For the record, this will be one of my shorter stories. It was just a little thought I had about mixed-up roles, but not one that I can dig further into without becoming crude. I hope everyone will enjoy it anyway.
Chapter One: The Bride
The brown cat kept struggling violently as the pastel cats picked her up and carried her down the hallways and through the door that had been opened by a servant girl. A small spare key was in her paw, and a small pile of papers was in her other one.
Upon entering the personal chambers, the captive female panicked more as the pastel cats gently set her down on the huge bed.
"Now, really," the pink cat softly scolded as the other servant girl neatly set the papers next to her. "Do you have any idea how many girls would kill to be in your position?"
"Agh, mmph!" the brunette cat tried to say around her gag as the blue and purple cats whipped off the bathrobe that had been covering her, so she wouldn't be exposed to the world when they were out in the halls.
True, she was a cat, which generally isn't known to wear clothes. But even if she were still a human, she never would have considered wearing the rather sexy nightgown that she had been forced into. She had always preferred flannel pajamas, the kind with long pant legs and sleeves; a fact everyone in the Cat Kingdom was probably aware of, since that had been what she was wearing when she met the Cat King, who was now her father-in-law. The cats kept shaking their heads at her while they exited the room.
"Honestly; you'd think that they weren't married, the way she's acting!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Haru's heart turned to lead as the door locked behind the servants. True, most of the rooms in the palace had red curtains over the entrances, only the royal chambers being outfitted with doors.
She wasn't going to allow this. She angrily started trying to roll from one side to the other, eventually succeeding in falling off the bed. The brown cat gave a muffled yelp, since she had been bound hand and foot so that she couldn't try to escape again. Without anything to soften her fall, her side hurt terribly.
When the schoolgirl had saved a cat from becoming road kill a few days earlier, she never would have thought that he was a prince, or that she would be forced to marry the feline. Sure, she was shocked when he stood up on his hind legs and thanked her very politely for rescuing him, but she never would have seen all of this coming!
Never being a true believer of magic, she couldn't quite understand how the special paper the Cat King had written her name and his son's on with their blood had unalterably married them, but she had been assured many times that the marriage was not only legally binding, but unbreakable until one of them died. Since she wasn't quite ready to commit suicide and it was a little silly to kill the cat she had just saved, she'd settle for trying to escape again.
Looking down by her feet, she noted with glee that she had managed to make the marriage papers fall to the ground as well. Like a beached whale, she attempted to sweep the papers with her legs underneath what was intended to be her marriage bed.
Her large pointed ears picked up a sound that they might not be able to have if she was a human. About three rooms away, at the entrance to the personal quarters, a key was turning in the lock.
It was her new husband.
Part of the reason for her renewed struggle was because she had heard that he had returned to the palace, and the handmaidens had been told to wait to put her into the bedroom until she wouldn't have enough time to escape again, and guards were posted everywhere to ensure that she wouldn't slip out unnoticed, like she had tried the last three times.
As the door to the personal chambers opened, she realized that she only had enough time to hide herself or the papers. To hide the papers and leave herself exposed would defeat the purpose of hiding them, but if she hid herself, and left the papers out, he would find her anyway. What could she do?!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The crown prince to the Cat Kingdom sighed with relief as he hung his top hat and coat on the rack. The trip to the southern borders had taken a toll on his nerves, although he had been taught over the years never to let his feelings show to the outside world. But at least the feud had been taken care of. Two mice ranchers had somehow let their stock intermingle, and both were trying to have the best pick. The prince had settled the dispute by allowing one to equally divide the herds, but allow the other rancher to have the first pick.
The prince chuckled as he started up a fresh batch of tea. Setting the water to boil, he figured that he had a few minutes to take a nap. The trip had been long indeed. Stretching a bit, he tossed aside the curtain to his bedroom and neatly lay himself down on the bed. It was a bit big for just him, but he hadn't really seen a reason to trade it out for something more practical.
But… something was off. Disturbed, he looked up into the deep green canopy, trying to figure out what was wrong. He had learned never to pay attention when his father acted strange, since the Cat King always acted strange, but today, everyone seemed to be hiding something. He had seen a few cats struggling to contain their mirth when he was heading to his quarters; what was so funny?
And then it clicked. He chuckled softly while standing up from his bed. Everyone must have heard about his little adventure in the human world, and couldn't believe that he had gotten himself into such a scrape like almost getting run over, since he was usually very careful.
But after years of hearing about the wonderful fish crackers his mother had loved, before she was taken from her owners to become the Cat Queen, he could no longer restrain himself from going and getting a box for himself.
He chuckled again, remembering how the store clerk had reacted when the tawny cat had set the little box on the counter, and laid the little bag that had been tied around his neck next to the purchase. There had been a little more money than what the fish crackers had called for, but Humbert had been feeling generous.
Those crackers had nearly killed him. If he hadn't lost his grip on the road… well, nothing happened anyway. The fetching young woman had seen to that.
Prince Humbert pulled the chair to his desk out so he could sit down, and placed a sheet of parchment in front of him. He had promised to thank her properly for saving his life later, since he was in a hurry to solve the feud.
Halfway through writing his letter to her, he suddenly remembered that the schoolgirl had been a human. She probably couldn't read cat; his written thanks wouldn't mean anything to her.
Sighing, he placed the letter aside and stood up from his chair to start pacing the room. How could he have gotten the letter to her, anyway? The only thing he really knew about her was that she was an extraordinarily brave schoolgirl. She could have very easily gotten herself killed saving him, and there was no possible way she could have known he was a prince. He hadn't even stuck around long enough to find out what her name was.
'Father's spy cameras.' Although he had scolded his father for watching over him whenever he left the palace, it had done nothing to stop the monarch. The cameras were probably how everyone knew about the rescue. He could find out her information from there.
Smiling, he reached for the old-fashioned phone as he walked toward it. But then, his mismatched eyes, one green and one blue, became distracted.
His bed covers were messed around in a fashion that his body couldn't have done, since it was on the opposite side of his bed. Littered on the floor were a few papers.
Puzzled, he walked over and collected them, examining a royal blue one.
Upon this day, the third of the month Fishal in the thirty-third year of the reign of King Phoebus von Gikkingen, his son, Humbert of the Cat Kingdom, and Haru Yoshioka, once of the Human Kingdom, are now and forever to be held together in the holy bonds of matrimony.
His heart seemed to stop cold as he sniffed the paper.
Magic and intermingled blood.
Humbert's breathing became shallow, knowing what spell had been used, in order to create this legally binding document. When had his father managed to collect his blood, in order to pull this off? He started growling angrily; guessing who his new bride was.
"Father's gone too far this time."