THE RELUCTANT PRINCE
Chapter 3: You Should Have Remained Lost!
The group was escorted through the huge gates. Feral looked around carefully, nothing seemed to have changed much as they were marched briskly through the city streets past people buying, selling, and working in various stalls that they passed. The people wore colorful clothing and their wings were just as varied in color. There were out cries of shock, surprise, and fear at the sight of the strangers.
His people looked well fed, clean, and healthy but there seemed to be a haunted look in their eyes as they hurriedly got out of the way of the guardkats. Gone was the normal look of respect and curiosity they usually gave visitors. In its place he saw fear. It was palpable enough that he could feel his fur rise from the stench of it. Something was seriously wrong.
Razor had been studying his surroundings for any signs of immediate danger as well as curiosity about the people. But he didn't fail to note the inhabitants behavior either as the guards pushed them back so their group could march unimpeded toward the castle. The people moved hurriedly out of the way, shooting looks of fear and worry not at the strangers as he'd first thought but at the guards themselves.
'What the heck was going on?' He wondered in concern. 'And does Feral see it as well?' A glance in the dark tom's direction showed him the enforcer was on full alert. 'Guess that answers that...he sees it and is reacting negatively which means this isn't normal. So something about his home is off and has him worried. That's just great! Bad enough were trapped here but that something is wrong as well means things are going to go badly for us,' he thought sourly. He turned to stare at his partner, waiting until T-Bone felt the attention on him which he did moments later and stared at Razor questioningly.
Razor glanced at Feral then at the guards with a meaningful look, telling his friend to study the situation a bit more closely. Frowning, T-Bone turned his attention to the enforcer for a long moment then flicked his gaze to study the guards. A grimmer expression crossed his face as he turned back to Razor, his lips thin with tension. T-Bone had seen the danger as well. The smaller SWAT Kat nodded his head infinitesimally then the two went on higher alert...they would not be caught by surprise.
Calico Briggs had her paws full trying to keep the Mayor calm but she didn't miss the feel of heighten tension around her which made her quickly glanced toward Feral then to the SWAT Kats on either side of her, all three were exhibiting signs of having been alerted to some new danger than the one they were presently in. She carefully looked around herself to see if she could spot what had provokes this response.
At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary for what was going on until she saw the reaction of a mother sweeping her kitten from the path of the guards. The she-kat turned away quickly, a look of fear on her face. Frowning, Callie didn't think they were that scary so she turned her attention to faces of the crowd watching them as she and her group were marched along.
She found to her surprise and dismay, the looks of fear and uneasiness were being directed at the guards, not her and the others. 'Why are they afraid of their own guardkats?' She thought unhappily, a suspicion forming in her mind. 'This is so not good! Fear of this kind usually indicates a tyrant ruler which means we're in far more trouble than being in the wrong dimension.'
Her thoughts were interrupted when they reached the huge doors that lead into the castle. Feral went stiff and hissed with shock at the sight of something hanging above them. She tilted her head up and saw a rather nicely down tapestry that had a knight with wings sitting aboard something that looked almost like a horse on a field of orange and black.
'Now why did that cause Feral such upset?' She wondered in worried dismay. The SWAT Kats hadn't missed Feral's behavior either.
'It can't be! The Janorians have taken my home!' Feral thought in angry horror and dismay.
They were forced up the steps and into the castle proper. Crossing the main entryway made of some kind of cream colored tile, they could see dressed brown stone walls covered with many more tapestries in the same theme as the one out front and swords crossed and mounted on the walls beside them.
They walked down a short hall and came out into a huge room with high arched beams of wood overhead, flags on staves around the room half way up the walls and a big ornate chair set on a raised area to the right of the room with huge draperies of red hanging on both sides from ceiling to floor which bracketed the chair. The chair was empty at the moment. Guardkats were stationed at intervals here on the floor and above, on a stone balcony that went around the circumference of the room.
The group was halted before that chair and made to wait. No one said anything. Feral was seething inside. No sign of his family's heraldry remained...all was from the Janorian usurper.
From a side door to the left of the fancy chair, males dressed in rich robes and grim faces entered, followed by one who wore a crown. They swept in then spread out to either side of the chair, the crowned male took a seat in it.
The male stared thoughtfully down at them. The King, for that was who he apparently seemed to be, was as tall as Feral and as broad. He was a reddish brown color with red tipped black wings. His clothing was a rich mahogany doublet with dark brown cape and pants. Black boots covered his feet.
After a lengthy silence the King sang in harsh tones, his voice not at all pleasing to the ear at the leader of the guards that had captured them. The leader's more modulated tones answered, obviously briefing him on what had happened.
