Chapter Twenty Six: The Horror
"Don't, Haru," Baron said urgently, putting one firm hand on her shoulder. "She isn't worth it."
"Isn't she?" the brunette countered in a clipped tone as dark blood dripped from her chin and stained the lovely blue dress she was wearing. Every muscle in her body was tensed, just waiting for the chance to strike down the offensive feline once and for all. Her ears traveled up the sides of her head as whiskers became apparent once more. "Let go, Baron!" she said angrily, trying to shrug off his warm grip, which only became stronger.
"No, Haru. She's not going to get that satisfaction." He turned to the countess, barely able to keep himself from growling. "I warned you," he hissed. "I told you to stay away from my nanny, or you would lose everything. And now you have." Despite his reluctance to allow Haru to harm the countess, Baron was barely able to keep himself from drawing the offensive feline's blood.
How dare she harm Haru?! He should have intervened sooner, but the crowd had been too thick for him to penetrate in time.
"Baron, I really want a piece of her," the human muttered angrily at him, trying to break free from his strong grip.
Sternly, he wrapped one arm around the brunette, and pulled her through the sea of people that could not stop looking at Haru's maimed face. "Believe me, Haru; my way will hurt her far worse. King!" Baron proclaimed, forgetting in his anger just why he had taken the trouble to hide his brunette's identity. "The Countess Sai just attacked my nanny without cause!"
"That's not true!" the autumn-colored feline shrieked as the king turned around from his conversation with Natori.
The large longhair took half a glance at the nanny, but then quickly looked at her again, his mouth agape. "You!" he gasped, making Baron realize his mistake.
But Haru was calmer now, as she thoughtfully rubbed away the blood that was threatening to stain her dress even worse with a handkerchief Baron had offered her. "Yes, me. Just out of curiosity, your Majesty, are countesses not allowed to attack innocent servant girls that don't work for them, or do you let that kind of thing slide?" the brunette asked stiffly.
The question made the king snap to attention, and draw himself up to his full height. This could have just been Baron's opinion, but the King seemed to be holding in his breath, to make his chest seem a bit bigger and his beer belly smaller.
"SAI!" the Cat King bellowed. "Get over here!"
Trembling slightly, the autumn-colored countess walked closer to her monarch. "The girl insulted me!" Sai defended herself before the king could start yelling at her.
Baron cocked his head, and looked at his nanny in confusion.
The girl looked just as confused. "All I said was that you deserved someone elegant, if you ever chose to marry again, Baron. If she saw that as an insult, then she was insulting herself."
The royal court roared with helpless laughter as the countess hissed angrily, and tried to make another pass at the girl.
But Baron grabbed the hostile feline's arms firmly, and held them just behind her back so that she couldn't move. But he couldn't restrain himself from whispering into the countess's ear as he fought back a few chuckles of his own. "I can see how that would offend you."
Sai became very still, her eyes huge and hurt as the king wiped a few tears of mirth from his mismatched eyes.
"Oh, that's a good one. Hmm, I'm not quite sure what to do with you, Countess. Ah, maybe I'll think of something in the morning. Guards!"
Two green cats immediately came out of their hiding spot from behind one of the red curtains and marched up to their ruler, bowing as one.
"Take the countess to a nice dank dungeon for the night. I don't think she's up to the festivities, and I wouldn't want her to get distracted and leave before I think of a suitable punishment."
"Yes, your Majesty!" the green cats barked before almost tearing Sai from Baron's firm grasp, and marching the shrieking feline out of the room at a brisk pace, the curtain billowing behind them as they exited the room.
"Haru, are you all right?" Hashi asked worriedly as their employer once again turned his attention to the still-bleeding brunette, who was starting to look a little pale.
"Fine, just fine, Hashi," the nanny breathed, her eyes starting to become glassy and unresponsive as she swayed slightly. Recognizing the signs of blood loss, Baron almost had to swim through the children in order to gently take the slim brunette's unmarked half in one hand so that he could hold his other one right over the profusely bleeding cuts.
"Hold still, Haru," he murmured softly as his magic flowed through the white glove and onto her face. She closed her eyes as the white sparks danced over her cheek and nose, and the cuts began to shrink noticeably.
When Baron finally put down his hand again, the king was satisfied that the girl's face was once again perfectly unmarred, without the slightest hint of what the countess had done. The dress and her neck were still coated in blood, but there was no help for that.
Haru smiled weakly at her employer as she felt over her renewed face. "Thanks Baron. Is there a way we can go home now? I feel really dizzy."
"Absolutely," the orange and cream cat said soothingly, taking her by the shoulders and guiding her away from the feline monarch. "Thank you for your intervention, your Majesty. Come along, children."
"Hold it!" the king bellowed one more time, stomping up to the brunette as she turned to face him once more. "Why didn't you tell me that it was you, Haru?! I've been tearing both kingdoms apart trying to find you!"
