CHAPTER 10
CATS CRADLE
They froze where they sat, afraid to twitch a finger and trigger the snarling cats to attack. Both feral animals seemed to be focused on Beatrix, their golden gaze fixed unblinkingly on her form. Morpheus slowly slipped his hand into the breast of his tunic, closing around a heavy gold ring inside his pocket.
He withdrew his hand, careful to make no sudden movements, slipping the ring onto his forefinger as he did so. The ring was crudely made, as though hastily hammered from a molten mass left over from a finer process. Gold in color, it was lopsided, the surface sloping as though the mould had tipped during cooling. Chunky uncut emeralds mottled the surface, the dull tips forming a winged shape.
Alyssia mirrored Morpheus actions, but her hand now held a short blade at the ready.
Beatrix licked her lips and wondered what to do, mesmerized by the big cats antics. Strangely, she did not feel afraid, although the swift beating of her heart caused her unconsciously twitch her wings in anticipation.
Beatrix rolled onto her knees (an action that registered vaguely in the back of her mind as surprising) and facing the tense cats, unfurled her wings, flapping them faster and faster, all the while keeping eye contact with the snarling beasts.
The cats roared at her, bunched muscles straining and great eyes unblinking, tails whipping back and forth, back and forth.
Two more cats suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the sheltering tree, closing in on the trio. Alyssia spun around to face the new additions, brandishing her knife at the approaching pair, slinking on bellies towards them.
Suddenly they sprang into motion in unison and in three bounds covered half the distance to Alyssia.
Alyssia rolled and came up between the two cats, knife flashing and blood spurting from the left cat's thigh as she tumbled past. The cat twisted and a great paw swiped at her bouncing form, the tips of its claws catching the flapping end of her coat. Alyssia's forward motion halted abruptly and she sprawled onto her face as the claws caught and held. She flipped over onto her back, bringing up her knife, as the cat pounced, snarling in anger and pain.
Morpheus swung around and touched Beatrix's arm with his ringed hand, mumbling words under his breath. A blue aura flashed into existence around Beatrix, similar to the healing balm he had created before, but this one flashed as though electricity was imbued in its surface, shimmering into a shield that hugged her form regardless of how she moved.
The moment spent in creating the spell cost Morpheus the chance needed to defend himself. The weir cat closest to him bowled him over, the two of them rolling over and over in the dirt. The cat snarled and slashed at him with fangs now flowing with poison. Everywhere the poison fell, acid hissed and burnt small spots in the pine needle floor.
Suddenly, two people burst into the middle of the shelter, drawing their knives and hollering as they joined the battle. They slashed at the cats with long blades just short of a sword forcing the cats to turn their attention from their intended victims and drawing the Weircats off of Alyssia.
At that moment, Beatrix stood up tall on slender legs that trembled with the effort. She shrieked a long keening cry that started low then rose into a high pitched whistle that froze the cats and drew their attention back to her glowing form.
Beatrix continued to whistle, the pitch barely audible now as it rose. The bewitched cats whined at first then relaxed, sinking to their bellies, eyes locked on her form once again. As they sank to the ground, their heads lowered onto their paws.
As one, they began to purr. The bass rumble was shocking in the sudden silence, as everyone turned to watch Beatrix.
The injured weir cat that Alyssia had slashed licked at its wounded thigh, cleaning the injury and purring the entire time. They completely ignored the others in the shelter, as though they had ceased to exist.
Beatrix continued to whistle, looking around at the humans and shrugging her shoulders, wings still outstretched as if to say "I have no idea what I am doing."
Morpheus gave a hand to Alyssia, helping her to her feet then they approached the newcomers, making a wide berth around the purring, strangely contented felines.
Once they were a safe distance away, near the edge of the campsite, Morpheus turned to the newcomers. "We thank you for your timely arrival. To whom do we owe our gratitude?"
Alyssia was frowning at the pair, recognition dawning in her eyes.
Quin turned to Alyssia and stuck out his hand. "So pleased to make your acquaintance at last, Alyssia Castellanos, spy of the Thespian court, supplier of elixir to the King. I believe you have something of mine?"
Alyssia's blade flashed back in her hand before Quin could finish his words, flinging back her cloak to free the use of her blade arm. She backed away from him, giving herself room to move.
She spat at his feet. "Tarquinius Camillus. How sweet of you to come, but I am afraid your trip is wasted. We have both lost what we set out to recover. If you are wise, you will leave now."
Amy shouldered her way forward and said "What do you mean, you lost her? How could you lose a child in these woods! What kind of fool are you?" Quin placed a hand on her arm, halting her but Morpheus stepped between the two women, hands out and pushing both back.
"Do you wish to attract the attention of the weir cats, which are being so delightfully entertained as of present?"
He nodded his head towards Beatrix, who was now humming and stroking the soft underbelly of the closest cat. It had rolled onto its back exposing its tummy to her touch. She stroked the soft fur, all the while continuing to hum to him softly.
The women slowly relaxed and Alyssia dropped her blade although she did not sheath it.
"Now, I suggest we put aside our antagonism and sit and speak like rational beings." He motioned for them to leave the shelter with him putting further distance between them and the cats.
He lead the strange party out and down a path to a small clearing with several large rocks jutting out of the soil and sat down on one, folding his arms over his chest to wait for the others to settle.
"Alyssia, put your weapon away." He spoke sharply to her as she followed the group into the clearing, clearly keeping her distance from the pair of newcomers. "There is nothing to fear from these two."
