Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Shade’s Choice

We all wait for Shade to respond. How can this noble beast turned common thief and thorn in Niall’s side possibly say “no” to our offer?

Shade backs away, his fox eyes wary. [Belong to a noble house again? What do I have to do?]

Demos explains to him, [Become a tamed beast like us.]

Without warning, Shade lunges at Demos with jaws snapping, and I jump between them. OOOF. Shade knocks into me. Lucky thing he doesn’t manage to bite me, because he’s too stunned.

[What are you doing?] he blasts me.

[What are YOU doing? Think! Be clever. You are reduced to scrounging in someone’s cabinet for scraps of food.]

Shade growls. [I’m going to tear you apart.]

His bluster and braggadocio are like pesky flies to me. [Hear me out first, unless you want the humans and all of us to take care of you. And I don’t mean in a pampered pet way.]

Shade’s tail is a weapon, flailing the air, big and matted and tangled. [Ha! I have overcome worse. Two tiger cubs, a bear cub, a flighty parrot–]

[WHO ARE YOU CALLING FLIGHTY?]

Gussie, an orange-and-scarlet missile, dives toward him, but Kaline whistles and Gussie reverses course, then just hovers a few inches above Shade, glowering at him.

For his part, Shade sticks out his tongue. [Oooo, I’m trembling.]

[Pay him no mind, Gussie.] Lightning eyes Shade skeptically. [He’s just trying to rile us up.]

[It’s a shame.] I play it cool. [He would have had a great opportunity to be someone again.]

[Would have?]

Shade looks indignant. Pacing, he works himself up into a snit fit.

[Your bird attacked me! What kind of opportunity do you call that?]

[I’m sorry.] Gussie lowers her head, hurt. [You insulted me. I hate being called flighty, even if it is true sometimes.]

I grunt. [But you won’t find anyone more loyal and true than Gussie here.]

“Gussie, what’s gotten into you?” Kaline exclaims.

Grumbling, Niall picks up Shade, who doesn’t give him any trouble. “This one is a rebel. Chaos follows him wherever he goes. Are you quite certain about this plan?”

“Do we have any other options?” Kaline asks rhetorically.

[No. We don’t.] It’s superfluous, but I answer anyway, even though Kaline can’t hear me.

[What plan?] Shade stares dubiously at me. [It’s got to be better than scrounging for food.]

[It is.] Lightning commands his attention, standing up in a regal way, head and tail held high. [You can be the tamed beast bonded to none other than the mistress of my house, the revered Lady Rosabel Lammermoor. She is such a fine lady.]

Shade is the definition of a sly fox. [Ha! Fine ladies like that usually have beasts!]

Thinking quickly, I improvise. [She has a beast, but he’s too ill-behaved for her. He’s a wild wolf.]

Meanwhile, Hans explains the same thing to Shade that Lightning just explained to him. “My tiger Lightning can communicate to you as well, and so can Blaze, Demos, and Gussie here. They will be your new friends–”

Doubtful. At best, we’ll be cordial. But then, I said the same about Demos and Lobo.

Hans is still talking. “Ask them. They will tell you all about Lady Lammermoor.”

[She is perfect for you.] Gussie is upbeat. [You two are well matched.]

[You are perfect for her.] Demos manages to be the picture of innocence. [Unlike that savage ill-mannered creature that she had the misfortune to bond.]

Demos is laying it on so thick, he’s practically using a frosting bag. But it is all for a good cause. We must sell the idea of Lady Lammermoor to our new comrade Shade. The haughty look in his eyes definitely matches the way Lady Lammermoor looked when she turned down Lamant’s and Minette’s suggestion to alert the other guests at the ball about me nearly being kidnapped. Shade is the perfect match for Lady Lammermoor.

His ears halfway back and wary, Shade looks dubious. [If she is as good as you say, then why would her tamed beast want to leave her? I know little about tamed beasts. I wasn’t one myself. My owner never brought it up.]

I know bitterness and longing when I hear them. [But you want to be a tamed beast?]

Shade struts around, projecting strength. [Maybe I like my freedom. Not having some big person in my head.]

Gussie joins in. [But there’s scrounging for scraps on the other side of the argument.]

Shade gnashes his teeth. [Well, it is less than stable.]

