Bitter disagreement

The man continued to tremble under the pressure of all of our pointed knives. I felt excitement fill me. He looked like a little rabbit which had wandered into a wolves' den.

I pushed the point of my dagger closer to his jugular, just as I was about to prick him the door slammed open.

I turned back to see Cerebrius rush in. He then dropped to his knees in front of us and touched his forehead to the ground as he bowed.

"I, Cerebrius Armdius apologize for the misbehavior of my subordinate. Please punish me as noted in the alliance contract."

Varkish's eyes which were previously alight with anger dimmed as he calmed down. He then retracted his dagger and walked over Cerebrius.

"Raise your head Cerebrius. This time I have let this incident go but next time I will not be so merciful. I will take your subordinate's head without hesitation. Do you understand?"

"I accept your mercy, Varkish the third."

Varkish nodded and stuck out his hand for Cerebrius to take. Once Cerebrius stood up he looked to me. I was still holding a dagger to Cerebrius's subordinate.

"Cherura retract your dagger. That man wouldn't dare do anything after this."

I retracted my dagger. Alesha, Darsha, and Varsha did the same. The man dropped to his knees and started hyperventilating as sweat beaded his forehead.

I then held my dagger in my hand and pointed it straight in front of me. The sound of a dagger whizzing through the air filled my ear. A second later Cerebrius touched his cheek and saw blood in his fingers. He looked back at me with a look of shock.

My dagger hung on the wall behind him. I smiled at the scratch on his face. That was my small token of appreciation for his half-assed apology. I walked up to him and raised my hand. The room grew quiet as he touched the same cheek once more.

I wiped my hand on his white blouse. His blood staining it.

"Would you please explain to me why the leader of the great fox clan has thrown her dagger at me and slapped me seconds after?"

I looked at his face. He was smiling yet I could feel the steam of anger emotions from his body. How dare he ask why I did those things?

"Cerebrius Armdius."

He nodded as I continued to talk.

"You have violated the alliance contract which we have forged only minutes ago. The scratch from my dagger was a repayment if your subordinate's callous behavior."

I caressed his red cheek and said.

"The slap is a warning for your future actions."

Cerebrius took the hand which was caressing his cheek and brought it to his lips. I pulled away quickly as he smirked. This was not a time to act foolish. I needed to teach this traitor a lesson. What if I hadn't gotten to the man a second earlier? Would I be weeping on the floor with Varkish's bleeding body in my arms? I started to shake in anger as I thought of all the possible endings that could have occurred.

Cerebrius began to stand and I pushed him back to kneel. My voice turned cold as I talked down to him.

"What if Varkish has lost lost his life at the hand of your subordinate? What would you give to the elephant clan in exchange? You understand the basic code of life in the Animaliari Kingdom do you not?"

Cerebrius flinched at my voice before nodding and returning to his poker expression. With every word I spoke his eyes grew sadder and sadder. For some reason a part of me felt that I was being too harsh. But this is necessary for the future of the unified Animaliari Kingdom. We cannot allow stupid mistakes like this to happen again.

"Yes Cherura, I understand that for a life one must give a life, for a silver must give a silver, and for a sin, must give a blessing."

"Then if you understand Cerebrius what were you going to give the elephant clan in exchange for Varkish's life?"

Cerebrius looked up at me and answered icily,

"My life Cherura."

I snickered.

"What made you think that your life is worth Varkish the third's?"

Oh shit. Cerebrius's pained expression hit my heart with an arrow. He looked up at me and answered sarcastically.

"Isn't he the leader of the elephant clan? As the leader of the vulture clan it would only be equal exchange would it not leader of the fox clan? Or is my life worth less to his due to your own personal feelings? That doesn't seem so queenly of you. How can an unmarked abandoned leader such as yourself make such a judgement."

Cerebrius laughed bitterly. The next second he spit out blood and a tooth on the ground. I pulled back my bleeding knuckles which I had just used to punch Cerebrius's jaw.

Tears fell from my eyes. My body shook with my sobs as I sunk to the ground below me. I understand that I had said something hurtful to him but he didn't need to remind me. Ever since the incident of my brother abandoning me I did not express my emotions as I did now. Did I want to be queen of the fox clan?

Does he think that I love getting the looks of hatred from the same people that I have went to war for? Do I enjoy the gossip I get whenever I am in the presence of other noble women of t Animaliari Kingdom for the missing mark on my calf?

I felt arms wrap themselves around me. I looked to see Cerebrius hug me close to his chest. All the anger I felt towards him melted immediately. He patted my back as I cried.

The truth was that I was exhausted. I was sick of being treated terribly. I was sick of dealing with all my conflicting thoughts and honestly I was also scared. I was scared that someone was going to take away my only ally away. Varkish is the only person I can trust or have ever trusted. If he died I would lose my only shred of humanity. I would truly be alone. But now as Cerebrius held me I realized something. I might have just earned another ally in this small world of mine.

..............

Thank you so much everyone for reading again! Please stay safe in these risky times❤️