But towards the end of his explanation, the King lunged to his feet and spat. He barked something in that same harsh song of his and pointed at Feral. Guards leaped to obey, grabbing the dark tom by both arms then shoving him to his knees to the hard floor.
Feral resisted at first, his eyes flashing fire and fury as he sang back in obvious defiance, "Janarian bastard! How dare you take my father's throne! Where is my father? What have you done to him?
The guards finally manage to wrest the powerful tom to his knees. Feral panted, his head tilted upward to glare hatefully at the King who was stepping down to stand before him.
Without warning, he fetched the dark tom a powerful blow that should have knocked Feral backward but he barely flinched and continued to glare defiantly back. The King grinned viciously and his tone was cold as he sang, "Poor little princeling...returning to find all that you knew is gone must be quite the shock. Your father forfeited the crown when you disappeared and refused to honor the bargain we made. Now I hold your rich kingdom for my father and you are cast out just as your father was. Think on that as you rot in your cell! Wherever you were, you should have remained lost!" Turning toward his guards he barked, "take them to the dungeons except for the females. I have other plans for them." With an evil leer, the King headed out of the room toward the door he'd entered from.
Feral's eyes flashed in fury and he tried to lunge up from his kneeling position. "They cannot speak our language and I am responsible for their safety. You will not touch them!" He roared, his song so powerful and strong that it shook the room. The King never gave him a glance, though the councilors eyed him with surprise and pity as they hurried after the king, the two females being forcibly escorted behind them as several guards took control of Feral, yanking him to his feet and marching them in a different direction.
Callie and Abi cried out in surprise and anger when they were none too gently, yanked from the safety of the others and marched away. They looked back at their fellow Kats, beseechingly.
When the guards pulled the she-kats away, T-Bone and Razor realized instantly that the females were being separated from them. T-Bone twitched his arm in preparation to fire something but Razor hurriedly aborted his move with his paw and shook his head urgently.
Scowling in angry fury and shock, T-Bone glared at his friend then the opportunity to fight was gone and they were being hauled off by the guards to somewhere else in the castle. Manx was wailing in fright while the injured enforcers cursed angrily. Feral had no less than four guards manhandling him as they were dragged away from the throne room.
It was a long, forced march down torch lit stone stairs into a cold darkness. At the bottom, a big oak door was opened and they were shoved through. A line of cells met them as well as a big tom with gray wings and a war ax in his belt, a ring of keys in his paw as he eyed the new prisoners. He went ahead of the group and opened a cell at the end. Everyone was shoved in then the door was locked.
The cell was little more than a large stone room with a small window high up the wall. The floor was covered in filthy straw and rats were seen scurrying across the floor disturbed by their entrance. Manx fainted dead away but no one had time for his histrionics.
"Razor, why did you stop me?" T-Bone hissed, finally able to express his anger.
Razor eyed him tightly but turned away and confronted Feral who stood at the door, his back stiff with fury. "Is it safe to talk here?" He demanded, flatly.
Feral turned sharply and gave Razor a look of angry frustration. He heaved for breath as he tried to calm himself enough to talk. He felt sick inside. His home taken over by the Janorians...his father most likely dead...they were prisoners...even in the worst situations in Megakat City he hadn't felt this helpless before.
It took him some moments to realize Razor was still waiting for a response. His face so tight it hurt, he ground out, "Yes, it should be safe here, but keep your voices low."
Nodding, Razor lead the way to the back of the cell and squatted down. The others came to his side and did the same. The injured enforcers murmured a bit in pain, but managed to make themselves as comfortable as they could nearby and prepared to listen. Manx was still out cold.
Snorting in disgust, T-Bone patted the portly Kat's face a few times until Manx finally came around.
"Wha...what's happening..." he asked in a daze then saw the stone walls again. "Ahhh...we're prisoners!" His voice beginning to rise as he tried to scramble away.
T-Bone shoved him back down and pushed his face in the Mayor's terrified one. "Shut up! We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Feral is going to explain what's going on so keep your mouth shut and no more panicking. We have no time for it and if you want to stay alive, you'll do what we tell you!" He growled threateningly.
Manx shrank into himself and nodded frantically. Satisfied, T-Bone released him and moved to seat by his partner. Manx shivered. He was out of his depth here and he knew it. Drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, he prepared to listen and try to stop his heart from galloping in fear.
Everyone turned their attention to Feral. Grimacing unhappily, Feral stood up and paced a moment. Scowling more to himself than to them, he reached up and almost violently pulled his great coat off and his tie. He stuffed the tie into a coat pocket then hung the coat on a big peg on the wall that held a set of nasty looking wrist restraints made of metal.
