A look on their terrified faced told me the sentiment was shared. The baron tried to console them, but they would not listen. After 5 minutes straight, he lost his patience. I could see in his eyes that he was pissed. He glared at them and said "Ungrateful wenches! Listen and listen well. As long as I am your father, you will obey. Do not disgrace me in the eyes of beastkin!" That seemed to stun them into silence. "Fall in line. Let Kyo get a look at you. If you would rather live on the streets, that is you only other choice." he said coldly. I was impressed. The man was a noble after all. "Which of my daughters do you prefer?" he asked. I decided to step closer to get a better look at them. They all flinched. That was not going to deter me. I was the one that asked for this. While all 4 were beautiful, I wanted to be the older one in the marriage. I did not want them lording it over me. That did leave out Juliet and Elise. Cassandra had some freckles on her face and shoulders that I found cute. She also had a plump butt and C-cup breasts to go with the perfect jade green eyes. "I will marry Cassandra."
Jumping back, Cassandra said "No way! What have I done to deserve this!?" "Wretched girl! Do you want to be canned for your rudeness!?" her father said. She just began to cry. "That's alright, milord. I don't want her punished at all. She can come to terms with this on her own." I said to the baron. He looked from her to me and then sighed. "If that is what you wish." he conceded. "I can't and I won't marry some beast. Byron is waiting back home for me." Elise said firmly. The baron gave a single bark of a laugh. "That hunter? You think he can help this family? Ridiculous." I was not too sure. "If I may, milord?" I spoke up. They both quickly turned to me. "What is it?" he snapped in annoyance. Neither of them liked to be interrupted. "The situation of the family is dire. It may be wise to recruit as many men into the family as possible. Even a commoner hunter like that Byron might be able to bear children in wedlock. It will also be good in that the dowery won't be high at all. In fact, you might even be able to charge his family for the privilege of marrying a noble woman." I said. He just sighed.
Keeping on the ball, Elise said "Father! You are so desperate to preserve what little honor and land we have left to even give your own third daughter to a beast! Surely a capable hunter like Byron will do! I actually can give my heart to him. Is that not important to you!?" The baron just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "That brat is not worth of you." he said indignantly. "But a slave beast is worthy of me!?" Cassandra snapped. The baron flinched at that. "Fine then. If you want to be married, you may. If all else were to fail, he could keep you fed. Troublesome girl." he said, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. It was decided that they would be returning to their small castle. They had a single servant and maid. It took a day for the carriage to be prepared. We rode in the front and back. It took us several days to get to their small barony. When we arrived, Elise got out the carriage and ran to get her beloved. The baron did not look happy about it. The rest of us had to help the luggage get inside. I was fine helping them out. There were more staff for the castle, but not too much more.
Letting us settle in, we in the Cat Pack were able to sit and look around. "What are we doing here!? Shouldn't we be going back to our lands?" Nuzri asked. "If we all stay here, we can make some good money. We don't all have to stay long" I said. Fimzi and Chonmo were skeptical about that. That was fine with me. We were out of the slave pits, and we had our freedom. It was much better than it was for us before. We were soon fetched by a servant to take us to the main sitting room and meet Byron for the first time. He was a one-eyed hunter with a front tooth missing. He had to be about 17 with his boyish face and physique. He had a gray left eye and mousy brown hair that covered most of his face. This was the boy that Elise liked. I could not complain. I was a whole different species to Cassandra. Byron was giving me and the others weird looks as well. The baron stood up and said "Byron and Kyo. I want you to approach and kneel." I did as I was told, and so did Byron. He then offered us his ring to kiss. Byron did it first. It would be really weird if I knew what was expected of me.
