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The spy awoke the next morning to Cal pouncing on her tightly curled hair. 'Stop it,' she mind-spoke.

"I told her to do that," said her father's voice from beside her. Cat rolled onto her side to gaze at him.

"And why, pray tell, did you do that?" Cat asked, pretending to snobbishly offended.

Jack leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You leave in one hour." Cat leapt up, expertly detangling herself from her sheets. Jack politely turned his back as the girl rapidly changed. In under a minute, her hair was smooth and pulled back, she had all the daggers in place, her black gloves and brown riding clothes were on straight and she was asking Jack to fasten her necklace.

Cal, Cylon and Jack followed Cat amusedly as she raced around the room, repacking anything she had left out the previous night.

"Where's your sleeping bag?" asked Jack, looking around the now spotless room.

"Jack turned to him, packed bag floating behind her. "I don't really need it. I sleep in cat form."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "What will the prince and pal say?" Laughter shone in his hazel eyes, adding an extra sparkle to them.

"They won't know. I sleep away from camp," Cat said defiantly. She gave her room a sharp nod of approval and waited for Jack to lead her to the stables.

Cal and Cylon followed as Cat walked in step with her father down many flights of stairs. The royal stable hands were getting the chestnut pack horse, prince's bay gelding and Lord Nathan's black mare ready to go. Cat walked over to Ashpetal's stall, knowing no one else could get her ready even if they tried.

Jack began lecturing her on spying just so they had something to talk about while his daughter was getting ready to leave him again. When Ash was finally ready, Jack handed Cat her bag of traveling food. Inside were richly sweet rolls, filling drinks and dried meats.

"Thanks," Cat said softly. She put the food bag inside of her clothes one and kept both levitating a good distance off the ground behind Ashpetal. Cat walked over the prince and Lord Nathan were getting ready to ride. Each wore a sword at his hip and comfortable riding pants.

Biting her lip to contain contemptuous laughter in, Cat saw Prince James had his bright blue cape on. The body guard clapped to get his attention. "No capes."

The prince spun around to look at her, surprise etched in his face. "Why not?" he asked, quickly composing himself.

"It will get tangled in overhanging limbs, it takes up a lot of room in the traveling bags, the bright color will give us away to assassins, it automatically marks you as royalty and it is very annoying to people riding with you," she listed, angry at the prince's arrogance but showing only a cool demeanor.

Knowing he had been beat, Prince James reluctantly unclasped his cape and handed it to one of the stable hands. Cat noticed the pack horse looking very weighed down with all of the royal clothing and supplies that were piled on his back.

Realizing that a tired horse would only slow them down, Cat used her abundant Gift to lighten the load to make it feel as if all the bags were stuffed with feathers.

The chestnut straightened visibly and according to Cylon said, "Thank you, milady." Cat used Cylon as interpreter to tell the horse that it had been her pleasure.

Cat gave Jack a swift hug, a kiss on the cheek and then mounted gracefully. Cylon leapt onto the saddle and Jack had to lift Cal to get her up. Cylon relaxed around Cat's neck, head on one side, tail on the other. Cal sat in front of Cat on the saddle, orange, white and black tail swishing in anticipation.

"Let's go," Cat instructed the two noble teens. The boys mounted, James as gracefully as Cat and Nathan less so. As soon as the boys were settled, Cat nudged Ash into a walk. She led the boys down the dirt path that would lead them to Malvint. It was a five day ride… if you didn't stop to eat or sleep.

Jack waved goodbye to her, standing by the king and queen dutifully. They soon lost their parents and were swallowed up by the quiet forest. Uncomfortable with the silence, Nathan began chatting with Prince James. Tuning out their conversation, Cat began firing spy and body guard related to Cylon and Cal to keep them on their paws. The path was empty, probably due to the fact that few visitors went between Coutrun and Malvint.

They stopped for a few minutes at one to eat a small snack. Tori tossed an apple to each of the boys and leaned against a tall tree to eat one herself. She let the four horses graze on the fresh summer grass and gave Cylon and Cal a strip of dried venison to share.

After about ten minutes, Cat buried the apple core and mounted Ashpetal. The boys followed her example without question. "Cy, Cal, we're leaving!" she called to the cats. The prince and Lord Nathan watched as two streaks of fur raced by them and leaped in a single jump onto the dappled mare's saddle.

Prince James gazed thoughtfully at the two cats, lost in thought until Cat shook him out of it by trotting off without him.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, other than an evil squirrel that Cal was convinced was out to kill them all. The calico kitten took her job as lookout very seriously.

The trio set up camp before the sun set. Well, Cat set up camp and the nobles swam in a nearby creek. The spy sent Cylon to keep an eye on them just in case of trouble and had Cal watch her back. Cat set her griffin feather necklace next to the bags.

Cat made a fire and set up their tents, just to have something to do. By the time they got back, all the horses were out in the meadow and Cat was cooking some of the meat that they had packed over a blazing fire.

