Page 17 of Obsidian Prince

Arel saw her hesitation but misinterpreted it. "I know Celtic wolves only defend Normals and seelie Fae, but we've put some money together, donations from a bunch of us. We can pay the red wolf. Tell him that if Tray Bradley becomes king, the whole Other community in North Carolina will suffer. There could be a pride war. Normals are bound to get caught in the crossfire."

"Pete is a very unusual red wolf. He will not fight for money. He would be insulted if you offered. He protects whoever is in danger, Normal or any kind of Other, including Fae of either court. His oldest friend is an oak goblin."

All three lionesses had identical expressions of shock and disbelief. "But goblins are unseelie Fae!" Marilyn said.

The spider seer shrugged. "Pete loves him like a favorite uncle. He is a very unusual Celtic wolf. Pete would be honored to aid you because it is right, but ..." She trailed off.

Liliana had warned Janice Willoughby. The rabbit-kin intended to take her children and flee to New Jersey in two days, ostensibly to visit her mother. The spider seer gave her word to her most loyal customer that her husband, Lou, would be safe. The Celtic wolf would protect him. "I will not ask him. The red wolf has other business that night. People will die if he is not where he should be."

"People will die if Tray becomes the pride-king," Marilyn Bradley pointed out.

Liliana nodded. "I agree this is not an acceptable outcome. But Pete cannot be Daniel's champion in three nights, so we will find another way." She said it with confidence, even though she had not yet decided how to make that happen. Liliana was a lion's daughter. This was her pride, too. She would not permit another unworthy king to be chosen.

She had to be careful, though. It was far too easy to make things worse. If Daniel Magoro was not the man these women believed him to be, then she might be responsible for the evil done by the next unworthy king.

The spider seer dove into visions of Daniel Magoro in the past. Solid visions of him in the future did not exist, only vague impressions, flickery with improbability. Those brief images did seem to be good, though. Arel and Kazi smiling. Marilyn raising her son in peace.

Liliana foresaw that if Daniel did become king, since Daniel had no sons of his own, Marilyn and Tray Bradley’s son would be the next king. The boy would grow into his father's brute strength, but it would be tempered by honor and compassion that his pride family would teach him.

From the fleeting glimpses the spider-kin could see, Daniel would be a good king. But she had to be sure. Power could change people. "Mrs. Magoro, I need you to answer a question for me, now." Normally, she didn't ask clients questions, but this was a special case. If anyone knew this lion-kin, it would be his wife.

"What is it?" The elder lioness gave Liliana her full attention.

The spider seer returned that attention with all eight eyes at once. "Is it simply that he is your husband and you love him, or do you believe that Daniel Magoro would make a good king? Is he a man of honor who keeps his word always? Would he rule with a strong will, tempered with a good balance of justice and mercy?"

"Yes." Arel answered without hesitation. There was no trace of doubt anywhere in her mind. She not only loved her husband, she admired him.

Liliana didn't bother looking into the mind of Kazi, Daniel's daughter. With few exceptions, all men were heroes in the eyes of their daughters.

She looked into Marilyn Bradley's mind instead. "Do you believe that Daniel Magoro is the best possible lion to become pride-king?"

"Daniel would be a better king than any I've ever known." There was little hope in the woman's heart. She did not believe that Daniel Magoro could become king. But there was a great deal of longing. Marilyn, the woman whose trust had been repeatedly betrayed by a man who should have protected her, believed in Daniel Magoro. The elder lion had no reason to protect her and her child. He had taken Marilyn and her son in, sheltered them, treated them like family even though it put his own family in danger, because it was the right thing to do. That was the kind of man Daniel Magoro was.

"I will meet Daniel Magoro. I will come to your house tomorrow afternoon, after my last appointment. If he is the man that you all believe he is, I will be his champion."

Chapter5

Pride And Anger

The three lionesseshad a blue SUV that seated eight people comfortably. Arel drove Liliana to the Magoro home the evening after they’d first spoken. She gave Liliana the shotgun front seat. The other two lionesses sat behind her. Liliana felt like a child inside the giant vehicle. It was meant for much larger people.

The Magoro home was at the back of a suburban neighborhood, the only house on the end of a cul de sac. It had a small, neat lawn in front, stood two stories tall and looked like it could house a hundred. Since the land was wedge shaped, she suspected the back yard was far larger than the front. All around it the forest still stood. It appeared to have been made from the logs of the trees that used to stand where the lawn was now. A peaked metal roof sheltered , polished and sealed natural logs that framed huge windows.

Daniel Magoro, a massive man with very dark skin and iron-grey hair cut short, opened one half of the double front door big enough to drive the SUV through. A small, fluffy black and tan dog also met her at the door, barking furiously.

Arel gestured to her. “This is Madame Anna, the seer I told you about that Kazi saw on the surveillance video defeating her old bosses. She wanted to meet you.”

Liliana looked up at the Magoro patriarch, who picked up the dog with the piercing bark, quieting it. “Andrew Periclum was not a worthy king of lions. Tray Bradley will be worse. My father was lion-kin. I am a pride-child. I am not going to permit the pride to have another unworthy king.”

Daniel nodded. “Arel said you might shed some light on what we could do about the situation.”

“You should invite me in, first.”

The big man huffed a deep chuckle. “So I should. Come on in, Madame Anna.”

“I am Liliana. My friends call me Lilly. I might die for you, so, you and your family can call me Lilly, even though Kazi is not my friend. She hates me.”

Daniel looked at his daughter.

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