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Description
The room was icy cold with tension. Around the table sat six felines; four male, two females. You could hear the tails waving against the stone floor as the wait continued. Every feline refused to look into any others' eyes; if they did, it would break the tension and only negative results could follow.
All heads snapped up as the small door creaked open and the one they had been waiting for entered. Keeping her head down, she took her spot near the head of the table, shivering from the snow that was still sticking to her fur.
Next to the silver feline, at the head of the table, sat a large red and black feline with blind white eyes. It was he that broke the silence.
"Welcome, Lords and Ladies. Normally I would not have called such a spontaneous meeting in the middle of the cold time, but this is a matter of the utmost importance." He paused and daringly looked into each feline's eyes, as though he could actually see. "I trust you all know WHY we're all here."
A small chocolate-coloured feline put his paw farther onto the table. "But, Lord Algernon; we're not all here. Lady Alesia is not present; nor is Lord Brent. We can't begin without them. I know this is a pressing matter – as do we all – but Lord Brent has the largest city of us all, and I'm not ashamed to say that Alesia must have the most level head of all us. If we waited for them, we might have missed out on some sort of opportunity."
The red and black Lord twitched an ear. "With all due respect, Lord Mali, you DON'T know how pressing of a matter this is. We can't afford to wait much longer. Do you even know what I'm talking about?"
The young Lord's eyebrows rose, as did the fur on his neck a bit. "Of course. We're talking about what Lady Evora has done, and what punishment she will receive."
At this, a large dark coloured lion-like feline slammed his paw on the table. "That issue has been taken care of! Lady Pandara and I both witnessed the death of the cub. That is more of a punishment than Evora deserves, so we shouldn't mention it again!"
Everyone stared for a moment, then turned back to the feline at the head of the table. He nodded solemnly. "Lord Darion is right, of course. Let us forgive and forget. But…Lord Mali, you are terribly wrong. What we are here for has nothing to do with the dead cub," His blind eyes stared across the table. "Ladies and Lords of the Order, we have met today to discuss something that could get us killed, and put this whole Kingdom into chaos. Lord Mali, we are meeting to discuss the assassination of the Baroness, and the termination of our Order."
There was a shocked silence, and even the calmest of the group had her jaw drop. "Lord Algernon, how has this come up? Do we even have a reason to k – kill…to even CONSIDER…" She stopped, and was clearly upset.
"Lady Fiora, I understand why this might upset you. But we have many reasons to do away with the Baroness. She has threatened to have us killed many times, and has turned this Kingdom upside down in only three years. Don't deny her crimes; the evidence is all around us. Evora, she attacked your castle to enforce a law she did not create, but a law we, the Order, created. She has twisted this law and now we cannot even choose our own mates. Every two years she picks two felines from the order and they MUST conceive a single cub to become a part of her guard. She abuses that power by choosing for her own humour…we all remember Lady Shuva and Lord Alen, correct?"
There was an uncomfortable shuffling of paws. Shuva and Alen had been brother and sister, and had been forced to mate. Shuva had given birth to a cub, but the cub had been imperfect, and the Baroness had killed him and his parents.
"How will we do it?" Came the quiet question from Lady Pandara.
A large striped Lord growled softly. "We haven't even decided to, yet. We should wait for Alesia and Brent. This will give us all time to think." He looked up at Lord Algernon.
The old feline was nodding slowly, though there was anger in his milky eyes. "Very well, Lord Tolan. We will wait. Lady Evora?"
The silver Lady had been quiet and subdued the whole time, and only now did she look up. "Yes, my Lord?" She replied in a soft voice.
"Have two messengers go to each of our missing members' castles. Tell them to tell the Lord and Lady we are waiting…impatiently."
Lady Evora nodded and sat up, excusing herself. The other Lords and Ladies did the same, bowing their heads politely and walking stiffly out the door to a few servants, who took them each to their rooms. The silver Lady, however, walked swiftly up the spiraling staircase until she reached the bridge to the tower, which she crossed slowly.
Once she was across, she entered the tower and was greeted by the pleasant smell of feathers and eggs. The messenger hawks shrieked in surprise as she closed the door, disturbing the three birdkeepers. They were asleep in the shadows, and all three heads rose at the same time.
