The Search for Life

Chapter 10

The cheetah before them grinned from ear to twitching ear. "Oh ho ho ho ho, Teki," she smiled. "What have you gotten yourself into now?"

The Prince backed away from the councilwoman and became very aware of the knife in his back pocket. Leota sensed the mounting trouble and stepped between the two of them before any fighting could break out.

"Councilwoman Grace," she greeted, forcing her attention away from the Prince behind her. The councilwoman made intense eye contact with her and her smile dropped.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice the very essence disinterest. Her upper lip rose to reveal a sharp fang.

Leota laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "You're kidding, right?" She asked quietly.

Councilwoman Grace did not look pleased.

"It doesn't matter," she concluded. "I'm just a passer-through. And Teki is too, so if you'd kindly let us cross your lovely Kingdom as quickly as possible, we'd both really appreciate it."

The Cheetah raised one eyebrow in suspicion. "You're the Guardian, aren't you?"

Leota shifted a little, not sure what she had heard. "Er, yeah?"

Grace straightened out and folded her arms across her chest. Large golden chains sparkled as they caught the glittering light. "My guard told me that the Guardian of the People had come to my land to offer me a peace offering. Now, unless that offering is behind you, I don't suspect that either of you will be welcome in the Animal Kingdom for much longer."

Leota refrained from checking in with the Prince behind her and instead settled to switch tactics. "Councilwoman Grace," she started. "You're Kingdom is beautiful and I do seek passage, but—"

"Have you lied to my guard?" She interrupted.

Leota was thrown off. "No?" She guessed.

"And has my guard lied to me?" Grace asked.

"I don't think she would have..." Leota answered.

"Then that man behind you belongs to me. He has many crimes to answer for and I have no reason to believe I will be patient with you or him much longer. So hand him over."

"What are you going to do to him?" Leota asked, starting to doubt her knowledge on their history. Perhaps she should have paid more attention to those particular world events. At the time, she had thought they had no way of ever affecting her. How foolish that had been.

Grace grew offended. "What does that matter?!" She exclaimed. "What matters is what he did to me! Two years! Can you believe that? Two years!" Her eyes glared accusingly at the Prince. "That's how long you stringed me along for!"

Leota looked behind her to find a man ready for combat. His eyes held the same look as when he'd first entered the Fire Kingdom's throne room; as when they'd first met. It was terrifying. She noted a hand slipped into his back pocket and felt in an instant that he held some weapon there. "Teki," she addressed. "Did you dump Grace?" She asked, genuinely struggling to remember what had happened. She had been fourteen years old when the scandal broke out and the Prince and the Councilwoman must have been close to the same age.

"Did he dump me? That's cute! As if this was about something as innocent as a break up! Do you really not know, Guardian, what that monster did to me? Do you really not know who he is?"

Leota grew increasingly unsure of the situation, but she continued to physically separate scorned lover from scorner. She turned to Teki and whispered, "What exactly did you do?"