should send someone out to take a look,
there have been a few caravan's raided out this way."

<<I'll take a look, if you don't mind,>> she said, glancing
back at Ravindar.

The breeze picked up, and for just a moment it brought the
scent of the horse once again, but stronger than before.
This time not only could she smell it, but so could Fox, his
head snapping around as, for just a moment, his instincts
come to the foreground, only to be rapidly submerged.

Fox's eyes narrowed a bit as he looked into the tree line.
"I think I saw something out there," he said, trying to
rationalize something he clearly didn't want to understand.

"Let her go," the Deca said, his eyes tracking at the edge
of the woods. "And be quick about it, we are nearing the
fording, and that would be a likely place for an attack."

<<I'll be back as soon as I can,>> Rhea said as she felt the
bodyguard's paw lift from her back. She rushed forward the
moment she was free of him, hurrying towards the tree line.
She slowed down once she was into the shadows of the trees,
lowering her body closer to the ground and skulking through
the debris on the forest floor.

The smell of the horse grew with each step, no longer being
carried by the breeze, but covering the ground as well. In a
few seconds she found the horse's hoof prints in the dirt,
and she turned to follow the tracks, increasing her speed to
a quick trot.

In a few seconds she could see the rump of the horse, moving
between the trees. There was a rider on the horse's back, a
young man probably no more than eighteen years old. He keep
glancing back at the trail, where the caravan could
occasionally be seen between the trees. He was nervous; she
could smell it under the scent of the horse, and she could
see how he fidgeted in the worn saddle.

"Come on," the young man muttered under his breath as he
glanced forward for a few moments, kicking his horse to pick
up the speed.

Rhea flicked her ears back, satisfied for the moment, and
slowed herself down, letting the horse and rider vanish into
the shadows of the trees. When he was out of sight she
turned back towards the trail, moving rapidly towards the
caravan.

As she came out of the trees her eyes locked onto Fox and
the head rider. She rushed over to them, coming to a near
stop, and panting hard as she looked up to Deca. <<There's
someone out there, ridding in our shadow, and he's waiting
for something.>>

A deep frown played over Deca's face as he turned to face
the woods, then back towards the head of the caravan. "We
are in trouble," he said and kicked his horse forward. He
moved quickly down the line of wagon's pounding the side of
each with his fist. Without saying a word all of the caravan
members came to attention, their swords at the ready as each
wagon came to a stop.

"What's going on?" Samantha asked as she roused herself from
the back of the wagon next to them. She was still rubbing
the sleep from her eyes as she focused on the group.

Fox glanced up at her, a serious look on his face,
"Something may be going down," he told her.

She nodded, fighting back a yawn as she jumped from the
wagon and landed hard on the ground. Her hand went to her to
her belt as her cloth tail started to flick behind her legs.
She had taken her cloak off for the moment, leaving it in
the back of the wagon, along with the rest of their packs.

"So... what should we be doing?" she asked, looking down the
dozen wagons and the people preparing themselves.

"We did sign on as guards," Ravindar said, his hand resting
gently on the hilt of his sword.

She let out an exaggerated sigh, "Don't remind me, I hate
standing watch at night," she said as the last wagon came to
a stop.

"It means we should be getting ready for a fight," Fox said,
holding the hilt of his own sword with a firm grasp. His
eyes glanced towards the tree line, his fingers flexing
slightly.

Samantha nodded, and pulled free her pistol, thumbing off
the safety as she said: "If we have to fight, we have to
fight."

Both Fox and Rhea snapped their heads forward, the lioness's
ears folding back against her skull as a low growl started
to rumble through her body, one that was matched by a softer
growl from Fox. "We fight," Fox said with bitter
disappointment as he pulled his sword free.

A moment later two dozen men on horse back exploded from the
woods on both sides of the caravan, with more men towards
the back of the wagons than the front.

Rhea moved first, digging her claws into the ground as she
leaped forward, her tail twisting as she rushed towards the
closest of the attackers. Before the man really saw her
coming she was on him, leaping upwards and clamping her jaws
around the neck of his horse. The horse reared back from the
pain and fright as she twisted her head. With a wet sound
her jaws pulled free, ripping out the animal's neck in the
process.

The horse let out a muffled cry as it twisted around bucking
bucked hard, and throwing the rider to ground. He landed
hard on his side, the air forced from his lungs.

Rhea jumped at the horse again, hitting the dying beast in
the side, its legs folded under it, and it toppled like a
tree, crashing to the ground onto the rider's leg, pinning
him to the ground.

She turned again and started back to the caravan, her eyes
moving to take in the battle that was quickly unfolding.
Most of the riders were off the mounts and freely attacking
the members of the caravan.

Fox was holding his own, crossing swords with the young man
that had been following them. The young man was unsure of
himself, and Fox didn't want to move in for a stronger
attack and risk the possibility of a kill.

Samantha was moving between fights, her gun held at her
side. Behind her one of the attackers lay on the ground, a
bullet in his knee. She was already heading for a second
attacker.

Ravindar was in trouble. He had his sword free, but he
lacked his usual skill. He was fighting with two of the
attackers, and was only keeping himself in check because of
his strength instead of his skill. He was so focused on the
two at the end of the blade, he couldn't see the third who
was moving up behind him.

<<Ravindar, behind you!>> Rhea yelled, pushing her mental
voice as loud as she could make it. It was loud enough that
it probably echoed though the skull of everyone in the
battle.

The disguised tiger twisted, trying to turn to face his
newest attacker, but wasn't able to pull away from the first
fight. By the time he would be free it would have been to
late for him to do anything.

It was Samantha who came to his rescue, when the call had
come she had turned towards the tiger, and with startling
accuracy put two rounds into the second attacker. The first
round landed in his chest, but didn't stop him; the second
round hit right under his chin, dropping him hard to the
ground.

She ran up to Ravindar, her gun aimed at the first attacker.
The man was smart enough to put two and two together, and
run from the fight, the other following right after.

"Screw the blade," she told the tiger, "stick to your gun."

He snorted, but took her advice as he threw his blade to the
ground, replacing it with his gun.

Rhea ran past her friends, heading for the front of the
caravan. She passed other fights, keeping her eyes on them
all, looking for any that needed help, but on the whole the
members of the caravan were holding their own.

At the head of the line of wagons the head rider was
fighting with a burly looking man. Deca's horse was down,
and he already had a deep gash on the side of his right arm.
He had the sword in his left hand, and was fighting hard,
but the attacker was gaining the advantage.

She ran around the attacker, putting a few feet between him
and her, and then with a loud roar she started to run
towards the man at full speed.

Both he and Deca stopped, and looked towards her. Deca
realized what was about to happen and threw himself
backwards as she leapt through the air, her paws wide, her
claws out and a her jaws open. She crashed into the attacker
with her full weight, throwing him to the ground and landing
on top of him. Her jaw went around his neck, holding
tightly, only just cutting the skin as her weight pinned him
to the ground.

Deca was on them in a moment, the tip of his blade pressing
up against the attacker's neck from between Rhea's lips.
"Now, call your men off," he said.

The attacker grimaced, and let out a low gasp, his eyes
rolling back as he fought back a case of panic. "Stop," he
started to say, his voice failing him as he gasped and tried
again, "Stop the attack," he yelled, his voice shaking.

Rhea could hear the sounds of battle start to fade around
them, and felt Deca's hand on her neck. "You can let him
go," he said.

<<You're hurt, I can keep him down until you have help
dealing with him,>> she said.

Deca paused, and patted the back of her neck. "Right, right.
Hold him until we gather up his men."

She flicked her ears to acknowledge him, and the man under
her relaxed slightly as the sword point was pulled away from
his neck. Adjusting her weight a bit more she relaxed her
jaw, pulling her teeth free of his neck.

About three minutes later she felt a hand back on her
shoulders. "We can take him now," Deca said.

She nodded and opened her jaws, then slowly walked herself
off of him. As soon as she was clear three other men jumped
on him, pulling him to his feet.

Rhea shook her head, stretching herself out a bit as she
turned away, and walked back towards her friends who were
still near the end of the caravan. Fox was sitting on the
ground, his head on his knees and his eyes half closed.
Ravindar was standing at his side, watching as members of
the caravan gathered up the last of the attackers. Samantha
was resting on the back of one wagon, replacing the rounds
she had expended.

The lioness moved over to them, dropping at Fox's side,
<<are you OK?>> she asked all three of them.

"They are going to execute most of the raiders," Fox said
with a sigh. "The leader will be tied up and taken to the
nearest town, probably to hang," he added.

Rhea flicked her ears back, understanding how Fox was
feeling. It was the same way she was feeling. For all the
differences between the two of them she still shared his
hatred for needless death.

They sat together against the wheel of the wagon, both of
them making a point of not watching as all but three of the
attackers were taken to the edge of the tree line and
killed, even the nervous young man who had been following
them.

"I would like to thank you," Deca said, approaching them
once the deed was done. His wounded arm was bandaged and
held in a sling around his neck.

Fox snorted, "I would have preferred if you hadn't killed
them," he said as he looked up at the man.

"They knew the penalty before they attacked us. If we hadn't
stopped them they would have willingly killed every single
one of us," he replied.

Fox said nothing in return.

He turned his attention to Rhea, giving her a small smile.
"I would like to thank you, it's likely that you saved my
life today."

<<You're welcome,>> she replied, not bothering to look up.

Deca nodded and brushed at his sleeve. "I will have good
things to say about you when we reach the Crown, and your
aid will not be unrewarded. You are each entitled to one of
the attackers' horses, and a share of the bounty on their
leader."

"Thanks, I'm sure that will come in handy," Fox replied, it
was clear he really wanted to say something else, but he
held himself back.

The head rider nodded and turned away from the group, "We'll
be moving out in five minutes. It would be better if we
camped on the other side of the river," he said before
walking away from them.

"It wasn't for them," Fox muttered under his breath,
glancing at the line of bodies at the edge of the trail.
Then without a word he stood up and climbed into the wagon.
Rhea jumped in after him, unwilling to walk for the rest of
the night.


   Chapter Three

01/22/2000:

I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I looked at the large
stone walls of the royal church as they rose up at least
fifty feet in the air. The stonework, which I though might
have been marble, was carved with tight weaving patterns
that wrapped around the corners and entwined around the
frame of the main door.

"Fox?" Samantha asked as she came up to my side, "Did you
hear what I said?"

With a shake of my head I returned my attention to my
friends. "No, I think I missed it," I said with a weak
smile.

