Chapter 319
Chapter 319
Triana bit her lip and dropped her eyes: «I don’t understand why things turned out this way… My uncle said he had a good friend in this forest who would protect us and teach me something new but…» – Triana shed a quiet tear. – «My uncle died protecting me from the hunters… He sacrificed himself so that the mean humans wouldn’t get his niece, and then you harnessed me…» – Her voice was full of grief, gradually giving way to sadness and, finally, resignation to cruel fate.
Kyon felt pity for her. Now he understood why the tigress was so eager to kill him. She was taking her revenge on him for her uncle. However, his sympathy lasted only a second. What else did she expect in enemy territory? It was either him or the hunters. Triana was nothing but a trophy.
{Anyway, what the hell? The forests that belong to the supreme beasts occupy almost half of the land. Couldn’t they have chosen a safer place to hide? Either her uncle is a complete idiot, or the manticores are too powerful… Unless something else is going on here…} – Lovr was fairly certain there was some mystery involved.
Triana’s story was quite convenient for his current situation. The king of white tigers believed that his youngest daughter was hiding in a safe place for several years. He had no idea where she was, otherwise, he would have to tell the truth to the manticores, which meant that there would be no sudden attack of the beasts on Rosarrio. Kyon had nothing to fear.
He took a bottle of water out of his ring: «You must be thirsty. Take this.»
Triana swallowed convulsively when she saw the water but then shook her head: «I am not taking anything from a human. Let me hunt and get some water by myself.»
«You lost too much blood yesterday. Drink it up already.» – Lovr said in a stern voice.
«No! I won’t!» – The tigress insisted. It was an intolerable humiliation for a born hunter to accept water or food from a human. She would rather swallow her tongue than agree to it.
«It’s an order.» – Kyon said curtly.
The girl nervously twitched all over her body and reluctantly reached for the bottle with a trembling hand. Kyon could see despair in her eyes, her voice was pleading: «Let me find water for myself… Please…» – Maintaining the dignity of the supreme beast was essential for her.
Kyon hesitated a bit. Then he winced, made a tsking sound and grabbed the bottle: «To hell with you. The way out is over there. Come back as soon as possible.»
Triana beamed with joy. The man understood her instincts which meant she could influence his decisions to some extent. There might be hope for her yet.
«Wait!» – Kyon suddenly remembered something. – «You will see many people outside who I forbid you to touch, kill, and even more so eat. Don’t get seen at all. Got it?»
«Yeah…» – Triana nodded awkwardly. – «Are they… hunters?» – She asked carefully.
«No. Take it easy. Just steer clear of them. You may go before I change my mind.»
Triana darted out like a bullet. Heaven forbid he reconsidered!
Kyon held his breath, watching via his birds the graceful nude cat-girl moving through the forest. Even his zombie-crow crashed into a tree, carried away by the sight of the beautiful girl. She combined a breathtakingly gorgeous body and irresistible looks… Her every movement was full of feline grace and tiger power. Every wiggle of her taut butt seduced the secret observer. Everyone who saw her at least once would dream of her forever. So that’s how the princess of the second most powerful supreme beast looked? She was incredible…
Five minutes later, the tigress quenched her thirst and returned to the man-made cave with a bright, dead pheasant in her hands. Her breasts and hips were covered with hastily made garments of leaves and branches that made her look like an amazon girl. Her newly made clothes naturally matched her animal image. She was a symbol of unity with nature.
«May I know your name?» – Triana inquired cautiously, lowering her tail.
Kyon closed his eyes for a second, suppressing the inappropriate arousal: «Lovr. You may call me Kyon. However, call me Dick when in public.»
The tigress grimaced dismissively with a sense of racial superiority and muttered: «Disgusting, pathetic humans… They will take three names to deceive everyone around.»
Kyon wanted to object, but he had no moral right to do that. Triana had hit the mark.
The tigress hesitated, her eyes running around the cave. She was clearly getting her thoughts straight. Then she bowed and begged her master: «Please, don’t hand me over to the authorities or anyone else. Being the third princess of the white tigers, I am considered the sworn enemy of your race and my fate will be terrible. At best, they would strip me of my skin, and at worst, they would give me away to the soldiers in the barracks or torture me to death. If I am destined to serve, then let it be you. I tried to find in you disgust or hatred for me, the supreme beast, your natural enemy, but there’s none. You let me hunt by myself even if you could ignore my pride. I want to believe that you are a kind person who will not offend me for no reason. Please, take good care of me during my service.» – The furry-eared beauty held out a pheasant, looking at him hopefully with her bewitching clear eyes without a bit of humility. She was a freedom-loving supreme beast who no man could ever tame or whose trust he could ever gain.
The tigress had developed a certain prejudice about people from stories and books. Even if this particular man behaved properly, it didn’t change a thing. Triana wasn’t completely sure she was safe. That’s why she intended to get Kyon on her side, show herself in a better light, and take a promise from him to take care of her. Triana was afraid to experience things that the manticore princess had gone through.
Kyon was touched by her cute attempt to appease the master, but he saw no reason to bend to her wishes. If someone else were in his place, they would have kicked the tigress in the ass for being too naive. She was his valuable trophy that had cost him great risk and amount of resources (he’d been charging the rings at the dwarves’ for a couple of weeks). He wasn’t going to give his property away so easily and was going to make full use of her in every sense of the term.
