Beauty and The Beasts: Rain

17. Giving an Inch

      Rain opened her bleary eyes and started stretching.  Thunk.  She side-eyed the leopard head that fell off her side and landed in her bed of furs.  A startled Third tried collecting himself and Rain didn't bother apologizing.  She knew he came back in last night.  She had half a mind to throw him back out, but was too tired and lazy, plus she enjoyed the warmth he brought.  Since she had ample time today to return last night's favor, Rain did not feel the need to rush.

     Smirking, Rain made her way to the window and pushed open the curtain.  It was mid-morning and she knew they overslept.  She watched the guards mill around the castle exterior as flying scouts made their way to the throne room as per usual routine.  Rain was grateful for the peace, but also bored.  Today's hunt will help alleviate the monotony.

     Rain washed her face and left the leopard to his own devices.  She exited the room and sought out Winston.  She did not need to ask permission for anything, but she did not need Winston sending a protection squad after her today.  Approaching the throne room, Rain heard multiple voices.  It seemed Winston was still receiving various reports.  Rain was feeling impatient, but decided to wait for him to conclude his business.  She knew that Winston was aware of her presence.

     Rain didn't have to wait long for him to finish.  "Rain. Come in."  Winston ordered with authority.  Rain bristled at the commanding tone, but suppressed her irritation.  No matter how she felt about being ordered, Winston was the king of this city.  As a resident, she had a duty to follow his orders so long as they weren't unreasonable.

     Regaining her calm demeanor, Rain entered the room leisurely.  Holding her head up, she stared at Winston.  As a female, she was not required to bend her knee to Winston.  She was loathe to seem less than any other beast, but she knew where she stood.  She was not in her territory, but his.  Holding back her pride, she bowed her head slightly.  He was her king whether she liked it or not.  Rain recognized Winston and regarded him highly enough to give him the respect he deserved while in his castle.

     Winston was mildly surprised, but only nodded in acceptance at Rain's behavior.  He was beginning to hope that she was maturing.  He had no right to judge a female, but he was secretly happy at some of Rain's changes.  He had always been concerned with Rain's overly prideful nature.  Her strength gave her the means to lash out physically and her temper led her to pick fights.

     Winston could vividly recall all the poor males that had approached her when she first arrived in the city.  The number of casualties numbered several dozen, yet she hasn't picked a single fight since she had returned.  Winston was proud that she had learned to hold back.  He didn't want anymore males loosing faith in their strength.  He wasn't a councilor and was unable to heal their wounded pride.

     "Winston, Third and I will be hunting today.  You do not need to send any guards."  Rain stated her piece in a cold manner.  She hoped that Third's presence would be enough to appease Winston's overly protective mindset.

     Winston knew Rain would come to speak about this matter.  He was honestly astonished she had not come to him sooner. It seems her tolerance has also improved.  "Third is not enough.  I won't try to stop you from hunting, but you'll need additional protection.  They will not interfere unless it's necessary," Winston stated.

     Rain narrowed her eyes and glared at Winston with an icy stare.  She wasn't stupid.  She was well aware of potential dangers, but she also had enough reasoning to retreat when necessary.  Perhaps a few years ago Rain would not have accepted this and would have argued with Winston.  She would have demanded that he change his mind or she would leave the city.

     Now, however, Rain was willing to compromise, but not concede.  "One."  Rain replied emotionlessly as she gazed at Winston with a frosty expression.  "You can send one."  Rain had weighed the pros and cons of having extra protection.  Having a beast guard their rear while they hunted would be safer for both her and Third.  However, she did not want to have an entourage of strangers watching her every move in the name of "guarding."

     Winston paused and considered it.  He knew that Rain was already conceding a lot by accepting a guard, but just one was not enough.  "Two.  One flyer and one beast on the ground. You can select them if you want.  That is all I'm willing to concede," he spoke with finality hoping that Rain could accept the terms.

     Rain didn't ponder for long.  She wasn't thrilled, but Winston's concession was better than nothing.  "Fine," agreed Rain reluctantly.  Rain watched as Winston nodded, indicated that she should follow him, and left the throne room.

     Rain followed Winston to the courtyard.  The courtyard had many types of plants growing including vegetables and herbs.  The city doctors were free to use these herbs in times of need or to treat females, but were required to keep their own stock of herbs as well.

     Rain stared at Winston's back as he lead the way, her eyes caught on a large scar that covered his right shoulder blade.  She had heard about the war between this city and the City of Flames.  Although Rain didn't know the details, she knew he got that scar during the attack.  Maybe one day she would ask about it, but today wasn't that day.

     Rain stopped when Winston did.  After giving Rain a warning, Winston roared.  Since he wasn't in his beast form, it wasn't terribly loud, but Rain's sensitive ears still rang.  Soon, a group of beastmen appeared.  Most of them were tigers.

     Winston spoke to the newly arrived beasts and told them why they were here.  Rain didn't want to waste any more time and quickly probed them with her senses and evaluated them.  It seemed that the group was split between those who were excited and those who were indifferent.

     A familiar reddish-orange tiger fell into the indifferent category.  She looked over the guard from her last outing.  His persistence may have been annoying, but he did not interfere with her hunting.  His burnt orange eyes met her dark red ones.  Neither one of their gazes faltered until Winston cleared his throat.

     Rain didn't want to be the first to look away.  Sometimes her stubbornness would flare up like that.  She was upset that her contest was interrupted, but knew she needed to get on with the selection.  Her eyes landed on on the four flyers present.  All of them were hawks.  Scowling, Rain could barely stand to look at them.  She hated hawks.

     There was a tri-colored, speckled hawk who fell into the exited group.  His demeanor was practically screaming "pick me."  Rain stared coldly at the pale yellow orbs of the male before probing him with her senses.  He was a two stripe, close to becoming three.  She thought he may be the one who tailed her before, but he never got close enough to her for Rain to be sure.

     There were no bad choices from this group.  All of the beasts were double or tetra marked beasts.  Since they were summoned to guard her, none of them would have mates.  Winston never called the males with spouses unless it was for domestic affairs or emergencies.  She hoped that none of them would be foolish enough to approach her with the intention to court her.

     Rain made her decision.  Even if she didn't like the beasts, she would much rather take familiar ones.  Winston accepted her selection and sent the rest back to their duties.  Now she could only hope that the two beasts she chose would not test her patience.