"Do you think it's safe for us to go inside?" she repeated.

I shrugged. "I don't see why not, we're not exactly
unwelcome, and it seems like everyone else is heading
inside," I said motioning to the people who were streaming
up the stone steps. The nobles and the wealthy dressed in
what was clearly their finest clothing, mingled with the
commoners who were in their every day dress.

"I want to hold back a bit, let everyone else get inside,"
Ravindar told me as he watched the moving crowd. "This is
just a scouting mission, don't forget that."

"I wasn't planning to," I responded. "Anyway the King's
wedding is hardly the time or place to pull what will
probably be the crime of the century, if anyone catches us."

Samantha nodded and turned to watch the moving people, her
tail flicking in annoyance as she said: "I doubt anyone will
catch us; we are smarter than everyone else here."

I shook my head, watching as the crowds were starting to
thin. "Not smarter, just more knowledgeable than they are.
I'm just surprised we didn't get any more questions about
your performance with the caravan."

She shrugged, her hand moving down to her hip, where her gun
was resting. At least this time she had her shirt pulled out
and covering the weapon. "I did what I had to do," she said,
her tail wrapping around one of her legs.

"I'm not arguing about that," I replied with a wave of my
hand. "I'm just still a bit disturbed about how it all
ended. I don't like killing, and I don't like needless
death."

My bodyguard let out a pointed sigh and shook his head, I
had been going on about it since the raiders had been
killed. It just grated on me that I was a part of something
like that, even if I wasn't actually involved with their
execution.

"Come on," he said as he dropped his paw on my shoulder,
"Let's get inside before they close the doors."

I nodded and shrugged out from under his hand. "It's not
like we are eagerly awaiting this performance," I told him
as I started up the stone steps, fully expecting my friends
to follow me. I wasn't let down as Ravindar took his
traditional place a few steps behind me, and Samantha walked
at my side. Rhea, for the moment, was back at the inn with
our gear. She had decided to stay behind so as not to
attract undue attention to the group. It was a good choice
on her part, but I hope she would be OK on her own.

The inside of the church was just as impressive as the
exterior had been. The stone walls rose around us, with
three huge arches that held the roof high above our heads.
Thick pillars reached down from the ceiling to support the
structure. The stone was cut with more of the entwining
patterns and pressed with gold and the occasional bright
jewel.

The floor of the church was a polished marble that seemed to
glow from the magic light that hung from the roof. Rows of
pews filled the hall from the huge altar that dominated one
wall back all the way to the where we stood. Most of them
were filled with people. The commoners kept near the back
while the better dressed stayed close to the front.

Behind the altar were the three holy relics. The first was a
spear that was over a thousand years old; the head was made
of pounded copper and the shaft made of a blood red wood.
The second was a tall golden scepter, the top of which was
encrusted with jewels that glittered in the shifting light.
The third, and the most recently discovered, was our target,
a golden triangle a foot on each side, with a circle was cut
into the center of the triangle, just touching the three
sides. It was a super-computer, hidden by a psychopath, and
worth more than anyone on this world could know.

"Let's get out of the way," Ravindar said, as he grabbed my
shoulder with one hand, Samantha's with another, and pulled
us both behind the last row of pews. We stood, trying to be
casual as people streamed past. A few of them gave us
curious looks as we were too well dressed to be standing in
the back.

Ravindar moved behind my shoulder, bending down to whisper
in my ear, "I only see a dozen guards, six along both left
and right walls. There are four more behind us, two outside
the door, and two more in the pews." He spoke in Prid
Standard to be sure no one could understand us.

"And a partridge in a pair tree," Samantha muttered in kind.

My bodyguard turned his head to look at the young woman, "Do
you have anything else to add?" he asked.

She smirked and made a point of pulling out a cigarette,
then taking her own sweet time in lighting it. With a smile
she let the smoke trail from her nose. "There's a lot of
magic in here," she said, pleased to see that she had
managed to further annoy him. "A lot of it is coming from
the two older items up there; someone put a lot of time and
effort into casting some very intricate spells on them.
There are also a few spells covering all three of them,
protecting them from being taken," she said, taking in a
long draw. "Nothing I can't get around given a few hours."

"I think we can arrange the time-- we just have to get in at
night. It will probably be in a few days, once the
excitement has died down," I told her, glancing back to be
sure that no one was listen to us. Not that they could
understand what we were saying, but I was feeling a bit
paranoid.

Ravindar nodded, and started to say something, but bit it
back as someone walked out in front of the altar. He was
dressed in fairly formal clothing, his pants and shirt
bright blue, with almost glowing orange trim around the
collar. The chatter of the crowd muted as he stood waiting
in front of them.

Turning, he stepped up to the altar and picked up a large
book, Cradling it in his arm, he opened it to a marked page
and started to read from the pages. It was a long and
homiletic speech that started slow and just kept getting
worse. He talked about the lineage of the kings and the
destiny handed down by God for their rule, the power of the
church in the life of the people, and so on.

What caught my attention was when he started to talk about a
war that had recently ended, apparently with the engagement
of Prince Alexander to Princess Astadia three years before.
She was the princess of the kingdom they had been at war
with; the priest seemed rather annoyed by this fact, but
never directly said so.

Of course the Princess would soon be Queen, once the priest
stopped talking, but he still just droned on. I was getting
bored, and my feet were starting to hurt from the stone
floor. Samantha was clearly feeling the same way as she
shifted from foot to foot, the cloth of her tail sweeping in
long, slow strokes near the floor.

After nearly an hour the priest finally shut his book,
holding it to his chest as he told everyone in the room to
stand. With the sounding of creaking wood the pews emptied
as everyone came to their feet as the Prince entered the
room, the Princess at his side. He was a young man, maybe a
bit younger than myself and in a lot better shape. The
Princess was a looker-- slim and trim with a pretty face
that was framed by long brown hair with a natural curl.

The priest motioned for Prince Alexander to come foreword,
and he did, only pausing to kiss the Princess on the cheek.
He stood before the elder man, and fell to one knee.

Setting the book down, the priest picked up a simple golden
crown, and held it high in the air; with some grand words
about the future and the reign of kings he set it down on
the Prince's head, declaring him King.

In unison, and without a word of instruction the assembled
people in the room went to one knee, bowing to their new
leader. The three of us followed suit, though we lacked the
smooth motion of those around us.

With a wave of his hand, the new King had everyone return to
their seats, and started in on his own speech. I let out a
sigh as the speech just went on and on, I wanted to leave,
but the doors behind us had been closed and two guards were
standing in front of it keeping everyone inside.

It took nearly an hour for the young King to finally
conclude his long-winded speech and take a step back from
the altar. The priest patted the young man on the shoulder,
and motioned for the Princess to join them. She walked over
to them and the couple took up places in front of the
priest, holding hands. The elderly man started to read the
marriage ceremony, reading once again from the large book.

"Something's wrong," Samantha said a few minutes into it.

I tilted my head, looking back at my friend. "What do you
mean?" I asked her in a whisper.

She crossed her arms and leaned closer to me, "Look at the
priest; look at his left hand," she said.

With a frown I looked where she indicated, the older man had
his book resting on his arm, holding it in an odd manner,
his other hand, the left one, was just inside of his shirt.
"That does seem kind of odd, maybe it's injured," I said.

She shook her head, her eyes narrowing as her tail moving in
much the same way Rhea's did when she was hunting. "No, he
just moved it there," she said.

I turned my head back so I could speak with Ravindar. "What
do you think?" I asked him.

"It is a bit out of the ordinary," he said, as a deep frown
creased his face.

"Right, right," I said, turning back to Samantha, only to
find that she was no longer at my side, instead she was
running down the aisle between the pews, her gun in her
hand. Biting back a yell I took off after her, wondering
what the hell she thought was doing.

My questions were answered as the priest dropped his book
and reached out with his now free hand to grab the
Princess's shoulder. The other hand came out of his shirt, a
dagger held tightly in his fingers. As soon as I saw it I
started to run towards them instead of after Samantha, my
hands pulling one of my pistols free and cambering a round.

"Sam!" I called to my friend, hoping that she could do
something, with her magic or her telekinesis to stop what
was about to happen, but I suspected nothing could have
changed the look on the man's face as he forced the point of
his blade into Astadia's chest with a wet sound that seemed
to fill the huge room.

Samantha moved almost like a cat, rushing down the aisle and
deftly moving around the guards who were running towards
her. She ducked under the arm of one, and used her
telekinetic powers to shove the other off his feet.

Ravindar pushed past me, pulling the second guard to the
ground and allowing me to pass unimpeded.

Samantha reached the altar first, running past the stunned
King to plow into the priest's chest. The two of them
spilled to the ground, rolling over the stone floor.
Samantha came out on top and hit him in the face with the
butt of her gun. "Stay put!" she snapped, pinning him down
and pointing the gun at his face.

I reached the altar just after her, catching the Princess as
her body crumpled towards the ground. She was heavy in my
arms as I lowered her to the ground; she was gasping
heavily, her hands on the dagger that was still buried in
her chest. The blood was pumping around the blade, her dress
bright red as more blood foamed around her lips.

Behind me I could hear the crowd start to yell.

The King stood stunned, looking down at the dying Princess.
His face was slack, stunned at all that had unfolded.

My head snapped up as Ravindar arrived, wanting to know if
he could help her, but from the look on his face I could
tell that her injuries would very soon take her life.

Alexander finally snapped to his senses, his head moving
between Samantha and myself. With a yell he fell to his
knees at the side of his dying wife, taking her from my arms
and pressing her to his chest.

She looked up at him, her mouth moving as she tried to say
something, but the blood in her lungs stole the words from
her lips.

The King bent down and kissed his bride on her cheek,
holding her as she let out her last breath, her body shaking
in his arms as she passed away.

With a yell of pain the King held the Princess to his chest,
spreading the blood onto his white clothing, rage starting
to build in his eyes. In a moment he was on his feet, his
sword in his hand as he looked at the priest with murder in
his eyes.

I jumped to my feet and grabbed the King by his shoulders,
holding him back.

"Let go of me!" he yelled as he snapped his head around to
look at me, sending his crown askew on his short hair.

"You're going to kill him," I said with a growl.

His eyes glared at me. "He killed my wife!"

"Yes, he did," I said with a soft hiss, grabbing onto his
sword arm. "And he will be brought to justice."

"My will is justice!" he yelled at me.

