Tahirah slowly came out of her meditation. The healing continued, so the double symmetries must have been found. Sooner than required, she reflected with some pride.
Her skin prickled as she felt a magical presence enter her room. Surprised and startled, she sought to focus her senses back to the physical world. Somehow, her mathemagic wards had not prevented something from entering. She had thought herself safe, but her protections and defenses had not held. She opened her eyes and slowly scanned the room, prepared for the worst.
A fierce lion sat before her in full feline fury. “You are back,” he said, watching with eyes that saw all. “The cubs need protecting. They are young and clawless.”
Tahirah blinked in surprise and delight. “Oh, noble one, I am honored by your presence. Why have you come?”
Light danced through the lion, his image wavering as he spoke. “We have been bespelled by one who betrays and tortures the Red Palace. Circle upon circle of spells bound us, and now one more band has been broken. He has harmed what is ours to protect. Loyalty shadows him now, Vigilance and Justice close behind. We cannot fulfill our duty until all the spells are undone. Meanwhile, we watch and wait.” His eyes glowed, and the tip of his tail thrashed.
“Why do you come to me?”
“Our cubs, you watch over them.” The lion began to pace.
“Ara and Layla?” Tahirah smiled to herself at the thought of the girls as cubs.
“Yes, the cubs of the harem. They are freeing the bindings on us. We protect our own.”
Tahirah measured every word of her next question, afraid to offend the proud cat. “I called you and you did not answer. Might I know your name that I might call you in need?’
“My name?” He looked away before growling. “It is unimportant. You might call one of my brothers, Patience or Endurance.”
Tahirah hesitated, then asked, “Do all twelve have names?”
The lion lifted his massive shoulders in an almost human shrug. “Yes, the ones I mentioned and, of course, Strength and Prudence. But this is not the time for a family history. My brothers and I were bound in deep dream by the wazir’s spell. Now we are awake and can watch the evil one.”
“You have a plan for the wazir?” Tahirah asked, troubled.
“Payment is due. His death is fated. There is no other pathway open to him. He has chosen his way and walks it as we speak,” the cat snarled.
Tahirah looked off and away. “I would hope that you would be merciful.”
“We are merciful. He will not suffer long.” The lion’s eyes glittered with an inner tension. “But you must hurry. Danger approaches.”
Tahirah stood up, a chilling fear suddenly upon her. “What kind of danger?”
“The evil one, the wazir, hunts the cubs, just as we hunt him.” One moment the lion stood at the door, the next he disappeared. Tawny lights sparkled in his wake.