The Lady's eyes bored into me.

"You don't really want to be a Dog, now, do you Rebekah?" she asked, dangerously sweet.

I swallowed. I shouldn't have talked to my Lord Provost about my dream in front of his wife, I realized, too late.

Yes, I want to be a Dog. More than anything in the world, I want to be a Dog.

I looked down. "No, my lady." I answered weakly.

Lord Provost sighed slightly. He was disappointed in me for letting her bully me this way.

Lady Teodorie smiled a reptilian smile, tight lipped and malicious. Her eyes burned with cold satisfaction. "What was that, Rebekah? I don't understand you when you mumble." She asked. I felt my face go red, and looked down at the red table cloth, with its gold embroidery.

She knew very well what I had just said.

The entire table probably had heard, and it was twelve feet long. Twelve feet! I could hear my younger sisters whispering, about how they had known all along it was just a faze I was going through, and how glad they were that I was giving it up, finally.

I tried not to hold it against them.

They were just worried that a Rat would douse me if I became a Dog.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, my brothers staring at me in surprise. They knew about my dream. How passionate I was about it.

My heart throbbed in my chest.

I swallowed a piece of well cooked chicken. It wasn't burned, it hadn't spoiled, and it had no maggots in it. I hadn't met the cook yet, but now I would definitely be paying a visit to the kitchens to beg for food.

"No, my Lady, I don't want to be a Dog." I whispered, thinking with all my heart that I would eat moldy bread and drink muddy water for the rest of my life if I could be a Dog.

Later that night, with Pounce curled up near my chest, I thought about what I had said at dinner that night, and the pains I had taken to avoid my worried brothers afterwards.

I felt a small, lonely tear slide down my cheek. "Yes, Lady Teodorie, I want to be a Dog." I said whispered into the darkness. My cat purred. I stroked him lovingly. "Yes, Lady Teodorie, I want to be a Dog."