Chapter Seven: Ignorance
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
-Confucius
xxXxx
Vulcan was the absolute center of attention that night. The king threw a huge party to celebrate the fireling's retrieval, and Humbert even got to sit at the royal table; a rare honor for a mere baron.
Not that he really noticed. Despite the music and dancing, he was lost within his own thoughts. Even though retrieving Vulcan had come at a terrible cost, he was just a shade relieved at what that cost implied.
He wouldn't be like this forever. He was going to meet a girl that would love him enough to start a family. A large one, even!
Would he meet her before or after getting cured? He nibbled thoughtfully on one finger, wondering which way he'd prefer it. On one hand, if he met her after getting cured, he wouldn't have to worry about her thinking of him as a child.
But on the other hand, what if she wouldn't be able to handle his looks as a child? If he were ever to age again… hold on. Would he start aging where he left off, or would his body fast forward to his real age? Such an experience was sure to be painful, even if he only had his current number of years, four, to worry about. Just how patient was he supposed to be, anyway?
Suddenly, a familiar tune reached his ears. His heartbeat quickened as he looked up hopefully.
Sure enough, the musicians were playing his favorite song. How many times had his mother played this for him when he was sick? He couldn't remember, but just hearing that song was enough to calm his troubled thoughts.
Everyone had stopped dancing; exalted looks on their faces as the most popular song in the Cat Kingdom echoed through the room. Unlike all the other songs that had been played, the room was dead quiet as a young she-cat began singing the oldest ballad the kingdom had.
Ironically enough; a firebird had been the one to give it to them.
"Born into another world is she,
"To save the heir, in his hour of need."
The little kitten sighed happily, although he privately preferred his mother's voice for the treasured song.
"She'll bear him from the waves
"Like a babe in her arms one day."
Humbert started whispering the next part, sad that it was already half over. That was his only complaint, really; that the sweet ballad was so short.
"Sea Maiden, destined to join cat kind,
"Yet always possessing her own mind."
Suddenly, Lune started tugging on his sleeve. Humbert looked at his friend curiously, but the prince only pulled on his sleeve again, standing up as he did so.
"As she had borne the young heir from the cold sea,
"She will bear the greatest king, ever been," the singer concluded as Vulcan added an accompanying trill.
The lovely ballad was answered by a thunderous applause, but most of all by the king. The crown prince pulled a bit more insistently, making the stunted cat rise from his seat and quietly follow him behind one curtain.
"I've never liked that song," Lune hissed under his breath. "Can't we have a single ball without playing it?"
Humbert stared at his friend in total shock. "Are you mad, Lune? The Sea Maiden's Song represents the kingdom's greatest hope!"
"If that's so, why does my blood run cold every time I hear it?" Lune growled, shaking his head as if to rid himself of the dark thoughts.
"I haven't a clue, my friend. Perhaps the beat is not to your liking?" Humbert suggested.
"No. I doubt changing that will fix it." The prince sighed. "Sorry, Baron. That song just makes my fur stand on end."
Humbert sighed in exasperation, and tore his arm free. "Lune, you of all cats know that isn't my name. Why is everyone referring to me as 'Baron'?"
Lune blinked, and laughed a little sheepishly. "I apologize, Humbert; when all those wild rumors were flying around, it seemed a bit too much hassle to use your full name every time someone wanted to talk about you. By the time you came to the palace for Father's errand, it was easier to use just your title."
"Except I'm not the only baron in the kingdom," Humbert reminded him tightly.
"No, you're not. But for some reason, it just feels right to call you Baron," Lune said, shrugging a bit. "Considering what just happened, there are worse things to call you, are there not?"
"… There are," Humbert sighed reluctantly. 'I've never been fond of being called Humbert, even if it's my grandfather's name. I suppose I'll wait and see if it clings to me.'
Lune managed a smile, and inclined his head down the hallway. "But enough talk of the Sea Maiden; you were not the only one who made a new acquaintance this week."
Humbert cocked his head. "Oh?"
"Yes. I would very much like you to meet her; she's… wonderful," Lune said softly.
Humbert's ears pricked up with interest. "She?" he asked in amusement.
Lune looked around worriedly, and then nodded. "I don't want Natori or Natoru to find out about her, though. I think one of them started the rumor on you and Vulcan, and I shudder to think of what they would make of her," he confided as they started walking again. "Oh, those two frazzle my whiskers!"
"Is there something wrong with your new friend?" Humbert asked worriedly.
"No, nothing's wrong with her at all," Lune said quickly in defense. "I… just want to protect her from the dangers of the palace."
