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Stephen’s belief that the troubled panther would return the following afternoon was dubious at best. He set up his easel alone, prepared to continue without him. As he added a silvery glint to the curved fangs, Kai made his appearance and proceeded to his perch atop the bench. Stephen kept applying the fine details, but the lack of conversation soon became too awkward to bear. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
A throaty growl was the only response, yet it didn’t sound angry.
“She must have been very important to you,” he continued.
“She was.”
He painted the whiskers with a steady hand before speaking again. “My parents died a number of years ago. I was lucky to be able to grieve with my sister and talk things over with her. I’m sorry you weren’t afforded the same opportunity.”
“Thirvar must have thought the only way to get through the pain of losing her was to pretend it never happened and shut out the memory of her completely. I don’t think it was right.”
It was the first time he’d heard Kai say anything not in accordance with his master’s wishes. He sensed an opening. “You can talk to me as long as we’re out here. I have a little more to do, and then I think this painting will be complete.” He put down the brush he’d been using and picked up a different one. “Thirvar would never know,” he added in a hushed voice.
The long, furry tail swished back and forth against the marble in an agitated undulation. “He wasn’t the only one who loved her. Everyone cared for her. They were explorers, you see, and everyone who joined them on their many travels went willingly.”
“She sounds like a special lady.”
“Oh, she was. Even after she became ill, she was always in high spirits. She treated those who tended to her very well.”
The fierce creature on the canvas contrasted with the mournful figure before him. Stephen kept painting and playing the role of the avid listener. “What happened? I mean, how did she get sick?”
“I don’t know.” Kai shrugged. “We traveled to so many faraway places. It could have been anything. But nothing anyone tried made any difference. She just got worse and worse.”
“That’s terrible.”
He swallowed. “When she…when she finally died, Thirvar executed all those who had tried to help her and failed. He then went to all the worlds they had previously visited and destroyed everything he could. I was hurting as much as he was, and I wasn’t alone. We all went along with him.”
“I see.” When Stephen looked up, the muscular feline was hunched over, his tail curled around his body. “Anger is easier to deal with, I guess.”
“She wouldn’t have wanted it that way. She wouldn’t want any of this.” He picked at the end of the twitching appendage, which lay in his lap. “But I owe so much to her and Thirvar. Continuing to serve him is the only way I can honor both of them.”
Unsure of how to respond, Stephen applied the last flourish of paint to his work. “I think I’m done. Come take a look.”
Upon standing, Kai underwent a noticeable transformation. The sorrow he’d shown vanished beneath his usual demeanor. Gone was the trembling kitten, replaced by the stalwart officer Stephen had first met. He strode across the courtyard and stood at his shoulder.
“It’s not without its flaws,” Stephen said. “But for my first attempt at painting something other than a tree, a lake, or a human, I suppose it’s not horrible.”
Bright yellow eyes scanned the painting, absorbing every detail. “I like it,” came the brief verdict.
“I’m glad.” He glanced up at him. “You can take it with you, if you want. You’d probably find a more suitable place for it than I could.”
“Thank you.” Kai gazed out over the bordering shrubbery to the open fields beyond the castle. “And thank you for—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
The first sparks of an idea had shot through Stephen’s mind while he’d completed the piece. Gaining the soldier’s trust could prove to be beneficial, and he wanted to build on the progress he’d already made. The streamlined cat was halfway out the door when he called after him. “Kai?”
“Yes?”
He waited for him to turn around before offering his suggestion. “I…I could try painting her, if you’d like. The way you want to remember her.”
It was difficult to tell for sure, but Stephen thought the additional fangs bared to him were in the shape of a smile. “I shall think it over,” came his usual response.
An overlay of clouds had rolled across the sky by the time Stephen finished cleaning up his workspace. He wasn’t ready to call Kai a friend yet, though they had come a long way from guard and prisoner. Just as Liora had to take precautions to hide their nighttime meetings from inquisitive eyes, he needed to make sure he was appropriately stealthy in his efforts to get closer to Thirvar’s most trusted companion.
***
If Tirani had visible eyes, Liora was sure they’d be glaring at her with severe disapproval. She closed the door, ignoring the bulky guard sitting outside the entrance to her house. “I know, I know. You don’t have to say it.”
