Harem King's Collection: Turning Beastkins Into Desperate Wives!-Chapter 46: He Is A Traitor!

Before any other beast really had time to react after their uninvited guest had made his daunting depart, the tiger Oust was already moving in on Aster, wildly slashing his gauntlets down at the human without warning.

Aster barely managed to awaken in time, using his shield to block the attack just before it tore through him. The tiger quickly tilted in and hit the human from the side with a closed fist, knocking him off balance with a powerful blow and sending him to the ground.

The tiger was upon the young man in seconds, his claws perched threateningly around the tender flesh of Aster’s throat. Stahl and Captain Rix were upon the pair shortly, attempting to pull the burly cat off of her comrade while being conscious of his mortal grip on Aster beneath himself. fгeewёbnoѵel_cσm

"LET HIM GO OUST!" Stahl was growling at the big cat’s sudden animosity towards Aster. If the tiger hadn’t had such a solid and dangerous grip on him already, the she-wolf would’ve removed him by force. The tiger screamed back at his restrainers with his own ferocious snarl.

"HE IS A TRAITOR! WE’VE ALL SEEN ENOUGH EVIDENCE OF THAT! Humans can not use magic, and yet he summons the darkest kind to our door once again! He conspires with our enemies, THIS IS DECEPTION! THIS IS BETRAYAL! HE NEEDS TO BE DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY!"

Stahl listened on, a cold sweat forming on her brow as other beasts chimed in around them in their agreement.

"The Candori son is right. The human needs to go."

"He will get us all killed!"

"HE’S PROBABLY THE REASON WE ENDED UP HERE!"

"Just look what he did to Alice..."

A surprisingly loud decree from the last person anyone expected to hear a word from stopped all in their tracks then, as the timid fox Rust Aschefell found his voice that night.

"ASTER IS A GOOD PERSON! YOU JUST WANT TO HATE HIM BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW HIM... Because you’ve never tried to know him, because it’s easier to see him as a monster. You won’t even try to talk to him... You won’t even use his name... He has done everything he could and more to try and earn your trust, but even then, you turn on him at every trial. You pray for his failure... You... You... You don’t have to be so hateful. He really is good..."

The fox grew self-conscious with so many eyes on him, and the end of his speech was proving to overwhelm him as his voice lowered. Still, the youngest beast there had somehow managed to start to diffuse a situation a group of adults were letting spiral.

Prince Tyfin only smiled to himself, feeling foolish for making a child be the one to say it. Maybe the fox would make a good advisor someday?

"Oust, release him. Aster is not our enemy here."

The tiger looked to his prince with anger, questioning the command. Prince Tyfin stepped forward, lowering his brow and commanding the tiger once more in a louder voice.

"Oust Candori, I order you to release him. We have much to discuss, and you’re wasting my time with your prejudice and personal insecurity. Now listen to me, or are you the one looking for insurrection here?"

The tiger was in shock, floored that his prince would take the human’s side, and insinuate he was the disloyal one all in the same sentence. The big cat looked back to the weak human once more, snarling as he finally released his grasp.

Stahl snatched the cat off of Aster immediately, leading the tiger to make a swipe at the she-wolf now instead. Stahl moved away in time and drew her right-handed sword as the tiger bared his fangs in response. It was Captain Rixator that stepped between them then, stopping both in their tracks.

"YOU TWO SHAME YOUR PRINCE, AND FORGET YOUR PLACE!"

Both warriors flinched a bit at the harsh, berating tone, as order finally fell into place. A while later, after the prince had moved away from the crowd with a select few, He began to speak to them, starting with the human.

"I don’t know what that was back there, Aster, but it can’t happen again right now... If that power does somehow have something to do with that monster, we don’t need to be antagonizing it while we aren’t prepared to deal with it. I trust you can skip the magic lessons for Aster here in the foreseeable future, right Mollis?"

The sly rabbit just chuckled sheepishly and bowed, already accepting full responsibility for the whole mess a bit earlier. The prince turned back to Aster, asking him once more, just to appease the tiger.

"And Aster... You swear to me you had no knowledge of any of this? About the foe before us... About those flames?"

Aster swore to his prince that he hadn’t, even going so far as to kneel. Tyfin had already believed him, but he had to seem impartial. He moved past that, feeling he had addressed the issue enough for the time being.

"Stahl, I assume you still haven’t made it in range for your bloodskill to hear word from any of your clan members?"

The she-wolf’s face fell, confirming as much.

"No luck yet, my prince... The moon will be full soon, but that’s still a few days out... If nothing else, I should be able to reach somebody then to get an update on the capitol, but without knowing how far away I really am, I sadly can’t even promise that much."

The lion only nodded. That was better certainly than no timeline at all...

"I won’t put stock into what that thing called me yet... I accepted that my father may have been lost in the battle the moment I woke up in that cavern, but I won’t surrender all hope otherwise, not on his word alone. Not before I can confirm it myself. I’m sure most of you feel the same way about your own families... I am sorry I can not do more at this time..."

Oust interrupted the prince then. "A prince needs not apologize to his guard."

Prince Tyfin took in a deep breath, closing his eyes in resignation. The tiger was a bit of a mess, not that the lion could blame him considering his upbringing, but one that really did have potential for greatness... If him and Stahl didn’t kill each other before then...

The young prince wanted to sigh. He was tired, but it had been one thing after another for the last few days, with surely more yet to come, so he didn’t have the luxury to be tired in that place.

"I need order. We need harmony among our ranks. More division now will only destroy what is left of us before we accomplish anything. Were it not for both Aster and Oust quickly working together back at the ceremony, I would surely not be here. Our strength increases folds for every fighter we have among our ranks that can work as a team. We have a mission, and that hasn’t changed... However, there is one major difference..."

The young lion paused in his speech, turning to the retracted mass of the most powerful mage in all of Alora that was now balled up, sitting a ways away in silence with eyes remaining alert and on the group.

Alice hadn’t spoken a single word, and if anyone tried to approach her after she initially released Aster, she would hiss at them like a feral while trying to claw their eyes out. Whatever had happened to her, it was far beyond what any of them dared to even imagine.

For now, she was alive and seemed alright with staying near the group, albeit not in close proximity to anyone in particular. That was enough for the prince. Still, he needed to address the situation.

"I want to give her all the space she needs. Leave her be for now, we know not what trials she faced in getting here, so let’s just keep an eye on her, but allow her room to find her way back to us in her own time... Let’s pray she can... For now, work on trusting each other, build that trust with those around you, for we need it to remain unified in our efforts. I will not hold you any further. Everyone get some rest. Our path grows even more perilous by the hour, but we must persevere."

Aster only stared at his prince in that moment, in awe at how proficient and yet, how kind and understanding the lion could truly be, happy to serve such a prince.

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