"Then was it wise to bring her here? I've heard even the walls have ears," Humbert replied while pointedly looking at the walls, and even a large portrait of Lune's grandfather.
"Well, I couldn't think of anywhere else that would be safe, and… well, I really want you to meet her," Lune said somewhat bashfully. "She has something you need to know about."
Humbert only nodded, and continued following his friend down two hallways and a flight of servants' stairs.
Still, he couldn't help but gauge the distance between their heights as they walked. Although Lune was only a few months older than him, he was almost a head taller. The prince had already hit his growing streak.
Humbert shook off his slight envy, and held the knowledge of his eventual cure closer for comfort. He nibbled his lower lip in thought, wondering why he hadn't yet informed Lune on what he had learned in the Avian Kingdom.
He opened his mouth to tell Lune the good news, but… for some reason, the words never came out.
'What is wrong with me? Lune would be happy to know I'll be healthy someday. Why can't I say anything?'
Lune looked over his shoulder worriedly. "Are you starting to get tired, Humbert?"
"… A little," he panted, suddenly realizing that he was shaking a bit. "How much farther is this new friend of yours?"
"Here," he whispered, suddenly grabbing Humbert by the waist and dragging him behind a tapestry.
Humbert yelped in surprise just as Lune put one hand over his mouth.
"Shh," the prince hissed, setting him on the ground. "We're just in a passageway, Humbert. Yuki, this is Humbert, my best friend. Humbert, this is Yuki," he said in a soft, tender voice.
Humbert looked up, and had to keep himself from gaping.
She was lovely, with perfect sapphire eyes and snowy white fur. She was also perfectly slim, with delicate ears and hands. Her smile, although nervous, was breathtaking. She was also in the uniform of a servant girl, but somehow, she made the simple attire seem elegant.
She had made a slight modification to her uniform, however. Around her elegant neck, she had tied a simple pink ribbon.
In a word, she was perfect.
"It's nice to meet you, Baron," she said while politely curtsying. "Lune doesn't stop talking about you."
'That does it. My new pet name is Baron.' He nervously tipped his hat at her, and managed a smile. "Likewise, Miss Yuki," he nearly squeaked.
Dang it, why couldn't he have sounded normal? Well, normal for him, in any case; he usually sounded like the kitten he looked like.
"Come along, Baron; Yuki has some things to tell you," Lune said while gently guiding them deeper into the secret passageway.
"She does?" he squeaked again.
"It'll help with a problem you mentioned having when I was at your estate a few months ago."
After a few more minutes, they slipped behind a dusty curtain to a hidden room. The dust was thick everywhere, and the only furniture was a small table with a few chairs surrounding it.
"I am sorry about the mess; I would have cleaned it up a bit more if the head housekeeper had given me a little less to do. Not that I'm complaining," she said very quickly to Lune as they all sat down.
"Well, if it becomes a little much, you know to come to me, right?" Lune asked her worriedly, helping her into one dusty seat.
"Lune, my dear friend… I don't want to bring attention to myself. This place is still new to me, and I don't want to earn enemies."
"I'm afraid that enemies are inevitable, especially in the palace, Miss Yuki," Humbert informed her, secretly thrilled that his voice had returned to normal. He took an extra breath to be on the safe side. "Where was it that you lived before here?"
She gave him a strange look, as if trying to calculate his reaction.
"Go on, Yuki," Lune urged her in a gentle voice. "Tell him what you told me."
"… You will keep this secret, right, Baron?" she asked in a tiny voice.
He nodded and held his hat to his heart. "No one will hear of it from me, if that is what you wish."
She gave him a deeply grateful look, and took a fortifying breath. "I am from the Human Kingdom."
Humbert jumped clean out of his chair with a terrified hiss. "You got out alive?"
Yuki was holding onto the back of her chair with both hands from the shock of his outburst, but she nodded. "I wasn't trying to come here, though; until Lune found me and woke me up on this side of the portal, I had no idea the Cat Kingdom existed."
"Tell him about your human," Lune insisted. "He needs to hear about your human."
Humbert looked at Yuki in bewilderment.
She took a moment for a breath of courage. "I was born on the streets. When I was only two months old, I got separated from my siblings and mother. I honestly believe they all died that day."
Humbert gaped at her. "How did you survive?" he whispered in horror.
"Our kind ages faster in the Human Kingdom, Baron," Lune informed him. "Yuki's only six months old."
'How is that for irony? I look like a child but should be approaching teenage-hood. Miss Yuki should be a small kitten, but she's half-grown! I hate my life.'