"You are the King!" I yelled back, pulling him nose to nose,
my ice blue eyes glaring into his green ones. "Set an
example for your subjects, that you are not above your own
laws, nor is he. Kill him now and you will make a travesty
of any justice this country has! And you won't know why he
did it, which could be dangerous for you and for your
people."

Alexander glared at me, panting hard as his range started to
fade. "I... " he tried to say.

I relaxed my grip on him, just enough so I could run my hand
down his arm, and push the sword out of his hand. "Bury your
wife, then hang her killer," I told him.

With a whimper he dropped against me, his body shaking as he
started to cry. With a twist he pulled out of my grasp and
returned to his wife's body, his tears raining down onto her
still form.

I bent down next to him, and touched him on his back. "I'm
sorry," I said.

He said nothing in return.

I stood back up, and saw that the guards in the room were
ushering everyone out of the church and back onto the
street. In a few more minutes we were going to be the only
one's left inside.

We were up to our necks in this now, and there wasn't a lot
I could do to pull us out. The irony of the whole thing was
that I was now standing no more than three feet away from
the whole point of this little trip, and I couldn't do a
thing about it.

I walked over to Samantha, and set my hand on her shoulder.
She was still covering the priest who, even though he had
never seen a gun, knew enough to keep himself still. He
looked panicked, and was clenching and unclenching his hands
against the ground. One hand was covered in the blood of his
victim.

"Guards!" the King barked from over my shoulder, causing me
to jump. I snapped my head around to look at the young man.
His face was lined in anger as he glared down at the priest
with pure hate.

The guards finally arrived at the altar, too late to change
anything, and picked the priest up off the floor, holding
him by the shoulders. One of the guards had his blade out
and pressed against the priest's belly.

As the priest saw the King, he started to yell, his voicing
echoing through the empty church. The King responded by
walking quickly to the man and backhanded him across the
face, cutting his cheek and bloodying his nose.

The priest looked stunned, staring at the King with a mix of
surprise and horror as blood ran down his face and
splattered over his bright blue clothing. He tried to say
something but his mouth moved without making a sound.

"Take that... thing to the prison!" The King snapped to the
guards.

His men responded quickly, and started to drag the priest
off the altar towards the entrance of the church. Half way
across the floor the priest started to yell again, his words
incoherent as he was pulled away.

That left the three of us, the King, and a handful of guards
as the only people now inside the church. The young man was
looking at me very intently, his eyes narrowing as he took
the three of us in.

He shifted from foot to foot, looking back at the body of
his wife, then back to me. "You saved my life," he said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more," I told him as I moved to
stand next to Ravindar. "We were just too far away."

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, a look of
horror spreading over his face as they pressed into the
blood that covered his shirt.

"You did all that you could," he said as he composed himself
again, making a point of taking exaggerated deep breaths. "I
thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart. I would
like for you to come to the Palace tonight. I wish to
present all three of you with a gift, to show my thanks. You
are all heroes."

"We're not heroes," Samantha said, brushing her hair out of
her eyes. "If we were heroes, we would have saved her life
as well."

"You did all that you could," he said again, turning his
attention to the young lady, his eyes narrowing a bit as he
saw the cloth tail sweeping behind her. "Thank you. Please,
come to stay at the Palace... I insist."

Samantha glanced at me, and I looked back at her, then to
Ravindar. My bodyguard gave us both a short nod, and I let
out a sigh. "Yes, Your Majesty, well come to the Palace. We
have some things at the inn that we should pick up first.
though"

The young man nodded and motioned to the guards around us,
"Escort these three to get their things, then bring them
back to the Palace. The rest of you--" he paused, looking at
the body of the floor. "Bring my wife to the Palace, and
someone find out why the Highmost did this," he snapped out
the last words, and spun on his heel, stomping out of the
church.

Ravindar and I shared a look; I shook my head and followed.
As we exited the church I tried to come up with an
explanation for Rhea, and why she should be treated with the
same respect as the rest of us.


   Chapter Four

"I am amazed," Rodrick said as he bent down to look at Rhea.
"I've never seen a creature like this before. What did you
say she was?"

"A lioness," I replied as I shared an exasperate look with
my sometimes twin sister. She had spent the last hour being
poked and prodded by Sir Rodrick, the High Mage and advisor
to King Alexander. He was an older man, in his late fifties
or early sixties. His short hair was gray with streaks of
black. He was powerfully built, and was missing part of his
right ear, which looked like it had been bitten off.

He was dressed in almost casual clothing, knee-high boots
and shoulder-length gloves, both made of dark brown leather.
His shirt and pants were fairly normal for this world, but
were made of a fine fabric that flowed around him as he
moved. The dark brown of the cloth contrasted with his pale
white of his skin, which was wrinkled and weathered. He wore
a silver half-moon pendant on a braided leather necklace,
providing a bright point of contrast to the rest of his
clothing.

"I have never seen anything like her before," he said as he
ran his gloved fingers down her flank, all the way to the
base of her tail. It didn't escape me that he was the first
person to refer to Rhea as anything other than 'it'.

Samantha nodded, keeping her hand on the lioness's head,
stroking her ears to keep her calm. Rodrick had recognized
her as a fellow mage when they had first meet, and naturally
assumed that Rhea was something that she had created.

"She's unique," Samantha said.

"So I've heard," Alexander said as he walked into the room,
he had changed out of the bloody clothing and had taken a
bath to judge by his still damp hair. "I've recently heard
rumors about an homunculus who helped to save a caravan,
along with three people it was with. One of whom was armed
with a weapon no one has ever seen before," he cast his eyes
to Samantha as he spoke.

A smile spread out over the young women's face as she rose
to her feet, her tail flicking happily against the back of
her legs. "That was us," she said proudly.

I hid a wince at the admission, I hadn't wanted to bring
that up, and I could see from Ravindar's face that he felt
the same way.

The King nodded as he looked between the four of us. "It's
quite an amazing beast, and I hear that it can even talk."

Rhea flicked her ears at that, and let out an annoyed
sounding chuff as Rodrick's roving hands reached something a
little too tender.

"I think you should stop that," Samantha said as she glanced
at the lioness.

Rodrick paused, and slowly pulled his hands away from her
fur. "Yes, yes... it's just that I have never seen anything
like her before. She seems more intelligent than any
construct I have ever seen, I want to know how you created
her."

The young woman smiled and waved him off with her hand.
"I'll tell you what I can," she said.

Alexander nodded and motioned for all of us to follow him,
"Come now, dinner is waiting for us. I want to talk to all
of you," he said as he walked towards another door.

I gave a shrug and followed after him, with Ravindar a few
steps behind me. Samantha and Rhea followed a short distance
after him, and Sir Rodrick brought up the tail end of the
group.

We filed into a small dinning room, dominated primarily by a
large table. There were places set for each of us, with the
King's clearly marked by a large and well padded chair that
stood at the head of the table.

There was already a man waiting at the table. He was younger
than Rodrick, but only by a few years, and was dressed in
simple, almost plain, brown clothing. The fabric was coarser
than what the Mage, or the King wore. His face had deep
lines, and the tips of his fingers were stained black and
calloused. He gave the King a nod as we entered, but said
nothing.

"Fox, this is Zain, my father's advisor, and now mine,"
Alexander said as we took places at the table. I ended up
next to the older man. I offered him my hand as I sat down.
He shook it firmly and gave me a knowing smile as I took my
place.

Rodrick didn't seat himself, but walked across the room to a
smaller door in the back. Opening it a bit, he pushed his
head inside the room and called out something I couldn't
hear.

As we all settled ourselves at the table a few of the Palace
servants came into the room, quickly setting an extra place
at my side, on the floor.

"There you are Rhea. You can join us now," Rodrick said as
he settled himself down at the table.

She nodded and flicked her tail a bit, but didn't say a word
as she moved up to the place setting.

I looked out over the table, noting that there was a lot of
food covering it. It was probably more food than most of the
people on this world would ever see in one place, and for
the King and his company it was probably a small meal.

The servers moved around the table, dishing the food to each
of our plates, giving all of us some of everything that was
on the table. They gave Rhea significantly more than the
rest of us, as she naturally needed more food than we did.

"So, did you come to the City just for the coronation?" Zain
asked between bites of some sort of blue vegetable dish.

I shrugged, "It was partly that, and partly wanting to see
the Relics. We were planing to stay a few days, take in the
sights, then head back home."

"There's a private service at the Church on the Sabbath,"
Alexander said with a smile. "If you would like to come
along with me, you can see the Relics as close as you wish
too. You could even touch them."

"Are you sure you can allow that?" I asked him with a raised
eyebrow, "They are considered Holy."

He frowned a bit, then nodded his head. "Yes, yes, the
Relics are under the purview of the Highest. Sometimes I
forget myself when it comes to such things, but until the
Church can appoint a new Highest there is a void. A void in
which I am free to walk through without too many problems,"
he said with a laugh as he bit into his food.

"I see," I said as I sank back into my chair, watching the
young man eat. He seemed a bit excited, almost bouncy as he
sat in the chair, not behavior that I would expect from
someone who had just lost his wife. It started to worry me
just a bit, and I wanted to get out of there as soon as I
could.

We fell into silence for a few moments as we continued to
eat. Rhea had already finished her meal, as large as it was,
and was contentedly liking her paw clean.

Rodrick glanced down at Rhea, then back up to Samantha,
"Tell me, who did you train under?" he asked.

She smiled a bit, and gently set down her silverware, "I
really didn't train under anyone. I've been self-taught by a
rather hard life."

The older man nodded, tenting his fingers a bit as he rested
his shoulders on the table. "Which would explain why you
were able to create something unlike anything I have seen
before. No one taught you what couldn't be done. It also
explains why she is more intelligent than is usually
allowed."

"Well, I like to break the rules," Samantha replied with a
shrug of her shoulders.

"You like to brag," I said with a smirk.

She laughed and shook her head as she threw a piece of bread
at me. I caught it easily in my fingers and popped it into
my mouth.

Alexander shook his head, looking a bit amused by our
antics. "And what about you, what is your relation to these
two?" he asked Ravindar.

"I am Fox's bodyguard," he said with casual ease.

The King smiled, "A bodyguard! I didn't know you were that
important Fox," he said to me. "Or do you have a price on
your head."

I frowned a bit as I stabbed my fork into a piece of meat.
"It's a bit of both really; I've managed to piss off a few
powerful people in my adventures."

He chuckled and nodded his head, "I can imagine. You have
probably angered the Church by preventing the Highest from
killing me... I hope he will tell us what he was trying to
do," he said, an over-expressive frown crossing his face.

