§• Dangerous Game •§

[Airtia S. Cauthon]

“And here I had thought that you had done everything, mew.”

The orange and black stripped cat wore a very smug look on his face as he sat on the corner of the writing desk. His tail swaying back and forth slowly against the side of the wood; and his posture straight with pride. “Who would have thought that your daughter, meow, Shadoan's heir, meow, would suffer from a broken heart, loose her mind, and die? Rurr, I should congratulate her.”

“That's quite enough 'o that, Tyger.” Airtia commented from across the room. She was enveloped in a closet with her attention focused in an old tome. It was weighted, the papers thick and the bound leather worn. “Ye will nae be so talkative in a moment.” She stepped back from the closet and closed its doors with the toe of her boot.

Airtia took the tome to the desk and placed it down in front of the cat and directed his attention to a particular section of text. Tyger placed his front paws on the page and rose to all fours, leaning in closer for a better look. His tail stopped swaying. “Where did you get this book?” Asked the cat, all traces of arrogance were wiped from his face and, for a moment, Tyger was worried. "You shouldn't have this! Murr. Touch this!"  

In a flash of anger the cat knocked the tome off the desk and onto the floor. Had he realized that his master had possessed such a thing he would have gotten rid of it a long time ago. An apoplectic growl rolled in Tyger's throat as he stood on all fours and starred Airtia down. "I'll be damned if I let you use that!"

"Ye're already damned, Tyger," came Airtia's response as she retrieved the tome from the floor, slipping her hands into her gloves before she touched it. Her voice as placid as earlier. "And tis already done." Airtia took the book back to the closet.

Tyger jumped off the table and ran to the closet, hoping up into the shelves so he could be at eye level with Airtia. She stopped short of returning the tome to the drawer she had drawn it from. Airtia eyed the cat carefully - he was still angry. "What about your family! Mur.  Did you think about them? What about me!" Tyger shouted.

"Ye forget who I am, Tyger."  Airtia said, holding on to the last elements of calm she had.

"I know exactly who you are, meow, and I will use that against you if I must."

Silence stretched between the two, neither moved as they weighted the others words.  Airtia knew that Tyger wasn't bluffing just as he knew she wasn't. After several minutes Airtia pushed past Tyger and set the tome back in its drawer. Her voice soft when she spoke again "We must do what we must."