Cleo slung an arm around Ari’s shoulders. “Ready?”
Ari nodded, but inside she had a terrible, gut-wrenching fear that her brother was hurtling toward disaster and there was nothing she could do to save him.
She followed Cleo out of the palace and into the front courtyard, where staff and nobility were packed side by side along the perimeter. Thad and Ajax were cutting a swift path through the onlookers, and Ari hurried to follow.
When she reached the courtyard proper, she stopped and stared at the frightening spectacle in front of her.
Two enormous iron crates rested on the pale stone floor, each covered with a black cloth embroidered with silver runes around the edges. Vicious snarls filled the air, and the occasional scrape of a talon against the bottom of the crate sent a chill down Ari’s spine.
What kind of (terrifying, probably ravenous) monsters were hidden beneath those cloths?
Beside the crate closest to Ari stood a girl about her age with the lithe, muscular frame of someone whose body was a sharply honed weapon. Her dark red hair was worn long, and a brilliant strip of shocking white that started at her left temple was braided and tied with tiny silver chains. She wore all black, and several of the runes that were embroidered on the cloths were inked into her forearms. In her hands, she slowly twirled a black whip studded with iron spikes.
Ari suddenly felt tremendously underdressed for the task of helping Thad take ownership of the caged beasts.
The girl’s ice-blue eyes landed on Ari and then flicked away to study the rest of the crowd. Something in the way she held herself reminded Ari of Sebastian—always searching for a threat.
One of the beasts screamed—a bloodcurdling howl that had the crowd stumbling back to the tree-lined edges of the courtyard, as if that would somehow keep them safe.
A boy who looked nearly identical to the girl, down to the runes on his skin and the streak of white in his dark red hair, leaped on top of one of the crates, a thick iron chain with a wicked-looking spiked ball at the end of it in his hands.
“Your Highness and assembled guests, there is no need to fear.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed.
Ari guessed that meant the boy was telling them a big, fat, you’re-probably-going-to-be-eaten-by-a-monster lie.
“I’m Hansel, and this beautiful but surly girl is my sister, Gretel. Watch out, she bites.”
Gretel bared her teeth.
“We bring you two of the finest specimens from our latest hunt on the isle of Llorenyae.” His voice rose and he threw his arms out to the sides as if to draw all the onlookers toward him. “Of the Felinaes sapiaena species, pure-blood young adults in their prime!”
Felinaes sapiaena. Ari’s mouth went dry. Panther shape-shifters. There was no way Teague, and everyone else in Kosim Thalas, wasn’t going to hear about this.
Hansel warmed to his subject. “Fiercely territorial and unrepentantly carnivorous, Felinaes sapiaena make the perfect guard beast when properly restrained.”
“And how do we make sure they are properly restrained?” Thad asked.
Ari scanned the crowd and found Sebastian standing at the far edge, just outside the courtyard. Their eyes met, and she could practically feel the tension vibrating from him.
Finally, someone else who understood that bringing panther shape-shifters onto the palace grounds was a terrible idea.
“An excellent question, Your Highness.” Hansel leaped lightly from the crate. “As with all creatures who have fae blood, iron causes weakness. The younger the beast, the greater the effect of the iron. When you carve certain runes into the iron, you exert additional control.”
He whipped the cloth from the crate beside him, and a ripple of screams and gasps swept the crowd. Ari clenched her fists and fought to remain calm and poised on the outside while she stared at the pair of monsters crouched on two feet inside the crate. Their limbs were long and catlike, but the beasts stood on two legs. Ari estimated that at full height they would tower over Sebastian. They were covered in black fur, their lips were pulled back in vicious snarls, and glowing amber eyes glared at the onlookers. Gretel pulled the cloth from her crate to reveal a matching pair. Iron collars with runes hammered into the surface circled the creatures’ necks.
What happened if the beasts managed to get their collars off?
A tremor swept Ari, and she clenched her muscles in an effort to hold steady.
“The collars allow you to control the beasts. Certain commands activate different runes, and the iron keeps the creatures from shifting to another form,” Hansel said.
“What other form would they take?” Thad asked.
Hansel shrugged. “Usually a rather monstrous sort of human, though some are capable of becoming venomous snakes. Not to worry, though! Our collars will keep them safely in panther form.”
Ari didn’t find his words comforting.
“Would the handlers for these fine specimens please step forward?” Hansel called.
Ari pitied the four grooms who stumbled toward Hansel, their faces taut with fear.
She listened closely to Hansel explain that one pair would patrol the grounds during the day, and the other would patrol at night. He detailed how to move the beasts from the stalls where they would sleep to the areas of the palace grounds that needed protecting, what to feed them, and how to teach them that the palace was their territory.
When he paused for a breath, his sister said quietly, “Better give them the scent of everyone who lives and works here, so the creatures understand not to harm them. No wandering outside the protected areas. No wandering at night. Visitors should stay within their carriages until escorted into the palace by the staff. We wouldn’t want the wrong person disemboweled.”
The handlers shuddered, and Thad asked, “How do we get them back into their stalls each morning?”
Hansel smiled grandly and said, “Ar ais.”
Instantly, the beasts dropped to the floors of their cages, covered their ears, and howled.
“Nach,” he said, and they slowly quieted, shaking their heads and shivering. “Once you’ve shown that you can hurt them, and that you are in control of their pain, they’ll obey.”
Ari stepped forward. “So these beasts are vicious guard creatures unless the intruder knows the fae commands to make them obey?” She shot a look at her brother and willed him to remember that Teague was fae, which meant he might know these commands too.
“Never fear.” Hansel pressed his hands together. “We trained these creatures especially for you. They have their own set of commands. We never give the same commands to creatures heading for different locations. It’s a security measure we pride ourselves on.”