Chapter Nine: The Banquet
Baron knew he had to hurry if he wanted to get Haru out of the Cat Kingdom in time, and only paused long enough to pick up a small bundle of denim that had caught his eye. It had been cast into a corner of the bedroom. Slowly opening the door, he checked both ways for guards before entering the hallway. He ran steadily for a few minutes before a voice stopped him.
"Hey, you!" Always the gentleman, Baron stopped running and looked behind him. It had been one of the attendants, the brown cat that had been mostly silent when the Cat King had visited Haru. He held what could have been a rolled up newspaper, and was now waving it close to Baron's face. "You know that entertainers should be in the dressing room until called for." Baron was surprised, but played along.
"I got lost-"
"That's no excuse!" The brown cat started pushing him toward a specific curtain at the end of the hallway. "And please try to find a more amusing outfit; we want Miss Haru to see the best our kingdom has to offer her."
"Of course." The brown cat left to chase down servants that were talking in the hallway while Baron slipped through the curtain. None of the real entertainers noticed him, since they were all busy getting proper outfits and perfecting their various acts.
Baron walked towards the wall that had been bulging with different outfits and props for the entertainers. This was much better than what he had been hoping for. After some sifting, Baron found a black outfit with a spiked white trimming on the neck and cuffs, along with a long navy cape and a plumed hat. He even found a pair of boots that were his size, although he had to remove the stuffing that made it possible for ordinary cats to wear them. He was slipping the denim bundle into a small bag when the brown cat returned.
"It's time!" All the entertainers ran for the opened curtain while Baron slipped the bag underneath his cloak and started after them. Spying a steel mask on one of the vanities, he grabbed it and put it on. No use taking unnecessary chances. Who knows if Louise would recognize him after all these years? Or what Haru might do if he just waltzed in? Then Baron brightened. He was finally going to really talk to her, and he now had an opportunity to show her what he was made of. How to execute this was still being worked out in his mind.
The brown cat led the group through three different hallways before opening one curtain to a huge ballroom that was a little too familiar to Baron. There were several tables, with cats clearly from all corners of the globe seated at each one. At the highest one, Baron could see the Cat King, with Louise at one side of him and a cat version of Haru at the other. Louise looked pretty pleased with herself, but Haru was studying her lap, her eyes sad. Baron's heart quaked.
That headache must be terrible. And all that raw fish isn't helping her much. Haru had once mentioned to him that she had gone vegetarian after doctors told her and her mother that her father would have lived longer if he had cut back on the meat. All the tables had been piled high with chicken, fish, and mice. And all of it happened to be uncooked. No wonder Haru looked a little green. About the only new thing in the room was the stained glass window behind the king's table, which features a large white cat with a spot of brown on one ear. The cat appeared to be in a rather uncomfortable position. Toto had told Baron about the true nature of the mirror, and a plan began to form in his mind.
The Cat King ordered some amusement. The first one was three cats balancing on a ball with umbrellas in their hands. All the cats enjoyed it immensely, but Haru was playing with the fish in front of her, eyes clouded over. The Cat King was not pleased by this.
"Next!"
The next act had a female cat strapped to a propped table while her partner hurled squid daggers at her. After a slight dress malfunction, the partner was forced to take a nose dive out the window by two cats wearing black executioner masks.
A pink cat with funny markings on his body bounced up to the center of the room and did imitations of other animals. Being well-bred and knowledgeable of the king's temper, all the nobles struggled not to laugh until Haru did, but she was still not noticing anything. Her attention was now on experimentally opening and closing her new paw. One of the Italian cats couldn't take it anymore, and burst into a frenzied laughter, which earned him a one way ticket out of the window as well.
"Whoever's next better not stink. Got it!" The king was really angry now. All the entertainers held their breath and started backing away slowly, the fear evident in their eyes.
Just the opening I was looking for. Baron took his time walking past the other entertainers to the front of the highest table. Louise looked at him, but clearly no bells were ringing in her mind. Baron took that as a good sign. He addressed the king.
"Your majesty, I promise that I will make the young lady smile."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Haru was still lost in her mind. She wanted everyone to think that it was because of her headache, but it had faded almost before Louise had finished her tirade.
Is this my destiny? Why I've stayed single for so long? The raw fish in front of her seemed to stare. How can they bear to eat something that looks at them while they do it? She would probably almost starve before she would eat anything the cats were willing to place before her. The urge to vomit intensified. How long will it be before someone back home notices that I'm gone? Hiromi will just assume that I'm finding a date somewhere and Mom won't be in town until the wedding in two days. More to the point, would they care? The only one I can think of that would is-
Then Haru noticed a presence in front of her. She had to crane her head back a bit to look at this cat, who had orange fur.
"Excuse me, would you care to dance?" Clearly, this guy had no idea of what he was asking for.
"Oh no, I'm a meowsy dancer-Agh!" Haru threw her paws to her head. Now she was even starting to sound like a cat. "Lousy! I meant lousy!" The cat held out a hand to her. She looked up at him, surprised.
"Just trust me." She stared at him and his hand. It felt a bit like the dream she had before meeting Louise.
Well, I did give him fair warning. Extending her paw to him, his fingers wrapped gently around it. Wait a minute. This cat had fingers! And he was taller than most of the cats in the room, including her! Hiromi had often despaired of finding a guy taller than Haru, but she only came up to the nose on this cat.
What on earth was going on? She heard the accordion start the melody, the waltz being one she had never heard before. The orange cat placed one hand on her waist and the other over her paw. Putting her other paw on his shoulder, Haru let him guide her across the floor. She was surprised that she never stepped on his feet, and how smoothly the cat and she circled each other. Was the new grace part of becoming a cat? If Hiromi could have seen them, and not be shocked by all the cats, she'd demand to know what happened to her Haru.
No, it wasn't being a cat, she decided as she and her partner circled the floor. She could hear Louise say something to the king, but didn't care enough to try and listen. Haru found that she could understand through the cat's gestures what she was supposed to do, which she had never been able to do with the other men she had previously danced with. And this partner obviously was different. He expertly led her through a dip and twirled her around like he had done so every day of his life. A strange sort of music, different than the waltz, started to flow through her body almost like a river.
What's happening to me? I've never felt like this before. The mask prevented her from seeing the cat's face, but Haru felt that it was unimportant. Maybe being a cat wouldn't be so bad. Whiskers immediately sprouted on either side of her nose, and she gasped in surprise.
"Careful, Haru. Don't lose yourself." This was the first time he had addressed her since leading her out of her seat.
"Huh?" She couldn't understand why this cat was asking her to hold on to her humanity, which was exactly what the Cat King wanted her to lose.
"You don't have to go through with this marriage," the orange cat continued, twirling Haru around some more. She was starting to have difficulty breathing. She had just noticed the British accent of an aristocrat that the cat possessed. Up to this point, he had kept his head level so that she couldn't see his eyes. He looked at her, and Haru was lost inside a sea of green that she had been lost in several times before. "You did say that you weren't agreeing to it, didn't you?" Haru's mind began to function again, but she couldn't look away from those eyes.
"Is it possible?" She whispered softly. But not softly enough.
