She looked across the craggy space with her big cub eyes. Huge trees and tumble weeds spotted the land outside the city she lived in, Kvatch. Her tail flicked with interest at the coming dust cloud of visitors. Her mother came racing over to her.
"Rajah! Rajah, get in the house!" She screamed in fear. Rajah was terrified by the tone of her mother and got on all fours to sprint through the doorway of her sanctuary. Her mother was right behind her. She shut and locked the doors and put large steel sheets over the windows. Rajah, being the oldest cub, had only seen this happen once. That was during the plague that hit. Her mother kept her inside to keep her safe from the incurable disease. After that, Rajah never saw her friend Kimmy again. Her younger brother, Thamal, started crying from the confusion. His screeches were near deafening.
"Brother! Hush! We're playing hide and seek." Rajah quickly lied to her youngest sibling. Her baby twin sisters, the youngest of this full family, were asleep in their nests. Yalah and Nima were almost inseparable. Even in sleep they clung to each other. Her mother was the cities apothecary, so their small wooden building always reeked of ashes, stewing potions, and bitter herbs. Rajah was training to become an alchemist, just as great as her mother was. Her father crept down the stairs from his study, where he was always reading books that were written in some sort of ancient language. Rajah had been strictly forbidden to enter that room, but one day, while practicing her lock picking skills, she did so.
"Nala, are they here?" her father, Normico, hissed quietly. Her mother nodded gravely. Her graying, tiger-like fur was on edge. Her stripes seemed rigid. Her father's spotted coat spiked up as well. Rajah looked down at her silver and black coloring. She had some stripes but the mean boys always said they looked more like a tabby's stripes than a tigers. She wondered vaguely what the boys were doing now. Were they hiding like her family? Her father turned his icy blue eyes on his 12 year old daughter.
"Rajah, take your siblings and go play hide and seek in the basement." Normico motioned urgently. Her brother pouted.
"Smelly. No." Thamal growled. Rajah boxed her brother's proud ears. He mewed in pain.
"Go. Now." Rajah ordered, as strict as a 12 year old can be. Her mother scooped up Yalah and Nima and carried them down into the smokey room where they kept all their cooking potions. It smelled like a rotting mammoth in there. Rajah was sure to keep Thamal in front of her, so he couldn't scamper upstairs and protest anymore. The trap door that led to this room was shut and locked behind them. Nala squeaked involuntarily, then continued down the long stairs down. Thamal looked into a big pot full of a grey mix. He was about to stick a curious finger in when his mother hissed a warning.
"That's paralysis potion! Never touch that!" She snapped. Thamal flattened his small ears and slunk away from the batch. Rajah knew what was what. she knew a lot about potion making. She also knew, though her mother wasn't aware that she knew, that they had a whole stash of Skooma behind a fake panel in at least six different cases down here. Maybe that's what the dust cloud people were after.
"I'll count to ten and you go hide." Rajah knew Thamal would play along since she barely played with him anymore. She wasn't entirely interested in childish games anymore. She would never admit this in front of her mother, but she was more interested in the inn keeper's son. Thamal beamed and nodded. Rajah faced the wall and counted to ten slowly. She heard scuffling behind her. Her mother placed her newest kits in a large cauldron, wrapping them in her head scarf to keep them from fussing. Thamal hid in a burned out hearth, his dark fur blending in with the soot. Rajah looked to her mother and finally let her confusion and fear shine through her blue eyes. Her mother cooed and raced forward. She wrapped her first born in a tight hug, refusing to whisper lies like 'It will be ok' since Nala had no idea how this would turn out. A Loud thundering knock rattled the house above them. Rajah clung to her mother.
There was silence above them. Her father was obviously trying to pretend he wasn't there. the knock came again, accompanied by a voice. Still her father was silent. Rajah knew the trap door must've been hidden by the large saber cat rug Mother inherited from Grandmother Askumai. Finally, the door was bust down. Normico yelped.
"Why didn't you answer?" A man with a strange accent asked. Her mother mouthed the word Nord to her. Rajah bristled. she didn't trust or even tolerate Nords. They only saw the powerful Kahjit race as cats. Mere domestic tabbies with no future but crime and being turned into trophies around some "Hero's" belt.
"I'm sorry, I was above in my study. I didn't hear till the last knock, but apparently, you aren't one for patience." Her father replied. There was a thud and a loud Kahjit yowl.
