Xavier's Arc

Chapter 17 of 21

The tiger carried them along the tree line while Amara held Xavier's waist. Somewhere ahead, her father's men searched the swamp. They believed the red beast had stolen her. They would not stop to ask questions. They would kill the tiger on sight. "They saw it from the ridge," Amara said. "They will not believe words." Xavier reined the tiger to a halt. He looked at the girl behind him, her crooked crown, her torn red dress. "Then they will believe you," he said. "Alive. Riding it. Not stolen." He heard them before he saw them. Boots sucking through mud. A shout. Bows creaked to full draw at the edge of the reeds. Six men, maybe more, spread across firm ground. One raised an arrow toward the tiger's bright coat. "Hold!" Xavier shouted. He threw his empty hands wide. He kept his knife sheathed at his hip. "Look who rides it!" The tiger tensed under him, muscles bunching to charge. Xavier pressed his knee flat against its side. The old command. Stay. The beast held, though its lip curled at the men. The arrow did not fly. The lead hunter stared past Xavier at the princess on the tiger's back. Amara sat up straight. She lifted her chin the way a princess does. "Lower your bows," she called. "This beast did not take me. It carried me out of the bog. The wolves took me. This beast killed them." The men did not move. The arrow stayed nocked. Xavier felt the whole moment balance on a thread. One twitch and it broke. So he showed them. He plucked a blue blossom from the reeds and held it flat on his palm. He lowered it to the tiger's mouth. The huge cat leaned down and lipped the petals soft as a house cat, gold and white crushing between its teeth. A murmur ran through the men. The lead hunter lowered his bow a hand's width. "A monster does not eat flowers," he said slowly. "He eats from my hand," Xavier said. "And from hers." Amara slid down the tiger's flank. Her heels sank in the mud. She walked to the lead hunter, small and fierce in her red dress, and gripped his wrist. "Bring me home," she said. "And tell my father the beast is under my protection. If it dies, he answers to me." The bows came down. The lead hunter knelt. The others followed. Xavier let out a long breath. The tiger huffed beneath him and its ears fell soft. Amara turned back once. "They will not hunt it now," she said. "But my father is proud. My word buys days, not forever. Keep it far from the ridge." Then the men closed around her and led her toward the tree line. Xavier watched her red dress vanish into the green. The hunt was called off. The tiger was safe tonight. But the princess's warning sat heavy in his chest, and the swamp still had teeth.