The Princess and the Prince

Cináed was rapidly becoming a more painful thorn in her side with every snide and mocking comment he made. He riled little Satira up in ways even her obnoxious brother hadn't. At least with Arcturus, his teasing was good-natured and came from a place of love. Cina's words, they were just meant to hurt. And hurt they did. Satira wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing just how deep his comments had cut her though. If there was one thing she'd learned from her mother, it was that Fatalises don't cry—they get even. Being as small and helpless against the much larger boy, there was no way for her to get even with him right now, so she at least wouldn't let him see her break down. He claimed he had no family name, no family, and that he was on his own. Then he flicked her ear again while mocking her for having to rely on her mother to protect her. Tira growled and snapped her jaws at his paw, but he retreated much too quickly and she bit down on nothing but air.

Satira decided she hated everything about Cina. She hated his cocky grin, she hated the way he took so much entertainment out of trying to hurt her, she hated his dumb stupid face and the fact that he was talking about her and her family this way and getting away with it! She wanted to call for her mother or her father or her grandfather or her uncles so they could come teach this bully a lesson, but she couldn't. Every time she tried to draw in a breath her lungs would quiver as she held back sobs. The tiny pup was immobilized by her emotions and her inability to control them well enough to stay composed. But really, who expected a six month old to have their emotions in check?

The red wolf chuckled and got back to his feet then, making another dramatic show of bowing to her before dismissing himself, unable to resist slinging one more name her way before he sauntered off like a proud peacock flaunting his feathers. Satira huffed a few times and tried to think of something snappy to say back to him, but her mind was too busy reeling from this encounter. Her heart hurt in ways she'd never felt before and the adrenaline running through her was starting to make her feel sick. Before she knew it, she was left alone, sitting in the snow beside the stream while fighting back tears. Tira was gritting her teeth together so hard they hurt, but she couldn't control herself. Nobody had ever spoken to her that way before—nobody!

Rising to her own feet, Tira didn't even bother to shake the snow from her fluffy downy fur while she stepped over to the stream. She gazed down in the gliding waters, staring at her own reflection and eyeing her flopped over ears that bobbed with every subtle movement of her head. Her ears had never bothered her before... so why were the bully's words making her look at them and feel ugly? Sniffling to herself, Satira lifted one tiny paw and extended her feline claws, looking at them and then back to her ears in her reflection.  Was there something wrong with her? All of her family had strange claws, but her ears... Only her and her father had ears like this, or fur that wasn't the same as everyone else. Was Cina right? Was she not a real wolf?

Choking back a sob, Satira steeled herself just enough to be able to focus on where she was going while she ran back home. She'd never been so happy to cross back over the Armada border as she had been in that moment. All she wanted to do now was go curl up in bed and pretend this day never happened. To forget the red boy and his mean words and how in one moment he had made her go from feeling like a beautiful princess to an abomination.

"Satira"