The Lion Soul by Amy Sumida
Chapter Thirty
Two weeks of absolute bliss went by. I was a man who enjoyed structure in my life; I liked a routine. Kaelen wasn't as rigid, but we harmonized well. He softened my edges, and I gave him more stability. We settled into a casual schedule, with magic training in the morning, combat training in my Shirie form in the afternoon, and then an intimate dinner before relaxing together in his suite at night. We did venture out into the city and even took a ride into the surrounding countryside, but we did it carefully. My teachers pointed out that even if another faerie were to smell the Farungal on me, they probably wouldn't recognize it. Only those who'd been to war would be familiar with the scent. Those who hadn't might just think it was my ex-humanity. With that in mind, we grew bolder and bolder, eventually taking walks through the city and enjoying the wide assortment of restaurants that Caralin had to offer.
We visited with Kirran, Neva, and Solin often, but it was always outside of their home, either at Kaelen's palace, a park, or a restaurant. Kaelen's parents remained firmly against me, which bothered Kaelen and Kirran more than me. After all, I barely knew them. As much as Kaelen swore they were my family, I didn't have that connection to them, so my disappointment wasn't as personal.
Kirran swore Solin to secrecy, giving him a story about how we were staying longer in Varalorre on a secret mission for the Queen and no one could know, not even his grandparents, but I wasn't convinced Solin would hold his tongue for long. Children are notoriously bad at keeping secrets. It's the honesty of youth, often brutal but always genuine. Still, I enjoyed seeing them; it eased the ache of losing my family, and I began to let go of my old life. Or at least accept that it was lost to me.
I was doing amazingly well with both magic and combat training, so much so that my teachers announced that I was ready for emotion magic. For that, we'd have to return to Stalana; in particular, the Wolf Camp, where the Wolf Valorian was training the other valorians and their warlords on the ways to use their emotions to fuel magic instead of relying on the elements.
Although what happened next was awful, the timing was perfect. We were packed and ready to leave, our goodbyes to the Queen and Kaelen's family made, when everything went to shit.
“Lion Lord, wake up!” Rinmae, Kaelen's most trusted knight, shouted as he came running into the bedroom.
Kaelen and I were immediately awake and jumping out of bed before he reached us.
“What is it?” Kaelen demanded.
“They know about Rieyu,” Rinmae said grimly. “About the Farungal in him.”
“Who?”
“The city. The entire fucking city is outside our gates.”
“What?” Kaelen growled and ran to the window.
I went with him, going grim as I saw the crowd of people shouting and shoving against Kaelen's gate. His knights stood on our side of the metal bars in lion form, staring at the mob calmly, as if they faced hordes of angry faeries every day.
“We'll never get through them,” Kaelen muttered. “Not without hurting them.”
As we watched, a group of uniformed soldiers marched through the crowd, shields lifted to push back those too slow to move out of their way. They took up a position in front of the gate to form another line of defense.
“The Queen's Guard,” Kaelen said with relief. “They'll help, but I don't think it will be enough. At least Queen Vervain hasn't abandoned us. Maybe we can hold out until she sends her army. Only a fool would attack knights in the Queen's Guard.”
“Only a fool would attack the Lion Lord,” Rinmae countered and grimaced. “It appears that Caralin is full of fools.”
I grunted and went for my robe. Kaelen had purchased me three war robes—simple, sturdy garments worn to a battle. Specifically to a battle, not into. They were merely for modesty's sake, to cover the body until it was time to shift. Then the robe was tossed aside and the faerie's animal form took over. And I intended to let my Shirie take over very soon.
“Rie!” Kaelen came after me. “What are you doing?”
“I'm going to get us through the city without hurting anyone,” I said. To Rinmae, I added, “Get everyone ready and load the carriage.”
“The carriage is already packed, but I'll let the Lion Guard know that we're about to move out,” Rinmae said, then ran from the room.
“What does that mean?” Kaelen didn't bother to get dressed; he stood there stark naked as he demanded answers.
“Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom before we leave.” I went into the bathroom.
Kaelen followed me all the way to the toilet. “Rie!”
“I'm going to show them what I am,” I said over my shoulder as I urinated. As I went to the basin to wash my hands, I added. “You'd better relieve yourself as well; it's going to be a long morning.”
“I'd better . . .” Kaelen gaped at me and then huffed, “Are you insane? They'll tear you apart if they see your Shirie.”
“I don't think so.” I nodded toward the toilet. “Hurry up, we need to go.”
“Un-fucking-believable,” Kaelen growled as he went to the toilet.
I walked out before he could see how nervous I was. This would be the first time I'd show my Shirie to the city—to the community that I wanted to be a part of—and I was going to deliberately scare them with it. I might never be able to return to Caralin after this—yet another home lost. But that was far better than bashing our way through an angry mob and hurting people who were only acting this way because they were scared. The Gods would help us; they had already sent us the Queen's Guard. I had to trust that they were guiding me now.
