Page 28 of Obsidian Prince

“I don’t care.” She popped out one arm blade, hooked it around the edge of the door, and yanked it out of the prince’s hand.

As soon as the door closed, the auto-cab drove away, leaving Alexander Bennett standing alone in Doctor Nudd’s driveway. Liliana watched with her fourth eyes without turning around.

She considered the possibility that saying she didn’t care was one thing Liliana had never done before.

It was a lie.

Chapter8

Champion

The next night,a lion-kin in a corporal's uniform waved them in through a small seldom-used entrance to Fort Liberty. The entire Magoro family drove on base in their big SUV with Liliana in the shotgun seat. They didn’t even request Liliana's base pass, or anything from the Magoros. All the cameras, camera drones, and other base security precautions were turned off for this one entrance. Officially, it was closed. There was a big sign that said so.

Every adult lion in the two-hundred miles or so surrounding Fayetteville gathered together at an abandoned hangar on a part of the base far from most everything else. The parking lot was full. There were even more beast-kin than Liliana remembered the last time she witnessed a pride-king’s succession. There had been more time since the death of Andrew Periclum for everyone to gather. Even out in the parking lot, she could hear the echoes of growling, shouting, and occasional roars coming from inside the big metal building next to a small disused airstrip.

Liliana and Daniel Magoro walked side-by-side across the parking lot, toward the building full of angry lions and other beast-kin. Arel and Kazi fell into step on either side of them, small smiles on their faces as if they had already won. The fifty-fifty fighting chance that Liliana offered was far better odds than they’d had before they met her.

Daniel paused in front of the door, waving his wife and daughter inside ahead of them. He squeezed Liliana's shoulder with a massive hand to stop her for a moment outside the door. "Thank you for this, but I have to wonder why you're risking your life for us. Are you expecting something in return?"

Liliana smiled at his belt buckle. "If I die, leave this state immediately with your wife and daughter. Maybe try Canada?"

Daniel grumbled low in his throat, a lion's growl in human form. "I'm not inclined to run."

"I know. But if you do not run, your family will die." Liliana held onto Daniel's tree trunk arm whispering urgently to him. "This is what I want in return. Survive. Save your family. Start over somewhere else. Give me your word."

The old lion looked down at her, a muscle on the side of his jaw jumping as it clenched and unclenched. "All right. It's not that much to ask, I guess."

"Promise," Liliana said. A pride-king's word was law. If this lion would be king, then he would keep his word scrupulously.

Daniel nodded. "You have my word that if you don’t win, I'll leave the state right after the challenge with Arel, Kazi, Marilyn and her son."

Liliana did not look into the future to see if the Magoro family would survive. She believed Daniel would keep his word. He would at least try to escape. If the spider-kin died tonight, she would die believing she had bought a few more good lives with her blood. She patted the old lion's arm. "Don't worry about Marilyn and her son, they left North Carolina this morning. You will have to call them back if I win."

"Huh. Guess she doesn’t have much faith in you."

Liliana shrugged. "Faith is not what drives Marilyn Bradley. Protecting her son is what drives her actions."

"Good for her," Daniel commented.

Daniel pulled the door open. Arel and Kazi waited for them just inside. A wave of noise swept over them—shouts, growls, and hundreds of voices, all charged with anger, anxiety, fear, and excitement.

Liliana cringed. She grabbed the lion-kin's arm. "Daniel."

"What else do you want?" Daniel's voice was wary, as if he expected her to extort something else from him now that it was too late to change his mind.

"I am not good with crowds. Just get me to the dome, put a sword in my hand. I will be fine after that."

Arel Magoro leaned down to look in Liliana's face. "What do you mean, you're not good with crowds?"

Lilliana avoided the lioness's eyes. "You'll see." She hunched in on herself as if she were walking into the winds of a hurricane. Her petite form hid behind the broad wall of Daniel's body. Arel and Kazi closed ranks on either side of her, a half step behind the big patriarch.

They waded together into the crowd. There was a lot of passionate arguing punctuated with growls around them. Minor skirmishes here and there as arguments turned to quick spats with giant clawed demi-lion hands. There were a few of the other large predator-kin, too, bear-kin, and some of the other big cats, plus a few varieties of wolf-kin and some creatures that Liliana didn’t try to identify. The future of the beast-kin of North Carolina would be decided here, and everyone wanted to have a say. She noticed there weren’t any rabbit-kin or any other prey species. They might want a say in their leaders, but knew better than to get in the middle of this crowd of teeth and claws.

Daniel's big body got even bigger as he shifted. Tawny fur flowed over his massive muscles before she closed her eyes again. He roared as if to terrify a huge herd of gazelles. Everyone fell silent. Even the scuffles of minor fistfights or claw fights stopped.

Liliana huddled behind him, trying to be as small and inconspicuous as possible, hoping no one would notice her.

"I am the king of lions!" Daniel roared. "Who here would follow me?"

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