Chapter 3: The Liger

Celi knelt on the rooftop with the twins, peering down at the group of strangers in the courtyard of Wyvern's Court. Her keen eyes quickly picked up details; they were robust with tanned skin, dark hair, and golden eyes. For just a moment she thought that one figure or two looked out of place, but she couldn't be certain. The adults were too far from her to hear what was being said so the only clue she could take was from the gestures and expression. Her parents had been wary when they arrived and they were still, even though it was clear that they were giving polite answers and asking neutral questions.

"What are you doing?"

It was completely unexpected and the three royals jumped, even Zenle who was supposed to be calm and reserved. Celi turned with the pair to look at their unexpected guest and she blinked, suddenly very curious. The boy was foreign to her as she couldn't recall seeing him before in the marketplace. His features clearly told that he wasn't a wolf either. He was tall and muscular, his skin the same shade as the visiting party but only a few shades lighter. His hair was short and honey-brown in color and his eyes were the same piercing amber. Celi wasn't going to deny that he was cute, but she fought to keep a blush off her face. "Who are you?" Zenle asked, his golden eyes narrowed as he did a once over the boy, his features were made so that they betrayed nothing. Apparently his previous reaction had embarrassed him and he wanted to make it clear that he was reserved. Celi found it amusing. Aleya just stood there in awe, her mouth opening and closing but no words came out. The boy looked past them, towards the gathering below them. "Tabassum." He said. For a moment there was just silence after his words until Celi decided to speak up. "Are you with the visitors?" she asked. The tall boy nodded. "That's my pride." "Pride?" Aleya snapped out of her daze, her head tilted. "We're lion shifters, well...everyone except for my mother and I." Zenle frowned despite himself. "Why?" he asked simply. "My mother is from the Mistari." That brought awed silence. Celi recalled her mother's stories, of how her grandmother and grandfather had sought council with the tigers, how the advice of the Disa and Dio had ended up leading to the end of the war that ranged for thousands of years. But Tabassum was continuing as if he wasn't aware. "My father is Tavisan," he motioned to one of the lion shifters who was dressed quite finely, his clothing hinting that he held a higher status. "The pride stayed in the Mistari lands and my parents took to one another, they ended up becoming mates and my mother left." "Who would want to leave their home for love?" Zenle muttered under his breath. Celi was quiet as she wondered it. Her parents had left their home for love as well, but yet both of them had been born and raised at Wyvern's Court, thus it seemed less extreme as the boy's tale. Aleya's eyes were almost dreamy and she gave a wistful sigh. "If you father is a lion and your mother is a tigress..." Celi paused, not wanting to be rude. After all she wasn't really any better with her falcon and wyvern blood.

"A liger."

Celi chewed slowly, her mind distracted. Tabassum was sitting next to her and for some odd reason it made her feel slightly giddy. She didn't know why though. Her eyes drifted around the room, trying not to let them fall on the liger shifter. It was all confusing. Not just with his parentage, but also because he was going to spend the night here, not with his pride. Lion shifters had to be puzzling, more so than wolf shifters, though Veli was an exception. When dinner ended, Celi followed her parents to the rooms where they were now staying. Nicias and Oliza were quiet and Celi could tell that they were thinking, it had to be about their guest. She had noticed that her grandparents looked uncertain during the meal, as well as Salem and Sive. The why she didn't know and despite her hopes, her parents didn't tell her that night.

"Hi daddy!"

Celi watched as Salem approached them, pausing Aleya's lesson on some game that she had made up. The Diente didn't look as cautious now, but yet she could sense that he was going to judge this interaction close, perhaps curious to how they would take the news. "What is it Uncle Salem?" Celi asked, the cobra was really her mother's cousin, but since Oliza and Nicias had no siblings. "You know the...liger, Tabassum?" The two girls nodded. "Well, his father has asked that he stays here with us. To learn our ways and he could share his experiences with us." Celi exchanged a look with Aleya. "It will be temporary, but we felt that it might help you kids learn about different shifter cultures." His voice had some hidden meaning in it, something that Celi couldn't put her finger on it. "It will be fun," Celi said with a nod. Aleya glanced at her then nodded too and they watched the cobra smile before he left.