The boys plopped down next to the fire, dripping wet. "Food," moaned James. The scent of sizzling venison left him watering at the mouth. Cat picked up two big plates and one small one and cut the dark meat into ten bacon-like strips. She gave the duo four slices each and gave both Cylon and Cal one piece each.

The four travelers dug in eagerly. Prince James stopped suddenly and looked up curiously at Cat. "Aren't you eating?"

Nathan looked up too. "I am," Cat said defensively, "Just not that." She pulled out her strong, filling traveling bread.

"Ah," Prince James said in understanding. Why do you cook for us then?"

Cat shrugged, "It's part of the job and I needed something to do." The spy took a big bite out the bread and savored the almonds, honey, raisins, and chocolate chips made it up.

"You don't have to cook for us." Surprisingly, this comment came out of Prince James instead of the sensible Nathan.

Cat was about to reply when a dagger whizzed over her head and struck the tree right above the prince. "Get down!" she hissed.

Both nobles fell to the ground and crawled instinctively behind a rock. With a snap of fingers, the fire was out and her feline companions were executing the defensive maneuver ten.

Cylon crept forward to locate the attackers while Cal kept close to her, quivering in fear. Cat had a dagger in each hand before the teens in hiding could blink.

"Three men, dressed in assassin black. Using more daggers than I can count. One has a bow and a couple of non- poison arrows," Cylon's bell-like voice sounded in her mind, full of worry.

"I'm scared. Those men look mean!" squeaked Cal from her position in the trees.

Sensing trouble, Cat mind-called to them, 'Cylon, get Callie outta there!"

In seconds, Cylon came out of the brush with a protesting Cal in her mouth. 'I want you both to stay low. Or high, whichever is safer.' Cylon, getting a firmer grip on Cal, leapt into the knothole of a nearby oak.

"Show yourselves!" Cat called to the assassins. Within seconds, two men strode out of the tree, empty hands in front of them in innocence, thought they looked nothing of the sort. One was tall and lean with a slightly balding head. The other was shorter and had a long scar that stretched from his left eyebrow to the right side of his chin. They reminded her of a pair of wild coyotes.

"Sorry," called the balding one in a raspy voice that sounded as though he had been strangled more than once. "My knife slipped."

"Really? Can you please tell your other companion to come on out?" asked Cat, not believing either man for a second. She silently cursed herself for taking off her necklace.

The balding one replied, "What companion?" He attempted to look bewildered but his face muscles couldn't quite pull it off. He sighed and gave his hand a subtle twitch. In response, another man flipped out of the trees on front of them. "Here he is," smirked the talkative one in mock surprise.

Every man pulled out a weapon. The scarred man carried an array of daggers, the talkative one brought out his bow and the new man pulled out a long sword.

"Give us the prince and no one gets hurt," the talker said. Yet again, Cat didn't believe him.

Without wasting her breath on a reply, Cat advanced, slick daggers whirling in hissing circles. The new man stepped forward to meet her. A ring echoed through the camp as steel met steel in battle. This opponent was well-trained, but he was no Shang Panther.

The moment Cat began getting the upper hand, the scarred man stepped forward to help. Though using both daggers, Cat was hard put to block both furious attackers. As she was slowly being over powered, Cat felt panic well in her throat.

"Look what I found. Here kitty, kitty," came a raspy voice from the edge of the camp. He held a bow to Cal's throat and was holding another out to block Cylon from leaving the knothole. "Give up or I kill one at a time." At Cat's silence he moved the arrowhead closer to Cal's exposed neck.

Cat watched, furious. She was unaware of the two swords now pointing at her neck until the scarred man took one of the daggers from her hands. In a sudden hot flash of fury, Cat began striking out at the two men with one dagger and limbs, desperately trying to get to Cal. Nathan and Prince James leapt up and held the assassins' attention while Cat ran over to the man who was threatening her cats. She held her dagger pointed straight at his heart. "Just playing," he said and dropped Cal to the ground.

A yell from behind her made her spin around in worry for her charges. At her indecision, the assassin drove his arrow deep into her side. She whirled around and hit both hands on his temples. He fell to the ground unconscious.

Cat turned and stared and the prince and Nathan, both who had defeated their opponents. The men were unconscious and Nathan was tying them up. The prince caught sight of her and ran over. She tried to walk forward but found the pain in her side too great. Glancing down, she saw a broken arrow sticking from her side. Looking around, she saw the other half still in the assassin's limp hand.

Nathan quickly spotted the blood and looked away as quick as he could, rapidly turning pale. Prince James ordered her to sit down immediately. She shook her head and tried walking over to her supplies. The pain made her stumble into the prince's waiting arms. After the prince had caught her five times and she had only moved three paces, she finally agreed to sit down.

The two boys propped her up against a tree and rested her reluctant head on a pillow that Nathan had brought along. After an hour of struggling to stay awake, Cat drifted into a barely conscious sleep.

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