The white cat in question looked at her hands, shaking her head softly while flexing her delicate fingers. "I still have problems with these strange things." Then she sighed. "In order to survive, I had to live off garbage and sleep in alleyways. The dogs… they were everywhere. I nearly died so many times…" Her voice was turning weak from the painful memories.
"Your human, Yuki," Lune begged.
"If he needs to know about her, he needs to know what my life was like before her." Yuki looked back at Humbert as he slowly slipped back into his seat.
"Two weeks ago, I started following a human child around. She was eating from a box of fish-shaped cookies, and I was hoping that she'd drop some crumbs for me. Instead…" Yuki closed her eyes as a single tear escaped her control.
Lune immediately reached across the table to hold her hand in comfort.
"Did this child hurt you?" Humbert asked in anger.
Yuki opened her eyes as a painful smile overtook her features. "No. She noticed how hungry I was, and gave me the rest of the box."
Humbert stared in numb shock. 'A human showed kindness to a cat?'
"After I ate them all, she picked me up and took me home with her," Yuki whispered, her eyes filled with love. "She fed me, spoke to me, and kept me warm at night. She gave me my name. She could even understand me when I spoke to her."
"But… no human can understand cat speech," Humbert insisted.
"This one could. She was unlike anyone I had ever met," Yuki said wistfully. "She was so good at listening to me, even when I told her about how I got separated from my family. She was the only person that could ever speak music without an instrument to help her."
"She sings?" Lune asked in confusion. "You never mentioned that."
"Oh no, she doesn't. I mean, she probably can, but… that's the only way I can describe it. When she's really happy, she can just talk and it sounds like music. I could listen to her speak like that for hours. I had such talks with her…" Then Yuki looked down in shame. "I never meant to hurt her. I never should have spoken with her."
"I beg your pardon?" Humbert couldn't help but ask incredulously. "If this human meant so much to you, how could you have hurt her?"
"I didn't think any harm would come from speaking with a human, especially one like mine. But… other humans are not as kind. She told other humans that she could talk to cats. They called her a liar, and would hurt her terribly for refusing to take it back. Muta-san would protect her the best he could, but then…"
"Then?" Lune gently prompted her, squeezing her hand gently.
"… I overheard Muta-san talking with an adult human about Chicky. He said that if she didn't stop talking about talking cats, she would be taken away from Muta-san."
"Who's Muta-san? Her father?" Humbert guessed.
Yuki laughed slightly while shaking her head. "I don't know what the exact relationship was between Muta-san and Chicky, but I know that Chicky wouldn't be able to survive away from him. She tried learning how to lie so that I could stay, but… someone like my Chicky could never become a good liar. I had to leave, don't you understand?" she begged as tears started running down her beautiful face. "If I stayed, Chicky would have been taken away to a terrible place."
"What place?" Humbert couldn't help but ask.
"I-I don't know; all Muta-san ever said was that it was a place worse than death." Yuki gratefully took the handkerchief from Lune to wipe her tears away. With one hand, she gently touched the simple pink ribbon tied around her neck. "This… she gave me this. It's all I have to remember her by."
As she attempted to compose herself, Humbert caught onto something else.
"Chicky? Your human's name is Chicky?" he asked incredulously.
Yuki gave him an irritated look. "Well, it's what Muta-san called her, and she answered to it!"
"Be nice, Humbert," Lune said sternly, using the kitten's real name as if to make a point.
Humbert kept his mouth shut, but deep down, he was laughing. Chicky? Why on earth had her parents chosen such a name for her?
Yuki sighed again, now in control of herself. "Baron, Lune says you're terrified of even the thought of humans. But the fact that I stayed alive to even reach a portal, even though it was an accident, says that not all humans are evil. There's bound to be other humans like my Chicky, even though there may not be a lot of them. I don't know why Lune thought it was so important to tell you about her, but… you shouldn't make judgments about people you've never seen."
ooOoo
That last sentence haunted Baron all the way back to his baronetcy. Toto could tell that something was troubling him, but nothing the crow could say would convince the little kitten to come clean.
'Come to think of it, what do I know of humans other than my brothers' horror stories? Even Toto had to tell me that they couldn't enter the Cat Kingdom without permission from the king.' He nibbled his lower lip carefully, thinking about all the human books that Baron Carouch had passed onto him. What sort of information would he be able to find in them? Surely this Chicky couldn't be living amongst the savages his brothers had described. If she had, she would have been put to death instead of near banishment.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that it came as a surprise when Toto landed in his courtyard. The freshly fallen snow crunched underneath his talons, the sound strangely louder than one would typically think.
