Chapter Four

Once I'm sure he's gone, I push myself to my feet, careful to avoid snagging my sweater on the thorns of the flower stems, and make my way towards the enclosure yard, just visible from the mansion garden. The one thing that I've come to love about this horrible realm is the beasts that they ride as a means of transport. I'm especially fond of the steed that Ascian gifted to me several years back. I like to spend as much of my free time as possible with her, though no one on the estate understands my motives. I should be wary of the creatures, but I can’t help but find them alluring. I’ve always been a cat person, after all.

Though my interactions with the Seelie Fae have been few and far between, I know that they ride a tall legged species of elk that are bred specifically for their speed and pale colors. The Unseelie Fae, however, spawn their special type of mounts that are perhaps a bit less straitlaced, but no less mystical.

As I draw near to the large housing unit, I hear the familiar yowls and chuffs of the large felines who have already caught my scent. A smile brightens my face as I break into a jog towards the doors, not bothering to hide my excitement with no one around to see it.

The building is made up of two rows of cages that reach from the concrete floor to the steel ceiling, each operated by thick bars and enough space to walk between the enclosures, though it would be ill-advised. The huge cats are twice the size of regular panthers, large enough for the tallest Unseelie Fae to mount and ride with ease.

There are six separate cages for different felines, though we only have two that occupy the cells. If Ascian were more open to guests visiting the estates, there would certainly be less space available, but his antisocial and homicidal tendencies keep the majority of the Fae away, which I don’t mind at all.

A gentle snarling calls me over to the cell that houses my favorite feline, and I smile as I make my way towards her. My tiger paces back and forth in her enclosure and lifts her head with a roar when her emerald eyes zero in on me. I recognize her behavior as being familiar, rather than aggressive, and take a step closer to the bars.

“Hello, my beautiful girl,” I greet her, my voice rising by several octaves that way that it does when I see a cute animal. Arcane reacts by pressing her striped head against the cage and rubbing her cheeks on the vertical steel that separates us, growling in greeting.

“I missed you too,” I chuckle and reach my hand through to stroke her head, giving her a scratch behind both ears. She leans into my touch, pressing as close as she can with the barrier between us, yearning for more.

Jealous of the attention that Arcane is receiving, Ascian’s mount leaps from a thick tree branch at the top of his enclosure and lunges against the bars closest to us with an ear-splitting scream, reaching through the spaces with his claws extended towards me.

Arcane abandons my hand to fling herself against her enclosure towards the panther, roaring, and hissing in my defense. Anthracinus continues to howl his displeasure as he paces the length of his cage, stalking me with his sapphire orbs. He always was overly aggressive, which is likely why Ascian favors him. He seems to have a fondness for things that aren’t afraid to fight back.

I bare my teeth back at Anthracinus, emitting the best growl that I can make within my throat. “You’d better mind your manners, pussy cat,” I threaten, knowing fully well that I would be helpless against him if there was no cage between us. Ascian expressly warned me multiple times not to come here without him, should the black panther find a way to escape his cage and maul me to death. His instructions go unheeded most of the time when I’m feeling brave.

I turn to walk towards a closed door at the back of the stable-like enclosure, careful to keep one eye trained on both cats as I go. I only turn my back on them once I am inside of the doorway in order to face the leather tack that belongs to each of our beasts. I reach for the black harness that belongs to Arcane, along with the sheepskin that will drape across her back.

When I emerge from the room with her equipment, Arcane chuffs excitedly and presses her head against her cage as she paces back and forth impatiently. It has been several days since I was able to sneak away to ride her, so her enthusiasm is equally matched with mine. Before unlatching her cell door, I pause to make her back up far enough to let me in without being trampled over.

She complies, standing quietly in the center of her cage with her enchanting gaze fixated on me, both of us ignoring the protests from her neighbor. I slip the sapphire encrusted headstall over her mouth and fasted it closed behind her ears before tossing the sheepskin pad over her back and tightening the girth around her belly. Arcane chuffs the whole time, unable to contain her eagerness to run through the courtyard.

I test the tightness of the girth by placing one foot in the stirrup and bouncing slightly. Satisfied with the outcome, I swing myself onto her back, keeping the reins tight in my grip. “Alright, Lovely. Let’s blow this joint!” I urge her on with a press of my knees against her sides and she happily pounces at the cage door that I left unlatched, bursting through it and out of the enclosure.

Everything blurs past as she bolts from the stable, allowing the persistent roars of Anthracinus behind us. Because Fae do not ride their feline mounts for pleasure, there is no designated place for me to run Arcane safely. This doesn’t perturb me, obviously, since I make do with the property surrounding the estate. I’m always careful not to bring Arcane too close to the forest that borders the estate on all sides, however, knowing that many dark things are hiding within that I dare not challenge alone.

I allow Arcane to frolic about, enjoying the wind in her ears and the grass beneath her feet, making sure to keep her close to the estate and avoiding interactions with the groundskeeper.

Luckily, Arcane tends to avoid him on her own, mostly because she is not fond of Fae. Considering that she was bred and raised by them, I can't imagine why she would favor a human over them, but it works in my favor more than not. Perhaps they treated her poorly when she was a cub or otherwise didn’t bother to earn her respect.

After a while, Arcane slows to a lumbering walk and heads towards the fountain that is nestled in the center of the garden behind the estate for a drink. I keep the reins in my grasp but allow her to make her own decisions for the time being, not especially worried that she is going to run off on her own and not come back.

I decide to dismount, leaving the reins draped around her neck but keeping a hand on them, just in case a deer or some other prey animal is stupid enough to pop out of the brush nearby and onto the property. I take a seat on the fountain’s edge while she laps at the clear water that flows from it, gazing into the trees beyond the hedges of the garden.

After drinking her fill, Arcane steps away from the water and lays down in the grass near my feet, rubbing her head against the ground and rolling on her back. I chuckle at her playful behavior and let go of her reins, lowering to my knees to be beside her.

She chuffs at me warmly, her vibrant eyes watching expectantly, waiting for me to engage with her. I comply, reaching to scratch beneath her chin and neck, feeling pleased that she trusts me enough to show most vulnerable parts of her massive body in my company. She emits the closest thing to a meow that she can and rubs her back against the grass once more, as if asking me to rub her belly.

I pull my hands away and set them on the ground, unwilling to do as she requests. I know better than to be entrapped by her cute demeanor. We had a family house cat in the human realm, and it would exhibit the same behavior to try and get me to rub its belly. The moment that I plunged my fingers into the thick fur of her belly to rub her, the cat would latch on to my arm with her claws and pull my hand towards her mouth to bite me. Though Arcane is no house pet, I do not trust any feline the same since then.

Understanding that I have no intentions of stroking her stomach, Arcane huffs and rolls onto her side, facing me. She licks her nose and gazes at me for a moment, as if she is trying to communicate with me.

Since I have no way of knowing what she wants to say, I reach to stroke her head and scratch behind her ears instead. The tiger accepts the affection, leaning into my touch before she decides to rest her large head in my lap. Her groaning sigh is like a gust of wind that lifts my hair from my shoulders, allowing strands to tickle my face.

I continue to stroke her head as she snoozes, wonderingly vaguely how much time I have before Ascian comes to seek me out. He never comes back at a specific time, though I know that he hasn’t forgotten about the Prince’s party this evening, so I assume that he should return in the next hour or so to begin getting ready to embark.