My Cat's
A one shot by
Arianna Elizabeth Jackson
My lady, I'm so sorry. Those five words resounded through Arianna's head. How could it be. Her beloved Flora, dead. The world couldn't be that cruel. There was no way it was possible. Mariotto must be lying.
While Arianna sat there in her bedchamber, she couldn't help but think, why why must she die. Flora could only have been five years old or so. That was not old for a African spotted cat. Afternoon passed and by the time Arianna was able to move again it was passed dinner. Luciano came to visit and said meaningless words of comfort. Arianna was not in a mood to be comforted, not even by her husband. Arianna walked to the stables where the cats were kept, sat down on Flora's old bed, and cried her heart out. Flora was her favorite of the many cats. Arianna sat there crying her eyes out for a long time, till suddenly Rodolfo came and sat next to her. "I'm so sorry Aria. I know what she meant to you. But you have to move on. The ruler of a city can't sit here doing nothing."
"I know, dad I know." Rodolfo's heart swelled at her use of dad. It was a random word that Luciano had told them was some how short for father in his world. Luciano had started to call Rodolfo that, but it made Rodolfo's heart swell when Arianna used it. She had finally completely accepted that he was her father. Maybe things would be all right.
One of the cubs noticed that things were getting quite so it came over and nudged Arianna, wanting to be petted. Arianna cracked up at it's vanity. Maybe things would go back to normal Arianna thought. I'll always miss Flora, but things must go on. And then she smiled up at her dad, filling his heart with a gladness she would never know.
I was reading through City of Secrets the other day and found two smallish parts that struck my fancy. One was about Arianna's cat's and how she loved him, and the other was Rodolfo regretting that he was never the most important man in Arianna's life. This is my attempt to combine them. I hope you liked it.
Arianna Elizabeth Jackson