"Ah, home sweet home!" Toto exclaimed happily, sitting down so that Humbert could more easily slip off. "I thought they were going to keep us at the palace forever!"
"Thankfully, the king decided differently," Humbert agreed as he dismounted. His legs trembled slightly as they collided with the ground, but he was used to that by now. "That was an excellent ride, my friend."
"I rather thought so. Would you like me to drop off the gold before I go into the tree?"
"My lord? Toto?"
They looked over to see Richard, bursting from a side door of the castle to run up to them. He stopped a pace away, and bent over to catch his breath.
"Before… you go up… to the tree… we altered the lord's windows for you, Toto. If you pull on the rope outside of the southwest window, it will swing open just long enough for you to get inside and get warm. I've been keeping the fires burning for your return."
"That sounds wonderful," Toto said gratefully as he spread his wings and launched himself into the air.
Humbert bit back a smile at his friend's enthusiasm for a warm place to rest. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to wait a bit for the gold."
"Gold?" Richard asked in surprise.
"Yes. The king asked us to bring a firebird to him, and he gave us a large bag of gold for doing it. It appears that we'll have enough to rebuild at least two of the villages, and I'm confident that we can come up with the rest of what we'll need."
Richard gaped at him in total shock.
"Please don't ask, my friend. Let's just say that the king takes ridiculous rumors seriously, and I would have lost my head if I had failed. Of course, the only reason I succeeded was because the Avian King wanted me to."
Richard couldn't stop staring at him.
"… Did anything happen while I was gone?" Humbert asked, hoping to snap the cat out of his shock.
It worked, because he immediately blinked and straightened a bit. "As a matter of fact, Baron, something did."
'There's that name again. Did the kingdom unanimously decide to grant me that pet name while I was in the Avian Kingdom?'
"Please follow me; it's quite cold out here, and I'm certain that you wish to warm up," Richard said as he gently placed one hand on the kitten's shoulder to lead him inside.
"Very much so. Now then, what happened?"
"Well… a group of travelers came from afar, seeking refuge with us."
"I assume you gave it to them?" he asked as they entered the castle, and a servant came up to take his cloak and over boots.
"Naturally. However, they wish to speak to you personally."
Humbert gratefully soaked in the warmth of the main hall, a pleased smile on his lips. "Did they mention what they needed to speak to me about?"
"… They did, but… it would be best for them to tell you about it themselves," Richard said evasively, gently nudging him down one hallway.
Humbert obediently walked, although his mind was now buzzing with curiosity. What could a group of travelers want to speak to him about? What could be important enough for Richard to want him to hear it directly from them?
'Please, please let it have nothing to do with a firebird,' he silently prayed as Richard stopped at a certain door and knocked.
"The lord is here. Would you care to greet him?"
Whoever was inside didn't need a second invitation. The door was immediately thrown open, and Humbert was nearly crushed to death by a pair of very strong arms.
Ones that he remembered all too well.
"Henry?" he gasped in disbelief.
"Humbert! We're so glad that you're alive!" the old orchard hand sobbed as other familiar faces flooded out of the room to greet him.
He couldn't believe it. All of his old friends from the orchard were here, down to the three housekeepers. Humbert greedily accepted several hugs from each of them, and soaked in the traces of his old life that clung to the familiar cats.
"… I can't believe this! How did you all find me?" he couldn't help but ask.
Jeremy laughed darkly. "There are only so many living victims of hurimalthia, Humbert, and even less that fit your description. Couple that with traveling on a giant black bird and… them reacting angrily to the news of a Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, it was easy to connect the dots."
Humbert could feel a portion of his newfound happiness slip away. "Are they here?" he asked formally.
Jenna, the oldest of the housekeepers, shook her head darkly. "No. Once we realized what must have happened the night you disappeared, we made for here as quickly as possible. Luckily your steward believed our story long enough to give us a chance to speak with you," she added gratefully, bowing to Richard with respect.
"You abandoned Father?" the little kitten gasped in shock.
"Never, Humbert. We only abandoned… them. Your father… he…"
The little kitten grabbed the shirt of the closest cat, which happened to be Theodore the locksmith. "What happened to Father?" he asked harshly.
"… he was inspecting the grove beyond the vineyard, and accidentally slipped into the old dry well. His neck was snapped like a twig."
Humbert's heart broke with grief. "Father's always been careful around there before."
"His attention had been diverted for weeks. Your death deeply wounded him."
Humbert looked down at his feet, feeling incredibly guilty. "Harold and Louis tried to kill me when I returned from my first flight. It's thanks to Toto that I survived the encounter."
