Shadows of Voryn

Chapter Thirty

T'ara

   Standing before Lord Thad and Master Cadius, with their angry glares, it did not hinder T'ara from standing firm. She'd expected them to state their disapprovals and come up with a creative way to punish her but she did not care. There was nothing that would have stopped T'ara from helping Livei last night.

Livei stood beside her, without words to discuss, in the great hall with several guards lined on both sides. Lord Thad had wanted to address them in the comfort of his manor, not often known for coming to the villa.

   He sat atop the high table, wearing a dark brown leather long tunic robe, a dagger resting on the table beside where his hand resided. "Who gave you permission to end the punished bestowed on the hyena?" Lord Thad stared T'ara down with threatening eyes.

   It was easy to say many things that were her truth, but T'ara wouldn't speak too freely and risk a heavy punishment toward Livei, so she spoke in a formal manner. "I was not in a calm mood after the task I completed for you. My...hybrid, as you say...could not see the one dearest to me harmed anymore than you could allow for a man to preach of false beliefs." T'ara hadn't looked directly into his eyes but close enough that Lord Thad searched hard for something more as if she had hidden words unheard to the ear.

   Lord Thad nodded his head.

   A knight stepped toward T'ara with iron gauntlets on and punched her in the face. It should have at least startled her but T'ara seen it coming, a tactic Lord Thad did often in her years here. But she was not the same and what once hurt, barely stung. She ran her tongue over her inner bottom lip, the metallic taste of blood, warming up her senses as she spat blood out from her mouth.

   Lord Thad sneered. "I could easily have you hung and drawn."

Standing quietly, she ignored the impulse to say anything. Heat clouded in her chest. The hyena half of her pacing. She no longer saw herself as a monster. An identity T'ara was learning to face.

Master Cadius had been standing along side them, having no place at Lord Thad's table. "I will punish them both."

Holding his hand out, Lord Thad narrowed his eyes, "No. Not this round. The hybrid will not take long to make another poor choice and then, I'll merely double her punishment." Lord Thad stared to Livei, a decision made. "As for you...I could have you killed."

About to move, T'ara stopped when Livei's hand shot out to hold her back.

From the corner of his eyes, Lord Thad smiled knowingly aware that she would react that way. He would enjoy seeing her in suffer when that day came in taking the hyena's life. But for now, he needed T'ara's corporation and that meant keeping the hyena alive. He shifted back to Livei. "Lately, the two of you have thought selves higher than my men. Press luck again and we'll see where you stand then." They stood and waited for him to decide what was next. "Go!"

Master Cadius snapped his fingers and they turned to leave. It wasn't until they reached the drawbridge with Master Cadius let out a long breath. "You two be fucking lucky." He hissed in disapproval. "I will say this once. Get fucking acts together."

   Once the doors were opened, they walked back to the gladiatorial villa with several guards behind them, neither saying a word until they were safely in the villa and away from prying ears.

At the stairs that lead to their private quarters, Livei turned and grinned. "That was close."

"How can you find such humor?" T'ara could not see how she could be so calm in times like now.

"If I let them get to me...I would shift into my hyena every time. I prefer to see them as jokes. As little men dancing in whites clothes, speaking gibberish."