172 Scents and Scares Part 2

"I am sorry, Moon. I don't want to make you sad. Please make me safe if it makes you happy." Raina's little face beamed happily but her eyes showed her anxiety. She didn't expect her words to upset the tigress and thought she had. Kyera nuzzled the child's chest partially to comfort her, and partially to dust the cobwebs of regret from her mind.

"Guards are not infallible. Remember you must be able to defend yourself in case they are not near." the 'or against them' was a mental thought she figured was best not spoken aloud. For now, Kyera would be her buffer against them.

Raina nodded a bit hesitantly. "I am not very good at fighting." she replied a bit ashamed. Kyera frowned, at her age she shouldn't feel that way. Any teacher worth their pay wouldn't discourage such a young student. At 7 she was hardly old enough to be 'Good' at the art but a beginner shouldn't be or it wouldn't be a treasured art.

"You just don't have the right teacher." Kyera replied and Raina laughed.

"You sound just like Kyera." Raina's comment made Kyera tense for a moment. She would have to be more careful for sure.

"We knew each other well in the forest. I had the same teachers all through my childhood." Kyera replied being carefully honest without revealing the truth. Lying to her just felt wrong.

"oh is that why you can talk?" Raina asked curiously, surprising a laugh from Kyera. She shook her head slowly.

"No, Princess. All animals can talk, but not all of us have a talent for your language.the forest has its own tongue." Kyera explained as they came to the hall where the bed chambers were. It smelt strongly of sleep. One door smelt as the musky spices of the Prince, but the opposite door down the hall smelt of the princess.

Kyera stopped and tilted her head as another sent caught her nose. Darkness clouded her eyes as she tensed. The smell of blood.

"Go get your father." Moon whispered. and Raina looked confused.

"uhhhhh…" she hesitated but Kyera used a large paw to usher her down the hall the way they came. Raina finally gave up figuring out what was going on and ran to her father.

Kyera turned back toward the smell, her eyes sharp in the dark as she moved silently. The sound of someone groaning was enough to make her growl. However, the familiar curse afterwords made her sigh. She shook her head in annoyance as she pushed open the door the the Princess' room. The window caught her eye as she followed the smell to it.

A familiar black dressed man was perched in the tree outside the window. His forearm wrapped in black bandages from wrist to shoulder. The smell of blood wafting off of him. Lazren froze for a moment when he realized he had been found.

"Kyera, don't scare me like that." he whispered, sounding a bit odd trying to speak forest with human lips. She was use to it by now.

"Oh. Okay miss Fancy Pants." he replied in annoyance, his voice becoming very sing song as he spoke. Kyera rolled her eyes at his sassing. When would he learn?

"Why are you here?" she asked, deciding not to let him ruffle her feathers. There was no reason to rise to such a tease.

"You asked me to keep an eye on the Princess in case miss Rose decides to send a more willing assassin after her, did you not?" Lazren countered with a rather cunning grin, Kyera sighed shaking her head. She reached out in a sudden blur, bumping her soft paw against the outside of the black bandage. He yelped and jerked back at the searing pain in his wrist. He leveled Kyera a glare. "What was that for?" He demanded.