Page 29 of Obsidian Prince

Arel and Kazi shifted to demi-lion form. They roared in one voice from either side of Liliana, "I will!"

Other lions' voices declared themselves for Daniel in the crowd. Liliana was surprised to hear so many. They had to know that Daniel couldn't win, but they supported his claim nonetheless. It spoke volumes for the respect the old lion had earned.

There was a commotion in the crowd, a great deal of shouting and growling.

Liliana tried to shrink even further into herself. All of her eyes were tightly closed. She held onto the back of Daniel's belt as a guide so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. She would not be able to stop her mind from shutting down if she opened her third eyes. The overwhelming emotions in the room would assault her. Seeing so many strangers so close to her would make her shut down if she opened even her first eyes. She hunched her shoulders and trusted Daniel to guide her, blind, through a crowd of angry lions.

"I am the king of lions!" another deep male voice roared from the crowd. "Who follows me?"

A chorus of roars of support so loud it vibrated the floor beneath her feet followed. Tray Bradley had many followers. The majority of lions in the vast echoing hangar, though, kept silent, voicing their support neither for Daniel, nor for Tray. Since Tray Bradley's victory had to seem almost certain, their silence said that they did not support him, but were too afraid to oppose him. The jackal-kin, hyena-kin, and other beast-kin hovered around the edges of the hanger, or sat in the rafters, observing, but not voicing support of either side. Everyone followed the pride-king, but non-lions rarely had any real say in who that would be.

After several seconds, when the noise level fell to where he could be heard, Daniel shouted, "There are members of the pride who would follow me. I challenge you for the right to lead." There was another roar, this time from many throats, even those who had remained silent before. When that roar died down, Daniel's reverberating voice rang out again. "Tray Bradley, you must face my champion in the dome."

Uh oh.

There was a swell of confusion, rather than support after that statement. Most of the older members of the pride knew the tradition of champions. Many of the younger ones did not. Some questioned, some explained, some argued. The crowd devolved toward chaos.

The same loud voice as before, which Liliana assumed must belong to Tray Bradley, roared, "Enough!" The voice was much closer now. Bradley must have worked his way to them through the crowd.

"You will not face me yourself, old man? What are you, a lion, or a chicken?" Bradley's voice now spoke directly in front of Daniel. "Bawk, bawk, bawk!" he crowed. The lions around him snickered.

Liliana cracked one human eye to look up. All she could see was shaggy black mane covering the back of Daniel’s head and shoulders in a long V that ended halfway down the massive back in front of her. In demi-lion form, Daniel was even more tremendous than he was in human form. The spider-kin could see nothing of the lion-kin she would have to fight around the giant furry back, but Bradley’s voice had come from further up than Daniel's, as if Tray Bradley looked down at the gigantic lion-kin.

Daniel chuckled, low. "I'm a little old to be baited into foolishness like a boy on a playground. I care enough to choose what is best for the whole pride, not just for my personal pride[."

Grumbles of approval came from behind Liliana. She was still flanked by Kazi and Arel, a Magoro lion on every side. But around them, the voices that had spoken for Daniel had worked their way through the crowd until they stood with the Magoros. Liliana stood in the center of a small island of supporters in a sea of enemies and those too cowed to take sides.

"Who would be dumb enough to fight me, but not want the crown for himself?" Tray asked.

"The daughter of a lion," Daniel answered. "She has no claim to the crown, but she and a single ally defeated an entire nest of widow spiders in Raleigh. She will fight as my champion."

Technically, that was not true. Liliana and Pete had not defeated the widow spiders alone. They also had help from Siobhan’s machine gun and useful battle intelligence from Doctor Nudd, but she didn't think now was a good time to try to correct the mistake.

Daniel reached a furry arm behind himself, put it around Liliana's shoulders, and brought her forward.

The spider-kin hugged herself tight. She snapped her single open eye closed again. She knew everyone in the room was trying to get a look at her, which was probably difficult through the crowd of much bigger lions. As long as she didn't see them looking at her, she could hold on.

She heard a confused muttering, then a boom of laughter from Tray Bradley. That started off a chain reaction of nervous laughter from the lions around him, his staunchest supporters, no doubt.

Daniel's massive paws rested on Liliana's shoulders. He squeezed, claws well-sheathed. She was grateful. The contact anchored her in the here and now, keeping her mind from going away.

When the nervous titters died down, Daniel said, "I have the right to choose any champion willing to fight for me. Madame Anna volunteered to put her life on the line to support my claim." The lions at their backs, Daniel's supporters, made sounds of surprise.

"You can't be serious?" Tray Bradley said, a laugh still in his loud voice. "I'll slaughter that little girl."

"Challenge has been fairly issued. You must face Anna in the arena or forfeit your claim." Daniel's dignity quieted the unruly crowd. He added with a smile in his own voice, "Unless you're afraid to fight her?"

Bradley's answer was a growl that turned away, fading into the crowd.

Everyone, on either side, erupted in raucous cheers. No matter who won or lost, lion-kin always enjoyed ritual combat. Joyous yips and howls joined the roars. Most other predatory beast-kin enjoyed watching a good fight, too.

Daniel guided a functionally blind Liliana toward the dome. From the sounds of voices going up toward the high ceiling, some sort of bleachers for spectators had been erected. Around them, hundreds of lions, jackals, hyenas, bears, wolves, and who knew what, found places from which to watch the fight.

The lions who supported Daniel stayed around the Magoros until they reached the dome itself. The spider-kin risked opening one human eye a crack to peek at the dome. Her father often spoke fondly of testing himself against another lion in such a place, a thousand years before she was born. She wondered how different the domes were now from then.

She risked a peek. It stood perhaps 15 feet high in the center and 50 feet across, a solid steel cage of tilted triangles like some playground equipment she had seen, but on a larger scale. On either side was a double-door like an airlock with a space between the doors in the form of a smaller dome, like a rounded cage filled with weapons.

Lilliana hated cages.

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