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| Chapter Four The Thoughts of a Cat |
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| It seemed rather sudden that the only sound in the room was the sound of Merle's tongue as it rasped over her fur. Of all there, only Van and maybe a few of the older Samurai knew that she really only did that when taken completely by surprise. Most of the other advisors thought that it was just one of the rather disgusting things that came with her being a cat. She could see that Van was struggling to wrap his mind around what they had just said to him. He was never at his best when lacking sleep, and right now he was worried over Hitomi as well. She wet her tongue and indulged in another loud and wet pass of tongue over fur. As intended, the advisors all looked at her, most with disgust and a few with amusement. Van looked at her too, his eyes clearing of their sleepless night quickly now that he had something to concentrate on. "Marriage?" He said softly, as if he had not heard them correctly. The samurai all looked rather disapproving of this idea, not thinking that it was as yet necessary for their young king to be wed. "Indeed, your Majesty," the priest said smoothly, "It is of the utmost importance that you provide and heir for the people to feel comfortable. There are many young ladies of suitable age, and any nation would look favorably on-" "I will as Hitomi." Van said with finality. Merle could see that the samurai at least were well pleased with this idea. Hitomi was famous all over Gaea, and well liked by both the soldiers and the people for her fearless and trusting nature and down to earth good sense. "Your Majesty," the priest said with a consoling and slightly superior expression, "The Seeress is hardly-" "I will ask Hitomi." Van had given ground to the advisors on many things, all restrained to practicality by the common-born samurai, and it seemed to Merle that they had expected him to give on this as well. They, after all, were noble born with arranged marriages or vows of celibacy. Van's eyes took on an intensity that she had not seen since the end of the war, a stubborn fire that said he would not give way to them, no matter what the cost may be. One of the highborn, a Duke, cleared his throat delicately, "While the Lady Hitomi would make an excellent Queen, she is rather badly injured, your Majesty, and our physicians say that it is unlikely that she will survive." Van's eyes looked distant and sad for a moment, and Merle knew that the Duke's words had hit him very close to the heart. A few of the samurai cast worried glances at each other, their thoughts well hidden, and the priest opened his mouth in triumph to speak. "She will survive." Van said with a resilient certainty, "And when she says yes, I will marry her. I trust that settles your fears?" The look in his eyes said that it had better, and the opponents of the idea looked chagrined for a moment before bowing their acceptance. Nodding to himself, Van stood and left, his eyes burning with determination. Merle bounced out behind him, her puffed out tail waving furiously and accidentally hitting several advisors in the face. She was glad to see that fire in Van's eyes again. The last ten years had been harder on him than anyone knew, and he had grown more and more melancholy as time had passed. More recently, she had seen a sort of hopeless despair as he looked at Hitomi... She hoped he really felt the confidence that shone from those eyes. Of course, they went straight to Hitomi's room, where Allen - in true chivalrous fashion - stood watch over her. He looked up from the book he was reading, one hand automatically straying toward his sword before he relaxed with a smile of recognition and greeting. He surrendered his seat to Van, who sat with a gaze that lingered on worriedly on Hitomi's face. Merle climbed into the window seat, looking down at the garden below, where she saw a pair of young lovers walking hand in hand in the light of the sun. She had to supress a moment of unreasonable outrage. Wasn't that where Van and Hitomi should be? Hadn't they earned it? She remembered the first time she had seen Hitomi, when she had thought the strange girl a monster of some sort with her odd smell and odder manner. She had been so very jealous of Hitomi, who was attractive to Van as she was not, who had gotten from him the stunned look that said she was beautiful when all that Merle had ever gotten was a soft friendliness. She had tried so hard them, to make her look foolish in his eyes, to make her look unnatural and unforgiving. They had fought and fought, and Van had only been amused at the play between them. And somehow in the middle of it all, Merle had come to think of Hitomi as a sister, much the same way she had come to realize she felt about Van. "I sent Gaddess to Austuria," Allen said, breaking the silence, "to get Millerna and Dryden. If anyone can help Hitomi, then it is they." "Thank you, Allen." Merle's ears twitched, "Will Mirim come too?" She liked Allen's wife, Lady Mirim, who was a gentle soul that didn't seem to care that Merle was a cat. Mirim had befriended Merle during a visit not long after the war - just before her marriage to Allen - when Van was too buisy being a new King to spend much time with her. "Yes, she will. Millerna stays with her now, saying something about her not being the right proportions..." Allen looked vaguely worried. "Everything will turn out alright," Van said, as if to himself, "It is more than time for our happy ending." Where am I? Her voice, or perhaps her thoughts, echoed strangely around her in what appeared to be a vast and darkly empty space. All she could remember was the screaming of tires and then... this. Was this death then? How disappointing...and lonely. Was it her destiny to be alone, even when her life was over? Shouldn't she be welcomed to the afterlife by at least her grandmother? What had she done to deserve this? The worst of it was that she knew it was a dream now. There was no rebirth on Gaea, no Van, Allen, Merle, or Millerna to keep her company. There was just the darkness and the lonliness of her thoughts. Her heart broke all over again as she realized that even in death she was completely alone. |
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