Prologue:
Deep in the safety of the nursery laid the light ginger-tan tabby queen, her head throbbing on the moss upon which she rested. It wasn't until her kits were almost born that StarClan began sending her violent messages, warning her that her so-called mate was a threat to her and her newborns. She lifted her head to see her three kits sleeping at her side. Coldkit, the smallest, a light silver tabby she-cat, had died moments after her birth. It wasn't until Jackalkit, the unusual god tabby tom had arrived that the young she-kit had started breathing again. There was, then, Castkit, a black-and-white tom, who was greatly favoured by his father, deputy of NightClan.
Outside the nursery, pawsteps drew closer. The queen picked her ears up, feeling her muscles tense slightly under her fur. "Petalfeather?" She heard the familiar voice of Ambersong whisk into the den and let herself relax, head falling to the ground.
"Ambersong…it's just you." She spoke, her voice barely over a whisper.
"Who were you expecting? Blindstar? Sidestep?" He asked, more curious than sarcastic and came to sit by the queen.
"Sidestep. He's been acting strangely lately."
The dark ginger tom licked her cheek. "Tell me more."
"It's nothing I'd like to talk about. You needn't concern yourself, really, Ambersong."
With a short sigh, he wrapped his tail around hers and stooped down to her level. "Petalfeather, I am your brother, your medicine cat, and your most trusted figure. Of course I'll worry."
She flicked her tail away from his. "I already have Peltfeather breathing down my neck fur over Coldkit, and Sidestep over Castkit." She had half snarled at him. "And to add to that I know Jackalkit has been in your favour since he was born."
Ambersong dug his nose in her fur. "You know you are my favourite sister. I respect your boundaries."
"I'm only your favourite because Cedarsky is dead and Peltfeather is, not to harm her feelings, much too close to Blindstar and has taken a fancy in Sidestep. They love each other, you know."
"I know. And that's why I'll put myself in harm's way for you. I'll be there beside you always, you know that. Were someone to lay so much as a claw on you, I'd have their fur for bedding."
Gently, she pushed herself up to meet his gaze before she turned toward the exit of the nursery, staring out into the night sky. "Whatever purpose I served in NightClan is now long forgotten. I'm not the best warrior ever and I can't hunt for mouse tails. My dearest sister is dead, my other sister is fiercely loyal to the on tom I cannot stand and is in love with my ill-gotten mate. That leaves you, my brother, whom I love dearly but is are far too busy with sickly cats to talk with me and my kits, born into a Clan of evil-doing and hatred. They will grow to be murders in this Clan. I can't have that."
"Petalfeather, what are you saying?" Ambersong muttered, sounding worried.
"I'm saying, Brother, that I don't belong here and neither do they." She said sharply, whipping her tail toward her kits.
"Then where, of all places, do you belong?"
For a while she was silent. Then she turned to the tall ginger tom. "StarClan."
The tom gave a laugh of disbelief, sitting up straighter. "Petalfeather, of course. Everyone is destine for StarClan. We just have to wait." He paused. "You'll wait with me, right?"
"Of course. I'll wait with you and when I am murdered by Sidestep, I'll be where I belong. Until then, Ambersong, I never want to see my kits again."
He stiffened and stood up instantly. "What?"
She looked at him blankly. "You will help me take my kits to StoneClan, LeafClan and MarshClan so that I may never see them. Ever."
"Petalfur, you can't!"
"Yes I can! And I will, tonight."
"But…you'll be caught."
The she-cat threw him a look and swiftly moved toward the other end of the den, clearing away bracken to reveal an escape route. "An old trick we use." She mewed. "You will take Jackalkit to the LeafClan medicine cat while I take Coldkit to StoneClan. We will come back for Castkit later."
"All right. It is your decision and one I cannot deny is the right thing. I will take Jackalkit and meet you back here in the morning."
"I will come back. Don't worry."
"I hope so." Ambersong whispered, turning to pick the small golden tom from the moss and exiting the nursery with a sidelong glance at his meek sister.
Petalfeather waited several heartbeats before following him out and headed toward the StoneClan border with Coldkit in her jaws. She reached the border and placed the light colored she-kit in a place the dawn patrol would surely pass by. Once she had said her long good-bye to her last she-kit, she returned to the Clan, grasping Castkit by the scruff and exiting once more, grief filling in her heart.
"Where are you going, Petalfeather?"
She stopped dead in her tracks, shutting her eyes.
"Where are you going with my kits?"
Turning, she sensed rather than saw Sidestep standing before her. "That is of no concern of yours." She spat, dropping the kit.
Sidestep laughed and curled his paw around the black and white tom. "Of course it is. Castkit is going nowhere. And neither are you." He unsheathed his paws, lunging at the queen though suddenly landing with a hard crash on the ground, yowling and spitting as Ambersong flung himself onto the bold grey tom.
"Don't touch my sister!" He yowled, raking his claws through the tom's belly, a cry that would have alerted the whole of NightClan. The ginger tom bit into the grey tom's throat, hissing at him a stream of insults and threats not loud enough for Petalfeather to hear.
"Ambersong!" An angered voice growled from behind the bleeding, hissing medicine cat. "Stop this at once!"
Snarling, he turned to face the speaker. "No, Peltfeather! He is dangerous!"
The broad-shouldered she-cat bristled. "No, he is not!"
"Then why is he trying to steal Castkit from good? Why, sister?" He asked, dropping the larger tom in his mouth.
"He is not. Castkit and all the others stay here."
By now, a throng of NightClan cats had gathered around, murmuring to one another. Petalfeather stepped up to her sister, eyes wide and sorrowful. "No, Peltfeather. You will never control Coldkit, never possess Jackalkit and never order Castkit. And you will never consider me your sister, ever."
That said Petalfeather bounded into the woods, tailed by Sidestep who grasped her by the scruff in his jaws. "Petalfeather, where are you—" His voice was cut off with a screech that sent him toppling over onto his side. The queen let her eyes return to focus and saw clearly her brother standing over her ex-mate, claws deep in his throat. "You…will never…find peace!" He growled, blood pulsing from his throat wound. His body gave a final jerk and he fell limp in Ambersong's claws.
"Are you all right?" He whispered.
She shook her head swiftly. "No. No, Ambersong. I…you must…you must explain to Diamondstar! Tell her what has happened then…then tell Softwhisper." She gave a long pause, drawing her breath shakily. "And I'll meet you back at the Clan later."
He nodded and licked her shoulder. "Don't do anything rash, Petalfeather. Meet me in the Clan. Alive."
She forced a smile. "I will. Now go, and do hurry, please."
The ginger tom gave a last nod and rushed into the woods. The queen watched him go, prayed to StarClan and moved toward the river. I'll meet him in the Clan. StarClan. And alive like I've never been. At first she tested the water with her paw. Then she stepped in, walking against the flow of the water before she let herself fall limp and be carried downstream where StoneClan would find her, and, maybe if it had taken him long enough, Ambersong, too.