Another Day

Chapter 16

The Party I

The carriage ride was long. Kai sat by the window, with Tala on his left side and Ivanov opposite him. Beside the big man sat his wife with Adria next to her. Danielle sat beside her brother and Rei came after that. Boris was riding on a horse behind the carriage. Kai sighed and stared at the houses that passed. His orders were to stay with Tala unless told otherwise and all in all it would probably be a completely dull party. From what he had heard all people did was stand around, drink tea and talk.

Rei was wearing an orange and yellow vest today, over black shirt and pants. His soft hair had been combed until it shone and tied in a long braid with an orange band. Kai was wearing grey pants and a blue jacket. The colours fitted his mood well, but they had been chosen to fit his hair. Kai had never been one to care what he looked like, and fussing over what to wear usually made him dizzy; he wasn't used to having more than one shirt and one pair of pants.

Adria wore a blue dress with frills on the bottom and on the shoulders. Danielle was wearing a yellow dress, and had yellow ribbons in her hair. Lady Sarah always made sure that both of the girls looked their best. Lady Sarah herself wore another green dress with her red hair cascading down her back.

Tala was wearing a red tunic and white pants with red stripes on the side. Kai thought that Tala looked handsome, but so did Rei. It was all so confusing; he wanted Tala, badly, but couldn't stand him at the same time. Rei on the other hand made him feel so strange inside, like something had awoken in him that had been lying in wait since he was born, and it stirred every time the feline smiled at him. It was fragile, and threatened especially by his desire for the black haired boy. Kai hoped he would figure out where his heart lay soon, before it was torn in two.

He was hurting more than ever over his choice now. He still wanted them both, but every time he saw Tala he was reminded of his punishment. He had felt betrayed by his master, but Tala hadn't done anything else than what he thought was right. So when Kai's anger eventually arose and storm within him he pushed it down and kept it out of sight. If they wanted him to be good then he would be good. He knew he was hurting everyone with this tactic, but he couldn't stop thinking of the way they had all turned his back on him and deemed him a crook before he had gotten a chance to defend himself.

*~*~*

The McGregor mansion was, if possible, even bigger than the Ivanov mansion. It stood a bit away from the more crowded areas, and the closest neighbours lived a couple of hundred metres down the road. The house was brown with a black roof and there were several other buildings around it. They also had a high brick wall that went all around their land. Kai wondered what all those smaller houses were for. He recognised one of them as a stable, but others looked like there could be humans living in them. Perhaps they were for the staff. It had to be big then, which seemed logical when considering the size of the house and property.

It seemed that most of the guests had already arrived and many came over to greet the incoming family. A stiffly clad servant opened the door and helped Lady Sarah out. Then Danielle and Tala came and at last Ivanov himself stepped down and took a deep breath, glad to be out of the crowded carriage. The slaves got out behind him, and the coach was driven away to be parked by Enrique. Kai and Rei remained in the background, watching as the Ivanovs greeted their friends.

The adults traded handshakes, while sentences like, "My how you have grown little lady. You will be as tall and fair as your mother one day," and, "Such a strapping young man. Got your eye on a pretty girl or two yet, Tala?" rained over the children.

At last the hosts of the party came to the scene and Kai got to see the McGregors for the first time. The men were both red haired. Johnny was the oldest son of the couple, Thomas and Miranda, and he looked to be your typical temperamental redhead, but not as refined as Tala.

The boy was much an image of his father, but his mother was different. She was a round woman with a wide, beautiful smile and freckles. She was wearing blue skirts and her brown hair was gathered in a braided bun. Still, Kai thought, she could not compare to Lady Sarah. The two women looked to be good friends, for they hugged warmly.

Strangely enough Johnny didn't head straight over to Tala; instead he greeted the adults politely and hurried around the corner of the house, looking quite devilish. Tala was puzzled, but did not pursue the boy.