"He was trying to take power," Zain said as he took a drink
of his wine. "With you and Astadia dead the Church would be
able to take control, like they have always wished to."

Lovely. A major dispute between the Church and the State.
Historically it was a battle that usually killed everyone
around it, and we had just landed right in the middle of it.
I decided then and there to pull the plug on the whole
operation, and just head home.

"I'm glad that didn't happen," Rodrick said as he wiped his
face clean, then carefully cleaned each finger of his
gloves. "That is not a war I wish to become involved in."

Samantha shrugged, "I've learned to stay away from religion
if I can help it," she said as she finished her wine.

"I'm not surprised," the High Mage replied. "The Church has
denounced even the concept of a female mage, and in some of
the smaller villages has managed to get them killed. They
are growing in power too, so watch yourself out there," he
said.

She grimaced and crossed her arms over her chest, one of her
hands drifting to where she kept her gun.

"You're being quiet," I whispered down to Rhea.

<<I'm not in the mood to be chatty, not around these people,
and that mage just smells wrong,>> she said to me,
whispering, even though I was the only one who could
possibly hear her.

"Wrong how?" I asked, wishing I had the same mental ability
as she did. Even better would be the mental link we shared
when I was in my non-morphic form. It would have been better
than just whispering.

<<I don't know, there's just a scent about him that seems
out of place, bitter, almost like burnt almonds,>> she said.

I frowned, and let out a soft sigh. "I see."

"Well," Alexander said, hitting the table with his open
palm, "It's getting late, and we all have had a long day. My
advisors and I need to discuss how to handle today's events,
so I will have you escorted to your rooms, and we will speak
again in the morning."

"Very well," I said as I rose to my feet, Rhea rising to
stand at my side. "Thank you for the meal, and thank you for
putting us up for the night. I hope you sleep well," I said
as I walked over to Samantha, placing my hand on her
shoulder. She gave me a glance, nodded, and rose to her
feet, only taking a moment to pour herself a fresh glass of
wine.

Ravindar, of course, was already at my side, opposite of
Rhea and staying close to me. One of the Palace servants
came up to us and told us to follow him to our rooms, I gave
one glance back at the King as we walked out of the dining
room.

King Alexander sighed as the door closed, leaving him and
his advisers at the table. Pouring himself a glass of wine
he waved the servants out of the room, and waited patiently
as they hurried out.

"Rodrick," he said.

The Mage waved his hand, casting a spell onto the doors,
locking them so no one could enter the room.

"So," Alexander said, taking a long drink of his wine. "I
want to know what the hell happened!" he snapped, slamming
his goblet on to the surface of the table.

"I would think that was obvious," Zain said, his lips
pressed into a thin line.

The King let out a low growl, "The plan was obvious! The
Highest kills Astadia, I kill him, the war is back on and we
take control of the Church. So what in the name of the
Twelve Saints happened today?"

"We played our parts to the letter! We pulled his strings to
the point that he believed he was making the plans, but none
of us ever expected those four to show up," Rodrick said as
he started to undo the clasps on his gloves. "There was
nothing we could do to account for them."

"So I see; it was just an accident that they happened to be
there," Alexander asked with a slight scowl.

Zain picked up his wine glass, as the Mage did the same.
"Yes Your Majesty, it was simply a coincidence," Zain told
the King.

"Bullshit!" Alexander yelled, sweeping his arm across the
table, scattering the plates and glasses over the wood and
onto the floor. The two older men gave each other a smile
and placed their glasses back on the table.

The new King rose to his feet, and started to pace around
the table. "Things like this don't happen by accident--
people like that don't show up by accident, and don't
interfere with my plans by coincidence"" he declared as he
marched around the room.

"What are you saying Your Majesty?" Rodrick asked as he
pulled one of his gloves off, reveling his scared and broken
fingers. "That someone planned this? That they knew what we
were planning and took advantage of it?"

"Yes!" the King said as he slammed his fist against the
table. "Astadia's death can be played to help us restart the
war, but even with The Highest in prison the Church still
has the majority of its power. There is no way we can take
control."

Zain nodded, tapping his fingers on the table as he picked
up a piece of spilled food. "So, do you believe that the
Church was involved in this?"

"I don't know, but we still have a loose end with The
Highest. If he talks to the others in the Church they will
know both that we were involved, and what he believed the
plan was. I just wish that interloper hadn't stopped me from
killing him."

Rodrick pulled his other glove off as he watched the King
move around the room. "How did he stop you?"

"He reasoned with me," Alexander said as he dropped back
into his chair.

"The monster," Zain said with a smirk.

The young man laughed and shook his head as he removed the
simple gold crown. "That was what I thought at the time. I
want to knew who sent them, who know about our plan."

"Are you sure that they knew anything about our intent?"
Zain asked.

"The bitch was running towards the alter before The Highest
even had his blade drawn," the King shouted as he took
another drink of his wine. "If she didn't know was going on,
why did she do that?"

Rodrick shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know Your Majesty,
but there must be a reason."

"We already know the reason; she knew, they knew, and they
came to stop it," Alexander said with a soft sigh.

Zain tapped his fingers on the table, rubbing his chin with
his free hand. "You know, we might be able to use this to
our advantage, and still fulfill our original goals."

"Really?" the King asked as he made a fist with one hand,
and wrapped it in the fingers of the other. "And how exactly
do you suggest we do that?"

"Samantha," Zain replied. "We can use her to pull all the
loose threads together."

"Right," Rodrick said, a smile spreading over his face. "As
a female mage the Church would take issue with her. What if
they were to say... kill her?"

Zain waved his hand, "Not just kill her, that won't be
enough! No, we need for her to be killed inside the Holy
City. Killing the King's Hero would give us ample reason to
move in and take control of the Church."

"So kidnap her from her room tonight," the King said, a
smile on his face. "If we could make it look as if the
Palace Priests did it not only can we remove them, we can
also deal with The Highest as well."

The High Mage smiled and nodded his head, "Yes Your Majesty,
that is a good plan, a very good plan. That still leaves us
with the other three. I would like to examine the homunculus
in great detail. I want to know how she was created."

"I agree, and there is also the bodyguard to deal with, and
Fox will probably want to rescue his friend," Zain added.

Alexander chuckled, "Oh yes, he will, but we clearly can't
let him leave the Palace. Perhaps we can arrange for
Ravindar to lead the rescue mission, leaving Fox and the
beast here. Once that happens we can simply capture them
both and then kill the bodyguard."

Zain nodded as he resting his chin on his steepled hands,
"It's a good plan, Sire, and one I believe we can execute
with minimal effort for us."

"Then do it! I want the girl out of the palace by morning,
and the rest will simply take care of itself," the King
ordered as he leaned back in his chair, a smile on his
face."

* * *

"Wait, wait," I said with a wave of my hand my head working
around what Samantha had just told me. "Let me see if I
understand this. You're saying that everything is off by two
decades, but the date is still the same?"

She nodded as she relaxed on the large bed, kicking her legs
gently as her cloth tail flicked over her rear. "That's what
it looks like."

I nodded, "That would explain a few things about Little
Fox., Alright then let's compare some dates. I'll start, and
you give me the year. July 20th--" I started.

"1949, Man landed on the moon," she finished. "How about
this, December 7th?"

I smiled, "1941, Pearl Harbor," I answered her, pausing for
a moment to think of a different date. "Let's see... July
4th?"

"1756, that's an easy one," she said with a smirk as she
tapped her tail on the top of the bed,

<<Someone is coming,>> Rhea said as she took a few steps
away from the closed door.

"Ravindar, back in disguise," I said snapping my head around
to look at my bodyguard. He had his Matrix Chip turned off
and was back looking like his normal tiger self. Without a
word he turned his unit back on, the light from the unit
dying down as a knock came on the door.

I stood up from my seat on the floor. "Yes?" I called out.

The door cracked open a bit and a servant pushed his head
into the room. "Excuse me sir, but we are getting ready to
turn in for the night."

I nodded as I walked over to the door. "Thanks for telling
me," I said.

He shook his head. "I'm here to escort your female companion
to her room," he said.

Samantha stood up, and brushed down her skirt, "And why
would I want do to that?" she asked.

"Well you are a Mage, so clearly you are not married," he
said as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. "If you
are not married you cannot be in the room with either of
them," he pointed between Ravindar and myself. I noted that
he was dressed in the same kind of light blue clothing as
the Priest from the wedding had worn.

I shrugged. "He has a point I guess," I told my friend. "I
don't see any harm in going with him, it's just for the
night."

She let out a sigh, her tail dropping to the ground. "All
right," she said as she picked up her bag and her cloak.
"I'll see you in the morning," she told us as she walked
toward the door.

The servant held the door open for her, and then let it
close behind her.

I let out a sigh, looking at the bed, "Should I take it, or
you?" I asked Ravindar.

"You take the bed Fox, I can make do on the floor," he told
me as he switched off the Matrix unit once more.

"Thanks," I told him as I pulled back the covers and quickly
shed most of my clothing.

"You're welcome Fox. Pleasant dreams," he told me as he
gathered a pillow and blanket and settled near the door.
Rhea had already taken a spot curled up at the end of the
bed.

I gave him a smile as I put out the lamp next to the bed. "I
don't dream," I reminded him as I curled up and drifted off
on the lumpy mattress. I was right about one thing... I
didn't dream the whole night long.

But that was when the nightmare started.


    Chapter Five

Samantha stirred in her bed, her eyes fluttering open in the
dark of the night as she was brought awake by a sound she
couldn't remember. She let out a slow breath as her eyes
opened, looking into the cold darkness of the room.

There was a little flicking light left from the fire, and it
cast her shadow over the wall in front of her. She blinked
her eyes clear and tried to focus on the shadows around her.

Whatever it was that had brought her awake, she couldn't see
it; that was, assuming there was anything to see. She closed
her eyes tightly and rolled over in the bed, pulling herself
snugly into the bedding. At the same time her hand slid
under her pillow until it was resting on the butt of her
gun. The chilled metal was comforting against her skin.

Letting her eyes crack open a hair, she scanned the other
side of the room. The fire was smoldering, down to a few
small pieces of wood and the ash under it. Her boots stood
beside the stone hearth, with her sack resting next to them.
The shadows were deeper on that side of the room, but she
couldn't see anything.

A creak near the floor caused her to shift slightly, her
fingers wrapping tightly on her gun, one finger placed on
the trigger as she pushed the safety free.

