A huge thanks to my three reviewers who read my first chapter!

Summary: She was her father's executioner with a soft spot for animals. Her father's pawn in politics to marry off as he pleased. He couldn't help falling for a girl who loved a family who hurt her, despite the fact that he is nothing more than her pet.

I am very, very sorry that I keep changing the summary. I'll try to do better in future. Please enjoy my story!

Confined

"Where is she?" Kyuu asked a passing maid. The young bespectacled chestnut haired maid looked at him distastefully and ignored him. She continued walking down the passage with him following.

"Hey? Why won't you talk to me?" she walked away faster. The sound of her footsteps echoed through the corridor. Kyuu had to admit that if he strayed any farther from Mistress Faylin's room he'd have a problem getting back. He abandoned the idea of trailing behind the maid and headed back towards the room. It was the strangest thing... Why wouldn't she talk to him?

The hallway was dark and quiet. He had been told that being a pet was worse than death. He was told that there was no freedom and his owner would hold his life in their hands. Only... That had been the same when they were in captivity. No freedom or power to do as they wished... And the beatings... Here at least... He was safe. A door lined with metal opened slightly and light flooded the corridor through the opened door.

"Faylin?" He asked the silhouette. She bent towards him with a smile. She had the same shade of hair like Faylin... But she was not Faylin. She was smaller and had a different build. Where Faylin was slender and tall this girl was short and thin.

"Oh. Another one of Faylin's stray's I suppose." She placed a hand on his head. He winced but wagged his tail. It would help if he had more friends here. He was going to live here. Plus she was much more friendly than the maid earlier. Her hand was bony and a little cold, like she had been standing in an icebox earlier. She eyed him a little strangely and looked as if she were complementing something. He backed away a little. She was kind of scary and it felt like her gaze was searching for something.

"You're a little scrawny... But I guess you'll do." Alarms went off in his head like mad. Do? For what? She yanked on his arm urging him to follow her into her room. The room was filled with graphs and charts of all sorts. Vial's and beakers filled on corner and the other was lined with books. He could not really read the lettering but it seemed to be complicated works if the thickness was anything to judge by. She placed him on the floor.

"Stay," she said to him simply before walking off to gather leaflets of paper and shift some of her stacks. He sat on the floor, feeling a little dazed. She picked up a scaple and held it to the light for a moment before immersing it in a yellow liquid. He was getting a little more worried. She seemed very into her element. What use would he be here? The scaple was very similar to a knife and she kept mumbling about an incision and where she was going to make it. He lifted his hand and tested it, hoping it would make no sound.

"I told you to stay. Didn't I?" she eyed him with pursed lips. He felt a shiver race up and down his spine. In this pack she must be the more dominant one... Usually in a pack an unmated wolf takes its rank for itself whereas a mated female takes its rank from its mate. He speculated that this meant she was not married and that she was very dominant. He could not help but permit himself one more look at the door. Only... There was no door... No exit...

"Noticed already?" She did not bother to turn around this time. His heart beat fiercely against his ribcage. He was cornered. There would be no hiding or running... He was far too uncomfortable in this room and when he looked behind he knew why. On the wall hung frames of glass that show cased opened bodies of several species of animals. He wanted to leave but there was no where to escape to. His safe haven seemed so short lived... This could not be it! Where was she? Where was Faylin?

"Don't worry... This won't hurt a bit." She was holding a syringe and approaching him with a sweet smile. He bolted and clawed at the place where the door last was. She grabbed his arm and plunged the syringe in. Not caring if she did or didn't properly inject the substance into his veins. A hand came through the door in a ghostly fashion. The hairs on Kyuu's neck rose further until Faylin stepped through the door. Kyuu shook of the reality of the situation and clung to Faylin's legs and buried himself in her scent. A hand that was warm and gentle ran through his hair.

"I've been knocking for five minutes. What were you doing with Kyuu?" Her eyes narrowed at my state of unrest. He tried to mask his fear and the shivers that coursed through him. His tail curled around her legs and he pressed against her.

"Why, nothing dear sister... Nothing at all..." She made a flippant gesture with her hand and hid the syringe in her coat pocket. Faylin arched a brow and gave Kyuu the once over.

"Angelique. Father wants you in his quarters to review the files." Faylin spoke monotonously like there was no life in her voice. Kyuu raised his head and saw Faylin speaking with eyes as lifeless as her voice. His eyes widened, it was not right!

"I shall go at once." She passed Faylin and like a breath of fresh air the door materialized much to Kyuu's delight. She paused as she laid her hand on the doorknob. "Oh. And Faylin... Take better care of your pets. Who knows what would have happened to him if I hadn't found him."

