Chapter 10

"This is treason!" yelled the king, fighting his oldest son in the maze.

"You are no longer mentally stable enough to hold one throne, and certainly not two. Father, you must renounce your position. For your own good as well as that of your subjects," Lune answered, locking his sword against his father's and forcing the older cat back. The king was larger, but the prince was all sinew and lean muscle from being raised in the military of his kingdom.

"You just want the babe for yourself, I should have known when I saw you at her house! She's going to be my pretty kitty, not yours," returned the king, thrusting away at his son's sword with surprising strength for an old king.

"No father, Miss Haru will not be anyone's kitty," Lune said. The cat-prince's voice was dangerously calm, and his eyes as hard as steel.

Baron landed.

The king did not appreciate the doll's excellent aim; the porcelain figurine had touched down on his neck, forcing the head and the rest of the body to go down with the weight of so much living clay.

"Lune!" a voice, female, called from the top of the wall.

The prince and Baron turned to see who had spoken; even the king looked up a little from his position with his furry face in the dirt.

"Oh Lune, I'm so glad you're alright!" It was the white cat, Yuki. Haru had identified the innocent feline correctly from the air. When Lune had returned to his own kingdom after visiting Haru, he had searched for the kitten that he had seen painted in her house. She worked as a kitchen maid in the castle, and it had been easy for him to request some of her time. It had been even easier for them to fall in love.

Lune handed his sword to the Baron and held his arms open wide to welcome the snow-coloured tabby that had overtaken his heart.

The elegantly dressed gentleman held the broadsword casually, with the tip resting gently, threateningly, dangerously, against the corner of his majesty's left eye. He was more intent upon his pocket watch than the figure he had pinned to the ground.

"Welcome, your majesty, to the life of a cat," said the Baron. He had been silent for several minutes, listening to the prince and his fiance making sure that the other was alright and occasionally glancing up, watching them being so happy together. He had broken his silence when his watch told him that dawn had occurred.

"I don't think that your human subjects will let you stay in power for much longer, considering the now permanent change," he added, slipping his watch back into his pocket. The statuette then bent to relieve the insane hairball of his sword before stepping off him, and, taking both swords with him, headed for the central tower exit, kicking over false walls as he went. He did this partly because he could, but also because their presence insulted his sense of fair play.

It was easier to run up the stairs than walk them. If he walked, he might start to get tired and feel the strain, but running, the stairs just flew away beneath and behind him. He was at the top and out of the Cat Kingdom without any further trouble.

Toto and Haru were waiting for him.

"Where's the old marshmallow?" asked the crow, his tone conversational rather than troubled. After all, Muta lived in the Cat Kingdom, if he wasn't coming, that was fine, but it had been preying upon the stone bird's mind that the old fatso might have been captured.

"Surely you know better than to worry about Muta," Baron returned with a raised brow and a particular look in his very green eyes.

"True," said Toto, cleaning the primary feathers of his right wing.

"What about the king?" Haru asked, afraid that he would come after her again.

"A cat for the rest of his life, however long that may be. I think Lune will be taking over the Cat Kingdom, though I really don't know about your home town," answered the Baron, thrusting the swords into the earth by the lake that was the pathway to the Cat Kingdom for those without the power to summon portals.

Haru relaxed. Really properly relaxed, for the first time in what felt like ages but had really only been a couple of days.