Kaelen got into his robe, and we went downstairs to find the carriage waiting, with Rinmae at the reins and the rest of the Lion Guard shifted into Lions, positioned around it.
I strode down the steps as confidently as I could, sparing a surprised glance for the household staff, who were all outside, clad in robes. What were they doing?
“All right, we need to do this quickly,” I said to the knights. “We will approach the gate and ask the Queen's Guard to make room for us to open it, then I will shift. I expect my appearance to cause some fear and shock. I'm hoping that it will be enough to get us through the crowd before they can react. Just follow me as fast as you can and don't stop.”
The Lions made a growl of agreement, but before we could move forward, the entire staff dropped their robes and shifted into Lions.
“Stand down!” Kaelen said to his people. “I will not have you hurt over this.”
“We are not soldiers, but we are Lions, my lord,” Liana's voice came from the mouth of a lioness. “We are fully capable of defending you and your home. We'll see you through the city safely and it will be our honor to do so.”
Kaelen bowed to them as I might. “I am overwhelmed by your loyalty and bravery. Thank you. We won't forget this.”
Then we headed to the gates—a lion pride nearly a hundred strong. The faeries outside our gate shouted and pushed forward when they saw us coming, not at all intimidated by our numbers. The Queen's Guard was all that kept them from breaking down the gate, but their shields and shouts wouldn't work for long.
The carriage horses had been bred for war and didn't balk, even when the roar of furious faeries got deafening. I tried to ignore the horrible things they were shouting, but a few of them were shocking enough for me to remember. At that moment, I was in battle mode and the barbs didn't hurt me, but I knew that later, if we made it through this, they would sting. I would try my best to not let those cruel words embitter me.
Kaelen went to the gate and spoke to the Queen's knights. They nodded and started to push the crowd back with shoves of their shields and imperious commands. They made some headway but it wouldn't last; we had to act immediately.
Kaelen opened the gates, then, as the crowd gathered itself to move forward, Kae and I cast off our robes in a dramatic flourish and shifted. After a glance back at us, the Queen's knights gave one last shove, then retreated to stand along the wall, out of our way. Without any hesitation, I leapt toward the crowd, roaring louder than any lion. Because it wasn't a lion's roar.
It was a dragon's.
The mob went still in shock for a brief second, then acted instinctively, as I'd hoped they would. Kaelen had told me so many times that Sidhe had to be careful with their instincts. That those primal urges could take us unaware, forcing us to react without thought. The Lion Faeries' instincts had just told them that a bigger, badder beast was coming for them. In an instant, they shifted from predator to prey.
I hadn't expected them to run. I thought I might win us a few moments of shock to get us past them. But I hadn't realized just how unusual, how fearsome, my appearance was or how unaccustomed the Fae were to feeling like prey.
With my first leap forward, I slashed at the air with my horns, making myself look as savage as possible. My tail whipped behind me, its scorpion barb flashing in the morning light, and my scales gleaming. There weren't just Sidhe in the mob; there were also Unsidhe, including several Trolls. But all of them were civilians, none prepared for a true battle. They had rallied with the strength of a mob but now, instinctively, they realized that their numbers wouldn't help them against a real monster. Against me.
Yes, I became the monster they feared to save them from harm. I embraced the Farungal inside me and set it loose upon the people I had hoped would be my people. I bared my fangs and roared so loudly and viciously that even the press of bodies couldn't dampen the echoes. I thrashed my head and snarled. I snapped my jaws and slashed my claws through the air. I poised my tail as if to strike.
And the mob turned.
With terrified shrieks and bloodcurdling screams, the faeries fell backward like a receding tide, stumbling and scrambling over each other to get out of my way. Those in the back simply bolted while those in the middle fell like dominoes under the terrified few in the front. I prayed that the Goddess would protect them, that no one would be crushed in the stampede. But I didn't stop to look. I raced onward, into the path that opened before me, while behind me, our little army surged after me with roars of their own, making sure no one rallied.
We didn't need their escort after all, but they ran with us anyway, only a handful staying behind to secure the gates and guard Kaelen's home. My roars echoed off the buildings as we fled, serving to warn off any who had thought to follow us. I expected the streets to be empty, but Rinmae had been wrong. The entire city hadn't come for us, only a portion of it. The rest of the citizens were going about their daily business, and I ended up startling quite a few of them by accident. So, I ceased the roaring at last, and we ran the rest of the way in grim silence.
Once free of Caralin, Kaelen sent his people back with a roar of salute. They roared in return, then ran back to see to his home as we continued forward to protect it in another way.
