Patience of a Gordon

Chapter Two

A "leap" is a group of leopards. There are two words in this chapter that aren't English because I decided I wanted them to know another language. The language is Estonian.

Chapter Two

Living in a village my whole life, the palace fascinated me. I didn't know a single place could hold so many halls, rooms, and decorations at once. Not just that, but there was a different person around each corner.

The room I was placed in was easily bigger than my house had been, although it was also much more empty. The only things it held were two cages, a wooden floor that smiled at me and a brightly painted wall. There wasn't a light anywhere to be seen except for the small rays that slipped past the door.

"Ivy?"

His eyes were watching me from his separate cage, but his fingers had threaded through the bars of mine. I reached for them, my pinkie snaking around his finger that radiated comfort.

"I'm fine, Kai. Maybe you should focus more on trying to escape than on my well-being," I said softly, but at the same time, I was inching closer to him.

"I won't let them hurt you," he replied, steel in his voice. I only frowned at him in the dark, not saying anything.

To him, that was what his job would always be. As the son of the leap's leader, he was going to take on the responsibility of protecting the few women from harm. What he didn't seem to grasp was that he no longer had that job when the leap no longer existed.

"If we shift we have a better chance," Kai said lowly but I shook my head in disagreement.

"Then who's going to speak and reason with them? They certainly won't reason with two snarling cats," I replied, knowing it would only make him angry at me.

I was proven right when he pulled his hand away and snapped, "This isn't the time for stubbornness, Ivy! They're going to kill us and you want to try reasoning? Do you think our leap would be proud to see us begging?"

"I know they wouldn't want us proving their theories about our kind right! They think we're traitorous monsters. Attacking them doesn't change that. We have a chance to do what the leap has always dreamed of," I tried, placing my forehead against the cage so that my nose was between the bars.

I could hear his frustrated sigh before he leaned forward his nose resting on mine. "You're all I have left," he whispered, nipping my nose before he pressed his lips to it, his hand finding mine once again.

"I'm not going anywhere. I wouldn't leave my imtleja," I replied watching the faint outline of a smile appear.

"I wouldn't allow my süda to escape me." With that, he pressed another light kiss to my nose before pulling away, but only a fraction.

I don't know how he did it, but once again I was calmed. The ocean of anxiety and fear had transfused into a tranquil one that gently lapped at the edge of my mind, all because of a single person.

"So we agree that it isn't okay to shift?" I questioned, watching him frown tightly in thought.

"I'll do the talking and you can shift. You'll be able to defend yourself if the situation goes bad," he explained and I huffed at him.

"I'm not the fragile girl you think I am. I can fend for myself," I tried, but the look on his face didn't sway.

"Ivy, it's for your own good! Why can't you just do as I say?" He said, beginning to grow frustrated once again.

I didn't give in to his antics but instead answered calmly. "You have the patience of a newborn cub. How is that going to help them see reason? Unlike you, I know I can last without showing my teeth during the first minute.