Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Tiger-Ella at the Ball (3/3)

I am not going to let Lobo the Loose Cannon, Lobo the Loser, be a buzzkill at my first Beast Ball. After Kaline and Minette take me back to the ballroom, I party like there’s no tomorrow. I am the original party animal, yet staying out of trouble, of course.

At the feast, my food dish looks like it’s stuffed, fish and some kind of meat crammed into it and overflowing. Maybe someone in the Lammermoor kitchens felt badly about Lobo’s behavior, or perhaps it was Lady Lammermoor’s way of apologizing and making sure that Minette and Lamant wouldn’t retaliate. Whatever the reason, I’m not complaining.

[At least you get a good dinner.] Demos eyes my spoils with good-natured envy, even though his own portion is more than generous. [I can’t believe Lobo just did that.]

[Friends, are you?]

Demos growls softly. [Well, not enemies. At least until tonight. He attacked you out of nowhere. From behind. Cowardly. Fighting is bad enough, but this? At least if he fought you face to face, people would have more respect for him, even if it breaks all the rules.]

[Right. A good old-fashioned brawl.]

Choking on a piece of fish, Demos swallows. [BRAWL? What are we, gutter trash? This is a glorious crowd with all the beasts and their tamers in the audience. No, I’d expect a duel. A grand duel–HEY!]

He ducks as Gussie “accidentally” drops an overripe piece of fruit down on him. The slightly too-soft missile misses him by a hair and splats on the floor. One of the other beasts scarfs it down and then goes back to the feast.

Gussie whistles at Demos. [No more talk of duels and brawls and fights! The food is tasty, and there’s music, and Maartenwitz told us there would be a Beast Dance. The humans clear the dance floor, and we all dance around.]

[For human amusement?]

The beast that ate Gussie’s smashed fruit chimes in. Another tiger, a she-tiger cub. Her fur is a deeper orange-gold, and the stripes on her face look like lightning bolts.

Demos scoffs. [If they’re amused, so what? We still have fun.]

The pretty she-tiger licks her lips, cleaning the juices from them. [Performing for them like trained circus animals?]

Demos bristles. [Now see here…]

I jump in. [Have YOU ever performed like a trained circus animal?]

The she-tiger stares into my eyes. Her eyes are an intense green-gold. [No. I lived with a lonely hermit who had all kinds of animals he couldn’t care for as he got older. One day, the sun rose as usual, and he didn’t come out to feed us. We all found him in his bedroom. He went away as old humans do. Then, we were all sold, but I escaped. My tamer found me.]

[You’re lucky. Demos here had to perform on the street to make money for a human owner. A cruel human.]

At my words, the she-tiger goes still, and glances at Demos, seeing him in a new light. [And yet you want to dance tonight with them watching?]

He shrugs. [Why not? It is a party. A party for us. They call it the Beast Ball.]

The she-tiger relaxes, and bows her head. [So they do. Forgive my manners. My name is Lightning. And Blaze here had better eat all of his food or my little master will be most unhappy, since he feels terribly about our Lobo’s act.]

My eyes widen. [Your master? You belong to this house too?]

Demos makes an “uff” sound. [Your master would be Lord Drannor Lammermoor.]

When Lightning smiles, her teeth flash just like lightning. [Just so! And you are Demos, Mistress Vedette Riddlehoeven’s prize beast.]

His fur puffed out, Demos looks gratified. His ego has been stroked. [Yes. And I, too, made the mistake of tangling with Blaze, but he fought me.]

I bat at him playfully, in a brotherly way. [That was different. It was all in fun during training.]

Demos adds, [And we didn’t have a “no-fighting” rule leashing us.]

Lightning huffs. [Honestly, a good fight would liven up these parties.]

Gussie devours her fruit. [Oh, can’t we just have fun? No fighting, no battles. Demos, you didn’t want any brawls, and when beasts fight, sometimes that’s what it becomes. A brawl. Not your honorable duel.]

Demos grunts. [True. Because some of us can’t control ourselves.]

Lightning’s eyes are on me. [Don’t listen to him. Lobo aside, most of us know how lucky we are to be tamed beasts, and to have our masters and mistresses, and gain powers that the Primal Beast, the First Tamed Beast, gifted to us all.]

Hmmm. She seems nice, but let’s not forget she’s part of the same house as Lobo. Maybe she’s going to turn on me, too! She doesn’t want to go back to being a lost beast, maybe sold to someone who wouldn’t treat her kindly. So, she’s doing her best to charm me.

Maybe I should let her. Maybe I’ll gain an ally against Lobo.

[Do we just dance on our own or do we dance together? I can’t remember. All those etiquette lessons.] I flash her a winsome smile. [Is it a group dance, or wo we have dance partners?]

[Both. And those etiquette lessons just drag on and on.] She purrs in a pleasing way. [Humans! They just have to talk, and talk, and talk some more.]

I play along. [With those silly lists and charts and “writing”.]

[I can write.] Gussie perks up. [Master is teaching me how. It’s easy. You just take the pen. But not the quill pen. Why would you do THAT with a bird’s feather?]

Demos snorts. [Why do humans do half the things they do?]

While Gussie and Demos get into a spirited discussion of the bizarre habits of humans, I gather up my courage. [Lightning?]

[Yes, Blaze?]

Now or never. I purr in what I hope is an appealing way. [Will you save me a dance during the Beast Dance?]

Her answer both excites me and makes my fur stand on end.

[I’d love to!]

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