Lovr smiled meaningfully: «I will take into consideration your wishes.» – He nodded at the pheasant. – «Pluck it and cut into parts. I will make something to eat.»
Triana’s face brightened at once, she even breathed a sigh of relief. The man had accepted her gift, which meant that he agreed to her terms! She was nearly purring with happiness. The tigress no longer faced the horrible things that she was scared even to think about! She started to tear the bird into parts while Kyon was taking some items and spices from the ring.
When she finished, the tigress handed the pheasant to the master and asked him: «Let me hunt again, please.» – Her heart was beating faster with excitement. If she asked him for more and more, she would get the desired freedom sooner or later.
«I don’t think it’s a good idea.» – The chef answered flatly.
«But why?!» – Triana was taken aback.
«Don’t you know why?»
She stared blankly at him and then suddenly realized the truth, shaking her head in disbelief: «Oh, no… Are you going to starve me? Mean, dirty man. I knew it! You have taken my gift but didn’t keep your promise! You’ve tricked me…» – Triana reproached herself for her gullibility and naivete. He was a man, no a beast. Human beings found it completely obvious and right to lie and trick others. She shouldn’t have been so excited. It only spoiled her mood once again.
«What promise? Who did I trick? Can’t you wait for some ten minutes!» – Kyon waved her off irritably, piercing a piece of the pheasant on a long stick, but the tigress had already given way to despair. She was sitting in the dark corner, staring blankly into space, waving her tail angrily. Did she feel hurt or what? Kyon couldn’t tell.
Soon the cave was filled with a delicious aroma of roasted meat and spices. There was a loud gurgling sound of someone’s belly rumbling. The tigress wagged her tail even more aggressively, gritting her teeth. So that’s how it felt to be the rotten man’s servant! He was torturing the hungry beast, teasing her with the heavenly aroma and not letting go outside to hunt for her meal! What a shame… And it was just the beginning…
*crunch*
Kyon walked over to the depressed girl and held out her share of the pheasant fried until crispy: «Here, take this. Come on, stop sulking.»
Triana growled fiercely: «Are you laughing at me? I gave you a GIFT! And you accepted my GIFT! You made a promise and didn’t keep it in the end! You’ve deceived a noble supreme beast … I do not want to talk to the wretched human anymore…»
Kyon opened his mouth to answer but said nothing. It was foolish of him to overlook the tradition of giving gifts among supreme beasts. This custom had two important rules:
First, the gift receiver had to use it alone. The gift couldn’t be sold, given away or shared with anyone. It was meant for one person only.
When the tigress gave him the pheasant, she didn’t expect to get anything back, or she would have torn herself a piece beforehand.
Second, the reason for the gift was pronounced directly, without any catch. It could be a condition, an attempt to apologize, kowtow to the alpha, “payment” for a harem member, etc. If the beast didn’t agree to the terms, they didn’t accept the gift, thereby confirming the refusal.
Kyon was mistaken to think that Triana meant to appease her master when she was trying to make a deal with him, bribe him, make him give her an “unbreakable” promise. It didn’t matter what he called it.
Kyon smiled reassuringly: «I am a human being, baby tiger, not a supreme beast. I don’t know your traditions, and I don’t have to follow them. I said that I would take into consideration your wishes when I was taking your gift. It doesn’t mean that I signed for any agreement. Why would you even think that some dead bird would change my attitude towards you?»
Triana turned to him, wrinkling her nose and baring her white fangs: «Then why did you take the gift?» – It was easier for her to believe that he had deceived her than that he had a fundamentally different idea of giving gifts. Triana knew too little about any other mentality beside hers. Besides, her master was the first human with whom she talked as an equal.
Kyon rolled his eyes: «I accepted it as a symbol of goodwill, not a document signed in blood! Humans are not that straightforward. There are all sorts of reasons why we give gifts from being polite or respectful to playing the sympathy card. Stop arguing with me. Come on, eat up.» – He smeared grease on her parted lips.
«Even so, I don’t want any handouts! Ruthless monkey, let me hunt or I’ll starve to death!» – She turned away in sullen, resentful silence, brushing his nose with the tips of her white hair. When she was out of his sight, the hungry tigress swallowed hard and licked her lips.
«Actually, it’s no charity. I share food with you. Unlike you, the so-called monkeys, share food not only with our kids but also with our fellows. It’s the principle that our civilization is based on. You caught and prepared the bird, and I did the rest of the work. In fact, half of this meal is yours by right. Enjoy it.» – Kyon said sternly.
{Mine by right?} – Triana understood him at last. – «Really?»
«What do you expect from a wretched liar like me?» – Kyon grumbled sarcastically.
«Filthy human. I knew it!» – The hurt tigress fled to another corner of the cave.
Kyon wearily slapped himself on the forehead. Sarcasm… They don’t get it…
A minute later, Kyon managed to persuade the supreme beast to share his meal.
Triana bit off a greasy piece and narrowed her eyes with pleasure, dazzled by his skill. She had never eaten anything more delicious. The perfectly cooked juicy meat with fragrant spices tasted a million times better than the raw meat that she planned to get hunting. How could the man prepare the pheasant tastier than the best chefs in the palace? His culinary skills were divine… She promised herself to keep bringing him meat for cooking.
When her hunger was sated, Triana looked cautiously at the still eating man, stuck out her butt and started licking herself. Humans didn’t fit into the supreme beasts framework. She’d better consider this fact.