Part I:
Old Tim was curled up on the window sill basking his
blue fur in the morning sunshine. He opened his eyes and
watched his longtime human companion turned Sidhe finish off
this morning's breakfast using an unpacked box as a table.
The move had been prompted by John's chrysalis. After all,
it would be a strain on a Sidhe to be too far from
concentrated glamour. Timothy yawned and stretched. Oh,
well, that is life. He felt something disturb the warmth of
the sunshine on his back and turned to see another pair of
feline eyes staring into his eyes and then at his companion.
With a thrill he realized this was a fellow gremalkin, and a
rather attractive tortoiseshell at that! Before the thought
had even completed its course, the other gremalkin was gone.
Tim began to wash himself to settle his thoughts. It
was disturbing him that the other hadn't stayed or signaled
him where to meet. Then he remembered why he had abandoned
the territories of Urban Kings and Queens. Some plot was
afoot, and he hadn't even been in town for more than two
days. He looked over at John as the Sidhe left to become
familiar with local nobility by doing some inane ceremony
and a bad feeling stirred from the place that birthed his
dreams...
********************************************
John wandered down St. Catherine street taking in the
sounds and smells. The banality was strong in the city; but
it seemed there was enough glamour under the surface to feed
even the most starved of banshee. He shuddered at that
thought.
He finally arrived in front of a boarded up ex-cinema
and theatre across from the market cum mall called the
Faubourg. Behind the black painted plywood with the signs
"DEFENSE D'AFFICHER" posted at regular intervals he could
feel the strength of the glamour emanating from the
freehold. He wandered around its side and climbed over the
boards into a litter strewn alleyway. Now, away from the
banal press of humanity, he could see the entryway to the
freehold and the bum/ troll acting as sentry. The troll
nodded to him as he approached the entryway, waving him
through. Once he stepped through the doors, he was caught
up in a swirl of kithain who conducted him before Duchess
Elana before he could get his bearings. He was briefly
wonder-struck by the beauty of the freehold and awestruck
by the beauty of the Duchess, dressed in a black and silver
gown. By some instinct he went to his knees before her,
noticing a couple of cats curled up lazily about her feet.
An angelic voice tantalized his eardrums, "Speak, and tell
me what brings you to my freehold?"
He looked up, "I have overcome the Fior-Righ described
by the Baron of Cantons. I humbly request to be Sained in
this court and learn from the ways of the Freehold, your
Grace."
An elderly sidhe of House Gwydion stepped forward to
whisper in the Duchess' ear. The Duchess nodded and looked
intently at John, her face betraying no emotion. "Very
well, follow my Regent, Count Latath of Clairemontagnes and
he will conduct the ceremony."
A noble of House Eiluned looked up from his
conversation with an attractive female Satyr and caught the
attention of several other nobles, sighing at the
interruption. The Count stepped forward, as well as those
he had notified, and gestured for John to follow him into
the door behind the throne. John bowed at the presence of
the duchess, before excusing himself to follow the Count.
There was a flash of fur and a tortoise shell cat was
waiting for them by the door. They wended there way into a
secret passage which took them into the presence of the
freehold's balefire. The group gathered themselves together
with John once more on his knees, but in front of the
balefire. He noticed the cat sitting and watching the
proceedings and his eyebrows knit together. Latath followed
John's gaze, smiled and said, "Oh, she's with us all the
time. We checked her out and she's just a cat, nothing to
worry about. Shall we?"
Latath pulled a shield down from the wall and the
ceremony commenced...
********************************************
Queen Esmerelda watched the light glint off of the
golden bauble she was toying with in her hand. There was an
intensity about those crystal green eyes that belied the
obvious playfulness of the gesture. A pack of kittlings
were staring up at her, eyeing the ball in anticipation.
With a grin, she reached down the right side of her throne
and rolled it down the Court watching the kittens chase it
into an unwary napping greywhisker, who reacted violently
and sent the pack scattering, much to the amusement of the
Court.
She glanced down at her lover, who was curled up in a
ball of tawny fur and purring in her lap, letting her black
hair fall about her face. "Well, dearest, old Tiger has
sent me a message about..." When she started speaking the
wild play of kittling and wildlings didn't stop; but it
seemed that in spite of the frivolity of their activities
they had an ear on the proceedings. Just as the word
'about' passed her lips all of the court turned and looked,
almost as one, at the entrance to the lair.
