FSE

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Ty left the tavern, Kaya following behind him. Outside the door, he let out a long sigh. Carly had turned out to be incredibly interested in the young wolf, but at least she fed them while they were there. James trotted across the street, seeing them, and took a moment to catch his breath. "Ready for round two?" he asked, looking directly into Kaya's eyes.

She nodded, walking across the only street in the village, James following closely behind. Feria stepped up next to Ty, holding her head up, looking at the sky. It was almost sunset now and Ty could only imagine how it must feel, Feria being as close to free as the laws allow.

"Where is that girl going?" Feria asked after a moment.

Ty sighed and started walking. "I want her to learn to fight," he said bluntly as Feria walked behind him. "She wants to spar with that boy, and considering she won earlier, I doubt she wants to stop just yet. A child's ego needs a little stoking every now and then."

"Um, why learn to fight though?" Feria asked, as they walked beside the blacksmith's shop.

Ty turned the corner and stopped, looking at Kaya, who stood with that wooden spear from before in her hand, while James used a wooden sword. "In the last two years I've been traveling, my life has been put into the ring several dozen times," Ty said, absently. "I have no plans of returning to my village, and no plans for settling down. If I keep winding up in danger, I have little time to protect her, and even less to protect myself. She will learn to fight, so I can focus on keeping myself alive to fill in the space she cannot."

Feria stepped forward, her pupils slit like any cat's eyes, as she looked into Ty's comparatively darker ones. "You really do want to protect her," the tigress said, surprised. "Why?"

Ty sat against the back of the house motioning for Feria to as well. He went on to explain his childhood, his sister, and his dream, only the night before. Feria drank in every word, almost breaking into tears for the hardened warrior she sat beside. When Ty was done, he looked up to find Kaya and James standing in front of him. "So," Feria said. "She reminds you so much of your sister that, like back then, you would throw yourself between this girl and the very gates of the underworld."

The sky was growing dark and James's mother came around the corner. "Ah, you must be the tiger old man Bowman told me about. And the little wolf girl. Oh, Feria, is he your latest "client"?"

Feria tensed for a moment, even though the shapely lioness sounded truly sorry for the other woman. "No," Feria replied, smiling at the woman. "He bought me from Garr, and not for his own gains either."

The lioness stared silently for a moment. "He... is he... Can you trust him?" she asked after a moment. "I mean, you are a slave. Who can you trust, really?"

For a moment, Feria stared blankly. "Katelyn, you said yourself, five of the seven families in this town were pitching in to buy me. I trusted your word on that. Were you lying?"

"No, but-"

"Then stop trying to say there is no one worth my trust," Feria retorted, cutting the lioness off.

Ty stood, facing the woman, who flinched at the intensity of his stare. "Katelyn, for a tiger to be a slave, there is no higher degradation," Ty spoke softly. "The most I can do under the laws is take her with me, and give her at least some of the respect she deserves, as a tiger. If Jason needs to leave, so be it. I doubt he will have any trouble sleeping tonight."

Katelyn stood absolutely frozen until Feria stood and stepped up in front of the woman. "I-"

Before the lioness could speak, Feria pressed two fingertips to the woman's lips. "Just go home," Feria said, smiling. "I have a feeling I will be long gone by the time you wake up."

Katelyn nodded, putting her hand on top of James's head. "Say goodbye, James. And goodbye to you and your charge."

James looked to Kaya, offering his hand. Kaya stared at it for a moment before she caught on, taking his hand and shaking it. "I hope to see you again someday," The lion cub said, smiling. Kaya nodded in response, letting her arm drop to her side.

She tossed the wooden spear back into its crate, turning to watch as James walked away. "Are you ready to sleep?" Feria asked as she leaned down in front of Kaya. Her hair was cut incredibly short by Ty's standards and he wondered for a moment if that had been because of Garr. Kaya nodded, rubbing her left eye.

Ty, Kaya, and now Feria. Am I going soft? Ty asked himself. As they walked back to the tavern, Ty watched Feria's gaze. She was staring at the ground, her eyes still seemed haunted, still agonized. It was a short walk, but enough for Ty to know that he was her reason for smiling now. As they entered the tavern, Carly stepped in front of them, grinning. "Well, welcome back, love birds!" she exclaimed.

Something about that cheeriness, even as a slave, disturbed Ty greatly. "I have a question for you," Ty said, looking at her. "You have probably heard this question before."

"Oh really?" The coyote asked, grinning wickedly. "Try me, honey. Shoot."

"Why are you so happy?" Ty asked, squinting.

Carly laughed maniacally for a few seconds and answered, "You were right," she finally replied. "I have heard that one before. To be honest, I like bartending, and it really is against my power to be free, so I just accepted that fact to focus only on what I love."

"An' she ish great at mixshin drinksh," Garr slurred out from the counter.

"You gave me the same answer," Feria sighed.

"And I happen to like it," Carly said with a bright grin. "If you can do nothing to change your situation, than accepting it is the only answer."

"Real easy for you to say," Feria retorted, crossing her arms.

After that, Carly stopped talking, looking to the floor, and turned away. For a second, she turned back toward us. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she shook her head and walked away. When Ty looked, tears were brimming in Feria's eyes. She was trying not to show it, but she was about to cry.

In the room Feria walked to the back corner, sitting down and curling her knees to her chest. Ty heard her whisper, "I will never accept what I was forced to do."

He watched Kaya for a moment as she curled up on the first bed before he walked over to the chess table by the opposite wall. He knew how to play. His grandfather had taught him, before his heart gave out in his late sixties. Everyone knew it was coming. The man was old. "Feria," Ty said, pulling the box of pieces from beside the wall. "Do you know how to play?"

She stood, wiping tears from her face. "Yes."

"I learned a great deal from my grandfather before he died," Ty confided. "And it was always over a game of chess."

It was almost an hour later and the two of them had been through three intense games, and sometimes heated discussion, in the candlelight but Ty was starting to understand Feria. "Life and fate are intertwined with free will," Ty finally said, placing all the pieces into the box. "You might not be in control of every situation, but you will always, eventually, have a choice."

"Like when you asked me how badly I wanted out?" she asked, looking angry and sad, all at once. "Tsh, some choice."

"You take the bed," Ty told her. "I only got the second one, originally, to hold up appearances. People have a way of assuming the worst. And besides, my body is too used to sleeping in the forest. I have trouble sleeping in a bed."

Ty lay beside the wall, watching what little he could see of the sky through the cracks in the drapes. A few moments later, he was asleep, leaving only Feria awake.