"Liro. Don. Come here, please. Eirvii, you may go back to sleep." Two of the forms stood up, stretching and yawning, while the other blinked her soft green eyes thankfully and curled up again. The three felines walked to the other side of the tower, where Evora instructed them where they were to go and how it was of the utmost importance that they were not caught by the Baroness's soldiers.
"Liro, you will fetch Brent. Don, get Alesia. Make sure they come alone. Leave as soon as it is light outside." Evora's amber eyes traveled over to the widow, and she saw the faint tinge of pink on the horizon. "Which won't be too long. So quickly, get something to eat and then leave. Talk to no one."
The two brothers nodded, their eyes serious. Together, they dissolved into the shadows, and Evora was left alone. Sighing, she lifted one of her paws into the air, offering it to any bird that wished for some company, as she did.
A small fledgling of a hawk fluttered awkwardly down from its nest, and Evora smiled. It was odd-looking; completely white, with extra long tail feathers. Gently, the silver Lady pet the little one's head, and absentmindedly began to hum.
Outside, the sky was getting lighter.
~~~
The room was in shambles. Nothing was left intact, and there was blood spattering the floor. In the blood-red dawn's light, which shined through one of the large open windows, a small crumpled form gasped for breath as she struggled to regain her footing. Another blow rained down on her back, and she fell into the pool of blood again.
"The boy," Snarled a menacing voice. "Where have you hidden him?"
The cringing grey-speckled feline struggled to her paws again. "What…boy?"
This time, he threw himself at her, and pressed his paw on her neck. "Don't play a fool, Alesia. He is a boy to you and me, even if he's not to Evora." The golden feline's claws unsheathed and he dug them into the thin fur of the Lady's neck. She whimpered and raised her paw. Feebly she tried to push him away, to no avail.
Chuckling, the giant head came down on her, and his huge teeth clamped down on her ear and partly over her eye. Flexing his shoulder muscles, he tore upwards, and blood sprayed into the air.
The Lady's scream seemed to shake the mountains surrounding her castle.
~~~
Liro and Don stuck together up until they reached the mountains. This is where they embraced and split up; Liro, to the southeast, where Brent's city lay, and Don to the west, where he would find Lady Alesia.
For the darker brother, Don, the going would be difficult. The speckled lady's castle was in the middle of the mountain range. But he had been born with thicker fur than his two siblings, so he would reach the stronghold faster. It also helped that he felt at home in the mountains, where there was nothing but the howling of the wind and the white.
So on this trip, he was able to tell that something was wrong. The white was there, yes, and so was the wind. But there was something else. Perhaps it was only a boulder or two bouncing down one of the mountains, but among the howling was laughter. An evil-sounding, cold laughter which matched the cold landscape.
Don, for a reason he couldn't comprehend, quickened his pace.
~~~
Lord Algernon stood at the window of his quarters and listened to the Baroness's soldiers draw back and leave the broken city. He could hear the screams of the injured and could even hear the last breaths of many of them.
So focused was he on the carnage below him that he did not hear or smell the shadow that was creeping up on him from behind. It stepped without a sound and drew up to even stand beside the blind lord without him even realizing.
The shadow was a friend, and not a foe, so he pats the old feline on the back, instead of speaking, so as not to startle him.
"Who is this?" Asked the Lord, who was a bit surprised. The feline had no smell, or…rather, it was a very confusing smell. It smelled like many felines, all at once.
The voice was deep, but Algernon recognized it immediately. "I should not speak my name."
"Brent? I thought you had not arrived yet. A messenger was sent…" The paw which had been on his back slowly moved to be under the Lord's jaw, and it held it shut. The feline's mouth came up his ear and whispered for quiet words.
"I'm not Lord Brent, Algernon, but I had to hold this form so I could come from my hiding place." And then, the feline changed. The golden fur changed to a dusty brown, and his stature changed, as well. His voice became higher, and a strange accent trickled into it as he finished the sentence. Only now did Algernon fully know who this feline was.
"I thought you would've been dead or gone by now," The large feline growled to the newcomer. "Your daughter is."
