“No need to apologize. She proved to be useful,” Dadan assured him as he strolled past his servant.
“Prince Yushir sent a message only a few minutes ago that he wished to play a game of chess if you were so inclined,” Puren added as he hurried along behind us.
Dadan took up a seat on the platform where he laid me down on the cushion in front of him and draped an arm over the arm. “He may come in the afternoon.”
Puren nodded. “I will inform him. Did you need anything before I deliver the message?”
“Tea,” Dadan replied as he nodded at me. “And a saucer of milk.”
Puren bowed again. “I shall make some immediately and fetch the saucer.” He hurried off to obey his master’s commands.
Seeing him so eager to please reminded me that I hadn’t seen Arian in a long time. My ears drooped over my head as I thought about how worried she must be about me. I’d have to sneak away for a quick visit and see if I could convince her of my change in form. At least as a shifter, she would be more likely to believe me.
A soft sound behind me made me turn. Dadan had leaned his cheek against his raised arm and his eyes were closed. The rhythmic movement of his chest told me he was fast asleep. I turned myself fully to him and studied his soft features. It was a pity I didn’t have my sketchbook with me. I could have drawn a better picture now that I was so close to him.
He looked so tempting that I couldn’t help but inch a little closer. I set my front paws on his chest and stood so our faces were at the same level. His thick locks of red hair accented his pale face so perfectly. Perhaps it was a little too pale, but the color made his lips stand out even more.
Those full red lips tempted me.
What could it hurt? I asked myself as I leaned in. I’m just a cat. He won’t think anything’s wrong with me being so affectionate. Besides, he said I was useful. A heroine, if you would, and didn’t heroines deserve a kiss?
I leaned in and pressed my lips against his. They were as soft and warm as I imagined. It was a pity my snout prevented me from deepening the kiss.
My cheeks were warm when I drew back. They became red-hot when my eyes met his open ones.
I yowled and scrambled backward until my tail hit the side of the table. My back pinned my tail, leading to an even more uncomfortable situation as I pinched my own tail. Another yowl escaped me and I yanked my tail out from behind my traitorous back. The poor thing wriggled about like a worm on a hook. I frowned and pined a paw against my insolent tail. The thing continued its hopping about as best it could and my irritation only encouraged it.
A small chuckle made me whip my head about to find Dadan smiling down at me. “You are a very foolish cat. Do you not know that is your tail?”
I released my insolent tail and hunched my shoulders. I know that but it’s still annoying having that thing attached to me!
Dadan closed his eyes and sighed. “Lay beside me now and rest. I will take you a bath as soon as I have rested.”
I studied myself and sighed. My fur coat really was pretty filthy and the smell wasn’t much better.
The resumption of his soft breathing told me he had slipped back into sleep. Faint footsteps down the hall turned my attention in the direction where Puren approached us. He held a tray in his hands upon which a teapot, teacup, an empty saucer, and a small white bottle sat.
Puren stopped in front of the platform and opened his mouth, but I quickly put my front paws on the table and raised myself so he could see me shaking my head. The servant shut his mouth but gave his master a worried look. He set the tray on the table and poured out some milk for me but refrained from disturbing the warm pot.
“Drink quietly,” he whispered as he nodded at the sleeping god behind me.
I patted his hand with my paw and nodded for double reassurance. He smiled and winked at me. “I will return in a while, Lady Cat.” The servant slipped away, leaving me alone with Dadan.
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It’s Dadan again, is it? my inner voice teased. I noticed you’ve been calling him that since we got back.
I can call him whatever I want! I protested as the hairs on my tail bristled.
Yeah, but you know who else calls him that? His best friend and a woman who loves him. Which one do you think you want to be?
She had a point. I looked over my shoulder at the sleeping beauty behind me. He was like an angel. Well, if angels had fiery red hair. I could imagine them being that stoic.
- . .I don’t know what I want.
I tucked away my inner voice and turned instead to the previous matter of contacting Arian. Alerting her to my current condition was more important than arguing with myself.
Still, I didn’t want to leave without some sort of farewell, even if it was a temporary parting. I looked around for something, anything that would tell the godly lord that I was still around.
I started back when a faint glow surrounded me. It was my mischievous magic come out to play.
Why don’t you try changing me back? I scolded it as the slender threads floated around me.
