The Jaguar Princess

Choice Words Are Exchanged

                           I awake the next morning unsure of what to do. If I was at home the answer would be obvious, work. Here though I had no idea what to do, I like carving but I can't spend a whole day doing just that. I head down to breakfast after Max talked me into it using a piece of paper. I curse under my breath when I see that the Cat is already there.

                        "Good morning." She greets warily, I am surprised. Is she just as unsure as I about what to do? Surely not.

                    "Morning Beast." She flinches again at the name. "Well, what am I supposed to call you? Beast, Beastess, Cat?" I ask, "Or do you actually have a name?" I say very coldly. She reacts coldly to my words answering stiffly,

                     "Chance, you may call me Ailani."

                       "Ailani?" I ask it's such a pretty name and to my immense dislike, it does seem to suit her better than Cat.

                   "So, what am I to do today?" I ask gruffly I do not want to think of her as nice, or as a human when she is not.

                         "I do not dictate what you do only that you stay here." With that, she got up and left the table. It was then that I noticed there was no plate in front of where she had been, she had not eaten breakfast, for some reason I feel guilty about chasing her off from the table. 

                  It was much later that day probably around lunchtime when I wandered back into the dining room. I had spent the day walking in the garden among those precious roses of the Ca-- Ailani's. I can see why she treasures them so much, but I cannot understand why she took my freedom for one of them. Ailani is already sitting at the table when I arrived and I sit down across from her. Again I notice that she does not have a plate in front of her one of the servants though had filled up a plate for me and plopped it in front of me.

               "How did you like the gardens?" She asked calmly. I sputtered on my drink, what tastes like apple cider.

                   "How did you know?"

                    "I know just about everything that happens around here." I wonder if that's true then why last night did she let me eat after telling me I was forbidden to?

                   "The gardens are very lovely."

                  "Yes, the best feature of this castle."

                  "Why don't you eat?" I ask abruptly, she looks just as surprised as I feel about the question.

                    "The silverware is hard to control with such large paws." She answers after a moment waving one in the air to demonstrate its size.

                      "When do you eat then?"

                   "When I'm hungry." Was her reply, I can't tell if she is being obtuse on purpose or not. I decide she is being rude and obtuse on purpose, after all, she is a beast is she not?

                   "What exactly is the purpose of me being kept here?" I ask angrily shooting daggers at her. She looks me in the eyes and I see the green orbs, they seem almost like human eyes.

                  "Well?"

                        "I cannot tell you the purpose." She answers evenly.