Tybalt, you ratcatcher! Will you walk?

[shadowandsnark]

 [OOC: All dialog and events herein come from the short story Rat-Catcher which is from the anthology A Fantasy Medley 2.]

June, 1666. London, England.

"I do love the way they stage the duels here," Rand commented to me as we perched up in the rafters of the theater the Duke Company used for their productions.

I sat cross-legged and scowled at him. "You've seen this show a dozen times!"

"Closer to a dozen dozens, more likely, and yet I never tire of it," he said, glancing away from the actors long enough to grin at me. "Can't you relax for one evening, and enjoy a little entertainment?"

"No, I can't, and neither should you," I replied, and folded my arms. "Father wants you."

"So he sent you to retrieve me?" Rand scoffed. "Did he consider, for a moment, that I might refuse to come?"

"He did, yes."

"And?"

"And if I fail to retrieve you, I'm to be put to work minding the kittens for a week's time, to teach me obedience," I replied with a baleful scowl. "I won't mind kittens for you, Rand. You're coming with me, whether you like it or not."

"Am I, then?" Rand asked, raising an eyebrow. "Will you fight me in order to bring me home? Much as I love you, darling Jill, I doubt you'd come out the winner in that particular contest."

"I won't fight you."

"Then what?"

"I'll sit here and cry through your precious performance if you refuse to come. And tomorrow night, when my time in the nursery ends, I'll do the same. And the night after that, until such time as you apologize to me." I replied and smiled sweetly. "You can save us both a great deal of time and suffering if you simply come with me now."

Rand cast a longing look towards the actors. Mercutio was preparing to die, and in the process was layering curses down on both waring houses. "Are you sure father can't wait?"

"Come on!"

Comments

[shadowandsnark]

"Hello, Father. My dear sister was kind enough to inform me that you–-" I began to say before Father's hand closed around my throat, cutting off most of my air supply.

"You were bid to be present when the sun went down," the King of Fogbound Cats hissed into my ear. "The sun has been down for some time. How do you answer this?"

I coughed, endeavoring to look piteous. It wasn't as difficult as it might have been; the lack of oxygen was beginning to make my lungs ache. The King dropped me in disgust.

"I was otherwise engaged," I said, rubbing me throat and making no effort to rise. I knew that to do so too quickly would result in my being slapped down again. "I apologize for my delinquency. To what do I owe the honor of this summons?"

The King glared. I looked innocently back, the very picture of the faithful Prince awaiting the word of his King. It was a look I had had occasion to cultivate since I desired neither challenge nor exile.

I had once had two brothers. Fellow Princes. But they were not so good at playing the fool.

"You are to go to the Divided Courts," the King spat, finally. "An envoy has been requested for the latest of their assemblies. To show respect, I must send a member of the family. To show scorn, I am sending them you."

"Your faith in me will not go unrewarded, Father!" I caroled, bounding to my feet with as much vigor as I could muster. My throat ached, but I would not show weakness; not here, not with the King watching my every more. "When shall I depart?"

The King's smile was terrible to behold. "That is why I summoned you at sunset, my dear boy. They expect you at any moment. You will have to travel the shadows--and you will have to do so on your own."

[shadowandsnark]

I fought the Shadows and the biting cold, and they, in turn, fought me. The Shadow Roads were the boon and right to all cait sidhe, shortcuts through the Summer and mortals lands, and yet I had difficulty with them. For me, traveling them was much like swimming blindfolded, in winter waters, while the water fought back.

I tried not to think of the first time I had traveled the Roads. A mere eight years old, a kitten and still finding my feet, Father nonetheless, in his infinite wisdom, opened a door to the Shadow Roads, threw me in through the opening, and closed the door again. The last of the trials to prove I was, indeed a Prince of Cats, and not merely another mouth for him to trouble himself feeding.

My elder sister, Colleen, found me in a London alleyway three hours later, unconscious, half-frozen, and naked.

