Chapter 7; The Difference
"Yes Yuki, it really is. It's good to see you again," Haru said, smiling.
They were up and embracing each other before anyone realised that they had even moved, which considering that Haru is reliant upon her walking stick, is quite something.
"I find it hard to believe that this was your idea after last time…" Haru said, sitting down again, smiling as she politely refused all food. She held tightly to her son's paw with her hand – she'd managed to keep those, she was pleased to see – as she talked.
"It isn't," Yuki answered, sighing. "The old king still believes that humans make more handsome partners, and our daughter … well, she hasn't quite learned yet that humans make better humans than cats. Did you go to the Bureau?"
"Oh yes, first thing, but I know a little about your errand-fool, so all we could do was insist that I come too. Is the escape hatch still –" Haru pointed surreptitiously to the next table over, one that was filled with food but had no cats sitting at it.
Yuki nodded. "And the tower's been fixed, so you'll come out on ground level this time," she whispered. "We just need a distraction so that you and your son can get away."
"Presenting her Royal Highness, Princess Kana!"
Everyone turned. It was the same cat Haru had made her son rescue when he was nine, and obviously the same cat he had caught the day before.
"She really is lovely," Haru confided in her friend. She glanced around the room to see how the rest of the court reacted to the lovely grey cat dressed all in black with diamonds, and her brown eye caught upon a familiar hat in the crowd of entertainers. "Is the labyrinth rebuilt also?"
"No, we just fixed the tower."
"Will you please tell Muta about the escape, I think I'm about to create a distraction," Haru whispered, straightening in her chair as Lune called for entertainment.
The girl, no longer young, though still young at heart, smiled dreamily as the tall orange cat stepped forward and asked her to dance.
"I don't know how good I'll be, but alright," she said, slipping her bare hand into his gloved one.
Muta was surprised to see his mother leave her cane behind, and even more surprised to see her dancing. A tap at his shoulder drew his attention away from his mother and he listened to what the white queen whispered in his now very feline ear.
"Your mother is a divine dancer," said the princess, smiling over at him briefly. "Does it run in the family?" a suggestion in her bright, mismatched eyes.
"No, I'm afraid not," Muta answered, running his fingers over his mother's cane. "I'm more of an eater than a dancer, I'm good at running though," and so saying, he made a dash for the little door that would lead to his eventual freedom, dropping the cane in his mother's seat.