"Do not mock me, kitty cat." The man spat vehemently. Rajah yearned to leap up there and tear his throat out with her bare hands. Her mother only squeezed her harder and scooted them behind the case that leaned against the stairwell. Their tails curled tightly around one another.
"My apologizes, Commander. One cannot help but make jokes in time of stress." Her father's voice was strained. Rajah pictured the commander's iron boots crushing her father's beautiful face. She bared her teeth and struggled to swallow more of her anger.
"So, You must know what I'm here for. If you're so nervous." The commander sneered. Her father groaned again. A quiet hiss escaped her father's lips that Rajah knew could only be heard by other Kahjits. Human's are rather deaf compared to the feline race.
"I have no sons old enough to join your useless war, Tullius." Normico pleaded. The commander tsked.
"I'm not here for your little snot-nosed boy. I'm here for your pride and joy. Your little kitten, the one you call Rajah." His voice was vile. Rajah was almost in tears. Her mother stroked her daughters long black hair. For once it was out of its usual braids.
"But she's a girl! They can't go to war!" the shock and fear in his voice only made her cry harder. The commander's armor shifted as he shrugged.
"High King's new rule. We're running out of men and woman want to fight." Tullius sounded bored now.
"She's not a woman, she's barely more than a child!" Her father leaped up. She could tell from the scraping of his claws against the wood floor. There was the sound of paper shuffling.
"Any female, of any race, between the ages of 12 and 25 must be drafted for the war. Too bad that beauty of your wife aged out last month. I would've loved if she made a late night visit to help 'treat' me." He laughed. Normico gave off a warning yowl. Rajah was chilled to the bone by the sound, but the men only laughed harder. The men came to order. There were three of them, including the commander. Their family could take them, if Thamal joined. "So where is the pretty?" The commander paced the floor causing dust to fall from the floorboards on to them and sprinkled onto their muzzles, threatening to make them sneeze. Nala held it in, but Rajah couldn't. She let out the faintest squeak of a sneeze and the soldiers up stairs froze. Rajah was so frightened, she even held her breath.
"What was that?" one of the Commander's wing men pressed her father. He took a deep breath.
"Probably just one of the potions bubbling downstairs from our Apothecary shop." Normico shrugged it off.
"Mind if we check?" The commander's eyes twinkled with malice. Rajah looked at her mother. All her mother could do, was look down at her daughter and pray to the divine that this wasn't the last time she could hold her like this.
"Why would you want to check my potions? Know anything about alchemy, Tullius?" Rajah's father mocked him yet again. The commander's smile went away.
"Just making sure filth like you aren't hiding any moonsugar or Skooma from the Empire." Tullius kicked aside the rug, allowing streams of candlelight flow through the cracks in the boards. The commander tried the door. He was miffed to find it locked. "Little suspicious you'd lock it." the commander commented.
"My son almost fell into a pot of poison last week, I've made a habit of locking it so 'accidents' wouldn't happen." Normico pulled out a large ring of keys. "Now, which is it?" He mumbled.
"I'm moving the twins." Nala whispered to her daughter. Rajah nodded and allowed her mother to pad away. She watched her silhouette bend down and pick up the two identical spotted orange kits. They were simple little fluff balls who barely even cried. Rajah's mother told horror stories about how when Rajah was a kit, she would keep the whole city up with her crying. Her mother returned to Rajah and placed a fake panel in the space she had come from just as the door opened.
"There. Empty stewing room. It smells horrid down there, as a fair warning." Normico followed the men down. They all gagged at the stench that Rajah had grown up with. She almost found comfort in the bitter reek. Almost.
"Gods! What do you stew down here? Death?!" A solider cried. Normico laughed.
"No. Just potions of strength, healing, and paralysis." Normico scoffed. He inched near the pot full of the grey liquid. The commander eyed a pot that had a single nightshade petal on top.
"This looks an awful lot like Skooma, old friend." Tullius growled. Normico narrowed his eyes.
"It's a potion of cure disease." He corrected him. "With nightshade as a substitute for vampire powder." Normico took his turn to sound bored. The commander nodded to the men and they started to raid the basement.
"Thamal!" Rajah hissed in fear. He'd be found...and possibly killed for being down here. Next sound to meet her ears was the strangled cry of her brother. The bastard dragged him by his tail. She watched it unfold through a crack in the bookcase.