[shadowandsnark]

Of the Roane, only three things need be known: that they see the future, but never clearly; that few of them remain among the living; and that the one disaster they did not foretell was the one which killed the better part of their number.

So it was with great regard that the Divided Courts welcomed the messengers of the Undersea, a merrow escort for a Roane message.

"The fires will come, and though many will run, few will survive the burning. In their wake will come sickness such as has never been seen before nor will be seen again, and it will be a second burning, one that kills without concern for fae or mortal bloodlines. Few who call Londinium home will survive those fires, and royal lines will be henceforth shattered into history and dust."

"I have seen many of you before, in the motion of the water," the Roane, a little girl barely able to hold herself upright, finished. "Too many have I seen on night-haunt wings. Flee this land while the future can yet be changed. Stay, and may the mercy of the waters be upon you."

I stood beside my dear friend Rand, who had startled me not minutes before by walking, calmly as you please, from the shadows of my dressing room. Fortunately for he and I, I had been dressed and neither my husband, nor my servants had been in attendance. The man truly had no sense of propriety.

Regardless, together we looked at each other in fear and dread of what was to come.

Rand offered a courtly bow and said, "I must go, dear September, though it pains me to leave you so soon. I must report to my Father the words of the Roane."

"Farewell, my friend. Open roads." I replied with a formal tone and a warm smile.

"And kind, yet obedient fires to you and yours."

[shadowandsnark]

For once a greater fear than that of the Shadow Roads drove my flight, and for the first time in my life, the Roads seemed to aid me.

I returned to Father's Court barely chilled, rather than frozen and chattering my teeth, to find one of our interchangeable halls of lost places, this one stone-walled and tapestry hung. Stopping after three steps, I sniffed the air. "Please come out. This is not the time, and my nerves are too frayed by far to be a pleasant opponent in catch-the-mouse."

"You're no fun when you're serious," declared Colleen, stepping from behind a tapestry. "You're pale. Rand, are you well? What ails?"

Fire. Fire is what ails me, I thought. Fire and prophecy. Aloud, I said instead, "Is Jill here? Jill, come out. I have no patience for games."

A tabby cat slunk out of the shadows at the base of one wall and stood, resolving itself into my other sister. "Brother?" She asked, concerned.

I stepped forward and swept them into a three-part embrace. Jill squeaked, sounding almost like a kitten herself. Then they both embraced me back, purring soothingly. I buried my face in their shoulders, breathing in the reassuring scent of them, Jill's crushed chalk and silver birch, Colleen's thistle and juniper.

"Rand, what's wrong?" asked Colleen.

Pulling away from their embrace, I kept hold of their arms as I studied their faces. "If I told you that we had to run, leave this Court and flee as far as legs would carry us, would you go? Would you trust me, and follow me, and not ask why?"

"You know we couldn't. Father would find us, and the punishment would be worse than whatever fate you had us flee."

I sighed. "Would that I were half so sure as you. I must go meet with Father. Will you attend?"

"Gladly," said Jill, offering her hand. Colleen did the same.

Luck, of a kind, was with us; the King was not in attendance.

[shadowandsnark]

I spent the next few hours at my theater, saying goodbye to the humans I had grown to love and respect; though I was in my cat form and they knew me only as their theater cat. The one who kept the rats at bay, protecting costumes and patrons from scratches and bites.

And so it was when Colleen and Jill found me to summon me back to our Father's Court.

[shadowandsnark]

My sister, Jill, and I escorted our brother to Father's throne room, nervous of the reception we would receive. Father had not only been in a temper but had neglected to tell us to fetch dear Rand, though we knew the fool boy felt the message from the Divided Courts was worth the bother. Hopefully, Father would, if not agree with him, at least not take out his displeasure on us.

We paused on the threshold of the throne room; all was too quiet. The room was empty, save our Father sitting on his throne. Unbidden I thought of my older brother, Carr, who had died in the very room. The room had ben much like it was now, empty and quiet, when he had challenged Father for the right to rule. He lost and my elder sister Cailin, paid the price with him.

