Emeralds of Montis
Book 1.
An Empress's Command
Chapter 1. The Empress
The she-cat, Wuhyah sat in her throne room, looking at the sea. Wuhyah Redfur Madeyes, Supreme Empress of the small archipelago of three small islands. Floresta was the largest, very mountainous, and was where Empress Wuhyah had her court and grand palace. The next island in size was Selva. Most of the trees in the small island chain grew on Selva. Thickly wooded, it made good for hiding in times of attack. The smallest of the three islands was Mata; this island had the most land suitable for farming. All of the farming was done by the many scores of slaves that Wuhyah's warriors and corsair allies had captured.
The Empress's mid-length fur was a fiery rusty-red in color. Her muzzle was a crisp snowy-white, as was her breast, and stomach. There were stripes and spots of dark-black scattered throughout her red fur, giving her a tiger-like appearance. There were two stripes of pure white fur in her cream face, one on either side. They cascaded from just below her cheekbones out to the tips of her lion-like mane. On top of those two stripes of white were two of black, cascading out to the tips of her mane. Her mane framed her diamond-face perfectly.
Where her eyebrows were black, and blended into stripes pointing toward her large ears. Beneath, she had died her fur in this way. Just below each eyebrow, was a thick line of bright ruby-red; under that was a line of sunshine-yellow. Finally, her eyelids were died a bright leaf-green. On her lower lids, there was a thin line of black fur, lining her eyes. Those lines extended from each inner corner to it's outer corner. From there, they extended from the outer corners and joined with the thick black stripes of fur that joined her mane.
Her tail was like her bodyfur. At the base, it was red, in the middle it was black. At the end, it was the purest crystal-white. Thin at the base, growing at the middle, and thin again at the end, Wuhyah's tail completed her beauty. But that beauty masked a wicked, cruel nature. The only feature that expressed the Empress's true nature was her black eyes.
Son her head she wore a silver crown studded with six rubies and four diamonds. There were ten openings left. Those were for the Tears of Ten Mountains, emeralds like no others. She wore a black tube top and black silk wrap-skirt that fell to her ankles at the back. She always wore dress similar to this style to show off her unique fur. The black also set off her shining, black, hypnotic, mad, mystical eyes.
"Magic Eyes," some of the corsairs called her. Ha! She laughs at that name. She prefers Madeyes. When she became Empress, she titled herself, Empress Wuhyah Redfur Madeyes. She had taken the title "Madeyes," from a pine marten emperor of an island far to the west, Sampetra. He had the same mystical power that she had. She could look into a creatures eyes, and they would fall under her hypnotic spell.
"Farranca! Attend me!" the she-cat called.
A stout ferret entered the throne room with caution. He kept his gaze on the floor. For lest he looked into the she-cat's eyes, he would loose his mind he feared.
"Look up, thee fool." The red-furred cat said.
"Yes, Empress." the ferret-captain replied, looking up, gingerly.
"Where are the Wave Brethren?" Wuhyah asked, looking into Farranca's eyes.
"Still out searching the high seas for thy ten emeralds." the ferret replied immediately, under the red she-cat's spell.
"The Tears of Ten Mountains will be mine." the Empress swore.
"Is that all, Thy Majesty?" Farranca asked, beginning to come out of the spell.
"No. Tell the slave-drivers on Mata to work the slaves harder. The crops were looking a little wilted when I was there last." the mad-eyed Empress said, "See to it. Now!"
"Yes, Empress." the ferret-captain said, and left the throne room.
The hot tropical sun beat down on the heads of the slaves in the fields of Mata. The wretched creatures were constantly beaten down beneath the slave-driver's whips. Mice, squirrels, moles, hedgehogs, bankvoles, and otters were driven beyond their physical limits to tend the fields. Among them, was the young squirrel-lad called Gaudior, the mousemaid Palnim, and the otter, Kelpie. The trio was bolder than the rest of the slaves, and were very rebellious.
"Here comes old Farragut, Gaudie." Palnim whispered to the dust-colored squirrel.
"Good. I've got a surprise for the stupid stoat." Gaudior whispered cheekily.
Farragut the gray stoat was the head of the slave-drivers. He was very proud and did not take kindly to insult. Thats just what the squirrel was planning.
"Look who's getting uglier every day." Gaudior said subtly as the stoat passed.
"Which one of thee pathetic lot said that?" Farragut snarled.
"I think it came from one of the guards over there, Sire." Kelpie said pointing in front of the stoat.
Farragut stormed off to confront some guard over on the far side of the field. As soon as the stoat was out of hearing range, Gaudior, Palnim, and Kelpie burst in quiet fits of laughter.
"Quiet!" an old hedgehog hissed, "Thee will draw attention to thyselves and get us all into trouble."
"We're sorry, Spurrell." Palnim apologized, "We'll be quiet."
"Good. I won't get into trouble over something thee three ruffians did." Spurrell said, and returned to his painstaking work.
"We'll talk more tonight." Gaudior said to his companions before any of the guards walked by.
A/N: Just so everyone knows, "Wuhyah" is pronounced "Woo-hee-ah" Like Wuya in Xiolin Showdown with an "H" sound between "U" and "AH" sounds. R&R! Tell me what you think!