Alyssia joined him on the rock and sat down, but clearly was not relaxed.
Quin and Amy took up rocks on either side of the pair.
"Now, let's get something straight" Morpheus said, eyes taking in all three of them "There will be no more weapons drawn between us."
Focusing on Quin and Amy, he said "It's about time you got here, I have been expecting you." Alyssia's head spun to look at Morpheus and she half rose from her seat. Morpheus extended a hand and drew her back down beside him.
"Yes, Alyssia, I have been expecting them, the same as it was not a chance encounter that brought me to you. You knew this already, yet you have accepted me. I ask that you accept them too, for all our fates are bound together. Tarquinius, do you have your ring?"
Quin, surprised by the request, automatically lifted his hand to display his family's ring that he had put on before leaving the castle. Morpheus nodded in satisfaction.
"Alyssia, do you have your ring?" She started in surprise too and automatically clutched at the necklace. "Bring it out and place it on your finger where it belongs" said Morpheus.
Alyssia pulled out the necklace pulled it out over her head, displaying a ring dangling from the chain, the delicate golden circle holding a flashing blue sapphire that caught the fading light of the clearing. She slipped the ring from the chain and placed it on her left forefinger, where it fit as if made for her specifically.
Morpheus turned to Amy. "And you, my dear?"
Amy blushed and reached into an inner pocket of her cloak and produced a silver signet ring with the imprint of a horse rearing and fine lines of rubies marching around the edge of the ring's surface and surrounding the raised imprint.
Quin looked at her in surprise. Amy shrugged and placed the ring on her forefinger as the others had. It also fit her like a glove.
Morpheus nodded in satisfaction. "And this is my ring" he said, holding it up for all to see. The ring bore a raised golden wing, intricately carved, the tips of each feather decorated with circles, a different colored jewel set in each ring. There were seven feathers and seven rings in total.
Quin stirred, suddenly uncomfortable on the rock. "You said you knew we were coming. How?"
"I said I was expecting you; that is a different thing. When you would come I guessed would be a function of when the princess was kidnapped, how quickly you would be dispatched and how fast you could travel. I am pleased to see you made excellent time, but how did you manage to rid yourselves of the priests? I was sure they would be sent along with you."
Quin stared, open mouthed. "How do you know all that?"
Morpheus chuckled. "My dear boy, it's quite logical isn't it? You are the king's thief tracker. You have also been sent to assassinate anyone that stands in your way. I know this because no one else would have been sent to recover what may need to be killed. But the fact of the matter is the King never expected you to succeed."
"The pair of you is the true target of this little adventure. The priests were given the real task of recovering the princess. The two of you" he gestured with his be ringed hand "were to be disposed of along the way, because of those" he said, pointing at their rings.
Quin frowned, remembering the King's edict. Amy reached into her pocket and handed the crumpled note to Quin, nodding her head in confirmation. Quin's frown deepened even further when he read the note, which he then passed to Morpheus. Alyssia read the missive over his shoulder.
Alyssia looked at the rings on their fingers then glanced down at her own hand. Suddenly it didn't feel like it fit right anymore. She was visited by an urge to tug it off her hand and throw it into the bushes.
"You will notice that my ring contains seven rings on the tips of the feathers. Your rings account for three of those rings. I am also one of those rings. We await three others, who will join us in time."
"What kind of a crazy old fool are you?" Amy burst out saying, unable to restrain herself. "We have never met you before. You can't know a thing about us."
Morpheus smiled a wide, knowing smile that creased his cheeks and caused deep wrinkles to form at the corners of his merry eyes.
"I have known of your existence for a very long time, but it is never a good thing to reveal to enemies how much you may know of their plans. While you were both being safely ignored in the castle, there seemed to be no reason to alert anyone to the fact that I would have an interest in you. Anonymity seemed by far the best and safest course."
"Alyssia here has been a different story. She seems to like danger and it has been more difficult to keep an eye on her." Alyssia cheeks reddened, wondering how closely he had been observing her misdeeds.
To detract the group's attention from her varied activities, she asked "Why are these rings significant?" Alyssia's head was spinning with the revelations of the past five days. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, not sure if she could handle any more changes to the status quo.
"These rings have been handed down through the generations to the first born of the families stemming from an ancient wizarding family that existed for over a thousand years ago. You all received these from parents and you are their first born correct?"
They nodded their heads in unison then looked at each other.
"Then you are all family, cousins after a fashion, although very far removed at this point in the lineage. I am also your cousin. My ring stems from the eldest of the seven siblings and therefore it takes precedence over the others. The rings are magical, but their greatest strength is drawn from when they are near each other and working in unison. They will only work for you."
"This is the end of the squabbling between you. We are family. The world has great need of us, although they do not know it. You will learn to get along if we are to work together."
"Work together to do what?" The question burst from Amy.
"I am not exactly sure" said Morpheus, "but I think it involves aiding and protecting her" he said as he pointed to the edge of the glade. Beatrice stood there, gazing at the four of them, evidently having heard every word.
She strode gracefully out of the trees, the great cats padding along in her wake.
As she walked forward, she stretched her wings and flapped them, gathering the feel of how they operated. Her white gold hair cascaded down past her shoulders a striking contrast to her feathers shimmering with health and vitality. The light of the setting sun on her feathers caused small explosions of color to arch into the air.
Every eye was drawn to her beauty. As one they held their breath at her approach.
"We find my family" she whispered, yet her voice carried like a trumpet call. "Find them, we find our purpose."
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