Chapter 88: Sienna’s little defender.
Sienna didn’t respond immediately. She just slapped the grip which was making it hard for her to breathe and talk. Her eyes flashed in desperation and anger.
"Don’t test my patience." Elias growled, six tails lashing like whips. "Is your face even real? Are you wearing a mask?"
He raised his other hand, simple nails replaced with sharp claws that were ready to peel off the mask. This made her eyes pop!
"Are you crazy?" she whispered hoarsely, but as loudly as she could. "If I was not myself, wouldn’t my mother be the first to notice? Are your scenting abilities broken?"
Elias frowned. True, if she was something or someone else, he would have smelled it. But with new technology being developed everyday, who knew if it was impossible to hide a natural scent of a human now?
Just as he prepared to unleash another tirade, CLANG! A metallic thud echoed through the backyard. His eyes widened, his tails froze mid-swing. Something had struck him squarely on the butt.
He turned around slowly, making Sienna turn with him because he refused to his hand. And there she was--his little Ali, wielding a frying pan that was too heavy for her hands. Her tiny arms trembled, but her glare was pure Sienna: sharp, unyielding and brimming with sass.
"Let go of my Mama!" she growled, voice surprisingly feral for a child who sometimes sucked her thumb at bedtime and wet the bed on occasion. "Now. Or I will smack you again."
Shalin, Mrs. Miller and two servants that had followed the little one gasped. Mrs. Miller looked at the hand on her daughter’s neck and she said, "If this is a case of domestic violence, I am reporting you. Let go of my daughter now, and get off her property."
Elias blinked, utterly dumbfounded. First, it was not what it looked like. Two, his own daughter was threatening him with cookware. Worse, she was behaving like a fox cub but she looked exactly like Sienna, down to the narrowed eyes and arrogant smirk of someone who knew she was winning.
Sienna, despite the hand at her throat, managed a wheeze of laughter. "See? Blood knows blood. Even my daughter recognizes me. Run a test if you want."
Ali raised the pan higher, wobbling because the vines were prickly beneath her soft feet. But, she refused to back down. "Papa, if you hurt mama, I will hit you in the right spots. Mama taught me."
Elias’s tails dropped. His pride, his authority and the carefully cultivated aura of fear--all shattered by a five year old with a frying pan. He released Sienna instantly, hands raised in surrender. "Fine! Fine! I yield. I was not hurting your mama, we were playing a game. Now put down the pan before you dent my reputation further!"
Sienna rubbed her neck, smirking. "Smart choice. You’ve just been defeated by my strongest pan tribe’s youngest disciple." Then, she lowered her voice for his ears only and said, "But this is not over, I swear to God Elias, my neck will be avenged." She flashed him a hot glare. "Bastard."
Mrs. Miller hurried over and pulled Sienna away from Elias, shooting suspicious glances his way. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.
Sienna nodded. "It’s nothing, I will explain later."
Mrs. Miller grabbed Sienna’s arm, unsure if she wanted to let her daughter go. She wondered if this was the real cause of the divorce Sienna seemed determined to get: violence at the hands of her husband.
Suddenly, Ali burst into tears and Sienna tore herself away from her mother. While briefly glaring at Elias, she scooped up the little one. "See what you have done? You have scared her."
Elias was speechless. Here, he had no defense. He took the pan from Ali’s hand and opened his mouth...but nothing came out.
"Mama, my feet hurt." Ali cried out softly.
Sienna suddenly realized that Ali had also come out without any shoes or slippers. With all those vines crawling on the ground, it was possible that something had pierced her.
"Call the doctor." Elias bellowed at the servants.
Two minutes later, Ali was holding on to Sienna’s neck while the doctor applied a soothing gel to the little one’s red, irritated feet.
Likewise, Mrs. Miller was applying the gel to Sienna’s feet. Like Ali’s, they were irritated. The only difference was that the adult had not felt the pain like the little one.
Kroton came to the living room with a small vine he had managed to cut. "Lord, Lady, the bean vines have small hook like barbs. Miss Ali’s feet are very tender, that is what caused the pain."
Ali sniffled, and Sienna patted her head.
"Foolish women." Eli muttered, looking at his mother and sister. What were they thinking, running outside in the dark without any shoes on? Despite his judgement, there was genuine worry on his eyes.
"You will both be fine in an hour." The doctor said. "Just make sure to wear shoes or slippers next time."
Sienna nodded.
Someone cleared their throat. It was Geo, making entry into the house. "Err, I hate to interrupt the medical treatment but Honey Thunder brought more of her bee soldiers, or assistants and they are harvesting more of those giant strawberries. Should we chase them off?"
"No." Sienna replied.
"Yes." Elias said.
Their responses came at the same time.
"Then we will let the bees be." Geo said, considering only Sienna’s response as important. A thing that irritated Elias very much.
Mrs. Miller rose. "I will get some people and start harvesting before everything is gone."
Elias rose as well, staring sharply at the children, and then his wife. "Nobody should eat anything until I get a report from the agricultural bureau about the safety of those abnormal plants. Just because bees are interested in eating the fruit, doesn’t mean the rest of us can consume it."
He went outside and summoned his guards, to start harvesting samples. Elias worked fast, all the while muttering about more interest from the royal family and more problems.
Meanwhile, Honey Thunder reappeared, wings buzzing furiously above his head. She seemed to be unhappy about the beast men harvesting her strawberries. Targeting Elias specifically, she dropped a half-eaten strawberry carcass at his head, glaring at everyone.
Elias raised his eyebrow. "Thanks, but I don’t eat leftovers."
The Queen Bee buzzed indignantly and moved to the cabbages. She made a threatening buzz and a worker bee stung a servant on command. The others screamed, and fled the garden!
Between the bee and the owner of the bee, who was his wife, Elias couldn’t decide which one was more trouble at the moment.