11"x 14" framed painting, acrylic on canvas -  The Guardian of Her Heart
 
He was not always a leopard. In his past life he was either a fallen aristocrat or an elevated grifter, depending on who was telling the story. He had the disposition of a banker and the golden eyes of an oracle. He was unimpressed by everyone.
She had found him on the threshold of two realms, his spirit caught between fate and oblivion. Under the eerie glow of the eclipse, she reached into the void and pulled him into her arms. He did not resist.
Since that night, he had become both her companion and the guardian of her heart against the shadows of doubt. He rested against her heartbeat, watching the world, measuring its worth and finding it wanting. Only she was exempt from his quiet judgment.
In her arms, he rested—not as a creature of this world, but as something timeless, watching, waiting, measuring the worth of all things.
And finding most of them wanting.