She took in a deep breath, then sprang up in the bed,
leaping forward as she swung her gun in front of her body.
She landed on one knee, the other pressing into the bed so
she could leap off in a moment's notice. Taking short and
controlled breaths she scanned the room, and found nothing
waiting for her at the foot of the bed.

"Idiot," she said to herself as she relaxed her arms,
"Jumping at nothing, what a waste of time," she muttered to
herself as she set her gun onto the bed.

With a sigh Samantha rubbed the back of her neck, shook her
head, then made a movement to untangle her night clothing.
The thick cotton gown, outside of inching against her skin,
keep her warm in the cold night. She wrapped her tail
against her leg, feeling the cloth that was attached to her
panties move like it was a part of her, which, as far as her
own mind was concerned, it was.

'Might as well have a smoke while I'm up,' she thought to
herself as she slid off the bed, and walked over the cold
floor to where she had dropped her clothing, feeling the
gown flutter around her legs as she moved. Pawing through
her clothing she removed her cigarette and pulled one free,
holding it in her lips as she light it with a flick of fire
from her finger.

With a small smile she let the smoke trail out of her lips
as she exhaled. With one hand she pulled her gown close to
her legs as she turned around. She was about to sit down on
the stone hearth when she realized three things:

First, she had left her gun on the bed, a good four feet
away from her at the moment.

Second, in her rush to defend herself she had neglected to
check the wall that her bed was resting against.

Third, and most important, that four men were standing
inside an open stone door that had been hidden in the wall,
and all four were armed, and armored.

Samantha let her gown drop, feeling it sweep around her feet
as her eyes looked over the men. Taking in a long draw of
her cigarette, she held it in her lungs as she composed
herself. "So, who wants to go first?" she asked, feeling the
smoke trail over her face.

* * *

01/23/2000:

"What?" I demanded as I pulled the door to the room open,
looking out with some anger at the servant who stood on the
other side. The light of a false dawn filtered through the
room from the window on the far wall, and sleep was still
clinging to my eyes as I tried to get them clear.

The servant who had been pounding on my door looked worried
and flustered as he saw me, "Sir, come quick, something has
happened!" he said, breathless.

"What is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes as I pulled my
glasses on, blinking as the young boy came into focus. He
looked disheveled, his hair a mess and panic in his eyes.

"It's your friend, something has happened to her," he said.

I pushed past him, and was about to run down the hallway,
until I realized that I had no idea where they had put her
the night before. "Show us the way," I told the young man.

He nodded, then turned and started to run down the hallway,
and I was close on his heels. I could heard Ravindar's
footsteps behind me as we moved, and I saw that Rhea was
following just behind him as we turned a corner.

We moved though the Palace's corridors, down a series of
steps and through the courtyard, the dirt on the ground
fluttering around us as we ran. The people and servants in
the courtyard, who were already preparing for the day,
watched as we went pass, a few comments passing among
themselves as we went by.

Once on the other side of the open area we started up
another set of stairs, and found ourselves back inside the
stone wall. We jogged down the hallway as the boy brought us
to an open door.

Zain was already there, panting hard as he rested one arm
against the stone wall. He said nothing as I pushed passed
him and looked into the room.

Samantha had definitely put up a fight, I counted at least
ten shell casings on the floor, the brass catching the light
of the fire. There was blood sprayed on the wall behind the
bed where she had clipped someone, and further holes in the
wall. A body lay on the bed, face down in his own blood,
with most of the back of his head missing. The blue of his
clothing contrasted with the red of the blood, mingling into
a purple where the cloth had absorbed it.

"Where is she?" I asked Zain as he managed to look into the
room. His already paile face seemed to lose more of its
color as he saw the body.

"I don't know," he said.

I let out a breath as I strated to walk straight into the
room. I was stopped by Ravindar's hand on my shoulder. I
looked up at him, a frown on my face. He said nothing,
instead he just handed me one of my guns.

I nodded as I pulled out of his grasp and chambered a round.
Carefully I walked into the room, looking around as I kept
the gun relaxed at my side.

"What are you doing?" Zain asked.

"Looking," I replied as I walked over to the body and bent
down to take a closer look. "I think it's the same man who
came for her last night," I said as I focused on what
remained of his features.

"Came for her? Is that why she was in here?" Zain asked as
he stood in the doorway.

"Yes, someone came last night and said she couldn't stay
with us, and she left with him," Ravindar answered.

"You were meant to stay together," Zain said. "No one had
any orders to separate you."

I nodded as I walked around the bed, "He told us that she
had been moved because we were not married."

Zain sighed as he turned away from the door, "The Church,
takes a dim view of an unmarried couple sharing a room, and
an ever dimmer view of a female Mage," he shook his head as
he rubbed his nose. "Did her weapon do that to him?" he
asked.

"Yes it did," I said as I looked around the room, trying to
discover where the rest of the attacker's brain had gone,
but not finding it. It felt odd; that much mass usually left
a mess on a wall, but there was only the one splatter of
blood as well as drops on the floor. The drops led
conspicuously towards the wall.

"How unpleasant," the Zain said, jumping forward as the King
ran to the room. The young man tried to rush into the room,
only to be stopped by Ravindar's arm.

"It's best you stay out here for now," my bodyguard told
Alexander.

The King frowned, clearly not used to being told what do,
let alone by someone like the disguised tiger. "Is Samantha
all right?" he eventually asked.

"I don't know," I told him as I walked up to the wall beside
the bed, looking closely at the spray of blood. It stopped
abruptly, like there was something in the way, but the edges
were sharp. I leaned down, peering intently at the blood
drops, and saw that many of the drops were incomplete. Each
one was at the edge of the stones that made up the wall.

I took a step back, looking closely at the wall and at the
floor under it. I could see small stones where they met, and
scattered about near the bed, but not in the rest of the
room. This was starting to look all too familiar to me.

"Ravindar, there's a door here," I said, pressing against
the wall.

My bodyguard was at my side in a moment, his paws on the
surface of the wall and pressing at the stones with his
fingers. "So how do we open it?" he asked.

"I should have brought some explosives," I said, shoving the
gun into my pants, realizing at that moment that I had left
my shirt in the room.

The tiger chuckled, "We couldn't have thought of
everything," he said as he felt over the wall.

"Perhaps I could help," Alexander said. He walked calmly
into the room, giving a look of distaste to the body on the
bed. "I grew up in this Palace, and spent many of my younger
days exploring the passages hidden inside its walls. I never
found one in this room, but I'm sure I could find the latch
to open it."

I nodded and took a step to the side, "Be my guest, Your
Majesty," I said.

The King gave us a smile as he walked up to the wall,
running his fingers over the stones. "Let's see, if this is
the edge, then perhaps here," he said as he counted the
stones.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Zain asked.

The young man laughed, "You worry too much," he told his
advisor as he tapped the stone. "No ,no, not there, hum...
how about here?" he asked himself as he moved his fingers to
a different stone. He pressed against it, and let out a
pleased laugh it in moved under his fingers, sliding
partially into the wall and leaving a small opening.

With a smile he pushed his hand into the opening, and felt
around, twisting his arm a bit before letting out a laugh,
"There it is!" he called as he pulled his arm back, and a
low thud echoed through the room.

"Good job," I told the King.

He extracted his hand from the wall, brushing off the dirt
that had collected on his clothing. "It's the least I could
do," he told me as he leaned forward and put his full weight
on the wall. In near silence it swung inwards, revealing a
dark corridor behind it.

"Step aside Your Majesty, and stay here," I told him as I
pulled my gun free and held it ready at my side. I noted
that the blood spatter continued into the hallway that had
been revealed.

He looked like he wanted to protest, but said nothing as he
moved out of the way.

I let out a long breath as I tightened my grip on the gun.
"Hopefully there won't be any ninjas this time," I said as I
stepped in the passage.

"One does hope," Ravindar said as he followed behind me,
unaware of what happened last time I was in this situation.
I also noted that he had the presence of mind to bring a
lamp.

Moving carefully, I walked into the hallway, watching the
dirty stone floor. I could see scuff marks in the dirt and
dust, as if many feet had been through there recently. It
was only because I was looking that I kept from placing my
feet in the pool of blood on the floor.

"We've got another one," I said as I moved around the pool
of blood, discovering a body lying against the wall. The man
had taken three in the chest, and the blood had soaked
through his shirt and over his body.

Ravindar leaned down to look at dead man. "Samantha is a
good shot," he commented as he glanced back down the
passageway and towards the light of the room.

I nodded as I pressed past him and started to follow the
passage. It soon narrowed to the point that we could only
walk single file. Even then we moved carefully, Ravindar
holding the lamp over my head so I could see where I was
going.

When we came to the other end we found another stone door.
On this side I could see the large hinge that held it in
place, and the steel latch that would allow it to open.
Grasping the latch firmly in my hand I pulled it free, and
the door swung open with a snap.

On the other side was a small room, bare except for the
tapestry hanging on one wall. The cloth depicted a battle
between some demon-like monster and an army of men. There
was a normal door on the far side of the room, which stood
half open, light flooding in from outside.

I said nothing as I stepped into the room, looking around
for some sign of anyone else. The floor here was clean, with
only a few stones scattered around near the door.

"This appears to be the Priest's rest chamber," a new voice
said from behind us.

We both spun around and glared at the King as he stood in
the doorway of the secret passage. The young man smiled at
me, crossing his arms over his chest as he rocked on his
toes.

"What are you doing here?" I growled as I glared at him.

He shrugged and walked passed us to open the door. "This is
my castle, and I have the right to go wherever I want inside
of it," he said as he looked into the other room. "Ah, I was
right, the Palace Church!"

I sighed and glanced at my bodyguard, who just shrugged his
shoulders at me. He didn't know what do about the man
either. Walking past the pair of them I entered the Church,
finding that it was small, and simple, with blue banners
hanging around a short altar at the end of the room. All in
all it looked like a smaller version of the Church we were
in yesterday.

We moved quickly down the length of the room, towards the
large double doors at the end of the pews. Pushing them open
we came out into the courtyard of the castle, less than
twenty feet from the stables.

"I don't think they are in the castle anymore," Ravindar
said as he walked up to my side.

I shook my head and let out a long sigh, "It would appear
not," I replied. "We are going to have to go after her."

"Of course," Alexander said as he walked up behind us, "but
not immediately. I have some thoughts on who might have done
this, and why."

Turing around I looked at the young man. "I would love to
hear them," I said, it came out a little snider than I had
intended.

He chuckled and waved his hand back towards the Church,
"Isn't it obvious? The Church must be the ones responsible."

