Chapter 1
Erik was collecting the last of the dropped coins when he spotted her. It was hard to mistake those eyes. They were like blue crystals shimmering in a sea of coal. He always noticed her eyes and rarely even had the chance to notice anything else, for as soon as he would see her, she would run away. So aside from the fact that she was a gypsy girl, had the most amazing eyes and would sit huddled in the corner of his tent nearly every night, he knew nothing of her. Perhaps if he would venture from his tent instead of being reclusive, he would have found out all he would need to know. But this he only did on extremely rare occasions. He preferred to be alone.
After nearly two months of seeing those eyes, he knew he had to find out more about her. He left his tent in the cover of thick darkness. He was dressed in all black, except for his white mask. When he stepped outside the air wrapped around him as if to greet a stranger and to find out what new creature it was that entered into the night. He made sure his cape was secure around his muscular shoulders. It was a warm night and he didn't require his cape, but it provided a cover for him to hide with if need be.
He crept towards the sounds of the gypsy's nightly party. They had a bon fire as normal and were carousing, singing and drinking to their successful day. Erik found a spot next to a tent and listened to the babble of the drunken men. They were boasting of their profits and who had acquired the most that night. Erik smirked slightly at what they were proud to say they earned.
The man that earned the most had not even made a tenth as much as Erik had that night. But he could see whyhe had made more than the other gypsies. He had two daughters that he was parading around the fire. Boasting that no man could hope to make as much money as him when he had two such beautiful girls that would dance for the well-paying men.
Erik watched in wonder as the girls moved around; showing off their dancing. Twisting and turning around each other. They were beautiful indeed. Their hair was as black as the night and their skin was a beautiful tan. Their eyes were hazel with just enough flecks of yellow to make them seem to glow in the light of the dancing flames. They were tall and slender and seemed to be only a few years younger than Erik. Though Erik himself did not know how old he was. He had been told it was his birthday once. He was only just five then and he had tried to forget that day alone with all the others from his childhood. But his mind was too brilliant to be able to bury the events of that day so long ago. He had only one birthday wish, and he could still see the look on his beautiful mother's face when he had asked her. He didn't ask for much and yet it was something his mother could not give to him.
Erik was just about to leave in disgust at the memory when he saw those two ice blue eyes coming over and joining the two beautiful girls as they now sat near the fire. She had hair like the two daughters and was tall, but that was where the similarity ended. Her skin was much more pale and she was not at all slender. She was not fat, but she did have curves. The man with the two daughters laughed when he saw the girl and he pulled her harshly to her feet by her wrist. "And how much did you bring in my mud flower?" He asked her. He held her only inches from his face still grasping tightly onto her wrist.
Erik closed his eyes as and tried to clam his flaring temper. No man should ever treat a woman in that manner. He could almost feel the man's breath on his own neck and was repulsed. He could only imagine what it was like for that poor girl.
The girl pulled out a small leather bag and handed it to the man who poured the contents out into his hand. The gold and silver coins clanked against each other and Erik was surprised to see that there had to be almost as much as that foul man had boasted of bringing in. The man's fist clenched and he shoved the girl to the ground, forcing her to pick up the coins that had fallen from his grimy hand. His anger was evident as he yelled at the girl to leave and not to dare come back to any bon fire with so few coins. This quite confused Erik and he slipped away from the crowds to follow the girl that had taken off running and cradling her wrist.
He found her walking through the animal's cages. Stopping at each one to pet or feed them. Erik was amazed at how gentle she was and how each animal treated her as if she was one of them and not just as a human who used them. No animal refused her touch and they ate right out of her palm with no objections. But this was nothing compared to what she did with the last cage. It was much bigger than all the other enclosures and instead of reaching into the cage, she took a key that had been secured to the metal bars and unlocked the door.
Erik's heart started to beat a little faster. He knew what was in the cage. And sure enough, two enormous tigers jumped out. One was a Siberian and the other was a Panthera. More commonly known as the white tiger. The magnificent creatures rubbed their enormous bodies against the girl's legs. She pet each one, running her hand from their moist noses down their backs. She treated them as if they were normal house cats and they seemed content to act that way. She led them out into an open area and began to have the animals do different tricks.
It was then that Erik understood what it was that the girl did at the fair. She was the tiger trainer. He had heard about her and the amazing things she did with the powerful creatures, but he had never known what she looked like.
He crept closer, wanting to watch her every move. Seeing her interact with the tigers was incredible. She would stand very still and with a simple signal from her hand the tigers would obey her every command. From rolling over to standing with their front paws on her shoulders.
The girl motioned for the Siberian to cross the field and stand on the far side. It obeyed and stood patiently waiting the next command. His heart raced and he had to suppress an urge to call out to the girl. He was suddenly aware that he didn't want to see the girl harmed. It was a strange emotion for him. He hadn't felt concerned for anyone in years. Why should this girl make him feel any different? She was just like the rest of them.
Any thoughts that were going through his head suddenly vanished into nothingness as the tiger reached the girl and with one powerful burst of it's hind legs leaped over the girl. But it didn't have quite enough power behind it and knocked the girl to the ground. Erik jumped to his feet and made a run for the girl. She wasn't that far away and his speed was incredible. He reached her quickly and felt for a pulse. He couldn't hide a sigh as he felt the tapping feeling under his fingers. His thoughts turned for a moment from the girl's safety to his own as he realized that he was staring in the yellow eyes of the massive tiger. A low growl resonating from the it's throat. Answered by a growl from just behind him. He suddenly realized that he was now in the mercy of two creatures that had the ability to kill him with little effort.
He had made a grave mistake. It was possible that the animals thought that it was him that had caused the girl to get hurt. He knew that tigers were extremely protective and he had just ran into the middle of an extremely big problem.