What appeared there was one of the court's knights who
was on duty in the traitor's lair. She was a tortoiseshell
by the name of Lithui. She strutted in, tail held high
taking in the attention. With a perfunctory bow intended to
mock the furless fae, she began her report. "My Queen, I
bring you the news you have long awaited."
The Queen sat bolt upright in her throne as did her
lover who promptly changed to his Sidhe form. The voice off
Esmerelda practically drooled with anticipation and
impatience, "Please, continue..."
"The Other, Jonold, was sained in the court of Duchess
Elana today."
The Queen's face broke into a smile that was definitely
predatory as she turned to the naked man in her lap, opening
her mouth to speak.
"My pardon, my liege, there is more. He has a
gremalkin companion."
The Queen's face clouded briefly from the interruption
then her grin turned to one of cunning, eyes narrowing in
calculation. "Mmmmm, thank you, return to your post and
keep me appraised. Oh, and let old Tiger know all the
relevant details. You know the drill."
Lithui turned and bounded out of the lair as the
courtiers returned to their play. Her consort chose that
moment to gather glamour about him for clothing. Esmerelda
looked out at him through her eyelashes, toying with his
hair, "Now why are you doing that? This calls for some
celebration..." Her grin changed from cunning to one of a
different form of play...
Behind the throne and to the left, guarded by a black
tom and surrounded by the tormentors of its captive, was a
small cage. In that cage was a mouse looking on the
proceedings with fear and worry. In her eyes was the
intelligence of a woman, but she could find no way to
restore her true shape or breach the heavily warded cage to
warn her oldest of friends.
********************************************
Tim spent a couple of hours restlessly exploring every
nook and cranny of the new apartment. As the day
progressed, he got more and more tense. Soon, the time he
expected John back passed, and he really began to worry...
Part II:
Tim had just given up trying to use his paws to open
the door when the familiar pattern of footsteps could be
heard coming up the stairs to the apartment. He started
doing frantic little circles, deciding how best to reproach
his recalcitrant companion. A piteous mewl level 4 ought to
have expressed his thoughts succinctly. So as Jonold AKA
John opened the door he was assaulted by such a terrible
barrage of meows that he stopped in his tracks and stared at
'his' Blue Burmese. After looking at his cat bemusedly
enduring another five seconds of caterwauling, his already
smiling face broke open in a laugh. His arms swept down and
picked up Tim, lifting up the feline into the air above
John's head. "Well, well... look who missed me." John
cuddled Tim scratching behind his ears, setting him down on
the kitchen table/ box. The cat responded with a couple
more meows showing his indignation and making sure he got
his point across. John began the alchemy of preparing both
their dinners. For a couple of minutes he was humming a
tune until he put Tim's cat food out on the "table."
"You're probably wondering why I was so late, eh?"
Tim's response to this was simple: ignore him. He
sampled the cat food and thought, "Yum, fake tuna tonight."
John chuckled, "Well, today I found out I'm really a
baron (Tim looked up chewing the cat food slowly, realized
how awful it was to chew this slowly and gulped the nibble
down) of the noble House Fiona. Mind you, I don't have any
holdings or retinue yet, but just you wait! And there was
this lovely Lady there that took an interest in me. Things
are looking up!" The beeping of the microwave stopped his
narrative. When he turned around, plate in hand, he saw Tim
looking at him intently. "You know, Cat, sometimes I swear
that you know more then you let on."
Tim oopsed to himself and let out a long yawn,
returning to his food. The only sounds in the apartment for
the next little while were food being devoured. "Well,
tonight, I'm off to a party to celebrate my impromptu
saining so I'll be late, and don't be giving me the welcome
you gave me earlier tonight. I don't want our neighbors
complaining about 'that Anglo's next door's cat.' You
understand"
Halfway through that Tim started cleaning himself.
John chuckled and started unpacking some of the boxes
looking forward to receiving the table from the store
tomorrow. Tim started meowing at the back door begging to
be let out. John sighed and let Tim out, "Don't get lost or
something." He returned to unpacking so that in an hour he
had finished and was dressing for the festivities that
night. In moments he was locking the apartment and on his
way downtown.
********************************************
As soon as Tim stepped out the back door, he recognized
the tortoiseshell cat from that morning. She was watching
the apartment and got up as he stepped out. Tim meowed a
greeting and slowly approached. They both sniffed each
other to get the other's scent when the tortoiseshell sat
back and said, "There are no ears to hear us. I am Dame
Lithui of the court of the Queen of Cats."