Politics in the Court of Cats are simple and brutal. A King without any heirs is in danger to any Prince or Princess that comes, but a King with heirs can guard himself from outside attempts at secession. And so it was that Father bought three princes for his heirs, and three princesses to hold as hostages to keep the princes pliant. One prince had already fallen, taking a princess with him; another ran rather than face Father and thus Rand had two princesses when he should have had only one.

"Hello, Father," Rand called out genteelly; ever the fool, even now. "I must speak with you. It is a matter of some grave importance."

"You overreach yourself, kit. I chose what holds importance in this Court." Our Father replied, glaring down upon us.

"You sent me to hear a message." Rand said, still attempting words.

"Is that what I sent you to do? I thought I sent you to silence the whining of the Divided Courts and buy me peace. Peace which you are now disrupting."

Standing beside Rand, I could hear him take a steading breath before speaking again. "The Undersea sent an ambassador who tended to their message--tended, not tendered, for she was a Roane girl, and not some simple proclamation. She said the city was to burn, and all of Londinium with it. The division of the worlds will not protect us. We must flee, Father. That is what the Roane's vision told her, and what she carried here, to us. We must flee, or surely we will burn."

I closed my eyes in dread at Rand's words. Oh brother, you have gone too far.

None of us saw Father move, Ainmire had been King too long for that. One moment he was on the throne, the next he was slamming Rand to the ground and roaring, more lion than housecat. Rand tried to free himself but was trapped. Jill and I looked at each other unsure what to do.

"You do not dictate here!" Father snarled as he reached down to grab Rand's shoulders, claws piercing deep into his flesh. "I am King! I say whether we stand or run! I protect us, and no fire will drive me from my kingdom!" He shook Rand then, like a kitten, claws digging even deeper. "Do you understand?"

He was going to get us killed I thought of both my brother and my King. My sister and I tonight, our people when the fire comes.

"You are King, Father, but the fire will not care," Rand said quietly, to my shock. He was still trying to reason with our father? "The Roane are never wrong. If we stay, we will burn."

"As long as I am King, we stay," Father said and dropped Rand, hard and with disgust. "What do you say to that, kitten?"

Jill looked at me pleadingly, ready to leap to Rand's aid. I shook my head. If Rand were to challenge our father, and I was quickly realizing I wished he would and save us all, he had to do it by his own hand, or the Court would never follow him. Rand looked to me, sorrow and fear easily seen. I nodded. He looked next to Jill, who nodded as well.

"I say, Father, that I am no longer a kitten," Rand said, turning his eyes to our King and smiling blithely. "Nor, I am afraid, are you a King."

[shadowandsnark]

"Colleen, we must do something!" I begged my older sister as Father beat Rand. I could hear bones breaking now. Yes, our brother had challenged him, but it was to save us all. Why couldn't Father have listened?

"We cannot. Rand must win this for himself," Colleen replied, tears thick in her voice.

"A pox on that," I snarled and leap at Father just as he picked up Rand--oh sweet Maeve, he was like a strawman now. Too late, I saw Father throw Rand into the Shadow Roads. He would be lost, as badly beaten as he was. Furious, I slashed at Father's face, scratching him badly, before he grabbed my throat and roared into my face. His blows felt like thunder and, thank merciful Oberon, I quickly lost conscience.

Open roads, sister... I thought before the pain and blackness claimed me.

[shadowandsnark]

I fell in the cold and darkness of the Shadows for I know not how long. I had failed, as I knew I would. My only regret was that either Jill or Colleen, perhaps both, would pay the price for my presumption to regency and heroism.

Jill, sweet, Jill. I remembered how much fun we had tormenting each other. And Colleen, fierce Colleen who one day might just be my better in a fight.

Their memories awoke something within me. I reached out to the darkness, to the ledge I knew would be there, and caught it, arresting my fall.