Mrs. McGregor noticed the children then and came over to hug them as well. She held Danielle's hands for a moment and admired her dress, "You do look so good in yellow, Danielle, but then you look good in everything, don't you? You know, I think I saw Wyatt and Frankie on the other side of the house. Why don't you go play with them? They have been asking for you."

The girl ran along, with Rei reluctantly trailing, and Tala stepped up to the woman. He opened his mouth to speak but he was stopped when Lady Miranda put a finger to his lips, "Don't say it. They are all here and when last I saw them they were on the left side of the house. I'll just write your name on the scroll and then I will be right over to pick out a demon for you."

She laughed, and Tala shook his head with a smile, "You know me too well, my lady." He gestured for Kai to follow and headed towards the corner of the house.

What on earth had that woman been talking about? Kai shot her a questioning look over his shoulder, but he did not get the chance to ask Tala about it; they were just turning the corner when the redhead was attacked by a big lump of arms and legs. Kai jumped out of the way and watched as they play-wrestled in the grass before disentangling themselves.

There were three boys; Bryan, Johnny and a tall, red-haired kid with an air of arrogance about him. Behind them came a larger group of boys, among them Spencer, but apart from him they were all strangers to Kai. He kept his distance and watched as Tala was helped to his feet by a tall boy with purple hair.

'Wait a second…I know him!' Suddenly Kai's stomach was doing flip-flops. This was the kid who had bought Lee and Mariah! Maybe they were here.

"Tala! We thought you would never arrive." The purple haired kid shook his hand. His speech and manner was very formal.

Tala laughed, "And quite the welcome I got as well. You nearly gave me a heart-attack."

The tall redhead slapped his back good-naturedly and said, "We just wanted to see if you were ready for the game, but you went down like a wet blanket. The demon will have an easy job today."

There it was with that strange talk again, but this time Kai did not dare to ask. The crowd made him nervous, although he could not quite pinpoint why. There was something about their familiarity with each other and the opinion of slaves that he all knew they shared. He had a feeling that Tala would not, or could not, protect him from these boys. He jumped when he was suddenly spoken to, and he had to ask Tala to repeat himself, earning some chuckles from the crowd.

"I said; this is Michael Dalton. You remember?" Tala looked sort of annoyed.

It seemed that Tuesday's awkwardness had been pushed into the shadows, but Kai kept up his obedience game. He hastened to nod.

Michael studied him, "Not the brightest pea in the pod, eh? I'm so glad mom and dad were talked from buying me a slave. I wouldn't have the slightest idea what to use it for."

More laughter, but Kai was not amused. 'It?'

He wasn't planning on doing anything, but Tala must have seen something in his eyes, because he gave Kai a warning shake of the head.

Johnny studied Kai, "I've heard quite a bit about this boy. Is it true that he has attacked you on several occasions?"

Kai took a step back, feeling suddenly twice as nervous, but Tala shook his head, "Only once. Rumours always exaggerate."

Michael laughed, "So it wasn't his fault that we couldn't visit you last Sunday?"

Tala sighed, not wanting to talk about this, "Yes, that was his fault, but Kai isn't so bad, really!"

Everyone was laughing now, and Robert said, "You don't have much luck in slaves, do you? Does this one stand by your bed at night, like the last one did?"

Kai couldn't believe what he was hearing; Tala had had another slave? Why hadn't he been told? The whole thing got even weirder when Tala looked cautiously at Kai, and shook his head at the others. That was the last straw; it was time to ask what the heck was going on, but just as Kai opened his mouth, there was another call; Mrs. McGregor was coming towards them with a bright smile on her face. Kai had to wonder if she ever had a bad day, but as the boys went to greet her he got hold of Tala, "Master, may I be excused for a moment?"

He got an inquisitive look, but permission as well, "Just remember to come back soon; there are some things you should know."

So some things would be explained. With this relief, Kai hurried into the crowd. He looked around and tried to spot purple hair or a pink ribbon, but neither of the things were anywhere to be found. He had almost given up when a clear voice penetrated the buzzing of the crowd and reached Kai's ears. Sweet music!