At this, the brown feline chuckled. "I hid in the most unlikely place, Algernon. And I wouldn't have left it unless I had a reason to. You see, I am leaving this kingdom. It is too dangerous, and I have no ball and chain to keep me here. However, I have to warn you of something. While I was disguised as Lord Brent, returned early from the meeting I thought he was attending, I discovered from a servant where the Lord Brent – or, myself – was supposed to be. And then I heard a rumor…that the Lord had actually gone to Lady Alesia's. He's gone looking for a boy…or, a feline younger than himself." He sighed. "Algernon, he is searching for me. My mother hid me, for a long time…but I think it is costing her her life. At this very moment, I think Brent is hurting her to try and find me. He wants to win the favour of the Baroness."
The old red and black feline's eyebrow twitched, but he showed no other sign of surprise. "I suspected that his ambition would lead him into doing some preposterous things, but never to lead him to betray. Are you quite sure?"
The accent became heavier and heavier as the newcomer spoke again. "I am. My mahther wan't leave hehr castle again, alive, oonless your messehnger reaches hehr in time to hehlp. Aand don't expect Brent to cahme, ether. He'll go raight to the Baroness, or kehp sehrching for me. If I wehre you, I woohld acht fahst, aand wi'out wahrnin'." The accent was an odd one. Algernon had only heard this feline speak with it.
The newcomer muttered under his breath in another language, and then looked up into Algernon's milky eyes. His own blue ones burned with inner fire. "I wehl fahnd my daughthehr, fohr she is naht dehd. Aand tehn I wehl retuhrn. Thes is ahll my fault." And then he transformed again, so that he looked like Algernon himself. "You wehl forgehve me, for using youhr bahdy," he paused a moment, so his accent could go away and his voice became Algernon's. "It's the only way I can get out without being questioned."
Algernon nodded and watched his copy go. "Good luck," He murmured, and then went back to his window, so he could wrap his head around what the father of the forbidden cub had said. After a while, he seemed to make a decision, and he roared out the window. "Someone find Lady Evora, and tell her to call the Order together again! NOW!"

Description
The room was icy cold with tension. Around the table sat six felines; four male, two females. You could hear the tails waving against the stone floor as the wait continued. Every feline refused to look into any others' eyes; if they did, it would break the tension and only negative results could follow.
All heads snapped up as the small door creaked open and the one they had been waiting for entered. Keeping her head down, she took her spot near the head of the table, shivering from the snow that was still sticking to her fur.
Next to the silver feline, at the head of the table, sat a large red and black feline with blind white eyes. It was he that broke the silence.
"Welcome, Lords and Ladies. Normally I would not have called such a spontaneous meeting in the middle of the cold time, but this is a matter of the utmost importance." He paused and daringly looked into each feline's eyes, as though he could actually see. "I trust you all know WHY we're all here."
A small chocolate-coloured feline put his paw farther onto the table. "But, Lord Algernon; we're not all here. Lady Alesia is not present; nor is Lord Brent. We can't begin without them. I know this is a pressing matter – as do we all – but Lord Brent has the largest city of us all, and I'm not ashamed to say that Alesia must have the most level head of all us. If we waited for them, we might have missed out on some sort of opportunity."
The red and black Lord twitched an ear. "With all due respect, Lord Mali, you DON'T know how pressing of a matter this is. We can't afford to wait much longer. Do you even know what I'm talking about?"
The young Lord's eyebrows rose, as did the fur on his neck a bit. "Of course. We're talking about what Lady Evora has done, and what punishment she will receive."
At this, a large dark coloured lion-like feline slammed his paw on the table. "That issue has been taken care of! Lady Pandara and I both witnessed the death of the cub. That is more of a punishment than Evora deserves, so we shouldn't mention it again!"
Everyone stared for a moment, then turned back to the feline at the head of the table. He nodded solemnly. "Lord Darion is right, of course. Let us forgive and forget. But…Lord Mali, you are terribly wrong. What we are here for has nothing to do with the dead cub," His blind eyes stared across the table. "Ladies and Lords of the Order, we have met today to discuss something that could get us killed, and put this whole Kingdom into chaos. Lord Mali, we are meeting to discuss the assassination of the Baroness, and the termination of our Order."
