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She touched Brendan’s fingers inadvertently with her claw.
«Oh, I am sorry!»
«It’s all right.»
Really, it’s nothing. It wasn’t the scratch that bothered Brendan, but the way the princess licked her face predatorily at the mention of mice. She might one day set her sights on the minstrel, too. She is, after all, a cat in human size. So she must have bigger game, too. Now it was clear who had scratched Rebecca. It was no werewolf suitor, by all accounts, and no sign of him. But there was a Mistress with claws. It must be hard to serve under a mistress like that. Anything at all, she’ll scratch you.
«So you said you liked me a lot?» purred or uttered the cat lady.
Is he just hearing things? Or is she asking for more compliments?
«I don’t think so!» Brendan confessed honestly. «Rendezvous with a cat is the nicest thing that’s happened to me in days.»
«Is it with the princess,» said Rashelina, with a matter-of-fact tone.
«You’re the sweetest thing that’s happened to me in days.»
«And you think I’m the loveliest creature you’ve ever seen in your life?»
Yes, it was except for the girl in the dream and the beautiful lady in charge of the cavalcade of elves. But Brendan didn’t want to upset the kitty. She might cut him with her claws, like poor Rebecca.
«Yes!» he nodded. He thought to himself how hard it was for Rebecca to be with such a mistress. She has every claw the size of a knife. No wonder Rebecca was all twitchy and nervous, always on pins and needles.
But the waltz with the cat princess was like a sweet dream. Not counting the claws, Rashelina was so gentle and fluffy. And her muzzle, covered with white-golden wool, was so pleasant to look at. And her eyes were multi-colored, as if some wizard had sharpened a rainbow inside her pupils.
«You’re the prettiest cat in the universe,» Brendan flattered her once again.
«Would you like to stay here with me forever?»
Rashelina’s tone became mellifluous. Brendan had no idea her question was a tricky one.
«Of course there was!»
The lute was instantly silenced, as if a ghost playing the strings had stopped upon hearing his answer. Suddenly laughter erupted at the table, as if dozens of guests had been seated there. Brendan turned around. No one was there. All the chairs were empty. And there seemed to be more candles in the room. And some of them are floating right up above the dance floor.
«The round has begun!» Rashelina proclaimed.
«Do you mean the next dance?»
«No, it is not at all.»
There’s something not quite right. Rashelina looked at him with slightly squinting eyes, as if she’d snatched a bird.
«Is there something I don’t understand?»
«It’s all right,» the feline princess winked at him. «You must wait until the tournament begins.»
«What tournament is it? Is it the music tournament?»
Rashelina laughed a pleasant purr.
«You have a beautiful voice,» Brendan remarked. «I can play for you and you can sing along with my lute, if you like. Or I’ll sing for you.»
«Sing for them,» she turned him toward the empty table.
Who’s there to sing for? Not one chair is occupied. But if the princess wants to fool around, why not play along. Brendan has become accustomed to the Bastard’s caprices: give him a sleeve ribbon, bring him a ball of wool, part with a pearl button he wants to roll across the floor like a ball.
Rashelina has so far behaved far more decently than the Aluar cats. So why not please her?
Brendan picked up his lute and began to recall the notes of one rhapsody. As he tried to sit down in his chair, he was shaken by ice and pushed from his seat. Brendan was taken aback. There really was someone in the empty chair. He seemed to make out vague translucent silhouettes at the table in all the seats except the chair at the head of the table.
«Play the lute!» Rachelina spurred him on. «Everyone here loves music.»
Now Brendan didn’t ask who everyone was. They were there, he just couldn’t see them.
«Your eyesight is poor,» said Rachelina as he peered around the corner of the table, but you have a good ear.
Brendan heard the clinking of glasses before he noticed that the goblets and cups were indeed hovering a millimeter above the table, as if someone invisible were lifting them.
There was nowhere to go. Brendan played just to keep from going crazy. Music always cheered him up.
