The Lion's Share

Excerpt:
It was like clockwork. Every Tuesday found Ross, Lindy, and Tau at the bears’ den. Gunnar would greet them at the door, and he would lead them through to the sitting room. Even the young bears had grown used to their appearances, their otherness.

Tonight, Apokni Nita and the other elders of the den were already in the sitting room, waiting for their arrival.

Ross sat on the floor, the only comfortable way to accommodate the massive wings curving up from his shoulder blades, and Lindy stretched out beside him, her albino-white cheek resting on his thigh, except when she sat up a little to take a sip of her tea. Tau sat in a chair behind Ross, letting Ross lean his shoulder against Tau’s knee. It gave Ross space for his wings beside Tau’s chair, shielding them from wayward cubs tromping through and accidentally tripping into them.

It also let Tau pet his hair as they spoke to the bears, stroking like one cat might groom another. That had become habit for them, too. Ross found himself brushing his fingertips over the fine, pale strands of Lindy’s hair.

“There are rumors,” one of the elders said. She was an old woman, perhaps even older than Apokni Nita, with eyes that seemed to shift between green and brown. She must have been unbelievably beautiful when she was young, Ross thought, because even now she was stunning.

Ross didn’t realize she was talking to Tau until Tau sat up and leaned forward over his knees. “What rumors, Apokni Berit?”

“The rats say Kgosi’s men are back, hunting for the last of the royal line.”

Tau stiffened, his hand falling away from Ross’ hair. “How long?”

“Just this week.” Imafo Sigurd wore his silver-grey hair long, in braids that hung past his shoulders, and his face was etched with the lines of age. “We have only heard of two, but there may be more.”

“Who is Kgosi?” Ross asked, leaning up to see Tau’s face.

Tau didn’t answer, though. Nita did. “Kgosi betrayed Tau’s father, and now he rules the pride without royal blood.”

“I don’t care if he has royal blood or not,” Tau said, stroking Ross’ hair again. “He can have the damn pride. They deserve what they get. I just want him to leave me and mine alone.”

“What does he want with you?” Ross tugged Tau’s hand out of his hair and laced their fingers together. Lindy sat up and put her hand over theirs, looking just as worried as Ross felt.

“With my father gone, I’m next in line for the throne.” Tau squeezed Ross’ hand and put his other hand over Lindy’s, comforting her as well. “He’s probably wanting to consolidate power, especially if anyone’s making noise about his illegitimate hold on the throne.”

Lindy’s brow furrowed with worry. “So with you out of the picture...”

“My cousins,” Tau said. Ross wondered how the subject of Tau’s family had never come up. They’d been together, the three of them, for months now. “They’re not likely to challenge Kgosi, though, not with the kind of power he’s got.”

“But he thinks you will?” Ross asked, his wings shivering with nerves. There was no place for him or Lindy in a pride of lions, and he didn’t want to lose Tau in a fight for power, either.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks, if the traditionalists are gaining power within the pride.” Tau looked angry, but not nervous, which raised more questions.

“Has he come after you before?” Ross asked.

Again, it was Apokni Nita who answered. “Kgosi has not openly sent his men into the city for years. The last time was nearly ten years ago, now. A handful of lions came. They ambushed Katlego, Tau’s father, and tortured him for hours before Kgosi finally arrived to kill him.”

“They tortured him?” Lindy’s voice was strained, and her grip tightened on Ross’ and Tau’s hands. “Why? Why wouldn’t they just get it over with?”

They all understood the necessity of death in the cycle of a family unit, as power passed from one leader to the next. Torture, though, was unusual. Extreme.

“It wasn’t torture,” Tau said quietly, his head bowed. His expression was shadowed, hidden by the mane of golden hair hanging in his face. “It was an interrogation. The marks they left on him... They wanted him to talk. To tell them where I was, or to give them the names of his supporters within the pride.”

And now they were back for Tau.