There was a shocked silence, and even the calmest of the group had her jaw drop. "Lord Algernon, how has this come up? Do we even have a reason to k – kill…to even CONSIDER…" She stopped, and was clearly upset.
"Lady Fiora, I understand why this might upset you. But we have many reasons to do away with the Baroness. She has threatened to have us killed many times, and has turned this Kingdom upside down in only three years. Don't deny her crimes; the evidence is all around us. Evora, she attacked your castle to enforce a law she did not create, but a law we, the Order, created. She has twisted this law and now we cannot even choose our own mates. Every two years she picks two felines from the order and they MUST conceive a single cub to become a part of her guard. She abuses that power by choosing for her own humour…we all remember Lady Shuva and Lord Alen, correct?"
There was an uncomfortable shuffling of paws. Shuva and Alen had been brother and sister, and had been forced to mate. Shuva had given birth to a cub, but the cub had been imperfect, and the Baroness had killed him and his parents.
"How will we do it?" Came the quiet question from Lady Pandara.
A large striped Lord growled softly. "We haven't even decided to, yet. We should wait for Alesia and Brent. This will give us all time to think." He looked up at Lord Algernon.
The old feline was nodding slowly, though there was anger in his milky eyes. "Very well, Lord Tolan. We will wait. Lady Evora?"
The silver Lady had been quiet and subdued the whole time, and only now did she look up. "Yes, my Lord?" She replied in a soft voice.
"Have two messengers go to each of our missing members' castles. Tell them to tell the Lord and Lady we are waiting…impatiently."
Lady Evora nodded and sat up, excusing herself. The other Lords and Ladies did the same, bowing their heads politely and walking stiffly out the door to a few servants, who took them each to their rooms. The silver Lady, however, walked swiftly up the spiraling staircase until she reached the bridge to the tower, which she crossed slowly.
Once she was across, she entered the tower and was greeted by the pleasant smell of feathers and eggs. The messenger hawks shrieked in surprise as she closed the door, disturbing the three birdkeepers. They were asleep in the shadows, and all three heads rose at the same time.
"Liro. Don. Come here, please. Eirvii, you may go back to sleep." Two of the forms stood up, stretching and yawning, while the other blinked her soft green eyes thankfully and curled up again. The three felines walked to the other side of the tower, where Evora instructed them where they were to go and how it was of the utmost importance that they were not caught by the Baroness's soldiers.
"Liro, you will fetch Brent. Don, get Alesia. Make sure they come alone. Leave as soon as it is light outside." Evora's amber eyes traveled over to the widow, and she saw the faint tinge of pink on the horizon. "Which won't be too long. So quickly, get something to eat and then leave. Talk to no one."
The two brothers nodded, their eyes serious. Together, they dissolved into the shadows, and Evora was left alone. Sighing, she lifted one of her paws into the air, offering it to any bird that wished for some company, as she did.
A small fledgling of a hawk fluttered awkwardly down from its nest, and Evora smiled. It was odd-looking; completely white, with extra long tail feathers. Gently, the silver Lady pet the little one's head, and absentmindedly began to hum.
Outside, the sky was getting lighter.
~~~
The room was in shambles. Nothing was left intact, and there was blood spattering the floor. In the blood-red dawn's light, which shined through one of the large open windows, a small crumpled form gasped for breath as she struggled to regain her footing. Another blow rained down on her back, and she fell into the pool of blood again.
"The boy," Snarled a menacing voice. "Where have you hidden him?"
The cringing grey-speckled feline struggled to her paws again. "What…boy?"
This time, he threw himself at her, and pressed his paw on her neck. "Don't play a fool, Alesia. He is a boy to you and me, even if he's not to Evora." The golden feline's claws unsheathed and he dug them into the thin fur of the Lady's neck. She whimpered and raised her paw. Feebly she tried to push him away, to no avail.
Chuckling, the giant head came down on her, and his huge teeth clamped down on her ear and partly over her eye. Flexing his shoulder muscles, he tore upwards, and blood sprayed into the air.
The Lady's scream seemed to shake the mountains surrounding her castle.