Then he appeared to do nothing for a long moment except to stare off into the distance. Before T-Bone or Razor could demand he stop keeping them waiting, Feral glowed softly at first then so brightly they couldn't see him before it faded instantly away.
When their eyes could focus again, they stared at Feral who looked the same, almost. Now there were a pair of huge golden wings with black tips rising out of his back, soaring past his shoulders and nearly touching the ceiling of their cell and reaching down to just a two inches short of his heels. His new look was capped by a pair of glowing eyes that lit the darkness of the cell.
"Wow! Now you do look like them!" T-Bone commented softly, shaking his head.
Feral just scowled unhappily. Speaking in harsh, clipped sentences, he told them of the war and why he had left then how he'd ended up in Megakat City.
"Since I couldn't find a way to return, I was forced to accept I was truly trapped. I found a way to use my magic to hide my wings and learned your ways so I might fit in. I succeeded at the cost of my song and wings. It was a harsh reality. Now that I've returned, I find the Janarians have taken over my father's kingdom and cast him out. I don't know if he's dead or alive nor how long this occupation has gone on. My people appear resigned to their fate which leads me to believe it has been a long time, perhaps years," his voiced faded, pain and sorrow edging it.
Everyone was silent for a long moment. T-Bone found himself sorry for Feral and angry at all that the tom had lost. No wonder he never seemed happy and was always so hot tempered. He doubted he would have been any different if they situations had been switched. Much of Feral's behavior was now explained. But where did that leave them now?
Razor voiced that thought aloud moments later. "So what do we do now? What will that creep do to Ms. Briggs and Dr. Sinian?"
Feral looked profoundly unhappy. "They will either be made bed slaves or married off to some of his generals. Their lives will be one of misery and pain."
T-Bone lunged to his feet, his fists clenched. "Then we have to get them free!"
"Good idea, SWAT Kat but we're trapped in here, remember? So how do you suggest we get them free?" Capt Freestar, one of Feral's non-injured officers, snapped sarcastically.
Razor was the one to answer before T-Bone could lose his temper further. "They never disarmed us which means they didn't recognize our weapons even though they did seem to know what your lasers were since they did take those." Razor paused as another thought came to him. "Feral, you said they could understand our language even though they can't speak it. How is that possible?"
"For the same reason I didn't have to learn it when I was trapped in your dimension. I wasn't the first to cross the barrier. Many times over the centuries, we got unexpected drop ins from your dimension. They were trapped here and had to make the best of it. They weren't allowed to breed with us because of the chance of kittens failing to have wings due to genetics. So the males were castrated and the females made sterile."
Everyone in the cell gaped at him in horror and disgust. One of his officers, blurted," that's barbaric! How could you do that to people who never did you any harm and were permanently lost here?"
Feral sighed and shook his head. "It wasn't done in cruelty. Our world is very hazardous and our wings are our way of remaining alive. You seem to think this is some fairyland with no real dangers but you would be wrong. The castle has these high walls for a reason. Pray you never see those reasons close up. Breeding with non-flyers could have had disastrous consequences both for the Kat and my people. It just couldn't be risked."
"Still sounds barbaric," the officer grumbled but subsided.
Razor redirected the conversation back to the issue of escaping. "Alright, so now we know to guard our words. So let's get to what we can do to free the females after we get out of here."
"And how is that going to be done exactly," Lt. Dunear asked anxiously, he was one of the injured enforcers.
Both Razor and T-Bone held out their arms. The glovetrix was plainly visible. Eyes lit up with hope but Feral's expression wasn't as hopeful.
"You can't just blast your way out of here..." he began.
"Of course not. That was why I prevented T-Bone from attempting it earlier. We need to know the layout, what's the best route to where the females might be kept, how do we get back to the Turbokat?...And you are the only one who can answer those questions, Commander," Razor interrupted.
T-Bone could have kicked himself for not realizing that. He was just glad his partner was always thinking ahead.
Instead of looking positive, Feral looked torn and upset. He moved away from them and stared out the bars of their cell. Razor had a suspicion he knew what was going through the tom's head.
He moved to stand close and murmured softly, "I know this must be very hard for you. Your first instinct is to find your father and try to save your people. Believe me, neither T-Bone nor I suggest we leave the situation as it is but you know we can't fight without information and to get that we must escape."
Feral closed his eyes in pain. The SWAT Kat was right. They had to get out of here. Taking a deep breath, he turned back around, giving Razor a brief nod to show he agreed with him, then gave the others his attention.
"I'll lead the way. You must obey my every command if you want to survive getting out of here," he said flatly, staring each person in the face. No one objected and all waited for what they would do next.