"We thought as much. In any case, Harold inherited everything upon your father's death. He and Louis cut our wages in half, were working us harder than ever, and are nearly bathing themselves in the family wine."
Humbert shuddered convulsively. "They'll be regretting that in a few more years. So, all of you left Harold and Louis with no help whatsoever?"
"Along with no regrets whatsoever," Johnny smirked. "I'll be fascinated to see how they'll harvest and process the wine without experienced help."
Humbert smirked sadly as well. "The absence of such assistance is bound to be enough to make them lose the orchard in one or two years."
"Now isn't that a shame?" Jenna remarked with a heavy amount of sarcasm.
Humbert gave a light, melancholic laugh. "I don't suppose I could convince any of you to stay and work for me? Your expertise concerning mulberries would be greatly welcomed."
"What do you think we traveled all this way for?" Timothy teased him.
"Oh, and one more thing, my lord," Gregory, one of the older butlers, said warmly as he emerged from the back of the group, carrying an object heavily wrapped in plain muslin. "We managed to bring you this. I think we all know that you'll care for it better than they ever would, and I doubt they'll even notice it's missing."
Feeling a bit curious, Humbert held his hands out for it. But as soon as he felt the polished wood through the muslin, he knew exactly what it was.
He eagerly unwrapped the soft fabric from the object, and held it against his frail chest possessively. "Mother's harp," he whispered, unable to keep tears at bay.
It was a simple thing, and yet beautiful in its plain state. It had delicate carvings of flowers along the wooden spine, and was capable of producing heart-wrenching music. Humbert couldn't count all the times his mother had lulled him to sleep using this, and the Sea Maiden's Song.
It had been in his mother's family for five generations, and had been meant to go to the first brother that got married.
"She would have wanted you to have it. You're the only one who had any love for music," Gregory reminded him gently.
Humbert looked up at him with tearing eyes, and stole another hug from him.
ooOoo
By the time Richard was able to tear Humbert away from his old friends, it was after supper, and poor Humbert could barely move from exhaustion. It was a good thing that his steward was a doting father, because Richard had insisted on carrying him up to his tower room.
"Thank you, Richard," Humbert whispered softly; still cradling his mother's harp in both arms. "For not turning them away."
The elderly cat shook his head with a warm smile. "I'm the one that's grateful, Baron. You have no idea how much your people appreciate your efforts for them. Speaking of which, we used the time you were gone to fix up your quarters."
Richard shifted Humbert's slight weight into one arm, once they were at the top of the stairs. He then used his free hand to open the door, and send a warm wave of air over the little kitten.
The lord's room was much cozier now, with simple wood furniture and woolen rugs covering the stone floor. The bed was still much bigger than he needed, but much more practical than Baron Carouch's had been.
Toto had nearly nodded off to sleep, nestled in front of a roaring fireplace, but the door opening had jolted him awake. "Enjoy your family reunion?" he yawned.
"Don't tell me you knew they were here," Humbert accused as Richard gently set him on the ground.
"Only since Marisa came up with my supper. They aren't still carrying a grudge against me, are they?" he asked nervously.
"Oh no, they understand what you were up to, and forgive you for it," Humbert assured him as he looked at the bookshelves. There were a great deal less books then there had been before, and he could tell that none of the remaining ones were about humans. He carefully set his mother's harp on an empty part of the bookshelf to start perusing.
"Timothy informed me that you're a lover of history and poetry, so I took the liberty of selecting some books from the library," Richard informed him.
"Thank you," Baron said softly, pulling one geography book out to look at it, and flip through a few of the pages. "However, can I talk you into bringing back some of those human books?"
Richard and Toto gaped at him in shock.
"A well-rounded education is important," he defended, although his chaotic thoughts were becoming centered on Yuki's mysterious Chicky.
Chicky. Just thinking that silly name made it harder for him to stay fearful of humans. What kind of culture could have produced someone like her, even if she was of a minority?
"Are you sick, Humbert?" Toto asked worriedly, pulling the kitten close to feel his forehead with one wing.
"No, I am not sick, Toto. I just want to learn a bit about humans," Humbert said stubbornly, trying to escape the crow's grasp.
"I don't understand," Richard whispered. "I thought you were terrified of humans."
"I am, but…" He trailed off, thinking about his promise to Yuki. He had sworn never to tell anyone about her roots.
Garrington or Gikkingen; he would never break a promise to a lady.
"… I merely decided that if I'm going to continue to have nightmares about humans, I should at least have my facts straight."