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ThunderCats: Sword of Kings

Chapter VII: The Lizards

Cheetara, dressed in her Cleric garb, observed the various nobles of Thundera as they stood in the ballroom. The men were talking politics while their wives and daughters were chatting and gossiping about various matters. None of this mattered to her. What mattered right now was her duty as a Cleric.

What did not matter right now was her jealousy.

Earlier in the evening, King Claudus had introduced Lion-O to the Thunderian nobles in attendance. Each nobleman the lost prince met had made sure that they would introduce him to each of their daughters. This was of course a way for Claudus to allow Lion-O to possibly court these young women and hopefully find Thundera's future queen.

While the Wileys were entertaining some of the guests with a song from Kit's flute, Cheetara was watching Lion-O converse with a female panther around his age. The panther laughed at a comment the lion made as she lightly touched his arm.

Cheetara unconsciously tightened the grip she had on her Bo staff as she allowed her eyes to wander the room. The Wileys had reached the end of their performance and were receiving praise and applause from their small audience. In another part of the ballroom, King Claudus was with both Generals Grune and Lynx-O, enjoying some ale and sharing war stories.

Then there was Prince Tygra. Cheetara saw the tiger prince shamelessly flirting with two courtiers—one on each arm—while they both giggled and sighed at his wooing. For some unknown reason, she couldn't help but remember the young tiger who had given her that flower years ago. How he turned out so different, perhaps only Tygra himself knew.

Cheetara forced herself to look upon Lion-O and the panther again. She was just in time to see the courtier bidding farewell to the lost prince, but not before placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

It took all of the cheetah's will power to allow herself to appear as stoic as was the norm for all Clerics. Cheetara cursed herself for her emotions to spike like this. As a Cleric, her duty was to the protection of the Royal Family. She could not allow her feelings to jeopardize her sacred duty.

She could not allow her feelings for Lion-O to jeopardize her sacred duty.

A slight blush lightly colored Lion-O's cheeks as the panther courtier left to rejoin her family. He had to admit that she was cute, but in his mind, she couldn't hold a candle to a certain cheetah. Lion-O eyes scanned through the crowd, spotting each of the Clerics that were stationed in the ballroom. He couldn't help but wonder if Cheetara was among them. If she was, did she see the panther's kiss?

His thoughts were interrupted by some noblemen conversing amongst themselves. "Is it just me," one noble said, "or am I the only one relieved that Prince Lion-O was found?"

"I can agree to that," another noble said. "Let me tell you, I would have to be dead and buried in the cold ground before I let the False Prince take the throne."

"Have you both lost your minds?" a third hissed. "We're in the Royal Palace! The Clerics have eyes and ears everywhere! We shouldn't be speaking of Prince Tygra like this here."

"We are only speaking the truth," the first noble said. "Claudus has been trying to get us to accept Tygra as his heir for years. How do we know the False Prince will accept Prince Lion-O's return?"

"Exactly," the second noble continued, "he could instigate a revolt and try to usurp the throne. We should send him into exile with the rest of his traitorous clan!"

Lion-O could only remain silent as he heard their words. Is this how they really felt about Tygra? If Lion-O hadn't been found, would they have then accepted his brother as their future king? Did either Tygra or his father know about how the nobles felt about all this?

"How do you like the party, little brother?" Tygra clapped him on the back.

Lion-O couldn't help but think about the nobles. "Honestly, I can't find myself enjoying it."

"You're telling me," Tygra agreed, "I don't see why father throws these things anyway. All everyone does is gossip and discuss politics." The tiger looked around discreetly before directing his brother to the far side of the ballroom. "You know, Lion-O, this isn't the only celebration going on."

This peaked the lion's interest. "What do you mean?"

Tygra brought his voice to a whisper. "The peasants are having a celebration of their own over your return. We can bail out on this snooze fest and head down there for a good time."

"Are you sure about this?" Lion-O asked, uncertain about what to do. "I don't think Father would approve of this."

"Don't worry about Father, Lion-O," Tygra reassured his brother. "We'll be back before he even notices we're gone. What do you say?"

He thought on that for a moment. "Alright, let's go."

Cheetara was observing King Claudus conversing with the Governor of one of Thundera's settlements when she felt something was amiss. She scanned the crowd; something was missing. That's when she noticed the panther that Lion-O was conversing with was now gossiping with the two courtiers that Tygra was flirting with.

Cheetara began searching through the lines of nobles, hoping to catch sight of the two brothers. Eventually, she could see no sign of them. Both brothers were missing.

Lion-O was missing.

Cheetara quickly found WilyKat and WilyKit nibbling on some hors d'oeuvres and approached them. They were at first a little startled by the Cleric attire, but soon they recognized who it was underneath the cloak and mask.

"Cheetara," Kit said, "is that you?"

She made sure no one was looking before lifting the veil of her mask to reveal her face. "Have either of you seen Lion-O?"

The twins shared a glance before WilyKat answered. "We saw him leave with Prince Tygra a while ago. We heard them say something about heading down to the market district."

Cheetara gave a silent curse before going off to find Jaga.

For the first time since waking up in the palace, Lion-O could forget he was the Crowned Prince of Thundera. He and his brother watched as family and friends came together to dance and enjoy good food. It reminded him of when he was a child, he and Panthro had attended a celebration just like this for King Claudus's name day. Lion-O remembered eating a turkey leg as long as his arm.

"So," Tygra piped up next to him, "was I right, or was I right?"

Lion-O chuckled a bit. "You were right. This was a good idea." He shuffled for a moment. "Maybe we should start heading back about now."

"Don't worry so much, Lion-O," Tygra said. It was clear he didn't want to leave. "We still have some time before we go back. You should try and enjoy yourself more."