I am coming, Father. I will not go so quietly into that night, I thought as I pulled myself upon the road. But first, I needed healing.

[shadowandsnark]

I was making my way back towards the room I had left Rand in after healing him, when I found him wandering the halls instead. Naked, of course, since I, in fact, was holding his clothes which had been badly in need of mending. As much as he had, truth be told.

Seeing Rand always reminded me of our youth and the games of courtship we had played. Part of me still wondered what might have been, but Rand was cait sidhe and I was daoine sidhe. Our worlds, unlike our friendship, would not have suffered each other. Still, I cared for the man, much to my husband discomfort.

"I see you're awake," I said once our silence had stretched too long.

"I am, and feeling much better. Your gracious hospitality is a true credit to your court. Now, if I might be reunited with my trousers, I truly must be going. Not that modesty motivates me, but there is something of a draft within the shadows, and I prefer to be covered."

[shadowandsnark]

Pushing through the shadows, I landed on my feet, surrounded by a stunned ring of cait sidhe. "Father! Face me!"

Across the room, Father turned with an expression half-boredom and half-gloating. I caught the briefest glimpse of the figure before him as he moved. She was pale and unmoving, and I did not need to see her face; her hair was like the London fog. My heart died a little in that moment.

"She did nothing wrong," I half-whispered.

"She failed to counsel you to patience," Ainmire, my once Father, replied. "She was never fit to be a Queen."

"She was my sister, and I loved her."

"Then you should have thought before you struck me." He began to circle, setting the edges of what would be our battleground. "You knew what you did. You did it all the same."

"If we stay here, all of us will die." I said, clearly, using the tricks of the stage so that every cait sidhe would hear me.

"How would you know that? The mortal world has burned before, and the seal-kin are not of our kind. Their prophecies do not bind us. The world can always do with fewer human rats."

"She was my sister!" I repeated, and leapt. Not toward him--into the darkness. The shadows opened for my passage, closing behind me. Ainmire was stronger than myself, this I knew, but I was the more cunning. Besides, I had the right in this contest and the shadows, besides.

[shadowandsnark]

We watched as Father and Rand fought, and I could not help the slight curl of a smile when I saw how well Rand manipulated our Father. He didn't fight him as Ainmire expected, strength for strength, but by using all of his gifts, leaping from shadows to push Father first one way and then another. Finally, Rand had Father pinned and clearly beaten, when Father, foolish foolish Father who never could see when people changed, tried to win by pulling Rand into the shadows. Was the fool not paying attention to how Rand had been fighting? The shadows were his now.

We waited for one or the other to step forward and take the throne. Father's latest doxie alternated between glaring and gloating at me, and worriedly looking to the various shadows of the room. Then Rand stepped forth and gazed at us impassively while the rest of the court gazed at him appraisingly.

I stepped forward, head held high, and said, "The King is dead."

"The Prince has died in slaying him," Rand replied, steadily as a true King.

I nodded, accepting the ritual response and flushing with pride. My only regret was that Jill had not been here to see his triumph. "Who claims the crown?"

Rand paused then, looking to where Jill still lay. "Tybalt, King of the Court of Fogbound Cats."

The Court roared its approval.

[shadowandsnark]

It had been no small task to convince the Court of Cats to leave. Over and over, I repeated the words of the Roane but to no avail. I began to understand, a little, why Father had been as he was. Ultimately, I had to resort to force, driving them off with tooth and claw and threats of worse. By the end of the first month of my reign, only two cait sidhe remained in Londinium, myself and Colleen.

"I wish you would come," she said to me as we bide our goodbyes.

"And I wish you would go."

"Please."

"If I go, who will hold this Kingdom? Another King will come and establish a Court if I am not here to stop him. It is the nature of cats. And when the city burns, all their deaths will be on my conscience."

"A cat with a conscience. Is there anything more pitiful?"

"A king without a court, perhaps."

"Perhaps." She sighed. "Open roads, dear brother."

"Sweet shadows, and may the world forever run a step behind you."