Chapter 96: Don’t rescue strangers.
At the beast palace, the King himself, while reviewing memorials at his desk, contributed to the ridiculous claims that Sienna was on a bird beast man eating spree. Into his phone, on a secret account that regularly posted about the scandals in the lives of his noble Lord and Ladies, he posted: Horror for the birds on krug mountain as Lady Fox comes to visit for a snack.
His wife sighed. "You do realize that Elias knows you are the man behind that account."
King Leon laughed. "Knowing and proving are two different things. Besides, she is the one hogging 189 chicken! Who told her not to sell off some?"
Queen Serenya snorted. "We have a chicken and duck farm."
"It’s different." The king grumbled.
The Queen shook her head. What was it that was different between the chicken sold on the market, the ones of the royal farm and the ones Sienna had caught? As far as she was concerned, absolutely nothing!
***
Meanwhile, on the mountain, the hunting group had ended their adventure and Sienna had ended the livestream. As they made their way down the slopes, she spotted a wounded beast man collapsed near a stream.
"Does anyone else see the wounded man?" She asked. The falcons had sharper eyes. Surely, they had seen the man before she did.
Uncle Jorik replied, "We will inform the authorities to come and pick him up."
"Not our problem," Uncle Daren added.
Sienna stopped. With a frown lining her face, she looked at her uncles as if they were monsters. "We are not leaving someone here to die." She broke away from them and walked to the collapsed beast man. His breathing was shallow, his body marked by claw wounds. It seemed like he would not survive another hour out here.
Without hesitation, she ordered her own guards to lift him.
"Sienna, he could be trouble." Uncle Jorik warned.
She said firmly, "If I was in his place, I would be hopeful that someone would rescue me. He could be trouble or good news. Either way, we don;t leave people to die."
Honey Thunder buzzed, as if she was in agreement.
Her uncles muttered about tribal politics, but Sienna ignored them. And so, the stranger was carried back to the cottage compound and laid on a mat outside. The doctor was summoned to look at him.
Elias was awake, and he walked over to join the small crowd of curious servants and guards, looking at the rescue. His wife was playing nurse, assisting the doctor with cleaning the injured beast man’s wounds.
His eyes narrowed at the sight. "Sienna," he said icily, "I am okay with you bringing home chickens but not strange men."
She handed the doctor cotton, unbothered. "He was dying. Would you rather I left him to tot on the mountain?"
Elias tilted his head and replied dryly, "Protocol for finding strange wounded beast men in mountains is: Call the authorities! Bringing them home is a nightmare for inter tribal politics."
"I told her so." Uncle Jorik mumbled.
Sienna rolled her eyes. "We are giving him first aid, sending him to a hospital and then calling the authorities."
Elias looked at the falcons. Hos crimson eyes promising deadly consequences if they had not followed protocol like Sienna.
"I called them." Corven Junior blurted out, squirming under that sharp crimson gaze.
"I sent a message." Uncle Jorik admitted.
"So did I." Uncle Daren confirmed.
More voices rose, confirming that some part of the protocol had at least been followed. Elias turned back to Sienna, frowning deeply when she stretched her hands to clean the wounds of the stranger who smelled like a Lynx.
Swiftly, he walked over and pulled her up. "You are not getting his blood on you. It is bad enough that the scent of it will remain in our home for a while but I draw the line at having it on you."
"I---" She opened her mouth, only to be cut off by her husband.
With a growl in his voice, Elias continued, "He could have killed someone and escaped his tribe. If they smell him on you, suddenly we become accomplices. Always remember Sienna, you are not just any woman, you are the Lady Fox. Others can save strangers and tend to their wounds, but not you. You guards and servants to use as your arms and legs."
Before she could retort, Eli piped up, mimicking his father’s stern tone. "Mama, strangers can be spies! What if he wakes up and steals confidential information? What if he kidnaps you or Ali? Don’t expect me and papa to clean up the mess you two have made."
Ali huffed and stomped her foot. "I did not make a mess."
"You allowed her to bring back a wounded stranger." Eli shouted back.
Once again, before Sienna could defend herself and explain things like kindness and compassion, Elias broke down all the reasons why her decision had been the wrong one. "Aside from the possibility of being accused of collusion, we may make new enemies. Something like this can easily jeopardize the neutrality agreement we have with his tribe. He could be violent when he wakes up. You are the one that is always talking about how you don’t want violence around our children."
Eli added his own childish but cutting points: "And he could steal our honey like that bad woman Numia. What will you do then?"
She sighed. Everything was complicated in this world. No wonder everyone was talking about inter tribal politics. "If saving a life causes political headaches, then perhaps the politics are rotten. What is he anyway?"
"A Lynx." Dr. Hill, replied. "I have done what I can for him. The Lord is right, he needs to be sent away. These claw marks were made by someone from his own kind. If he stays here, we will be pulled into the trouble he carries. As righteous as your intentions are, Lady Sienna, the stranger must leave."
Three guards moved in, lifted the stranger and carried him away from the compound. The right authorities were already waiting outside the gate.
With a sigh, Elias followed, because he had to make it clear to what extent the fox tribe was involved in this mess. He wondered why his wife simply couldn’t go back to being lazy! "So troublesome," he muttered.
His shorter version followed, hands behind his small frame, "So troublesome." Eli mimicked his father.