Through the joyful cheers, Lion-O began to hear cruel and mocking laughter echo through the crowd. At the far edge of the crowd, the lost prince caught sight of a group of cats mocking and throwing rotten fruit at a pair of lizards in pillories.

This behavior shocked Lion-O. "What are they doing?"

Tygra waved a hand. "Oh don't worry about that," he said, "those are just a couple of lizards father had put there this morning."

"What?" Lion-O couldn't believe this. "When did that happen?"

"While you were with your tutor this morning," Tygra answered. "They were caught trying to steal food from a nearby farm and father had them put in the pillories as punishment."

"They stole food?" Lion-O asked shocked. Usually, thieves that stole food only earned a few days in the jails.

"Yeah," Tygra sneered, "but what can you expect from those thieving lizards?"

Lion-O approached the lizards as the crowd of cats around them began to disperse. Soon, it was only the lost prince and the prisoners.

The lizard in the left pillory hissed. "You come to mock us too, cat? It's not like we're humiliated enough."

"I heard that you two stole food," Lion-O said.

"It's not like we had a choice," the lizard in the right pillory responded.

"Everyone has a choice," Tygra said as he joined Lion-O by his side, "and the two of you chose to steal from good hard working farmers. If you conniving lizards weren't too busy fighting us, you could have farmers of your own."

"We are farmers, you ignorant tiger," the left lizard sneered, "and not all lizards fight for General Slithe."

"If you're farmers, why steal food?" Lion-O asked. None of this seemed right or just.

The occupant of the left pillory stared hard at the lost prince. "You cats have all the best lands on Third Earth, leaving little to the rest of us. Growing our own crops is almost impossible."

The right lizard spoke up then. "Not to mention that what little food we can grow goes straight into the bellies of General Slithe and his soldiers, leaving nothing for us. Do you still wonder why we were forced to steal now?"

Tygra scoffed while Lion-O thought for a bit. This wasn't right; all these lizards were trying to do was trying to feed their families. They shouldn't be humiliated like this. He had to do something. Lion-O picked up a nearby rock and began to pound away at the lock on one of the pillories.

Tygra quickly looked around. "What are you doing, Lion-O?" he whispered.

"I'm helping them, Tygra, and you should too." Lion-O turned to his brother. "Do you actually think that this is right? Where's the justice in this?"

Before Tygra could say anything, a voice suddenly spoke up. "What do you two think you're doing, eh?"

Both brothers saw the same group of cats from before suddenly approach, and they did not look happy. "We're helping these two lizards," Lion-O said boldly.

The leader of the group spat on the ground. "Lizard lovers, huh? Well will just have to fix you two up. GET 'EM!"

Before they could attack, Tygra took out his bolo whip and lashed out at them. The whip struck near their feet, driving the attackers back. One of them lunged toward Lion-O, the former champion using his skills to grab his attacker and flip him flat on his back.

Lion-O saw one of the other cats draw a knife from his trousers. The appearance of the blade shocked Lion-O until he remembered that this wasn't the Ring. There were no rules out here. Before the cat could use it however, a golden blur appeared and struck the cat in the face with her Bo staff.

Cheetara!

"Unbelievable," she muttered toward the lion, "I look away for a moment and you just disappear on me." She then turned toward his brother. "And I'm not surprised you had something to do with this, Tygra."

"Oh c'mon, Cheetara," the tiger bemoaned, "it wasn't all my fault. I was just trying to show my brother a good time."

A twinge of jealousy went through Lion-O. "You two know each other?" he asked perplexed.

Before they could give an answer, the small group began to crowd around them. The three cats prepared themselves for another attack.

"Enough!" a loud, booming voice called out. Everyone turned to see King Claudus, Jaga, and a few Clerics approach. Some of the peasants who were enjoying the festivities now gathered around to see what was going on. "What is the meaning of this? Why were you attacking my sons?"

The group leader looked to the brothers before he turned back to Claudus. "Your M-Majesty," he stammered, "I—that is to say we—"

"Leave," Claudus growled. "Get out of my sight before I have you all hanged from the gallows."

The group of cats wasted no time in getting as far away from the king and two princes as fast as possible. Claudus turned towards his sons. "Now," he said, "can either of you explain what's going on here?"

Lion-O stepped forward. "Father," he said, "I believe that you may have judged these lizards too harshly."

"What are you talking about, Lion-O?" Claudus asked. "These lizards are thieves. They attempted to steal food from good people."

"They're just poor farmers trying to feed their starving families," Lion-O argued. "We can't treat every lizard as our enemy." The lost prince thought for a moment. "What if they were cats, just like us, how would you judge them then?"

Claudus was taken aback by that statement. He looked to the imprisoned lizards—their eyes wide with fear—then looked to the crowd of cats around him. It was then the king sighed.

"Release the lizards."

It didn't take long to equip the lizards with a pair of Thunderian Mounts before they exited the city gates, both of them with sacks of food given to them by Lion-O himself. His act of generosity shocked both lizards, obviously they didn't expect this from a ThunderCat, but they gladly accepted the food.

As the gates closed behind them, Claudus looked toward Lion-O. "I hope we do not come to regret this, my son." He then left with Jaga, Tygra, and the Clerics in tow. This left the lost prince alone with Cheetara.

Lion-O looked toward the cheetah Cleric, trying to gauge her reaction. What did she think of him? Did she think him weak? Did she think him a fool? It came as a surprise when she stepped toward him and kissed his cheek. Her kiss was warmer than the panther's.

"I'm so proud of you, Lion-O" Cheetara said, her voice the sweetest thing he ever heard, "and…and I know your mother would be proud too."

Lion-O smiled at this, he could even feel a few tears that flowed down his cheeks before he wiped them away. While they both walked backed to the palace, they both had a slight realization.

Though they were too afraid to admit it yet, they were starting to fall for each other.