Kai changed his directions and ran until he could throw himself around the neck of a very surprised Lee. As soon as he was recognised the slate haired boy was crushed in the Tiger's powerful embrace. When they finally let go they found they were not the only one with tears in their eyes; Mariah hugged Kai as well, with much joy and a little bit desperation.

"Kai! Oh, I just can't believe it's you! We didn't think we would ever see you again." She looked him up and down as if not believing that it was really him.

Lee put a hand on his shoulder, "How have you been faring, my friend?"

Kai shook his head, "That's a long story, Lee, and frankly I am more interested in what on earth happened to you two after we parted."

So they found themselves a spot a bit away from the crowd and sat down on the grass. Lee cleared his throat and began his tale.

"We were bought by the Jurgens; an old and eccentric family who lives in a large castle far from here. There are not many other people there apart from old Gustav. The boy who came up on the platform to get us was Robert. He is the only boy in the family and he has just come of age, so his parents decided to test him by letting him buy a slave from the market without their help. They were pleased with his decision to buy Mariah, but they did not really like me at first.

Strangely enough it was I who was set to be Robert's personal servant. I suppose they saw the benefits of getting a boy instead of a girl for him. Mariah has been helping the cook and looking after Frankie, who is Robert's little sister. Life in the castle is dull and we both longed for freedom, but every escape attempt was thwarted and heavily punished. I often lay awake at night wondering whether I should have stayed with Kevin and Gary. We were worried about you as well, and that boy you were with…"

Lee did not get any further than that, because Kai had just jumped to his feet. "Of course! You two have to meet Rei!"

Mariah was beside him instantly, "You mean he is here? Now?"

Lee rose as well, "Lead the way, my friend."

But now Kai halted, "I don't know where he is…but he is bound to be somewhere with Danielle."

Mariah came to the rescue, "She is playing with Frankie. I know where!"

They followed the pink-haired girl through the crowd. They had to walk the entire length of the house but in the end they drew close to a small group of children, gathered by the wall. Danielle and Adria were there and beside them sat a petite girl with purple hair. Also with them was a lean boy with brown hair and some resemblance to Johnny. Rei looked bored half to death, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He seemed to have been assigned to holding their toys for the moment.

Suddenly his ears twitched, and he opened his eyes. As soon as he spotted the incoming trio his expression changed from bored to wide-eyed. He ran in their direction, ignoring his mistress' angry protests when he dropped the doll he had been holding. Rei and Mariah stopped a few meters apart from each other, simply staring. It was Mariah who moved first, embracing Rei as if she knew him. He clutched her right back, hardly believing his luck.

"At last," he almost whispered.

Lee was getting tears in his eyes again. When Mariah finally let go and stepped back it was the leader of the Tiger's turn, he held out a hand and Rei took it, just holding on to it. Suddenly Lee made a strange exclamation and turned Rei's hand, staring at his wrist. "That mark, that mark is just like mine!" He held up his own wrist and Kai saw that both boys had a tiger-like figure in black and red on their inner wrists.

Rei spoke for the first time then, "It is the mark of a leader, but I don't have a pack to lead. I used to belong to one, but most of the family was killed during a police raid. I escaped with a few others, but they are all dead or taken prisoner now."

"We escaped from that police raid as well; me, Mariah, Kevin and Gary. Rei, you're a Tiger." Lee looked like he was actually going to start crying.

Rei looked down at their marked wrists. He sounded sort of choked when he said, "I thought I was the only one left."

Kai watched the trio with amusement. It was sort of annoying in truth; Rei had been there that same night when Kai lost his parents. He would have found out sooner if he and Rei hadn't been so busy arguing. And kissing. Suddenly he remembered; Tala had told him to hurry!

"Hey, guys?" He called. The felines turned to him, and he continued, "I've got to go, or Tala will murder me, but I'll see you around." They waved, and Kai ran back around the house.