Tim held back a grin when she mentioned the Queen of
Cats. After all, it had been ages since there had been The
King of the Cats. "I am Tim. What brings someone so
distinguished as you to this neck of alleys?"
Lithui purred, "Why it is to meet the most recent
arrival within our territory, and perhaps conduct him to the
presence of the Queen."
There was a warning bell in the back of Tim's mind.
She was holding something back. "I wouldn't want to be gone
too long from my companion."
Lithui's tail twitched. "I wouldn't worry about that
too much, now. Why don't you come along?"
The warning bell turned into an alarm. Whatever plot
this Queen was hatching, it involved John. He groaned
inwardly. There wasn't enough time now to bow out of this
invitation without insulting the local monarch. Well, at
least he thought that he'd be able to find out something
from the Queen.
Tim feigned purring in happy submission, "All right,
then I will come along."
********************************************
The Queen stood up from her throne naked and walked
over to her captive, creating loose fitting clothes as she
went from the glamour in the air. They clung to the sweat
on her body as she leaned forward, poking her finger at the
mouse in the cage. "Ah, my dearest Andoris, I'm sure
you're looking forward to sharing your cell with your old
lover," she practically purred, "Mmmmm, and how my court
will love the game of cat and mice I have planned." A wry
grin spread across her face.
Her gloating was interrupted by the sound of cloth
tearing and a couple of mewlings. She chuckled as she stood
up and turned around, knowing what had just happened. One
of the blue curtains that lined the lair beneath the
courtiers boxes had been torn and collapsed. She laughed
with the rest of the court at the struggles of a pack of
kittlings to get out from under the curtain they had over
burdened when climbing. She returned to her throne and
reached into the box at the side. From it she pulled a
spool of thread and a cloth. Three quick stitches drew upon
the glamour that created a new curtain hanging in the place
of the old. By the time she was done the kittlings were all
out from under the curtain. She tossed them the spool of
thread and smiled at their attacking techniques. She turned
back to her captive an evil smile toying with her lips,
"Can't you tell? They already look forward to the game."
Another cat appeared at the entrance to the lair, a
Siamese who ran up to the Queen. The Queen watched him
approach, "Your Majesty, your... ahem... there's a party
tonight at the freehold in your target's honour."
She nodded to him, "Very well, return to your post."
One of the nobles in Sidhe form who had strawberry
blond hair broke from his conversation with a pack of
wildlings and strode briskly to his Queen. "Lithui is now
bringing the traitor's companion to us. Do you wish for me
to implement the plan?"
She watched the retreating Siamese and nodded, the
venom saturating her voice, "Do it, old Tiger. Do it"
Part III:
John had been mingling with courtiers for the past half
hour accepting various welcomings and congratulations. He
couldn't find the Lady he had spoken to that day. John began
to think darkly about allowing the Duchess the honour of
being the one to start the party. The place was getting
filled with kithain from all around. Things were getting
crowded.
A strange tinkling sound, that was soft, yet drowned
out all conversation, filled the room. Everyone turned to
look at the doors behind the throne. Out stepped Elana
decked out in finest of her gowns, with a silver and black
top with a black skirt. She swept up to her throne and
looked out over the assembled kithain. "Humble citizens of
this fine duchy," she smiled, "We have found yet another
excuse to party, that of the saining of Jonold ip Fiona.
Please come forward, Baron, to open the festivities with a
speech." With that the Duchess stepped down from the throne
and beckoned John to the top stair of its base.
After a couple moments, he successfully wormed his way
through the crowd and stood before them rather self-
consciously. Then his noble heritage shone through, mixed
with his wilder spirit, and he spoke boldly, "In the Dream,
we are no longer strangers. Let the revelries begin!" This
was followed by many cheers.
The Duchess smiled as she once more stepped up to her
throne, "Congratulations, Baron, that was by far the
shortest speech at a Saining fete I've heard but very well
spoken." With an elegant gesture the walls on
either side of the court shimmered to reveal tables and
boggans behind buffets. The crowd parted into these,
emptying a space on the floor. The sound of instruments
earthly and otherworldly teased the air with the intro
to a dance. "Since this fete is in your honour, I request
the first dance," Elana requested of John.
John bowed deeply, "I would be honored to dance with
you." As he escorted the Duchess to the floor, the crowd
formed a circle to watch the opening dance. Inside John was
trembling with the thoughts, "Great! I've never danced this
style in all my life, and here I am with the Duchess, @%$#&,
@#^$@!"
