ZIRA

She was a small domesticated lart, unusual even among the lesser varieties of her kind. Her sleek coat was silvery white, crossed with bold charcoal markings that swept around her legs, chest and slender body, while darker lines framed a delicate face dominated by brilliant green eyes. Her nose was unexpectedly pink, lending an almost innocent quality to a creature whose instincts remained entirely those of a hunter. Bred for generations around Gorean households and camps, her kind were valued as hunters of urts and other vermin, though this particular little lart seemed equally accomplished at finding warm sleeping places and persuading humans to surrender morsels of meat. She was affectionate when she wished, curious almost beyond reason, and could pass from languid contentment to predatory attention in an Ihn. Small enough to gather comfortably into one's arms, she nevertheless carried herself with the quiet certainty that she was no one's helpless little pet. She was lart, and that was quite sufficient.