The door shut with an audible click. Kyuu tried to meet her gaze and his expression changed from confusion to worry. Faylin had burst into tears. She used her hands to try and rub away the droplets but more continued to return in its place. Kyuu reached up to touch her cheek. Faylin smiled weakly.

"Sorry... I'm getting you all wet..." He wanted to say something but no words could express the feelings that had arisen in his heart. Just now... She had placed a mask on her face. None of her feelings had seeped through. He crouched on the floor daring not to say a word. Her tears fell on his face and he tasted one experimentally. It was salty. She seemed to be calming down...

"Where were you just now?" He asked. The torrent returned with a vengeance. Her lower lip quivered and she hugged him as if afraid that he would run. The smell of her fear and her sorrow flooded his senses till he could do not more than breathe.

"I'm a monster." She cursed herself over and over. She needed this, for some reason she needed her feelings to come out this way. Underneath the smell of her sadness there was the faint stench of death. There was nothing he could say that would not sound like a lie. He did not know her well enough...

"We should not stay here Kyuu." She dried her tears on the hem of her shirt. She stood up and opened the door. "She may return soon."

The clack of her shoes could be heard through the corridor as it bounced off the walls. Kyuu trailed behind her and breathed a sigh of relief as they made it to her room door with no further grief. Her face had become normal and cheerful again although her body looked a little more bruised than yesterday. A passing maid spoke to her as if she spoke in a different tongue yet she replied in his own language and the maid understood her. The maid then resumed her activity and she opened the door to her room.

"Faylin?" Kyuu asked with a passive look on his face. "Why won't the maid speak to me?"

"You mean you don't know?" He shook his head although he was not quite sure what he was saying 'no' to. "I'm a sorceress. I specialize in communication spells and can do so with little effort but my transport spells are weaker and I must exert a greater amount of effort to do so, which is why I passed out on the way here. There are very few sorcerers in Armina so we all go to one school. You may have noticed but Angelique is a minor witch that specializes in illusion. Most of the people here have no magic at all but those without magic have better physical prowess."

"So the maid didn't reply because she didn't understand me?" relief blossomed on his face and he smiled. He had such an expression of pure bliss on his face that she dared not disturb him. She ran a hand over her bookshelf and selected one and placed it on her study table gently. She gathered some papers together and scanned them roughly with her eyes before dumping them on the table. She seated herself in the chair and began to scribble on some parchment. He sat on the floor beside her chair.

'I wonder what she's doing.' He craned his neck to see her work but the table was much taller than his sitting height he fingered the edge and used it to lift himself up. This caused a chain reaction and made a whole stack of paper collapse on top of him. The noise made Faylin turn sharply.

"Uwa! I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't-" he stopped in mid apology when Faylin burst out laughing. She was clutching her sides and smiling with a chuckles that resembled that of a chime. Kyuu's ears perked and he tilted his head.

"You're not angry?" She clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing at his expense. He honestly looked like a kitten who got tangled up in a ball of yarn.

"I'm sorry Kyuu. I couldn't stop myself from laughing but it was rude of me and I apologize." He cocked his head. Why does she need to be sorry for something that is not her fault?

"Why? I like your laughter. It's really beautiful." She blushed at his comment and gave him a smile that was more radiant than the sun itself.

"You're the first who's ever said as such to me. Most people here are to busy for me..." She said it in such a sad tone that it made Kyuu feel like trying to reassure her.

"What about your father?" Her face froze in response for a moment before giving him a small smile. It looked and felt forced like a mannequin with lipstick on a face with no lips.

"That reminds me. You haven't seen Armina's streets yet have you?" Kyuu shook his head. He had been in a crate the whole time from shipping till yesterday.

"Wonderful! I'll be your tour guide for today! But first..." She ran toward the window and thrust it open. Her bedroom was on the third floor. Wind rushed through the open window. Her hair flowed behind her like the waves of a sea and she jumped. Startled, he stared out of the window wide-eyed. She stood at the bottom completely unharmed although they had been three storeys up.

"Jump," His nose twitched as he backed away from the window. She asked softly,"Are you scared?"

"Just a little..." He whimpered, already hating the sound of his cowardly voice. She stretched her arms out as if to welcome him.

"I'll catch you!" She smiled so openly at him and somehow his breath caught in his chest. The wind played with her hair and invited him to join her. There were too many doubts in his mind. What if he missed? What if she couldn't catch him?

"Take a leap of faith. Kyuu."

He took to the sky in one bound.

And never looked back.