Chapter Seventeen: The Proclamation

The world was made of mists, and Baron was lost in the middle of it. He gripped his cane for comfort, and tried to find his way through the chilling fog.

"Baron," a soft voice called out to him, one that the feline lord knew better than his own.

His heart leapt into his throat, and his pace increased. "Louise?" he called out, one hand prodding the darkness in front of him. "Where are you?"

"Baron," the voice of his wife sobbed. "Time is running out, my love. The more you delay, the harder your task will become. Oh, Baron... Baron…"

"Baron?!"

The tawny feline's eyes shot open as he almost jumped out of his bed again, one heart to his chest.

There was an insistent knocking at the door. "Baron?! Are you awake?"

He sighed, and pulled the covers off. "Yes, Haru. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, but Prince Lune is downstairs in the library. He's panicking over something, and says that he absolutely must talk to you as soon as possible."

His heart froze just before he briskly walked to the wardrobe in the corner. The Cat Prince wasn't one to lose his demeanor over something minimal. Did his father do something again?

"Tell him I'll be right down."

ooOoo

Haru poked her head into the library, making the prince of the Cat Kingdom's stride falter a bit. "He's coming, Highness."

"Thank you, Haru," the feline royal said, completely relieved. "But could you forget about the highnesses? I get enough of that at the palace."

The housekeeper nodded a bit before retreating. Without the welcome distraction that the girl provided him with, Lune resumed his pacing around the various chairs and globes scattered around the library. Baron's collection of books couldn't hold a candle to the one in the royal palace, but for some reason, the dark grey feline had always felt more comfortable in his oldest friend's library.

Or at least he usually did. The prince groaned again, wondering how he had let this get so out of hand.

The door opened, making Lune break off his silent reverie to watch the orange and cream feline quickly stroll in and shut the door behind him.

"What's this about, Lune?" Baron asked curiously as the prince approached his good friend and bowed low.

"I am in huge trouble," he moaned. "Father's arranging a ball in honor of my birthday next month."

Baron cocked his head. "Doesn't he usually do that?"

The prince nodded glumly. "But this time, he's inviting every eligible girl in the kingdom!"

The feline lord looked at his usually calm friend, and smiled a little mischievously. "Surely you knew this was coming, Lune. You are the Prince, after all, and a Prince needs a Princess."

"I know!" Lune shouted, collapsing into a high back chair. "I… just thought that I had more time to work with."

"Well, it appears that you don't," Baron said pointedly, resting an elbow on the back of the chair. "So, do you have any idea about just which one you're going to choose, and how?"

Lune bit his lip nervously. "To be perfectly honest, Baron… I've already chosen her."

Baron cocked his head again. "I see. Well, then why are you flying off the handle so?"

"Because… she's not someone Father would approve of. She's a servant in the palace."

With a start, Baron remembered the strange version of 'Cinderella' Haru had told the children a few months before. "Ah. What's her name?"

"Yuki," the prince breathed dreamily. "She was kind of living on the streets when I met her, and I couldn't just walk away in good conscience, so I got her a job at the palace-"

"And you've been keeping in touch since then," Baron finished, hardly believing that the story was real. "She knows you're the prince, right?"

Lune snorted. "It'd be a little hard for her not to know, since she serves my meals whenever I'm still home."

Over the prince's shoulder, Baron could see Muta running across the grass, now sporting a dark brown coat of fur, the same shade as his ear spot had been before he dyed his fur. He was standing on his hind feet, and putting up his front paws like fists as Toto once again swooped down and knocked him over. While the fatso was still rolling along the ground like a fur-covered ball, the feline lord could see his nanny run up between the new muscle and crow, holding her arms out like a referee. She was shouting something, but to the orange and cream cat, it couldn't be sure if the nanny was scolding them or shouting the new score.

Grinning, Baron walked over and opened the window. "Haru! Would you mind coming into the library right now?!"

She looked up at him, a trace of confusion clear on her lips. "Be right up!" the brunette shouted back at him, running into the house immediately, making her employer chuckle a bit as he withdrew and shut the window.

