Lion's Pride: A Legends of Lasniniar Short: Legends of Lasniniar

By Jacquelyn Smith

Half human. Half feline. All warrior.

Her very existence a crime, Nofret lives in a hidden refugee village—safe from the magic and might of the Lion Folk who rule the island in the name of their cruel goddess.

But Nofret grows tired of hiding. She yearns to do something more. Surely her fighting and tracking skills can serve a greater purpose?

Her noble heart can accept nothing less.

A stand-alone origin story adventure from the far-flung reaches of the World of Lasniniar epic fantasy series by award-winning author, Jacquelyn Smith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WaywardScribe Press
• Release date: Nov 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781989650127

Jacquelyn Smith

Jacquelyn Smith writes both epic and intrigue-based fantasy, and mysteries that range from cozy to kick-ass, with independent, strong-willed heroes, in search of their place in the world. These heroes take the problems they face seriously (but never themselves), and are supported by unlikely friendships they forge along the way. Jacquelyn is the author of the World of Lasniniar epic fantasy series, the Fatal Empire fantasy intrigue series, the kick-ass Kira Brightwell mysteries, and the Mackenzie Quinn Canadian cozy mysteries. (She originally published several of the early Kira Brightwell titles under the pen name Kat Irwin, before killing Kat off to eliminate the many awkward questions about having a second identity.) When spending time in the real world, Jacquelyn lives on the suburban outskirts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with her husband, Mark, and their feline owner, Xena, who is definitely a warrior princess. To learn more, visit: JacquelynSmithBooks.com

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Lion’s Pride

LION’S PRIDE

A LEGENDS OF LASNINIAR SHORT

JACQUELYN SMITH

WAYWARDSCRIBE PRESS

Lion’s Pride: A Legends of Lasniniar Short

Copyright © 2023 Jacquelyn Smith

Published by WaywardScribe Press

First published in November, 2019 as Legends of Lasniniar: Lion’s Pride

Cover and layout copyright © Jacquelyn Smith

Cover design by Jacquelyn Smith/WaywardScribe Press

Cover art copyright © Vasyl Duda/Dreamstime

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

CONTENTS

Lion’s Pride

The Devil You Know

A Note from Jacquelyn

About Jacquelyn Smith

LION’S PRIDE

Nofret slashed at an imaginary enemy with her dagger. The razor-sharp blade whistled through the air. She tightened her clawed fingers around the hilt and changed the direction of her attack midstroke with dazzling speed. Her breath came easily, even though a sheen of sweat was forming beneath her golden fur. A band of dark blue fabric tied around her brow kept it from trickling down into her eyes.

The morning was wearing on, and the heat of the golden disc of Re was beating down on her shoulders. A fine dust filtered through the air, stirred by her movement across the training yard in the heart of the refugee village. Her whiskers twitched as the dust tickled her nose and dried her mouth.

She ignored all these discomforts and continued her barrage against the only enemy that was a match for her now that Ani was away—her own shadow. Her slitted, blue eyes narrowed.

I should have gone with him.

She shoved the thought aside with a snarl as she lashed out again with her dagger. It was hardly the first time the words had taunted her, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last.

She had practically begged Ani to take her with him on his latest secret mission, but he had refused. Her stomach clenched at the memory.

I need someone to stay here and keep an eye on the village, he had said.

But Thu will be here. Nofret had done her best to keep the pleading tone from her voice.

Ani gave a rueful shake of his head. Thu is not the warrior you are. He had reached out to ruffle the fur between her pointed ears—a gesture she only tolerated from him and Ineni.

At the time, the praise had been enough to placate her. After all, she was the best warrior of the followers of the cat goddess Bastet, aside from Ani. Thu was his mate, and the entire village respected her. The former royal slave woman was no stranger to battle—none of the followers of the cat goddess could afford to be. But Thu only fought when needed, usually in defense of others, or at her beloved Ani’s side.

And so Nofret had watched Ani go, with a small group of trusted warriors.

She didn’t know exactly what their mission was, but she suspected it was the usual—a rendezvous with escaped slaves from Lion’s Hame, or perhaps even an organized uprising, designed to provide a distraction and raise awareness in the city of the human’s and half-breed’s plight.

Not that the Lion Folk would ever admit that half-breeds existed.

Nofret’s jaw tightened. Her blade whistled through the air once more.

The Lion Folk had arrived on the island some time ago, brought by their goddess Sekhmet. Humans had already lived in the jungle for untold years in relative peace.

Until the Lion Folk found them.

The Lion Folk were fashioned in the image of their goddess, with the lower body of a lion, including four paws. Their upper bodies were humanoid, but covered with short fur. Their faces were also those of a lion—a strange mixture that had immediately terrified the native humans, filling them with both fear and awe. Between their strange appearance and the magic of Sekhmet, the Lion Folk had quickly turned the humans into their slaves, a tradition that continued to current day.

Of course, interbreeding was inevitable. Often, a male Lion Folk owner would ‘take liberties’ with his female slaves. If any of the women fell pregnant, they were executed immediately.

But some of the pairings were not totally forced, and some women were resourceful enough to hide their condition and escape.

Nofret was the result of such a pairing. Her mother had known she was pregnant and hidden it for as long as possible to stay alive. She had begged the local apothecary’s slave to give her something that might end the pregnancy before it could become obvious, but it had been too late at that point.

He had helped her to give birth in secret, but only the half-breed infant had survived. The apothecary’s slave had fled from the city with the newborn Nofret in tow and searched the jungle until he found Ani’s people. Even though he had no blood ties to Nofret, he had stayed with her, and raised her as his own.

Nofret’s half-breed looks had been taken in stride by the refugees. She was not the first true-born daughter of Bastet to find her home among them. But few enough of the half-blooded children survived the persecution of the Lion Folk to make her golden-furred pelt, striped tail, and cat-like facial features stand out among the human refugees, despite the fact that she walked on two legs, just like the rest of them.

Her thoughts wandered back to the man who had rescued her from certain death.

Ineni had been both mother and father to her for as long as she could remember. Even though he was a