My bodyguard cocked his head to the side, frowned a bit as
he put his gun away. "It does look like that, with both the
body in the room, and where the passage led, but why would
they go out of their way to take Samantha?"

"They killed my wife, and were going to kill me. You and
your friends stopped that and saved my life. They have now
taken your friend to further escalate this battle," the
young man said, looking flustered that we questioned him.

I crossed my arms and shook my head. "Why not just kill her,
then?"

He shrugged, "I don't know-- perhaps they are trying to use
her to bring you to them. They did separate her from the
group, and as a female mage they would feel no guilt in
hurting her. They can't get to the three of you in here, so
they are making you come out."

"I see," I said with a frown as I looked towards the
stables, "And where would they take her?" I asked.

"To the Holy City," he said with a smile. "That's where
their power lies, and where they would want you to be."

Ravindar placed his hand on my shoulder, "I don't like this,
Fox. It seems out of place."

I nodded. "Agreed. We need a better idea of where they are
going before we can perform any kind of rescue," I told him
as I looked to the large gate that blocked the way out of
the Palace. "I wonder how they got out, with the bridge up?"
I asked as I walked towards it.

"The gates are not the only way out," the King said as the
sound of footsteps approached. "Ah, Rodrick, welcome," he
told the elder man as he hurried across the courtyard.

The High Mage nodded to the King, panting softly as he came
up to the group. "Your Highness, I came as soon as I heard
what happened," he said.

Alexander nodded and looked back at the entrance to the
Church. "It looks like the Priests may have been responsible
for this. Do you think you can track which way they went
from here?"

"I believe so, but I would need an item of the young lady's
clothing," he said, tugging at the cuff of his glove. "If
you can provide that, I will create a spell to find her."

I let out a long breath and ran my fingers through my hair,
feeling the accumulated dirt from the travel rub against my
skin. "Alright, back to Samantha's room; we'll work out
things from there," I said as I looked around the court
yard. "Let's take the normal route."

"Right, this way," Alexander said and started to walk
through the open yard to the entrance of the Palace.

Rodrick fell in beside me, tilting his head back to look at
me. "What caused those scars?" he asked.

"Which ones?" I replied, rubbing my arm where Cain had shot
me, pretty sure that was the one he meant.

The older man chucked. "The one on your left arm, and the
one on your stomach," he said, reaching out to almost touch
them.

"Gun shot wounds," I told him as he walked up the steps.

He nodded, "I see. Why is the one on the back of your arm
larger than the one in front, and why do you not have a scar
on your back?" he asked, craning his head to look at my
back.

I sighed and shook my head. "Why do you care?" I asked him.

"It fascinates me," he said.

I nodded, "I see. If you must know, the bullet in my arm
went through; the exit wound is larger because of fluid
dynamics. I don't have a scar on my back because when I was
shot in the gut the bullet was moving too slowly to get back
out; it just bounced around inside," I told him, feeling a
bit cold about giving him the details.

"How fascinating," Rodrick said with a smile as he moved
down the hallway. "I'm assuming it's the kind of wound that
weapon of yours would leave," he said.

I shook my head, "No, that's how it looks when it heals," I
told him as we walked back into Samantha's room. "That is
what a wound looks like," I said, pointing to the dead man
on the bed.

The Mage looked pale, coming to a stop in the doorway, his
eyes locking on to the dead man. "I see," he said with a
frown.

I walked through the room, stopping next to Rhea, who was
guarding Samantha's possessions so no one would paw through
them. Pawing through the clothing on the floor, I found the
shirt that she had worn for most of the trip. "Here," I said
throwing the garment to the Mage.

He caught it easily in one hand, and then took a few steps
back to stand outside the room. "I can work with this," he
said as he stretched it between his hands. "Yes, yes, I can
build a tracking spell out of this. It will take me a few
hours."

I looked to Rhea and Ravindar, he gave me a quick nod and
the lioness flicked her ears. "We'll be leaving as soon as
the spell is ready," I said.

"I'm not sure that would be such a good idea," Zain said
from where he stood next to the King. "Alexander tells me
that the Church is responsible for this."

"It looks like that may be the case," Ravindar said as he
started to pull Samantha's items together and put them in
her bag.

Alexander nodded, "I think we should talk before you do
anything. I'm worried about the course of action you are
preparing to take. Let's go to the dinning room; we can plan
and have something to eat. I always think better when I've
had a meal."

<<Is this guy for real?>> Rhea asked me.

I shrugged and looked back at the body on the bed. "I think
we have a lot more to do before we leave. It might not be
wise to just sit and eat."

"I insist," the King said, crossing his arms. From his tone,
I suspected this was his 'I will be obeyed' voice.

Ravindar turned to me, "It might be best to go with them for
the moment; we do have to prepare, and wait for the spell."

I sighed and shook my head. "Fine, fine. I just want to go
back to my room and change clothing," I told him.

"Very well," he said with a small smile.

"I want a guard on the door, and a guard at the end of the
passage. No one gets in or out with out my or Ravindar's say
so," I snapped.

Zain nodded, "I'll make sure of that," he told me.

I sighed and glanced at Ravindar. "Let's get this going," I
said as we started out of the room.


    Chapter Six

"I simply can not let you go," Alexander told me from over
the table.

I rolled my eyes, glaring at the young man. "I have to go
after her. She is my friend and she is in trouble because I
asked her to be here with me. That means it is my
responsibly to see that she is safe."

"However that maybe, I simply can not put you in that kind
of risk," the King insisted.

"What risk?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. I
hadn't touched any of the food that was sitting on the plate
in front of me, I was too cranked up and annoyed.

Zain let out a sigh as he looked at the two of us. "It's
simple really; the Priest's kidnapped your friend to get to
you. If you go after her you play right into their plans. We
simply can not risk you like that."

"And how is that your choice," I asked through clenched
teeth. "We have horses, supplies, and we don't really need
your help."

The King shook his head, "You are in my kingdom, so you are
under my rule, and I will not risk you to these people. In
fact I want all of the remaining Priests removed from the
Palace by noon."

I smashed my fist on the table jumped up from the chair,
"Damn it, she is my friend, and there is no way I will let
you simply abandon her out there. If she can be saved, I
damn well will save her!"

Alexander looked at me, surprised for a moment as his eyes
started to narrow, anger burning over his face. "I see," he
said as he leaned back in the chair, the fork in his hand
bending as he clenched his fists.

"Fox, sit down," Zain told me. "Alexander, count to ten," he
told the King.

I said nothing, but sank back into my chair, glaring at the
young man across the table.

The older man sighed and looked between the two of us. "I
understand what you are saying, Fox, but we just can't allow
it. Allowing them to kill you after you saved the King's
life would be the worst outcome. But I also agree that we
just can't leave your friend out there without a rescue."

I gave him a curt nod, but said nothing. The King was
equally silent.

Zain leaned forward over the table, looking past me to where
Ravindar stood behind my shoulder. "You can not go, but your
bodyguard can. He can go after your friend, and take a small
group of palace guards with you."

It was Ravindar's turn to snort, "My job is to guard Fox. I
would be very uncomfortable in leaving his side."

"Don't be," the King said, having regained most of his
composure. "With my guards here and the Priests removed he
will be perfectly safe, as safe as I am."

I leaned back, taking my glasses off and pointedly cleaning
them on the front of my shirt. "That guarantee has already
been proven false," I said as I returned the lenses to my
face.

"That particular problem has been solved," Alexander said
with a frown.

Rising to my feet, I looked back at Ravindar. "I would like
to talk about this with Ravindar before we do anything," I
told the two men as I turned past my bodyguard and walked
out of the room. The disguised tiger followed after me, with
Rhea rising from the floor to join us.

Once the door was closed I turned around to look at my
friends. "I don't like this one bit," I told them as I
crossed my arms over my chest.

<<I'm not thrilled with it either,>> Rhea replied, pacing
against the far wall of the hallway.

"I don't want to leave you here by yourself Fox, not after
what happened last night," Ravindar said.

"I won't be alone, I'll have Rhea here with me," I said.

She flicked her ears back. <<I'll have to stick at your
side, and keep an eye on the shadows at night>> she said.

"Yes, they move when you're not watching them," I said as I
rubbed my chin. "I'm calling an abort on this whole mess;
let's get Samantha and go home."

Ravindar nodded, "That sounds reasonable. Do you wish me to
go to find her?" he asked.

"If that's the only way we can do it, it's the only way. I
just wish I knew why he wanted me to stay here. I just don't
buy his logic."

<<It seems spurious to me.>>

"Nor do I, but it might be best to play by the rules until
we have to change them," Ravindar said, his fingers tugging
nervously at the laces of his shirt. "I don't like leaving
you alone."

I shook my head, "Of course not, and Elena would kill you if
sie knew," I told him as I rubbed my hands together, working
the joints until they made a satisfying crack. "Something is
going on here. One benefit of staying is that I can try and
work it out."

Rhea came up to me, and butted her head against my hips,
<<Are you sure that's wise?>>

I shook my head, "No, I'm fairly sure it's not, but what
choice do we have? I think your right," I said, addressing
Ravindar. "It's best to not rock the boat until we have to.
We'll stay here. You will go after Samantha. Finding her is
more important than my safety, OK?"

He nodded, but with a frown. "OK, we'll do it that way...
for now. Next time I will bring a set of radios with us, so
we won't lose contact if this happens again."

"Good, good. I should have thought about that in the first
place." I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, then gave
my head a shake. "This isn't the first time that this has
happened on one of these trips, so I should have known
better."

Ravindar patted my shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about
it, Fox. What's done is done. Lets just make sure that this
is the last time," he said with a half smile.

I nodded, and turned around, opening the door and stepping
back inside the room. "Fine," I told the young King,
"Ravindar will go after Samantha. I'll stay here, but once
they return we are all leaving."

A smile played over Alexander's face as he nodded his head,
"That's perfectly acceptable," he said with a smirk, clearly
pleased that he had gotten his way.

* * *

It was past noon when Ravindar rode out of the Palace, with
Rodrick's tracking spell and three of Alexander's best men
at his side. I watched him leave with a feeling of
trepidation, a frown on my face as he vanished into the city
below us.

This wasn't the first time that he hadn't been at my side,
but it was the first time we had been separated, as opposed
to my ordering him to stay behind. It caused a knot in my
stomach as I looked back at the stone walls of the Palace.

"It's just the two of us now," I told Rhea, reaching down to
the pet the scruff of the lioness' neck.

