Chapter Ten: The Wedding
The guards firmly deposited the extremely reluctant bride next to the Cat King, who wrapped one scrawny arm possessively around her waist. He chuckled evilly as the slim brunette started to desperately try pushing him away, still too weak to do anything to save herself. The priest coughed.
"We are gathered here today to bear witness to the union between our magnificent ruler and the Cat Witch." He uncorked the bottle, and carefully poured some black liquid into his hand, which strangely turned into powder. He threw the dust into the air over the bridal couple, and it showered on them. The king took in great breaths of the dark magic substance, which encouraged Haru to try not to breathe at all. The magician frowned, and poured out a bit more dust and directly hit her in the face with it as the Cat King stomped hard on her foot.
Without meaning to, she gasped from the pain, taking in a great amount of the magic. She could feel it spread throughout her body, exploring every inch of her like thick slime. Then it all rushed back to her mouth. Or, to be more accurate, her trembling lips.
"You may now kiss the bride," the magician intoned.
The king was already leaning towards her, his eyes huge and filled with a terrible hunger. She turned her face away, trying hard to throw up, but her stomach was long empty. The king growled deeply with displeasure and painfully directed her face towards his, his extended claws ready to cut her face if she resisted him again. Her heart stopped in fear as he leaned toward her again. She closed her eyes, praying to wake up from this terrible nightmare before the inevitable could happen.
What happened next surprised Haru. Before she knew it, she was swept off her feet by a pair of familiar strong arms, and soft firm lips were pressed against hers. She could feel the magic release into the kisser's mouth, and the magic in his flow into her mouth. She could feel the raw power pass through both of their bodies, solidifying a bond that would last for the rest of their life together.
And the kiss… it was soft and tender. It made Haru want to cry, it was so wonderful.
Very clearly, a good ten feet away, she could hear the king howl loudly with displeasure. She opened her eyes to a familiar green, and let the tears come freely.
"Baron," she whispered happily into his mouth, which curved into a soft smile.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Baron smiled lovingly, not quite ready to end the kiss, now that she was kissing him back, relieved beyond words that he wasn't the Cat King. Muta was about two feet away, blowing on his paw and rubbing it against his chest in a self-congratulatory manner as he grinned evilly at the king he had just punched away from the helpless kitten. The priest had fallen to his back; his bespectacled eyes wide with shock from the sudden attack of the Cat Bureau.
The king had fallen off the platform from the punch, and was having a fit as usual.
"Guards! Seize them!"
The two guards that had delivered the bride jumped onto the platform, but were knocked off again as Muta sent them sailing through the air, grinning evilly.
"Anyone that tries to hurt Chicky will have to go through me, Renaldo Moon, first!"
"Oh, is that your real name?" Haru asked politely after Baron reluctantly broke off the kiss; her speech still slightly slurred as several cats started screaming and fleeing the banquet hall. Several black and white cats started dragging the king away from the platform, making him howl with protest.
Startled by her slurred speech, Baron reached into the inside pocket of his jacket to pull out a small vial and uncork it. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders as Muta took down the few guards dumb enough to attack him.
"Please drink this, Haru. It will wake you up."
The large cat tossed the old priest from the platform as Haru hungrily downed the contents of the vial. After a few seconds, the young bride blinked, and took a deep happy breath, relieved to feel like herself again.
"Alright Muta; who'd you kill? The King's sister?"
The fat cat laughed.
"No, I didn't kill anyone; I just ate all the fish in the sea, to repay the king for everything he'd done to the people."
Haru giggled, deciding not to voice that she could easily believe his story, thanks to his ample waistline. She walked over to the large white cat and hugged him affectionately.
"I always knew you were cool."
Muta laughed while looking around.
'Drat. Birdbrain didn't get to hear her say that.'
"NO! I don't care if Renaldo Moon's guarding her!" The Cat King threw off the bodyguards with ease, and picked up a fallen sword in order to charge the platform. Baron swept his wife into his arms and managed to pull a fancy back flip to take them far from the king's path. Muta settled for hopping out of the way, managing a grin at his boss.
"Show-off!" the fat cat yelled at his employer as the platform was cut in half by the rabid king, who turned in order to face the couple.
"Get away from her," he hissed. "The Cat Witch is mine!"
"Really?" Baron asked, amused beyond words as he kept cradling the brunette in his arms. "That's strange; we both inhaled the matrimonial powder, I kissed her, we both felt the bond… sorry for not courting you longer, love," he said to Haru. She giggled and kissed his cheek.
"Out of all the things I'm going to let you apologize for, marrying me isn't going to be one of them."
The king howled again, and charged. Baron grabbed a sword while firmly placing his bride behind him to protect her.
Swords clashed loudly as the two cats dueled. Haru smartly ran for Muta's side, certain that no one would try to grab her again while she was near him. The white cat grinned at her while placing one paw on her shoulder, to ward off any that would try to harm his new mistress. The remaining cats got his unspoken point, and left her alone.
Haru watched Baron's movements, entranced as he wove and dipped and lunged. The king didn't seem to have a strategy outside of wanting to kill his rival.
It still wasn't very long before the duel ended. Baron stood over his rival, having disarmed (made the king lose his weapon; Baron wouldn't actually cut off arms!) his opponent, who had fallen on his back, and was looking up at the orange cat in fear.
"Just out of curiosity; do you even know her name?"