"Have you?" Haru asked distractedly, shaking her head a bit to help her keep her consciousness. "I heard you were trying to find a noblewoman, but not a peasant girl like me. Besides, your son's married now."
"Sure, he is, but…" the king stammered, falling to one knee that audibly cracked with age. "I was wondering… if you'd marry me instead."
Baron had known that was what the king had in mind, but actually hearing the words filled him with a volcanic rage. He opened his mouth to say no, but then Haru firmly pulled on his sleeve.
He looked down, a bit surprised to see the way Haru was looking at him.
Her eyes were dark, almost unreadable. "Why don't you let me answer, Baron?" she asked stiffly.
He swallowed hard, but took a step back while pulling his children close to him. As his brunette turned to face the king once more, he couldn't help but fear that he was about to lose her forever. His heart began to pound in dread, trying to imagine a life without her, but finding it beyond his ability to do as the king smiled smugly at the lord before turning his attention to the girl.
"I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, your Majesty," Haru said while curtsying politely. "But for reasons of your health, I cannot accept your proposal."
The king blinked dumbly. "I'm in perfect health," he blustered, but Haru raised one hand to silence him, since she wasn't done talking yet.
"That's partially why I must turn you down, your Majesty. Your health would go out the window if you married me."
His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he leaned close to the girl, who looked right back at him without flinching. "What's that supposed to mean, babe?" he hissed at her, making the girl shrug a bit.
"I swore a blood oath years ago that I wouldn't marry unless I found a mate that could make me dance well," the brunette answered in a deceptively casual manner.
Hashi quickly turned away from the scene, both hands over his mouth in mirthful horror. Baron spared a confused glance at the lad as the feline monarch was thrown into howls of laughter.
"Is that all?! In that case, give us a waltz, Maestro!" the king boomed, grabbing the nanny by one arm and dragging her towards the dance floor.
Indignant, Baron tried to follow, but Hashi held him back.
"Just sit tight," the dark human giggled helplessly, trying to keep the words at a whisper. "Haru will fix him good."
"But what if he-" Baron tried to ask as music began to swell from a corner of the huge ballroom, Haru's frantic protests still clearly audible.
"He won't, I promise. But if you want your kittens to remain innocent, I'd cover their eyes if I were you," Hashi said while wrapping one arm firmly over Elly's eyes.
"Hey!" the white kitten protested as the king put his other paw on Haru's waist, and started waltzing.
The old feline grunted once as Haru accidentally kicked his shin. And again when he twirled her around, and she sort of got her elbow stuck deep between his ribs. Then again when her foot came down on his hind paw.
After that, Baron leaned over and wrapped his own arms around the faces of his older children, despite their many protests.
With a horrified fascination, he stared at the girl he had unflinchingly welcomed into his home as she slowly and painfully dismantled the king. After one more minute, a startling revelation hit him.
"It's a pattern," he whispered to himself as Haru finally broke the king's right leg with a final smooth yet completely accidental kick.
The Cat King lost his nerve at that point, collapsing on the ground and howling over the terrible pain. Not a drop of blood could be seen, but his leg wasn't the only limb lying at a funny angle.
"Did you say something, Baron?" Hashi asked as his sister firmly took a few guilty steps away from the broken monarch.
The orange and cream feline came to his senses, and shook his head firmly. "Just talking to myself, Hashi."
"For the record, I did try to warn him," Haru said loudly, smiling apologetically at Lune and Yuki. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't make him understand what I was trying to say. Can we leave now, Baron?"
Numbly, he nodded, and released his children so that he could offer the young nanny his arm. She took it, and wrapped her other hand with Lily's as Thomas took Baron's other hand. Hashi followed behind them, his hand firmly yet gently holding Elly's.
The guests made a large pathway for them out of the room, their own eyes wide with fear and horror. Haru nodded once at them again before leaving the room, but not a single apology crossed her lips again.
It wasn't until the small yet strangely compiled group was on the carriage heading home that someone chose to speak again.
"Why didn't you say you were pretty, Haru?" Elly asked curiously, cuddling deep into the brunette's side while avoiding the blood stains.
Haru's smile became somewhat fixed. "Because I don't want to be pretty. I guess it doesn't matter now, no one's going to come anywhere near me after word of what I did to the king gets around."
Thomas spoke up, taking a break from nervously biting his bottom lip, a habit of Haru's that had rubbed off on him. "Did you really take a blood oath on getting married, Haru?" the tiger-like feline asked timidly, making the girl laugh.
"No, but now that I've thought of it, it's a pretty good idea. I've already spilled the blood and everything."
"You don't have to do that!" Lily protested, remembering the way her father and nanny had been holding hands earlier.
Haru looked at her from the side, a soft smirk on her lips for the eldest von Gikkingen girl, since she was sitting on the other side of the housemaid, an arm wrapped around both girls' shoulders. "I thought you wanted me to stay forever, Lily."
The tawny kitten nodded as a plan began to form in her mind.
A rather brilliant one, if she said so herself. Too bad she didn't think of it months ago.