They didn’t seem to mind me at all as they split off and floated in two different directions. One group dipped into the teacup and the tea bag was ejected onto the table. Fear gripped me as I thought what mischief it might be pulling and I flung my front paws on the table and leaned over. The dainty magic swirled about the bottom of the cup and a faint whiff of chocolate and peppermint entangled itself around me.
The other group entwined itself around the teapot and lifted the container. My magic floated the pot over to the cup and poured the hot water over the sweet concoction. The threads were nothing if not exact and they filled the cup to near the brim before setting the pot back down. My faint wisps vanished and I was left alone with a steaming cup of cocoa.
I guess that was one way of telling him I was still around.
I hopped off the platform and trotted down the corridor, but I couldn’t help but pause halfway down the hall and look over my shoulder. Dadan looked so peaceful and yet so tired. I would have to hurry back to make sure he didn’t worry about me.
I darted down the hall and out the front door. Puren and I nearly crashed into each other but he stumbled to one side. “Lady Cat!” he called to me as I darted down the path. “Where are you going now?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Meow!”
Puren didn’t look the least bit consoled but what could I do? I was just a cat.
That thought lingered with me as I scurried out of the expansive gardens of the former emperor and through the maze of roads that made up the massive heavenly realm. More than one child squealed and pointed at me, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Lia and Kean. It had only been a few days since I’d seen them but my many adventures since then made it feel like forever.
That’s when I realized how important my life here had become to me. I was leaving tender consolations to Lord Eastwei, worrying about Arian missing me, and wondering what the kids were up to. It felt like a, well, like having a family, or at least a wonderful and warm group of friends. I felt like I belonged here.
“Meow!” I cried out in glee as I leaped high into the air before hitting the ground running. An elder god on a bench looked up from his paper and lifted an eyebrow. I gave him a wink and a curled tip of my tail as I dashed past which earned a smile from him.
I dodged, ducked, and dashed my way home and I couldn’t have been happier to see that familiar arch. Even the spot on the green grass where I’d had so many frustrating practices was a welcomed sight as I darted by looking for my target. That target came slouching out of the house with her head bowed and her cheeks a ruddy mess.
“Meow!” I shouted as I leaped at my dear friend.
Arian shrieked and threw up her arms as I tackled her. She landed on her back with me on top of her.
“Get off me, you filthy animal!” she screamed as she swatted at me.
I would have been insulted had she not been the second person that day to call me dirty.
“Off, you smelly rat!”
Okay, that was going a little too far.
I hopped off her onto her side where I plopped my butt on the floorboards. Arian scuttled up and backward where we faced off, each of us on one side of the doorway.
“Shoo!” she insisted as she waved a hand at me. “Go on! Shoo!”
I curled my tail around me and the end twitched. Come on, Arian, it’s me! Don’t you recognize those wonderful locks as fur?
“Go on! Remove yourself!”
Apparently not. I sighed and sauntered into the house.
A look of horror struck Arian. “No! Stop! I told you to leave!”
I dodged her clumsy hands and jumped onto the table. My paw crumpled on something and I looked down to find myself staring at my sketchbook. The drawing I had done of Arian stared back at me.
Strong hands wrapped around my midsection and I was yanked off the table. “Now out!” Arian insisted as she held me at arm’s length.
I wriggled and writhed in her grip but the sharp points on her fingernails told me she was using her bear abilities to hold me. She carried me out of the arch and plopped me on the sidewalk. “Now you-hey!”
I darted between her legs and ran back to the house. An idea had struck me and I used my nose to sniff around. My keen sniffer caught the scent of lead and I leaped at a box on a side table. The container clattered to the floor, scattering a vast array of pencils, pens, and erasers. I snatched one of the sharper pencils in my teeth and dodged Arian’s eager hands to land neatly on the table where I began to write.
“No!” she yelled as she lunged at me. “Not that!”
She grabbed the back of my scruff and I immediately went limp. No amount of effort would force me to do anything but dangle as she yanked me away. The pencil clattered onto the paper as she lifted me so we were face to face.
“What right do you have to come in here and believe you own this house?” she growled and her eyes had a faint yellow tinge in them.
“Meow,” I replied as my eyes flitted between her and the paper.
“I have no idea what you spoke to me, but I will not listen. . .to. . .” Her attention was drawn to the paper where my horrible teeth writing had managed to sketch out a few letters.
Anna.
Arian’s mouth dropped and she lifted her wide eyes to me. “Anna?”