The Tiger Within 198 Secrets

She knew the other kids kept secrets all the time. Even the grown ups kept them between each other and sometimes betrayed each other with them. Yet, Raina never had been entrusted with a secret of her own. Oh she heard things she shouldn't have and kept those secrets close to her heart, but no one ever gave her secrets.

Raina nodded, her cute little face becoming serious. "Yes, I am good at keeping secrets." Raina replied honestly. No one knew half thing little things she did.

"Alright. Princess Raina, the reason I must go home is because, I am a Princess too." Kyera told her calmly. Raina's mouth fill into a awed little O shape.

"Your a Princess!" Raina asked her eyes wide. She never dreamed she would be given such a special secret about her teacher.

"Yes, but it's a secret. You see the forest had its own King and Queen, and their descendants are the Princes and Princesses of the forest." Kyera explained with a naughty smile. Raina seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"But Grandfather is the Emperor of the forest…shouldn't he know who you are?" Raina asked realizing it wasn't a very good secret if others already knew it. Kyera shook her head slowly.

"No because we are a secret royal line. You see we are royalty that has a very secret mission." Kyera continued, still speaking softly so no onlookers could hear. "You see the Prince and Princesses of my people dedicate themselves to protecting the law and peace. We don't own land, we own our destinies. My duty is to protect the people of this land from harm." she explains trying to simplify the oath of the Shifter to a child. It was not the easiest thing in the world when they didn't grow up with it's principles. Yet Raina seemed to be getting it.

"Oh so your like a Princess Warrior?" Raina tried to make sense of how these two roles fit together. Yet she was fairly sure if anyone fit that type of description it was her teacher. Kyera thought for a moment and decided that was actually a good way of explaining it.

"Exactly, and it is my job to take care of you and defend the royal family because that is the only way to keep the peace." Kyera explained, once again straightening the Princess' hair.

"Is that why you saved me from those bad men?" Raina asked curiously. Kyera froze for a moment, letting herself recall the incident.

"No. That was more out of instinct, Princess. I wanted to protect you and you were lost. You see our laws say that a child should not pay the debt of the father unwillingly." Kyera explained but at the confusion on Raina's face she felt it best to elaborate. "In this case they wanted to punish your family because of what your Great Grandfather did to our people."

"Oh… they were shifters?" Raina asked and, unable to hide the truth Kyera nodded. The men were dead so it didn't break shifter law. "So they wanted to kill me because my Great grandpa killed a lot of them?" she asked and Kyera shook her head.

"Most likely they would have taken you away and sold you to a slaver clan." Kyera replied, as chilling as the truth was, she didn't want to hide it from her. Raina may be young, but there was little chance of her survival if she wasn't prepared for the harsher truths.

Raina seemed to consider this silently for a while. Her head resting lightly on Kyera's shoulder as she shifted to sit on the older woman's lap. Kyera let her sit there, gently running a hand through her hair to sooth her. "Why do the shifter's hide? I thought we made peace?" Raina asked softly looking up at Kyera. "Why do they want to hurt us?"