‘Because leopards normally avoid humans. Females will only attack to protect their young, which we can assume is close by.’
She pressed her eyes closed. ‘Thank you.’
When the other guards learned of the plan, they were confused but didn’t ask questions. The five of them left the main road and set off in search of the den. Aisha studied the rocks on either side of them as they walked their horses along a faint trail only used by animals, eventually pulling her gelding to a halt.
‘What is it?’ Tariq asked.
She looked around. ‘I think we’re here.’
‘How do you know?’
She looked at him, and he realised she recognised the setting from her vision.
A soft mewing sound had them all looking south. Dismounting, Tariq handed the reins of his horse to Kaidon. ‘Wait here.’
‘I’m coming with you,’ Aisha said, sliding down from her horse.
He didn’t have the energy to object. ‘Stay behind me.’
They were halfway up the slope when they heard another mew. Pausing, they looked around.
‘There,’ Aisha said, pointing to a gap in the rocks.
Tariq walked over to it and crouched down at the narrow entrance, half hidden beneath the tangled roots of a large tree. He peered inside, and Aisha craned her neck behind him.
‘Well?’ she asked.
At first, he didn’t see anything, but then a single curious cub moved into the light. Tariq shook his head in disbelief. ‘You were right.’
Aisha got down on her hands and knees in order to reach the cub.
‘You can’t just crawl into a leopard’s den,’ Tariq said.
‘It seems I can,’ she replied, crawling in. She stopped before the tiny spotted cub. When it didn’t hiss or shy away, she picked it up. ‘A girl,’ she announced. ‘Probably around two months old.’
The cub stared up at her, its little body trembling.
‘It’s scared,’ Aisha said.
‘That makes two of us.’ Tariq reached a hand out. ‘Pass her to me.’
Aisha passed the cub to him before crawling out. Once she was upright again, she took the cub back and tucked her against her chest.
‘Now what?’ he asked.
‘We have to take her with us.’
‘I was afraid you were going to say that.’
‘We can feed her goat’s milk and release her back into the wild when she’s old enough.’
He stared down at the cub. ‘She would never survive, as she won’t have any idea how to hunt.’
Aisha stroked the cub’s little head. ‘We’ll figure all that out later.’
He knew he would likely regret agreeing to this plan but didn’t have it in him to tell Aisha no. ‘Fine. Let’s go.’
Kaidon eyeballed him as they returned to the rest of the group. ‘You’re getting soft,’ he said quietly as the prince walked by.
