So, I'm a writer, I've been published before (but, sadly, not the right way, so I didn't get much from it). Anyway, I finally have a story I've been working on that I'm really into. I decided I want to post excerpts from it and share it with some people. As that is, here is one section I'm particularly fond of.
Please note, the royalty and dukes, etc. are all animals. The King's family are lions, while the duke, duchess, and all the children are tigers. The main character and all servants are human. (For ease, King Talis, Queen Ruma, and Prince Ryon are all lions. Sir Mal, Sir Cal, Lady Anayla, Lady Tenna, Duke Cyron, and Duchess Ellin are all tigers).
Sir Mal jumped up onto the table, knocking over several settings as the table shook. "You will mind your tone, father," he said, beginning to slowly walk towards the Duke. "You have treated us with such disrespect over the years, and now you have degraded us so low, to have to listen to the accusations of a mere servant over trusting your own family. How could you? How could you! It is an absolute disgrace to think that one's father, their own blood, would choose to trust a human."
"You are not giving me reason to believe otherwise," Duke Cyron said. "If the accusations were not true, why are you so upset about them?"
"She is out of line," Sir Cal said. "How dare a servant speak such lies about us."
"Sir Mal, Sir Cal," King Talis said. "I do understand your anger of such accusations against you. I do not know you well enough myself to understand why your father suspects that the accusation may be true, but your behavior as of this moment does not comply with someone of innocence. Perhaps if you could have a seat once again, and we can remove all the servants from the room, we could talk this out."
King Talis' speech didn't match his body. The twins weren't looking at him, but from where I was standing at the door, I could see that every muscle in his body was tensed up and ready for a fight. No doubt he hadn't expected a family scuffle by coming to the castle, but he was in the moment now and ready to defend his family, and obviously the Duke as well, if need be.
"Besides," Duke Cyron said, staring at Sir Mal, who was still slowly approaching him. "You are not in a position to be threatening us."
Sir Mal smiled wickedly. "I do not see it that way father. Not at all." He roared, deafening the room.
Three tigers leapt into the room from behind me. Duchess Ellin moved out of the way of one, and Duke Cyron turned and swiped one of the others across the face, with a distinctive crack accompanying his eyes going blank. The third guard tackled the Duke to the table, sending both of them sliding across it and on to the floor.
I scarcely had enough time to react myself, catching a blur from the corner of my eye that was Sir Mal, jumping towards me. I shut my eyes, and heard a crash. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to be alive. Duchess Ellin had moved in front of me, but Lady Anayla had tackled her brother into the corner of the room.
In the brief moment I'd shut my eyes, two more guards had entered the room, both moving towards the royal family. King Talis seemed to have moved to assist the Duke. However, now that the two new guards, in addition to the one who had missed the Duchess, were on him, the King had backed up, moving the Queen behind him and his son.
Quickly, I looked to see what Sir Cal was doing, and if I hadn't been a mere human, I would have leapt to him immediately. He was holding Lady Tenna to the ground, with a claw at her throat. He was also looking around the room for something, but I wasn't sure what.
As for the servants, they were scattering around the room, dropping their things and trying to escape. A pair of them managed to get past all the chaos, but I heard their screams in the hallway, and two thuds shortly thereafter.
Sir Cal roared angrily, and leaned down to his younger sister, saying something right to her face. I couldn't make out what it was, but from his expression, I doubted he was going to kill her. Perhaps he needed her for a hostage.
Looking away from them, I watched as Lady Anayla and Sir Mal were rolling around in the corner, scratching and biting at one another. There were already red markings on Lady Anayla's white fur, but I couldn't tell if she'd gotten Sir Mal at all yet. She was larger than him, so hopefully her size, in addition to her surprise attack, gave her some kind of advantage. Duke Cyron was easily winning his fight with the guard that had tackled him. King Talis and Prince Ryon had already ended the life of one of the guards going after them, so now the numbers were even at their end of the room.
"Evelyn! Evelyn, where are you?" My mother was as far from any of the cats as she could be, but looking around the room frantically. "Evelyn!"
"I'm right here mom!"
She turned towards me, looking right at me. "Where?"
Why didn't she see me? Despite the Duchess standing in front of me, I had locked eyes with my mother. However, something was wrong, because the Duchess had turned to look as well, and had a panicked look on her face.
"Evelyn," she said, slightly panicked.
"I'm right here," I said.
"Get on my back," she said. "Lacey, you as well."
My mother ran over, and I hopped on Duchess Ellin's back. My mother did the same, almost knocking me off.
"Evelyn?" She put her arms around me, but still sounded confused.
"I'm right in front of you. You have me."
"Don't let go," the Duchess said. "We can't see you Evelyn."
They couldn't see me? Was this the work of the magic she'd been speaking of? Was a really invisible?
I looked behind us as I heard a roar, and saw Duke Cyron slam into Sir Mal, saving Lady Anayla from a paw to the face. He shook his head, probably a little dazed from hitting his son with his head.
"Anayla, get out of here and go with your mother."
"I can fight..."
"I said go! That is an order!"
She looked angry at not being able to help, but she turned around and ran towards us. "Where's Evelyn?"
"I'm right here," I said.
"She's on my back," Duchess Ellin said. "Trust me."
I smiled, and looked right past Lady Anayla as the Duke turned to fight his son. My heart stopped beating as I watched Sir Mal's claws rip right into Duke Cyron's neck, staining the floor nearby. Duke Cyron hit the floor.
"NO!"
Duchess Ellin and Lady Anayla turned after I screamed.
"Daddy," Lady Anayla yelled. I had never heard her refer to him as such, but I doubted her formalities mattered upon seeing her father lying dead on the ground. She ran back over, catching Sir Mal off guard and creating four perfect lines as she raked her claws across his face.
