Chapter Fifteen: The Truth
Before Haru was forced to say anything in response to that unexpected declaration from her employer, Elly woke up from between her siblings, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"Are the kittens born yet?" she mumbled.
Grateful for the distraction, the slim brunette smiled and walked over in order to hug the adorable white kitten, but then stopped at the last second, remembering that the blood on her was still fresh.
The human settled for scratching Elly's soft velvety ears affectionately, since she had managed to wash her hands while cleaning off the newborns. "They are. But it really is kind of late, why don't we move you three upstairs for bed?"
"Can we see the kittens first?" Lily moaned as sleep grudgingly left. Haru looked over at Baron, who was still looking at her.
"Why not?" he said in response to her unspoken question.
The bespectacled woman smiled a bit, and walked over to the half-open door as Elly shook her brother awake.
Haru still didn't really believe that the fatso was a criminal, especially with how tears were streaming down his face as he nuzzled one of his daughters lovingly, one that was a slightly darker peach shade than her mother, who was weeping happily over her eldest daughter, who had a soft white coat of fur.
"Baron's kittens would like to see yours," the nanny said softly. "Do you mind?"
"No, of course not," Sasami said breathlessly, her eyes still streaming happily.
Haru turned enough to gesture for the von Gikkingen children to come in. "Remember to stay quiet," she said in a soft voice, gently pushing Thomas into the room as Baron followed behind them, as silent as a ghost.
The mother smiled encouragingly at the half-grown kittens, and held the newborn in her arms at a better angle. "Isn't she beautiful?" Sasami whispered reverently as Elly leaned in for a closer look.
"Why won't her eyes stay open?" the white kitten asked curiously.
The devoted nanny laughed twice. "Newborns of any species have trouble keeping their eyes open at first, Elly. She'll get better at keeping her eyes open after a few days."
Sasami nodded tiredly as Thomas nervously looked toward the new father, but took a breath for courage before approaching the legendary figure, and standing as tall as he could in order to look at the kitten. Renaldo got the hint and sat on his haunches so that the tiger-like kitten could get a better look at the newborn.
Thomas gravely studied the newborn, a soft smile slowly working its way onto his mouth. "What are their names?" he asked politely. Renaldo snapped violently, his mouth open with horror.
"I… we never talked about names. We were too worried about Sasami's life." He looked over at his wife, wondering if she had any ideas.
The slim peach-colored cat gave a single laugh, and looked at the human that was responsible not only for the kittens' delivery, but the chance she had gained to raise them personally. "You said earlier that your name's Haru?"
The midwife nodded, making the new mother beam happily one more time, and kiss her darker daughter.
"Then this is Haruka."
Catching the reference, Renaldo smiled and kissed his lighter daughter's face. "And this is Haruna."
Haru blushed deeply from behind the thick glasses, but bowed in recognition before taking the von Gikkingen girls by the shoulders and gently pushing them out the door, but not before Hashi weaseled his way past Baron's elbow with a full teapot and cup in his arms. Carefully, he set the crockery on the little table next to the bed and filled the teacup with the fragrant brew.
"Drink it up," he softly ordered, taking the dark kitten from her mother so that Sasami could safely sip from the offered cup.
She coughed once, when the brew had been consumed, but then immediately settled back onto the pillows, still smiling beautifully. "I love you, Renaldo," she whispered, making her husband walk over and kiss her happily after tucking his kitten into the nest of blankets that Haru quickly made on the opposite side of the bed, in order to keep the newborns safe as they slept.
"I love you too, Sasami. Sleep well." In sharp contrast to his extraordinary bulk, the fat cat moved on soft feet, closing the door behind him as the humans and other felines pooled into the hallway.
"All right, you four," Haru said sternly, gently guiding the children to the stairs. "Time for bed."
Lily opened her mouth to protest, but only a yawn issued forth from her throat. Elly managed to wiggle out of her nanny's grip, but only to hug her father goodnight. He kissed each of them, including Hashi, surprisingly, before allowing their devoted keeper to herd them up the stairs, and out of sight.
When Baron turned around to face the fat feline, the white and brown cat was looking up at the staircase as well.
"That's quite a wife you have there," Renaldo remarked, making the feline lord choke a bit and slam one fist into his chest.
Underneath his orange and cream fur, his temperature took an alarming rise as a rebellious blush broke over his cheeks. "She's my nanny, for your information!"
The fat cat gaped as a rosy blush crossed his face. "Uh, sorry. You two just looked like a couple to me."
"Well, we're not," Baron snapped before coming to his senses. He covered his face with one hand, and sighed tiredly. "I apologize. It's been a long day."
Renaldo nodded a bit, but there was still something unreadable in his gaze, and a strange smirk was on his face. "Ah, forget about it. Well, what are you gonna do with me, now that my wife's been taken care of?"
Baron looked at the huge criminal carefully. He had heard much about this cat, the two and a half years since his great crime. His appearance was precisely on the mark, but the willingness to surrender the rest of his life, just to provide one last comfort for his obviously beloved wife made the tawny lord think…
"Follow me," he said curtly before turning on his heel to start striding briskly to the kitchen. His large ears told him that the criminal was following, but at a slightly slower pace.
Sharply opening the door, Baron hung his top hat, coat, and cane on the back of one chair, and gestured for Renaldo to sit in another one.
The fat cat did so nervously as the tawny feline put some more water to boil in a tea kettle, and opened up his special herbs cabinet. "What are ya doin'?" Renaldo asked suspiciously as Baron started carefully measuring herbs and spices into the slowly boiling pot.
