Xavier's Arc

Chapter 16 of 21

The tiger climbed onto solid ground with the princess clinging to Xavier's back. Then she looked down at the red beast beneath them. Her breath caught. She dug her nails into Xavier's arm and shoved herself off the tiger's flank. Her heels struck the mud. She stumbled backward toward the tree line, toward the deep bog where the wolves had drowned. "Stop!" Xavier said. "Not that way. The mud there swallows people." But she kept backing away, eyes locked on the tiger. "That thing killed the wolves. It will kill me next." Her voice shook. Her crooked crown slid over one ear. "I am Amara. Princess Amara Celestine. I do not ride monsters." Xavier slid down from the tiger's back. He held both hands open and empty. He knew the bog waited three steps behind her heels. One more panicked step and the swamp would take her the way it took the pack. He could not grab her. She would bolt. He had to make her trust the beast, or lose her. He did not walk toward her. He turned to the tiger instead. He knelt beside its huge head, level with its blue nose. He pressed his forehead against its jaw. The tiger huffed and let him. Its tail flicked, calm. "He carried me across the safe path to reach you," Xavier said. "He drove the wolves into the mud. He did that for you." Amara stopped. Her heel hovered over the wet edge. She stared at the boy pressed against the killing beast, unbitten, unafraid. Xavier reached to the ground and plucked a blue flower from the field's edge. He held it flat on his palm and lifted it toward the tiger. The great cat lowered its head and lipped the petals gently from his hand. It did not snap. It did not lunge. "See?" Xavier said. "He takes food soft as a house cat. He knows I am his. He will know you too, if you let him." Amara looked at the flower field spread bright behind them, blue and gold and white. She looked at the tiger's calm eyes. Slowly she stepped away from the bog's edge, back onto firm ground. Her shoulders dropped. "Show me," she said. Xavier plucked another blossom and placed it in her hand. He guided her arm out, flat, toward the tiger. She trembled. But she held still. The tiger leaned in and took the flower from her palm with soft lips. Amara let out a breath that was almost a laugh. "He is warm," she said, surprised. She let Xavier lift her onto the tiger's back again. This time she did not flinch. But as the tiger rose, Amara gripped his mane and spoke low. "My father's men are hunting for me. They saw the red beast from the ridge. They think it took me. They are coming to kill it."