<<It's almost like old times, just with the two of us, and
not the one of you,>> she said to me, her ears flicking at
my touch.

I nodded and started across the courtyard, watching the
people move around us, parting to allow us to pass. "I was
hardly solo. I usually picked up a companion when I was
running around the Multi-Verse," I reminded her.

She nodded, keeping at my side, filling Ravindar's familiar
position at my back. <<I remember,>> she replied.

We walked up the short flight of stairs that led to
Samantha's room, the sound of my shoes hitting the stones
echoing in the small space. The pads of Rhea's paws were
quiet as she moved up the stairs, but she found each step
narrow enough to make it difficult for her to navigate them.

At the top of the stairs I paused for a moment to think,
then nodded towards the left. "The room is that way," I said
as Rhea made it up the last step. Without a further word we
walked down the hallway, moving around the servants until we
came to the room. As I had ordered, there was a guard at the
door, looking a little relieved when he saw us.

"You can take a break if you like," I told the man, though
boy would have been closer to the mark. He barely seemed old
enough to shave.

"Thank you, Sir," he said and hurried off.

Taking a deep breath I pushed the door open and walked into
the room. Everything was the way we had left it, down to the
body on the bed and the open secret door. The fire had
finally died, leaving warm ashes in the fireplace and the
smell of soot in the air.

The flies had already arrived.

<<What are you looking for?>> Rhea asked as I closed the
door behind us.

"What happened," I replied, looking around the room.
"Something seems a bit off in here, and I want to know what
it is."

<<Are you sure this is the time to be dabbling in detective
work? Granted you are a forensics geek, but you really don't
have the skills to do much,>> she told me as she walked over
to the fireplace sniffing softly at the stone floor.

I chuckled and walked around the bed, counting the casings
on the floor. "Right, and you aren't trying to see what you
can smell, huh? You are just as curious as I am about this,
admit it."

She flicked her tail at me as she nosed around the raised
stone hearth around the fireplace.

Bending over I picked up one of the casings. One that was
slightly bent, it looked like from being stepped on. "Her
gun ejects to the right, doesn't it?" I asked.

Rhea looked up, her ears flicking back as she thought about
the question, <<I think so,>> she said.

I nodded, setting the shell back down on the stone floor,
and started to count them off as I walked from right to
left. "Lets see, so she was running towards the door as she
was firing, assuming she started by the bed," I said making
a guess with what information I had.

<<She was standing near the fire, having a cigarette. From
her scent I would say she ran towards the bed, getting about
here,>> she said as she nosed a spot on the ground that was
half way between the bed and the fireplace. <<After that
it's blurred by the scent of the gunpowder,>> she said.

I nodded, following the path of the discarded casings from
the bed to the door. I had a view right down the open secret
door from only a few feet away from the main door. "This
must be the shot that hit the guy in the passage. He was
probably standing in the doorway, that would explain the
blood on the wall."

<<You're guessing,>> Rhea said as she came up to my side,
her nose still close to the ground. <<Not that I'm doing any
better. I can tell where she fired each shot, and it smells
like she hit the ground here,>> she pawed at a spot near the
door.

I let out a hum as I laid down next to the spot, looking at
the floor around us, noticing one of the casings was pressed
up against the wall about three feet behind us. "That's odd,
how did that get back there?" I asked as I turned around
taking a closer look at the shell, "She would have to have
been shooting at the door for that," I said.

Rhea came up to my side, rolling her head back as her ears
twisted down, <<Or she was on the ground when she fired the
gun, look at that.>>

I glanced back at her and then twisted my head to follow her
line of sight. I found myself looking at a bullet hole in
the ceiling above me. "Her gun must have gone off when they
tackled her," I said.

<<They? You sure it wasn't just one person?>> she asked as
she moved around the edges of the room.

With a laugh I rose to my feet, "She's just like you, it
would take more than one person to take either of you down,"
I told her as I walked over to the casing, bending down to
look at it.

<<Very true,>> she replied as she started to sniff around
the base of the bed.

"Interesting, looks like there's something on the brass," I
said as I picked up the casing. "If I had to guess, I would
say that it's burnt skin. It may have hit someone when it
was ejected."

<<That is interesting, but probably useless,>> my sometimes
sister replied. <<That's odd-- from the smell of it they
came out of the passage, but left through the door.>>

I stood back up, placing the casing back on the ground. "Why
would they do that? The whole point of using the passage was
to get them out to the stables. Why go out through the
door?"

<<Maybe that wasn't the point of the passage, maybe the
point was to get them inside of the Palace,>> she told me as
she sniffed around the hidden door.

I sighed, shaking my head, "But they were in the Palace, so
how did they do this...? I think we are missing something
here."

Rhea chuckled and shook her head, <<Of course we are; if we
knew everything we would be done by now,>> she told me.

"Right, right," I said as I walked over to the wooden door,
leaning my back against it. I turned my attention to the
body, which so far I had been trying to avoid. He was
sprawled out over the bed, his feet towards the fireplace
and his head next to the hidden door.

I frowned a bit, walking closer to the body, bending down to
look at it, still staying a few feet away. "He was shot in
the head, and in came out the back," I said as I looked at
the wall near the fireplace. "So... where is the bullet, and
where is the rest of his brain?"

Rhea lifted her head, looking at the body as she moved
around to the far side of the bed, sniffing at the floor.
<<I don't know, Fox,>> she told me as she looked back at the
body.

Turning my head I looked at where Samantha was taken down,
then back to where the body had to have been standing to
have been shot. "You know, I'm not sure that she could have
shot him from where she was... she could have, but the
position seems wrong. It could have been another stray shot,
but I really can't tell."

The lioness sniffed around the wall then turned around to
look at me, her head rising over the top of the bed. <<I
can't smell anything of the room on him. Fox, I really don't
think he was killed in here.>>

"Then where was he killed?" I asked, rubbing my chin.
"Something is really screwed up around here. I think someone
is yanking our chain."

She nodded as she walked around the bed, her nose close to
the ground. <<I can smell him here, over the other scents,
and two... no three others with it, and they came in from
the door,>> she said batting at the wooden door with her
large paw.

I nodded, walking over to the door and pulling it open,
"Right, then.... let's see if we can find out where he was
killed, and how he got here," I said as I stepped out into
the hall, nodding to the guard at the door.

Rhea sniffed at the trail, moving slowly along the floor as
I keep at her side. We started down the corridor, moving
deeper into the Palace. After we rounded a corner I frowned
as I saw what looked like spots of blood on the floor.
"Getting closer," I said as we continued to walk, following
both the scent and the few spots of blood.

She paused for a moment to lift her head and let out a heavy
sneeze, <<I'm going to need a decongestant after this,>> she
said in annoyance.

"I don't know if we have enough of a dose for you," I told
her as I looked closely at the floor. "On the other hand, I
think the blood trail goes into this room," I said, walking
a few steps forward and pushing the door open.

It opened to a wide room, with only a few scattered items in
it, and the strong smell of blood and urine. "I think we hit
the jackpot," I said as I walked back out into the hall,
grabbed one of the magical lights that lined the wall and
brought it into the room with us. On the far wall was what
had to be the dead man's brains, giving the already gray
stone a dark gray cast. A thick pool of blood sat on the
floor, as well as some bloody rags.

<<So, what do we do now?>>

I frowned as I stood just inside the door looking at the
mess in front of us. "This is a setup. Nothing that looks
like it happened actually did happen. Whoever the dead man
was, he was executed in this room, just so he could be left
on Samantha's bed. They came in through the Church, but left
through the Palace. This isn't about Samantha, it's about
framing the Church!"

Rhea growled softly as she pressed her body up against my
leg. <<Why, and who would do that?>>

I blew air through my teeth as I reached down to pet her
ears. "I don't know, but I want Ravindar back; he's on a
wild goose chase."

<<So, what do we do now?>> she asked.

"We go talk to the King," I said as I turned around and
stalked out of the room.

* * *

They were waiting when we got to the Throne room, but not
really for us. Alexander was there, sitting on his throne,
the one next to him, where his queen should have sat, was
empty. Rodrick was standing next to him, and the pair were
talking to each other in hushed tones, with Zain waiting
near the empty seat. A dozen guards stood in the room as
well, jumping to attention as Rhea and I barged in.

Alexander smiled as we entered, waving Rodrick away. "Have
you learned anything new, Fox?" he asked as he stood up from
his throne. Rodrick walked away from the King, moving down
to stand in the middle of the room.

"Quite a lot," I said as I walked across the large room. "I
think someone is screwing with us, all of us, and is trying
to start a war between you and the Church."

The King shook his head, "Fox, the only people trying to
start that war are the Church itself."

"Why do you believe that?"

The young man gave me a smile and sat down on the arm of his
throne. "You really aren't aware of much, are you? The
Church wants the war to start again, and they will stop at
nothing to do that."

"Why is that?" I asked.

He laughed, "Because we are suppose to win, it's what is
written in the holy books. The treaty we have keeps us from
wining, and if we don't win it's clearly not God's will."

"Then why kill Astadia? Why kidnap Samantha? None of this
makes any sense!" I snapped back at him.

Zain chuckled, a dark and deep sound that echoed thought the
room and sent a shiver down the back of by spine. "The
Highest killed Astadia to anger her family, so they would
attack us and start up a new war. An action that is already
occurring."

I frowned, looking between the two of them, "And what does
killing Alexander do to help this?"

"It angers the public, and allows the Church to take over
the rule of the country. That will insure the return to the
war," the King said.

"None of this makes any sense," I said with a shake of my
head. "I don't think the church took Samantha, but someone
wants it to look like they did. Frankly I can't see why they
would want her, or want to get to me. This is crap."

The King leaned forward, an amazed look on his face as he
watched my protests. "So you believe something else is going
on?" he asked me.

"Without a doubt in my mind," I replied.

He nodded, rubbing his chin slightly as his eyes flicked
over me, then looked behind me for a few moments before
focusing on my face. "It's understandable; you clearly
aren't familiar with the Church and there methods, or what
they can do. They don't think like we do, they just do what
they believe will get them what they want."

I let out a soft growl as I looked at the young man. "And
what do you want?" I asked.

Alexander smiled and laced his fingers together, resting his
chin on top of them. "I want quite a few things, most of
which I now have. There are others that will take some time
to gain, but I will gain them."

"I'm going after Samantha," I told him, felling like I was
starting to get my balance again as I faced up to the King.
"I was an idiot to let Ravindar go alone, but that's a
mistake I can fix," I said as I started to turn around.

