Okay, so when I said let’s go hire so fire-cats, I didn’t an right away, you know.
There is just so much to be done. And it’s not like the fire cats will arrive at our doorstep just as soon as we think they will.
They’ll definitely co from the direction of the gorge, but since they aren’t there yet, I guess we can lie low and focus on the important matters in front of us first.
And so, the next few days went on with that coordinated chaos that knew how to get the job done. Since the scouts hadn’t confird the Caracals were in the area yet, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand: the massive infrastructure upgrade.
I spent most of my ti acting as a bridge between my beastn and the rman delegation. It was a sight to see—the bears, beavers, and rn worked surprisingly well together.
The bears handled the heavy lifting, and the beavers constructed the structural placent of the listone, while the rn used their water manipulation to ’wash’ the stone into perfect fits and cool the joints.
"Like this, Land Mother?" one of the rman masons asked, using a high-pressure stream of water to carve a perfect groove into the nursery floor.
"Perfect," I said, leaning on my staff.
That’s right. I had water benders at my disposal, muhahaha.
"That’s where the ’heavy slate’ piping will go. It needs to be deep enough to radiate heat without scorching the fur of the cubs."
By day twenty-two, the palace was looking less like a construction site and more like a fortress of land and sea. But the air was changing. The humidity of the river was being pushed back by a dry, sharp wind coming from the south.
I was in the main hall, showing King Nereus the progress on the southern gate, when a dusty, gray wolf skidded across the stone floor. It was one of Noah’s youngest scouts, a lean wolf boy with wide, frantic eyes.
"Queen! They’re in the gorge!" he panted, dropping to one knee. "About twenty of them. The air is shimring around them, and the grass is turning to ash where they step."
The room went cold. Nereus gripped his Trident, and the purple light flared dangerously.
"The Sun-Stalkers. I will take my guard and—"
"No!" I barked, my voice echoing off the high ceilings. "King Nereus, stay here. If you show up, it’s an execution, and it will ruin all of my plans. I plan to go and negotiate with them."
"What?!" He looked at with utter disbelief.
I hadn’t told him my plans before now, so all this seems new and suicidal to him.
I looked at Damar, who was already at my side.
"Queen, you can’t be serious," Nereus claid. "Those felines are brutal and do not listen to anyone."
"I don’t plan to make them listen to for the fun of it, King Nereus," I said. "I plan to make them an offer m they can’t ignore."
My eyes fell on his Trident. I had returned it to him yesterday because it helped him channel more water, but now, I needed it.
"Borrow us your Trident for a bit, sea king. And I promise those felines will no longer serve as a threat to you. They shall beco our allies."
Nereus gave it a deep thought. His mindset that this was a suicidal action had not changed, but he felt, if it were , if I, who had done the impossible, had set my mind to it, then... it could be possible.
"Alright, I shall heed your words. But be careful. I do not want my grandchild to be in danger." He claid, and I patted my belly.
"Don’t worry. It’s in great hands."
Damar took the Trident, and Thalor said to ,
"Be careful, Arinya."
I had told him of the plans before, so he wouldn’t have a ltdown right about now, and thankfully, he wasn’t having one. He didn’t like the plan, especially since I was going with just Noah and Damar, but he had to respect it and pray for the best.
He would hate himself more if he followed and gave the Caracals a reason to attack at first sight.
"Yes, I’ll be fine," I said and then headed out.
We t the pride of Caracals at the mouth of the gorge. The heat was so intense it felt like standing in front of an open oven. About twenty Caracal beastn stood among the rocks, their tufted ears flicking.
In the center was their Alpha—a scarred male with eyes like burning embers. His claws were already glowing a dull, threatening orange.
"So," the Alpha said, looking at my swollen belly and then at the Trident in Damar’s hand. "The tiger queen cos to beg for her life and hand over the power of the sea before we lt her beautiful walls."
"Beg?" I let out a short, dry laugh. I shifted my weight, my stomach giving a restless flutter inside as if reacting to the predatory tension in the air. "I didn’t co here to beg, Alpha."
I feel I’ve got everything under control, and if my first plan doesn’t work, there’s always that plan.
"I ca to offer you a seat at a table you didn’t even know was being built." I reached into my satchel and pulled out a small velvet pouch, tossing it onto the flat rock between us. It clattered with the heavy, lodic sound of high-grade pearls and raw sea-glass.
"That’s an advance," I stated, my voice echoing off the canyon walls. "A small bonus, a sign of good faith, and a guarantee of a territory within my walls where the hunt is always plentiful. I’m offering your pride a life where you don’t have to scavenge the shoreline for scraps."
The Alpha looked down at the pouch, his upper lip curling into a sneer. He didn’t even pick it up. Instead, he ignited his claws, the heat causing the air to warp and shimr.
"You think the Sun-Stalkers can be bought with shiny baubles and a roof?" he hissed, his pride radiating off him in waves. "We are the masters of the desert. We do not work for ’bonuses,’ and we certainly do not labor under the command of a weak female tiger. Keep your pearls. We will take what we want once your walls are liquid."
I didn’t flinch. In fact, I let my expression go flat, shifting into a face full of deep, staged disappointnt. I let out a long, theatrical sigh and looked over at Damar, shaking my head. Here’s plan B.
"Actually," I said, my voice dripping with boredom. "I think we wasted our ti coming out here, Damar. Let’s just head back and prepare for a fight. This was a mistake."
The Alpha’s glowing claws flickered in confusion, his predatory stance faltering for a fraction of a second. "What?"
"I was told the Sun-Stalkers were the masters of the sun’s fla," I said, waving a dismissive hand toward the gorge. "I have this material—heavy slate ore. It’s the strongest tal in the West Way. Our hottest wood fires couldn’t even leave a scratch on it. I was actually looking forward to seeing if the fad desert crawlers were competent enough to bring down the heat required to shape it."
I looked the Alpha up and down, then turned my back on him.
"But looking at you now... I don’t know. It’s a very difficult material. It requires a steady, intense heat that most beasts just can’t handle without burning themselves out. I guess even the Sun-Stalkers have their limits and aren’t all that if communication is so hard for them. Sigh. Let’s leave it at that, then, Damar. We’ll just find another way once we’ve chased them away."
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