My stomach twists every time I open my mouth, so to speak, to make our pitch to Shade. As irritating and extra as he is, does he deserve being tied to Lady Lammermoor?

But I don’t know him. I know Lobo. And there’s no other alternative. We’ve gone through all the options. Lobo is miserable. He didn’t start out miserable. How do I know? Because his true character shone through in a crunch.

Shade, however, seems like he deserves Lady Lammermoor and vice versa. They’re both haughty and in love with themselves. So, there’s no harm.

I go for logic. [You could get killed. Somebody that you steal from might actually be dangerous to you. Cruel. Niall here is wacky and odd, but he keeps letting you steal from him. You try that with anyone else, and you see what you get.]

Shade barks in a gruff way. He’s gruff and he’s giving me guff. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t work on me.

His grumpy act doesn’t work on Demos, Gussie, and Lightning, either. They all shake their heads. THEY have no problem saddling him with Lady Lammermoor.

With a huff, Shade settles down. [If only my former owners hadn’t driven me out.]

Seething resentment crackles in the air. I can taste it, and I want to spit it out. I no longer have any qualms about what we’re doing.

[You’ll show them, won’t you? Demos has a wicked glint in his eyes. [Why, you’ll be the talk of all the tamed beasts and the ordinary pets. The tamed beast of Lady Lammermoor! Imagine.]

Puffed up, Shade lets his nose in the air. [I’ve heard of the Lammermoor family. Of course. They don’t live HERE in this backwater village. I want to go there. Take me there. NOW.]

Victory!

From Hans’ face moments later, Lightning has already passed on the news. Vedette clasps her hands, excited. “Oh, Shade,” she coos. “You won’t regret this.”

With an outstretched hand, she caresses his ears, even though she’ll probably need to wash her hands afterwards. He leans into her touch, his ears and his ego stroked. Maybe for the first time in a while because he is so unpleasant.

Hans scoops up Shade, much to Lightning’s annoyance. “Thank you, ladies. I will take it from here. I can consult a few high-level best tamers on how to make the switch.”

“Hans, no.” Kaline looks disappointed, and determined. “We’re part of this. It was our idea to ask you to help. We want to–”

“KALINE.”

The way he says her name, in that musical elf voice, makes her stop in her tracks, as if she’s not sure what just hit her.

Hans continues, serious. “Your house and mine are enemies now. I can’t let you anywhere near my mother.”

Kaline sticks out her lower lip. “But–”

“I promise, I will get Lobo to you,” Hans vows, juggling Sade with one hand and reaching for Kaline’s hand with the other. “You’ve trusted me so far. Please keep on trusting me.”

“It’s not that she doesn’t trust you.” Vedette is also troubled. “It’s just that we’re part of this, as she said. It was our idea.”

“And this is my family’s shame and our debt,” Hans argues. “I must make this right. I have to. ”

When all eyes turn to Niall, he spreads his hands. “Oh my stars, I don’t have an opinion here. This is a choice that you must make for yourselves. But be warned–”

Here it comes. The Quirky Weird Oracle. Every fantasy story or game has to have one.

Niall continues. “Sometimes, a choice can lead to secrets long buried and then to more choices. Or, it can lead to doors to destiny being shut forever, or so we think.”

Well, THAT certainly cleared things up!

Demos nudges me. [I think maybe he’s broken one too many curses.]

For the first time, Shade agrees with us on something. [I can’t believe I’ve been eating this man’s food. Never again.]

Gussie is more charitable. [He’s a wise hermit. That’s what he’s supposed to do.]

Lightning also is more generous. [He’s supposed to be mysterious. I wish I could work out what he means.]

Kaline and Vedette are baffled. They thank him for his insight, but their real battle of wits is with Hans. “We want to help you,” Vedette insists. “And we won’t take ’no’ for an answer. We can hide ourselves. We can disguise ourselves as servants.”

“But your beasts cannot,” Hans counters. “And after the ball, I can’t guarantee their safety. No. I am doing this alone.”

[He’s right.] Lightning bumps her nose against mine. [Please, Blaze. Trust Hans and me. Don’t risk yourself. Let us prove ourselves! Tell Demos to tell Vedette.]

Demos lets out an “uff.” [I’m right here. Blaze, what say you?]

What should I do? Do I dare risk myself, and Demos, and the family that loves us?

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