~~~
Liro and Don stuck together up until they reached the mountains. This is where they embraced and split up; Liro, to the southeast, where Brent's city lay, and Don to the west, where he would find Lady Alesia.
For the darker brother, Don, the going would be difficult. The speckled lady's castle was in the middle of the mountain range. But he had been born with thicker fur than his two siblings, so he would reach the stronghold faster. It also helped that he felt at home in the mountains, where there was nothing but the howling of the wind and the white.
So on this trip, he was able to tell that something was wrong. The white was there, yes, and so was the wind. But there was something else. Perhaps it was only a boulder or two bouncing down one of the mountains, but among the howling was laughter. An evil-sounding, cold laughter which matched the cold landscape.
Don, for a reason he couldn't comprehend, quickened his pace.
~~~
Lord Algernon stood at the window of his quarters and listened to the Baroness's soldiers draw back and leave the broken city. He could hear the screams of the injured and could even hear the last breaths of many of them.
So focused was he on the carnage below him that he did not hear or smell the shadow that was creeping up on him from behind. It stepped without a sound and drew up to even stand beside the blind lord without him even realizing.
The shadow was a friend, and not a foe, so he pats the old feline on the back, instead of speaking, so as not to startle him.
"Who is this?" Asked the Lord, who was a bit surprised. The feline had no smell, or…rather, it was a very confusing smell. It smelled like many felines, all at once.
The voice was deep, but Algernon recognized it immediately. "I should not speak my name."
"Brent? I thought you had not arrived yet. A messenger was sent…" The paw which had been on his back slowly moved to be under the Lord's jaw, and it held it shut. The feline's mouth came up his ear and whispered for quiet words.
"I'm not Lord Brent, Algernon, but I had to hold this form so I could come from my hiding place." And then, the feline changed. The golden fur changed to a dusty brown, and his stature changed, as well. His voice became higher, and a strange accent trickled into it as he finished the sentence. Only now did Algernon fully know who this feline was.
"I thought you would've been dead or gone by now," The large feline growled to the newcomer. "Your daughter is."
At this, the brown feline chuckled. "I hid in the most unlikely place, Algernon. And I wouldn't have left it unless I had a reason to. You see, I am leaving this kingdom. It is too dangerous, and I have no ball and chain to keep me here. However, I have to warn you of something. While I was disguised as Lord Brent, returned early from the meeting I thought he was attending, I discovered from a servant where the Lord Brent – or, myself – was supposed to be. And then I heard a rumor…that the Lord had actually gone to Lady Alesia's. He's gone looking for a boy…or, a feline younger than himself." He sighed. "Algernon, he is searching for me. My mother hid me, for a long time…but I think it is costing her her life. At this very moment, I think Brent is hurting her to try and find me. He wants to win the favour of the Baroness."
The old red and black feline's eyebrow twitched, but he showed no other sign of surprise. "I suspected that his ambition would lead him into doing some preposterous things, but never to lead him to betray. Are you quite sure?"
The accent became heavier and heavier as the newcomer spoke again. "I am. My mahther wan't leave hehr castle again, alive, oonless your messehnger reaches hehr in time to hehlp. Aand don't expect Brent to cahme, ether. He'll go raight to the Baroness, or kehp sehrching for me. If I wehre you, I woohld acht fahst, aand wi'out wahrnin'." The accent was an odd one. Algernon had only heard this feline speak with it.
The newcomer muttered under his breath in another language, and then looked up into Algernon's milky eyes. His own blue ones burned with inner fire. "I wehl fahnd my daughthehr, fohr she is naht dehd. Aand tehn I wehl retuhrn. Thes is ahll my fault." And then he transformed again, so that he looked like Algernon himself. "You wehl forgehve me, for using youhr bahdy," he paused a moment, so his accent could go away and his voice became Algernon's. "It's the only way I can get out without being questioned."
Algernon nodded and watched his copy go. "Good luck," He murmured, and then went back to his window, so he could wrap his head around what the father of the forbidden cub had said. After a while, he seemed to make a decision, and he roared out the window. "Someone find Lady Evora, and tell her to call the Order together again! NOW!"