Before he could gather his thoughts they were in the
center of the floor and paired to dance. Memories he didn't
know he had were soon guiding his feet in the intricate
patterns of the dance. He experienced a rush. "Man! I'm
actually doing this!"
With his original disquiet settled, he let music and
glamour flow through him into the dance. His eyes were
pulled by some unknown instinct to that of the Duchess'. He
quickly started losing himself in their grey depths. He
felt that familiar burning sensation of desire in his heart.
With alarm, he recognized that same passion in Elana's eyes
for him. At the same moment, he became aware of eyes
weighing on him. He drew his eyes out of Elana's gaze and
looked out amongst the watching throng. What he saw filled
him with a coldness inside. A satyr he recognized as
Elana's longtime lover was fixing him with a look that would
turn the sun cold. With the next quarter turn, he felt that
this was not the only gaze fixed on him with intensity. The
next turn and he was staring directly into the eyes of an
orange tabby, sitting on a window sill. There was something
not right... and with the next movement of the dance the
strange tabby was out of mind and sight. "Is there
something wrong, dear?" came to him in the Duchess'
whispered voice.
He looked at her and all was gone from his mind.
"Nothing," he replied smiling his most charming smile. All
there was for him were the eyes of Elana and an internal
disquiet buried beneath his yearning.
It seemed, for the pair, that the dance ended far too
quickly. When they parted they felt disoriented for a brief
instant before returning to their comrades in the crowds.
********************************************
Tim was enjoying prowling with Lithui, despite evidence
of ill to come. She had a grace and charm about her that
spoke of her noble heritage. From the brief, out of earshot
conversations they had, Tim knew that John was in serious
trouble with the local Queen. He also figured out that this
was an Unseelie territory and that his present company was
Seelie but honour-bound to the Queen. His distress also
grew, for he knew this also meant trouble for himself in
spite of Lithui. He twitched his tail thrice and sneezed
casting a cantrip for luck. In moments, they were
separated....
********************************************
As Lithui limped into the trod, favoring her front left
paw, she knew she was probably going to be in serious
trouble from her Queen. Yet, what could she do, but report
her failure? How could such a simple task have gone so
wrong?
Her reverie was caught short by the sight of the lair.
No matter how many times she returned it always stole her
breath. Rising on both sides were several blue curtains,
decorative and practical. For the Cait Sidhe could claw
their way up to the booths of the courtiers and no one else.
Pillows were strewn haphazardly about the floor some the
roosts of napping gremalkin. Yet even these in their
materials and colors added to the glory of the lair. The
walls were coated with artwork of so many different styles
in one massive chaotic collage. Yet, they created a
portrait which would have mere mortals and changelings
gaping in awe for hours. She sighed realizing that the
attention of the Court was on her. The Queen's lover wasn't
present, which she thought wouldn't help her position any.
The Queen looked up from some intricate knot work in her
hands and tossed it at the same pack of kittlings that
always roamed the Court. By the time
Lithui had arrived at the base of the throne, the knotwork
was unraveled and various strings were being chased across
the floor or tangled up around a kittling.
The Queen growled when she saw her favorite Knight
returning without her objective. "What's this? You have
returned without the gremalkin?!" A threat implicate in the
tone of her voice.
The pleading in Lithui's eyes could even be felt from
behind her, "If your Majesty would hear me out, I may shed
light onto my failure..."
As Lithui's pleas echoed down the dome hall, a pack of
wildlings were forming a circle about her, ready to exact
punishment or enjoy the show of Lithui's punishment at the
hands of the Queen. They were stayed by a gesture from
Esmerelda.
"Speak, and this better be good..."
"We were not ten minutes from this Hall when two men
from the SPCA mistook us for strays. How this possible I do
not know... The result was he was caught, and I escaped
with this shard of glass in my paw to prove it." Lithui
laid herself on the ground, awaiting judgment.
The ice left Esmerelda's eyes quickly. In fact she
laughed and stepped down from the throne to ruffle Lithui's
ears. "Well, well, this works out just right. That
gremalkin is out of the way, and," she continued
whimsically, "if I am not mistaken, the SPCA is not
technically in my territory. Oh well, I guess Dan will
decide the poor fool's fate. Come, now, and I will see that
a Greywhisker attends your wound."
(
geocities.com/soho)