"I'm making tea for you."
The fat cat started gagging. "I'll pass, thanks. I've never liked tea all that much."
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that you drink it," Baron said firmly, looking at his pocket watch intently to ensure that his special brew wouldn't boil for too long. "It's a truth potion, and I have many questions."
"I'll tell ya everything without the tea," Renaldo protested, wrinkling his nose at the obnoxious smell.
Baron calmly answered as he poured the tea into a carefully measured amount. "I'm more than certain that you would, but I need to be absolutely sure that you're telling me the truth. Remember, you surrendered willingly." Grimly, the orange and cream cat held the steaming cup out to the chocolate and vanilla one.
Pulling a face of absolute disgust, Renaldo grudgingly took the cup, and downed it all in one gulp so that he couldn't taste it as much. "Blech! That tastes even worse than I remember!"
"I'm sorry to hear that," Baron said calmly, sitting across from the criminal, and resting his chin in one hand. "Why don't you tell me why you despise tea?"
Renaldo made an even darker face. "My ma thought that tea was the answer to every problem, including me. She thought that if she could pour enough boiled grass into me, it'd make me lose weight and be a more optimistic son. That's the major reason I ran away from home, all those years ago. I haven't regretted not seeing Ma since then, because she had always been ashamed of me anyway."
Baron cocked his head. "I was under the impression that your impressive girth was the result of your little fiasco with the fish."
Renaldo laughed darkly. "Not a chance. I was practically born fat, and I love food. Sasami's the only person I've ever met that was willing to take me the way I am, without ever planning to change a single hair of me. That feline's the best thing that's ever happened to me." The white and brown cat's voice turned reverently soft, as he thought about the love of his life.
"Wives are supposed to be that way. Now, why don't you tell me just what happened with the fish incident that has made such a name for you?" Baron prodded.
Renaldo gave an exasperated growl before throwing his paws up in the air. "It was completely blown out of proportion! Here's the real story, I was traveling around, looking for work, when I met Sasami. Her father's a minor nobleman, but I didn't realize that until after I had visited a few times with her. Well, despite the fact that we loved each other, her father wouldn't hear of having a vagabond like me for a son-in-law. He said I had to come up with two hundred gold pieces before he would even consider me to be a possible match for his daughter. Now, I thought that was awfully conceited of him, but to prove that my love for Sasami was genuine; I took a job as a personal bodyguard to Jali. I'm pretty sure that you've heard of him."
Baron's eyes slit dangerously. "I have indeed. Please continue."
"Well, being a bodyguard paid pretty good, especially since I look so intimidating and everything and I carefully saved every penny that I could. That time in my life was probably the thinnest that I had ever been. Well, after a time, I got the money, but then I wanted a little more so that I could get a nice house for Sasami, since she deserved better than the barracks I had been sleeping in with the other guards, so I kept working. Eventually, Jali decided that he needed a lot of fish for his engagement banquet to his fifth bride, but he didn't feel like actually paying for it. So, what he did was have most of his servants go down to the docks at midnight, knock out the guards, and catch as much fish as they could carry away. At ten wagons' worth, I thought it was plenty. At twenty, I thought it was overgenerous. But, then when the seventieth wagon passed by, I made the mistake of saying that it was probably more than enough. Next thing I know, I'm out cold.
"When I woke up with a splitting headache, it was morning, and other cats were beginning to move around the town. There was a half-eaten trout in my paws, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I decided that if that's the way Jali was gonna take it, then I didn't really need to work for him anymore. So I went to my special hiding place, took out the two hundred gold pieces, and went to Sasami's father. He took my gold readily enough, but then said that he'd consider it."
The fat cream cat raised one paw to slam it down on the table in absolute rage, but then remembered at the last second that it wasn't his table to break. He lowered his arm with an angry grunt. "Sasami was outraged too. She said that by his own words, I only needed to come up with the money and that since he took it, he should let us get married. But he wouldn't. He was a greedy old fool, and said that if I really wanted to marry his daughter, I'd have to come up with twice as much money inside a month. It took me two years to make that much money! Unless I hit a bank or something, there was no way in heck that I would be able to make the deadline." His face softened noticeably, remembering the next part.
"But Sasami wouldn't have it. Not even someone with your ranking would ask for two hundred gold pieces for a bride price alone, and her father was mad with greed. She eloped with me that very night, and we've been on the run ever since. After a week with almost no luck, one of the fishercats remembered someone with my fat body sleeping on the docks with a half-eaten fish. I'm pretty dang sure that Jali helped fuel the rumors that I had eaten all the fish in the sea, to hide his own guilt. You can believe whatever you want, Baron, but no matter what happens to me, I'll always know that I'm relatively innocent."
The tawny cat's eyes had become rounded with disbelief. But he knew better than anyone that his truth tea never failed. "What a predicament," he whispered, leaning back in his chair, distractedly studying the ceiling tiles. What on earth could he possibly do about a situation like this? There was no way on earth that he would feed an innocent to the blood-thirsty mobs, but with how he was so publicly watched, it would only be a matter of time before a nosy pair of eyes told both worlds that he had assisted the most notorious criminal in Cat History.
"Why don't you find a bed and sleep a bit, Renaldo? Maybe I'll know what to do in the morning."
The brown and white cat nodded his thanks, and got up from the significantly lower chair, which had almost been crushed by his weight. But then he scowled again. "Hey, how do I get this bad taste out of my mouth?"
"Take three glasses of water," Baron said, wondering just how on earth he was going to help this client, for there was now no doubt in his mind that this would be one of his most difficult cases to solve.