"Uh, she's a great girl and everything," Lune said nervously. "But why did you call her?"

Baron grinned confidently as he took a seat. "This situation calls for a woman's touch, and I know we can trust Haru to be discreet."

A few minutes later, the housekeeper let herself through the solid oak door, and shut it behind her, her mouth still wrinkled in confusion as she panted slightly from the excursion. "Is something wrong?" she asked politely as the two men stood up respectfully.

Baron grinned at her again. "Do you recall the tale you told the children, the day of the picnic?"

Haru nodded, but then looked sharply at the prince. Slowly, a wicked smile crossed her lips as she politely pointed at the dark grey cat. "Would he happen to want to bring the tale to life?"

"He's already started," Baron reported with a grin.

Haru's lips broke out into an even wider smile as she sat in a different chair, and leaned forward expectantly. "How may I be of service?"

ooOoo

The bespectacled brunette had one hand on the rough branch that was supporting her, and the other on the equally rough trunk of the tree she was hiding in. Just above her, Baron was on another branch, his own eyes scanning the castle gardens.

"Come now," he muttered under his breath. "He said she'd be out here around this time."

"There," his housekeeper said softly, pointing at the large fountain, where a sizable group of the servants were washing and mending laundry for the big ball. Baron squinted, searching more carefully.

There. The pink ribbon that the Cat Prince had mentioned was wrapped around the neck of a charming white cat with troubled blue eyes as she hurriedly carried away yet another basket of wet clothes to the maids setting up clotheslines, so that the fresh breeze could help dry off the fine ball gowns and bed sheets.

"She's lovely," Haru commented, carefully memorizing the maid's appearance for later reference.

Baron nodded, a little disturbed by how much this Yuki reminded him of his Louise. He sighed, and hopped out of the tree. "Now for the tricky part: finding out just what her dress size might be."

"She's a four," Haru said confidently as she prepared to jump off the tree as well. But, an unseen branch tripped her up as she tried to get off, sending her to the ground and making her yelp with surprise.

Baron didn't even think about it. He took three steps forward, and caught the girl in his arms, almost effortlessly. He had to bite back a chuckle, seeing his housekeeper turn a bright red shade underneath her glasses. "Please be careful, Haru. I'd hate to lose you."

She nodded, turning an even darker shade of red. "S-sorry about that. It's just… been a while since I've climbed a tree."

He laughed at her again, and turned away from the soft green branches to start heading home. "I'm certain that the knowledge will come back to you with more practice. Just out of curiosity, what makes you so certain that Miss Yuki's a size four?"

The blushing brunette bit her lip nervously. "I worked for a seamstress for five months last year. Children are hard to measure, since they like to move around so much, so I taught myself how to make accurate guesses concerning body measurements. I'll bet this month's pay that she's a size four."

Baron laughed again, walking over yet another hill. "No need for that, Haru. I'll take your word for it, but is there any profession you haven't dabbled in at some point in your life?"

Haru had to think carefully about this, but it was a little hard for her to think straight when she was wrapped up in a man's arms, the way she currently was. "Well, I've never gone deep-sea diving, I've never fought a shark, and I can't fly. But I figured out the secret! All you have to do is miss the ground."

Baron stared at her again, and began laughing again, but this time, he didn't hold back. "Oh my! Toto must hear that one!"

"Well, it's close isn't it?" she asked in a slightly sullen voice, watching a group of half-grown noble felines join a rabbit hunt over one of Baron's broad shoulders.

"Actually, it's surprisingly accurate, but that's why it's so funny." Without thinking, he hugged the girl again, making her face turn crimson again.

"Uh, Baron?"

"Yes?"

"The tree was back there."

He opened one eye to look at her curiously. "Yes, I'm aware of that."

A few seconds passed.

"Um, do you think you can put me down now? I'm pretty sure I can walk the rest of the way home."

He blinked, and turned a bright red underneath his gold and ivory fur as he hurriedly set the human girl on her feet. "My apologies, Haru. I guess my mind slipped."

But if that was so, why did he feel like he had been cheated out of something special?