"Thamal! What in Oblivion's name are you doing down here?!" Normico scolded his son. After he had freed him from the solider's grasp of coarse. Thamal flattened his ears in shame.
"I was playing hide and seek with the other boys...then the men came." Thamal crafted. Rajah gave a sigh of relief.
"How'd you get in? The door was locked." Tullius pressed. Thamal leapt behind his father in fright.
"Don't be mad. I picked the lock. I wanted to practice like the other boys." Thamal was an excellent liar, in any case. His father growled at him, following the lie.
"Maybe you should stop hanging out with these 'other boys' Thamal. Now go to your room immediately. Father has business to attend to." He motioned to the armored men. Thamal's face lit up.
"Are you here to buy potions?! Mother makes the best. She's out on a trip to get ingredients now and-" Thamal blabbered on. Normico pulled on his son's ear.
"I said now!" He pushed his soon up the stairs, who sulked up, dragging his curved tailed behind him. "Kids these days." Her father scoffed. The commander was not amused.
"Your son seems suspicious, Normico." Tullius growled. Normico flattened his ears and bared his teeth.
"Touch my son and it'll be the last thing you do." He hissed. The soldiers unsheathed their weapons but the commander waved them off.
"A family man, are you? Well then, I'll take extra delight in tearing it apart." He grinned, showing off yellowing teeth. Nala clung to her daughter. Rajah curled tighter into her mother, fearing it'll be the last time she will ever hear that heart beat. The men continued to search. They knocked over pots and pans, stabbed their swords into thick concoctions, and knocked along the walls. Even if they found the Skooma, that would be enough to jail her father. A solider kicked in a panel. The one that blocked the room where Rajah had found the stash.
"Empty!" He shouted. So they had hid all their bottles. She had no idea why they even crafted the wretched potion. Then the solider knocked on the panel to their hiding space. He pressed against it, knocking loudly and waiting for the echo. There was silence. Normico's tail flicked back and forth in anxiety. The solider moved away and the girl's let out a collect sigh of relief. But they moved too soon. The panel was kicked in by solid metal boots. Flying pieces of wood struck Nala in the head, knocking her unconscious. The twins began to cry.
"Found you, kitten." Tullius stuck his face in. He reached in and grabbed for her. She curled back and hissed. Rajah swung a daring paw at him and caught him under his helmet. Her claw struck something wet. Tullius howled in pain and tipped back. His wing men rushed to his side. Rajah bolted out of the annex and flew up the stairs. Thamal was waiting above. He was shocked to see her, but he acted quickly.
Thamal grabbed father's sword off the table and chucked it at her. She caught it easily. He handed her a bag full of potions and food and rushed her out the door. She ran blindly into the city. The traffic was impossible. Rajah ducked and weaved through carriages of horses and ducked into her friends barn. She quickly picked the lock on the chest with her shaky hands and ripped out the hide armor her friend had made her. She slipped it on and peeked out the door. Tullius and his men were standing in her doorway, looking back and forth. Blood gushed from Tullius's eye.
"Find that damn cat now! When I'm through with her, she'll be nothing more than a damn rug." The commander shouted. People in the street became worried. They started to slowly surround the house.
"You can't take my daughter! Leave her be!" Rajah's mother was pulling at the Commander's arm. He threw her into the street and she was nearly trampled by a horse, but Normico calmed the horse before any damage could be done.
"Rajah? What...Why are you wearing the armor?" A light voice said behind her. She leapt up and spun around to face her redguard friend, Anisin.
"They're drafting us for their bloody war! He's after me. I need to get away, Anisin." Rajah pleaded her friend. Anisin nodded. She hobbled over to their best horse. Anisin could not be drafted because when she was young, she got her leg crushed by a millstone and was forced to have it removed. She came back on her crutch, leading their horse Nightmare.
"He's the fastest, and is hard to see at night, due to his black coat. Travel only by night and find a caravan to join. May the gods watch over you, my feline friend." Anisin bid her farewell and handed over Nightmare's reins. Rajah nodded and mounted the 15 hands high stallion.
"Watch over my family." Rajah answered in a response and Anisin nodded. Rajah snapped the reins and burst from the barn. Thankfully the soldiers were blocked by the crowd. They couldn't get to the fleeing Kahjit fast enough.
"I'll find you, Rajah Callicon! I swear by the Gods I will!" Was the last words she heard before fleeing her hometown and heading towards a new start.