Carefully testing the burned stairway with her weight, Little Dragon eased herself up the first few stairs tentatively, relieved to discover that the roots of the steps were crafted of stone and had survived the torching of the tower.
Gaining confidence, she lightly ran up the flight, testing each step as she went, reaching the top in a matter of minutes. The main flight had been broken away and showered with falling fragments of the crumbling roof, but the toms had managed to clear much of it away. Enough for her to squeeze passed and climb to the top room of the tower.
Gazing around at the room, she shook her head at the sight of so much devastation. The setting sun peeped through the charred rafters of the roof, submerging the entire room into an eerie, golden glow.
Large spaces of floor were missing, simply fallen away during the fire, she assumed. The debris and rubble down below bore silent witness to this.
Peering through one of the holes, she stared down at Grumbuskin, who still knelt silently by the pile of rubble he had been sifting through for several days now, attempting to clear the wreckage as best he could. On a small pile of gravel lay the remains of a small wooden doll he had found on their first day in the ruins, crafted into the shape of a creature like them…whatever they were.
Frowning, she drew back from the hole, carefully padding across the floor, touching the walls here and there, hoping for even a sign of who the previous and most unfortunate inhabitants were and where they had gone.
Kneeling down on one of the widest patches of floor, she closed her eyes, inhaling a slow, deep breath, a warm whisper of wind washing over her.
"Ayadh Al Charum." A voice rang clearly in her head, repeating the three words over and over insistently. "Ayadh Al Charum."
"What is Ayadh Al Charum?" She whispered, testing the sounds out loud, the rolling letters spoken with some unknown pride and worship.
No response came, as she gazed past the shattered roof and to the open skies. Her lips moved in the silent invocation of the name of Ayadh Al Charum, whatever it happened to be.
A swirl of wind swept through the tower and she shivered involuntarily, rubbing her slender arms with her paws, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as she saw a fleeting shadow move across the bare wall.
Stumbling backwards, she shook her head in disbelief as the shadow pulled away from the wall, moving – unhindered – towards her. Towering above her, she could make out two glowing red orbs, a spasm of fear running through her.
"Griddlebone!" Turning, she fled down the flight of stairs, never looking back, her eyes wide with terror.
*
"Hush, hush." Cradling the sobbing kitten to her chest, Griddlebone soothingly stroked her creamy fur, rocking her gently. "It's gone, dear heart. Whatever it was, it's gone. It won't hurt you, I promise."
"What do you think it was?" Blaze sat on the kitten's other side, stroking her back, worried. "What did it look like? I have to know."
"I…I don't know…" Wiping her eyes on the heel of her paw, Little Dragon swallowed another sob. "It was big and black and had bright red eyes…it…something said something to me… 'Ayadh Al Charum'…I was so scared."
Squeezing the little Siamese's paw reassuringly, Blaze nodded. "I know, Kitt. I know it was scary, but I need you to come with me to try and find it…"
"What the hell do you think you're playing at, Blaze?" Griddlebone exploded, as the kitten turned terrified eyes to her foster mother, burying her face in the comforting white fur. "Can't you see she's scared enough? I don't think taking her back for more is a good idea."
"You don't seem to…understand, Griddlebone." The black queen lowered her voice. "She is the chosen one. She can tell us why we are here. He will talk to her and no other. She has to go to him."
"Who is this 'he'?" Griddlebone demanded suspiciously, her arms tightening protectively around the shivering kitten. "Why would he want her? Why not you? Or me? Or one of the others? And how do you know its her he wants?"
Shrugging gracefully, she sighed. "I don't understand it myself, but he appeared to her. Spoke to her. It is she that he wants to be his mouthpiece. He has shown himself to me in dreams, but all I know is that she is the one to communicate with him."
"Don't make me go back there, mama." The pleading appeal was enough to determine what the white queen was going to do.
"I would be grateful," She said pointedly to Blaze, "If you would leave me and my kitten alone for the time being. She is upset and you are not helping."
Sighing, the red and black queen pushed herself to her paws and slowly paced away, into the lower floor of the tower, where the toms were painstakingly working on making it remotely habitable once again.
"How did it go?" Raising deep golden-brown eyes to her, Grumbuskin could sense her unease and anguish.
"I…not good." Taking her by the paw, the tom led her out of the back of the tower into the evening air. "She wouldn't listen to me…She doesn't understand how…how important that kitten is…and now…now, she hates me for what I had to say…"
Taking her gently in his arms, Grumbuskin tenderly held her, her sobs shuddering through both their bodies. "I know its difficult, Blaze," He murmured, nuzzling her face softly. "but I believe in you and what you had to do."