<<Fox!>> Rhea yelled, panic in her voice, I snapped my head
around to look at her in time to see a bolt of magic ripping
through the air, leaving a trail of glowing smoke back to
Rodrick's hands. I dived to the side, but the attack wasn't
meant for me. Instead I watched in horror as the magic
crashed into Rhea, throwing the lioness to the side and
rolling her over the ground.

Pulling myself to my feet I started to rush towards my
sister, but was stopped when two of the guards jumped on me,
pinning me hard to the ground, and knocking the breath from
my lungs.

I tired to free myself up, watching Rhea as the High Mage
ran to her. She was still breathing, in long heavy breaths,
but her body was still and her head was twisted to the side.
The spell had knocked her out cold.

With a yelp I was pulled to my feet, the men holding my arms
tightly, causing me a good amount of pain. As they turned me
around the King came in sight, and he was smiling at me.

"You are not going anywhere," he said with a smile as he
started to walk towards me. "At least not until we find out
a few things from you first."

A new growl rose from my throat as I glared at the young
man, watching him approach me with a worrisome gleam in his
eyes. "Let me go, you bastard," I said, pulling at the men
on my arms, their legs twining around mine, locking them in
place.

He shook his head as he walked up to stand a few feet in
front of me. "Oh, no, that's not what we are going to do. I
want to know who sent you here to interfere with my plans."

I shook my head, "Plans? Screw your plans! We just happened
to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sorry," I
replied.

Alexander sighed and shook his head, "Hardly. Your timing
was too good. You couldn't have been there if you didn't
know ahead of time what was going to happen."

"I've done this dance before, and you aren't that good of a
partner," I told him with a smirk.

The King lifted his eyebrows and looked back over his
shoulders at Zain, "So, where do you think we should start?"

The light-skinned man looked me over, his hands crossed
behind his back as his eyes drilled into me. "His feet, he
won't be using them for a while."

I let out a soft hiss as I bit my lip. It had been years
since the last time I was tortured, and it had not yet been
long enough. I twisted in the grasp of my captors, trying to
get my arms loose as I unsheathed my claws. I was going to
give them some real hell before they could break anything.

"He has some magic on him," Rodrick said as he walked around
me, his handing reaching out to hold just inches over my
chest. "It's weak, but I can still feel it."

"Remove it," Alexander ordered.

The Mage nodded and placed his hand against my chest,
pushing down through the neck of my shirt to take hold of
the dragon stone pendant. I let out a gasp as he touched it,
a smile spreading over Rodrick's face at my reaction. With a
hard tug he broke the necklace holding it, and pulled it
free of my body.

I fought the change as it came over me. It was just some
part of my mind that was causing it. The pendant was just a
crutch, it wasn't the source of my power and I could keep
myself from changing if I just fought hard enough.

I succeeded, but only for a short moment as my form shifted,
flowing as I gained a tail, fur sprouting over my body as my
muzzle and breasts grew forward. In a moment I was one more
a female lion-morph.

Alexander and Zain jumped back at the change, looking of
shock and disgust on their faces as Rodrick cocked his head
to the side. "Interesting, very interesting," he said, as he
looked me over, then back at the pendent. "I've never seen
an illusion spell like this one, and this seems to be the
key to it," he said as he looked down at the pendent.

"Destroy it," Zain snapped.

Rodrick spun around to look took at the man, "Are you crazy?
This kind of magic is priceless!"

The King frowned, "If it can make that thing look like a
human it's simply too powerful. Destroy it, now!"

With a sigh the Mage let the pendent drop to the stone floor
where it landed with a metallic thump, and brought his heel
down on it. It shattered the stone and split the pendent in
two.

I growled again, this time with more force as I pulled at my
captors, feeling my arms start to slide in their grasp. My
fur and overall smaller form that I had as a female, allowed
me to start to move. Sadly as soon as I did the guards
tightened their grip, pulling me back hard, shaking me hard.

Alexander turned his head away from me to look at Zain.
"What do we do about this? If this is what Fox, is it's
pretty clear that it wasn't the leader of the group. Then
who was?"

"I am not a thing," I said.

Rodrick walked over and hit me on the cheek with his fist,
snapping my head to the side and causing me to snarl. "Shut
up," he told me.

"Get pissed," I said with a growl as I turned my head back
around to glare at him.

The Mage shook his head, and let out a sigh. "My, my, aren't
you clever."

"What do we do with it?" Zain asked.

The King let out a long breath as he looked back at me, then
to his advisor. "Clearly we can't get anything from it, it
may act smart but can not have any real intelligence," he
said, then paused for a moment. "Give it to my guards, they
haven't had a play thing for a while," he ordered.

I twisted again, "The hell you will!" I yelled.

"Shut that thing up!" The King yelled back.

Rodrick smiled and walked to me, waving his hand in my face.
I snapped at his gloved fingers, but he moved them just out
of range. With a few more words I felt a cloud fall over my
mind, and I slumped down, barely conscious against their
arms. As I lost my fight to keep my awareness I could hear
Rodrick ordering Rhea to be taking to his room.

Then all was lost in a sea of gray.

* * *

Alexander let out a sigh as the guards dragged the
homunculus out of the throne room, it's head lolled to the
side and eyes unfocused.

"How the hell did that thing get into my palace?" he
demanded as he returned to his throne, dropping into the
chair with a thump, her hands clenched into tight fists.

Zain frowned as he walked over to his King, standing next to
the queen's empty throne. "Well Your Majesty, she was part
of the group, a group which we now know had two homunculi in
it. I wonder why they were pretending that it was their
leader."

"So we would ignore the real leader, Ravindar," the older
man said as he looked towards the King. "A plan which worked
in every way."

Alexander sighed and shook his head, "Apparently so."

"Why Ravindar?" Rodrick asked as he looked over the shape of
the fallen animal, watching as the guards attempted to move
it. "Samantha clearly has the power to create either of the
two we have seen; she's probably the leader of the group."

"Doubtful," Zain said as he sat himself down on the arm of
the empty throne. "We all saw the tail that she had, and how
it moved. I doubt it had anything to do with her magic, but
was the result of her disguise being incomplete. She is just
another homunculus, the only real person of the group is
Ravindar," he explained.

The King let out a sigh, "And we sent him off after his own
toy," he said with a frown. "So... how do we salvage this
situation?"

"We keep going as we always have," the older man said as he
tapped his fingers together, running the possibilities
through his mind. "Samantha will still be killed on the
grounds of the Church, and Ravindar will still discover it.
As long as the illusion on her holds, the plan will still
work, and we'll still have control of the Church."

Alexander nodded his head, then sighed. "I want to know why
they were here. Search their room and all of their things. I
want to know everything about them! Let it be know that the
Priests succeeded in killing Fox, and that his killers will
be executed tonight at midnight."

Zain nodded his head, "I'll make the announcement," he said.

"Sir," Rodrick said as he looked up from his examination of
the lioness. "I would like to accompany this one to my rooms
so I can study her. There's a lot I could learn from it."

The King waved his hand at the Mage, dismissing him.

He nodded, and helped the guards to move the large animal.
Its weight was greater than he expected as they pulled it
out of the throne room.

Alexander rubbed the corner of his eyes, a snarl escaping
his lips as he looked at the mess in the room. "I want to
know how their weapons work. If we can use them to our
advantage we could win the war once the attack comes."

"I'll do what I can," Zain said as he stood up and walked
out of the room, mentally preparing the announcement he was
going to make about the 'death' of the King's savior.


    Chapter Seven

I swam through the sea of gray, feeling hands moving over me
as I was thrown to the ground. I felt my clothing first
pulled at, then cut away as I unsuccessfully tried to fight
against them. I was hit a few more times, but only slaps,
nothing like the punch I had received before.

I fought every second, trying to regain control of my body,
to clear my head and to find a way out of the situation I
was in. Slowly I fought my way to the surface, my eyes
starting to focus on the ground as it moved beneath me. I
felt like I had been thrown over someone's shoulder, and I
could tell from the air moving through my fur that I was now
nude.

Twisting myself, I found my body unresponsive to my
commands. With some effort I could flex my fingers a few
inches, but it was unhelpful. I could now feel the tight
bonds that were around my wrists and ankles, tying my limbs
together and making me as mobile as a sack.

With a soft groan I tried to shift myself, and felt a heavy
hand on my rear, grabbing hard at my tail to stabilize me. I
wanted to claw at whoever it was, but I was as helpless as a
child for the moment.

I laid my ears back, trying hard to focus on the world
around me, and finding it harder than I was used to. One of
my eyes was starting to swell, and it was causing everything
to blur just a bit.

The stone was replaced by hard-packed ground as I was
carried outside; the sunlight felt warm on my nude back. A
moment later I started to feel pins and needles running down
my legs as sensation started to return.

Flexing my toes, I felt the tips of my claws poke free. So
far no one had done anything about them, and I wondered if
anyone knew they were there. Relaxing my toes a bit I let
the claws retract, keeping them hidden for as long as I
could.

A piece at a time my body started to come back under my
control, and I was able to turn my head to the side,
watching as I was carried through the palace courtyard. The
place was busy, but no one seemed to notice me as I was
carried past them and back into the palace.

It wasn't a hallway this time, it was a large room, with
tables and chairs and a few other items that I could see.
Four other men were in the room and they jumped up as I came
in.

"Is that what I think it is?" one of them asked.

The man carrying me laughed and dropped me on the table,
rolling me onto my back and exposing me to all of them. "A
gift from the King," he said as he pulled me over the table
until my legs were hanging off the edge.

"I get first crack at it," another man called as his hands
started to work on opening his belt.

I rocked my head from side to side, feeling my mind start to
settle back into its place, just as the edge of panic was
starting to set in. I tried to fight it back, but it was
coming on fast.

"Oh, no, I should get it first," the one who carried me said
as he cut the ropes that held my legs together. "I have the
most seniority of you all."

Another man laughed, "We should let the kid have the first
go, he's never gotten to dip his dick before," he suggested,
which brought a gasp from the youngest of the group.

The one who carried me let out a laugh as he walked around
the table, "Why not, I think he's earned it."

"Thank you!" the young man said as he rushed to the table to
look me over, his hands running over my belly to gently
fondle my breasts, then downwards to stroke between my legs.

I jumped at his touch, pulling myself away from him, an
action that elicited a laugh from the men around me. "Oh,
it's feisty," one called out.

With a snort I pulled away from the young man, slowly
lifting my head to look at the group of men. It felt like I
was moving through water, everything was heavy and slow.
Still th