"What do I do now?" She whispered, her face buried in the rough grey fur of his chest, her slender paws splayed on his back.
"You wait." He murmured, nuzzling her cheek. "If this being truly wants only her, he will find her somehow…and when that happens, all will become clear."
Tilting her chin up with his paw, he smiled down at her, his eyes showing her that every word he said was the truth.
"Now." Lowering his face to hers, he whispered, "Close your eyes."
Obediently, tilting her face up, she let her violet eyes sink closed, as one arm pulled her closer to his body, his other paw still gently cupping her chin. Shivering at the intimate contact, she felt his lips brush her cheek and released a weak mewl of protest.
"Hush now." He purred softly, one claw tracing the curve of her jaw teasingly, as his rough tongue brushed her soft cheeks individually.
The tip of his sensitive nose rubbed lightly against hers, sending a jolt of electricity coursing down her spine, followed by his claws tracing up the same path. Swaying against him, she briefly wondered what it would feel like to make love to a tomcat as his lips touched hers in the barest hint of a kiss.
"All clean." He murmured, releasing her from his arms and stepping back, a soft smile on his gentle lips. "Couldn't have you running around all tear-stained, now, could we?"
Before she could even regain enough breath to reply, he walked quietly back into the tower, leaving her staring mutely after him, fingering her lips in confusion.
"What the hell just happened?" She asked herself, sitting weakly down, her heart rate still racing as she fought to regain control of her senses. Had he been trying to seduce her? Was he simply being nice? What was it? Was this normal behaviour for a tomcat?
Shaking her head, she lay back on the grassy verge and stared at the stars that were starting to peep out of the night. She needed to have a good, queen-to-queen talk about these toms with Griddlebone and the sooner the better, she realised.
*
"Do you have a minute?" Looking sceptically up at the sleek, black queen, the Persian shrugged and gestured for her to sit. Little Dragon was still curled up beside her, but was asleep now, her head nestled in the fluffy white lap.
"What's up?"
Sighing, Blaze replied. "My libido."
"O-ho!" Griddlebone gave her a cheeky wink. "All these gorgeous big toms around here getting to you then?"
"I need to know something." She said unhappily. "Are all toms very…sensual? I mean, I've never had a cat before…"
"None of us have ever had a cat before…or at least I hope not!" The wicked gleam in her eyes suggested that Griddlebone wasn't one to hold a grudge and Blaze reluctantly had to laugh.
"You know what I mean."
"Of course, of course." The white queen nodded. "Toms play flirty a lot, but they only get intimately close to queens they want to mate with…at least that's been my experience…and since they still have human instincts as well as feline, I'm assuming our toms are the same way."
"So…what exactly is intimately close?" Unwilling to reveal too much, the queen lowered her violet eyes to stare at the ground.
"Normal feline contact seems to be group pile ups, grooming each other – in moderation – and all that kind of thing…intimate would be a lot to do with facial contact over bodily…" Shrugging she murmured. "Licking and nuzzling each others face a lot is a good sign. Why do you ask?"
Biting back a grin, Blaze shrugged. "No reason, Grid. No reason at all."
"Are we going to hear the patter of tiny paws soon?" The white queen asked shrewdly, noticing the black queen abashedly twisting her slim paws together.
"Don't be silly." Forcing a laugh, Blaze tried to smile confidently, but she herself had wondered the same thing…and would they be kittens or humans? She didn't know if she was ready for that. "What makes you think such a thing?"
"Oh just the way you and a certain tom happen to look at one another." Nodding beyond Blaze's shoulder, she smiled as the black queen turned and came eye to eye with Grumbuskin who was staring out from the ruins.
"I don't know what you mean." Flustered, she glared at the white queen, who chuckled.
"Of course you don't." She smiled. "Of course you don't."
*
"What's with you and her?" Waving a paw in front of Grumbuskin's face, Bill Bailey grinned mischievously as the older tom blinked back to reality.
"Nothing!"
The three others toms exchanged glances. "Suuuuuuuuuuuure!" They chorussed, breaking into laughter.
"We believe ya." McDuff patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Thousands wouldn't."
"Oh look!" Genghis clapped a paw over his heart. "They're comin' in! Quick! Lets leave Grumbuskin and Blaze alone."
Unaware that the toms had been having a similar conversation to them, the three queens settled in a huddle in the centre of the floor, yawning and stretching. "Are we going to get some sleep tonight, boys?" Blaze asked sleepily.
"Who's to know?" Genghis winked wickedly at Grumbuskin, who muttered under his breath and settled into the kitty-pile as far from Blaze as he could, even though she was by far the closest to him in his mind.