The invisible guests of Rachelina’s continued to feast, moving dishes around the table. Was there a whole crowd of them or just a few? He could hear them laughing, but he could not see them. He did not see them until he heard the rustling of their clothes. Some of the guests had evidently begun to dance. Brendan realized how difficult it was to play blind. Someone had elbowed him, and he couldn’t even see who it was. The invisibles started pinching and teasing him.
«Play it cool!» Rashelina noticed that the minstrel was nervous.
«How is it? They turn me on?» Brendan snapped when someone shoved him so he couldn’t stand on his feet.
«They’re just jealous,» the cat princess explained. «They sense competition.»
Brendan didn’t understand her again.
«Dinner costs too much here if I have to play for those who want to torture me.»
«It is all right!» Rashelina clapped her hands together. The guests seemed to be gone in a flash. Only the sighs were audible.
«So you can get them out of here?» Brendan opened his mouth in amazement. «I mean, isn’t anyone capable of controlling invisible people?»
«I am, after all, a princess!» The little pussycat lady said.
«And I have to play every night for the invisible?»
«No, after the wedding, you yourself will be the prince here, and you no longer have to earn your bread playing.»
«Is it a wedding?» Clement had a cold sweat on his forehead. Whose wedding is it?»
It was not without reason that he suspected something amiss. Rashelina’s feline face was already a smiling face, but she looked sly all of a sudden.
«You asked me to marry you,» she explained, «because you wished to remain here forever, and by the rules of the realm you proposed to me.»
«I didn’t know there were such rules.»
«But you can’t go back on your word.»
«Even if I turn out to be an imbecile who didn’t know what he was talking about?» Brendan clutched the lute as if it were a shield against misfortune.
«I should be glad to let you go,» she understood his hesitation, «but there is no way to transgress the law of the land. Magic won’t allow it.»
Brendan knew there was magic here, but even he was shocked at the magic laws. Even Ephigenia hadn’t warned him about that.
«My Lady, that is, your feline highness…» Brendan staggered toward the exit. «You are very kind to me, but…»
«But you don’t want to marry a cat,» she prompted.
How aptly put! He couldn’t have put it more accurately. Brendan liked her. He liked her a lot. To look at a cat trained in social manners was a delight to the soul, but to marry her was nonsense! It was as if he had fallen into a nightmare.
«Will you give me a night to think about it?«He said to the princess, or her unseen subjects.
Rashelina merely nodded.
She nodded. «If you refuse, you will be summarily executed,» she warned him in a sorrowful tone.
Brendan did not specify who would execute him. But somehow he had no doubt that there would be invisible executioners. They might be invisible, but they knew how to inflict pain. While he was playing, he was pushed and plucked like a victim. Apparently, they saw him as a victim in the beginning.
Had he known how his visit to the cat’s castle would have ended, he would never have come here. Now all he had to do was escape. In one night he could get far away. He might even be able to take Rebecca with him.
Escape
Rebecca could not be found. She, too, is a victim. She must be saved! Otherwise the princess will scratch her to death. And even if she didn’t kill her, she would claw her to death.
Clement scolded himself for thinking Rebecca was a mean girl. You should never sulk at a man for being stern until you know what provoked his sternness. Showing herself a bitch and a prude, Rebecca only wanted to drive him out of the castle, because she knew the danger that threatens him here. And now he can’t even pay her back.
There are so many rooms and locked doors in the castle. Which one could be Rebecca’s bedroom? Clement jerked one handle and burned himself. The metal was red-hot. Another door knob, shaped like a lion’s head, bit him. A third doorknob, shaped like a bear’s mouth, laughed at him.
That’s it! That’s enough! Let Rebecca save herself. And he should take advantage of the forfeit he had struck out. In one night he’ll have time to leave the confines of the kingdom if he runs fast.
And what, in fact, is he running from? A gentle cat’s face and clawed paws? Ridiculous, really! But marriage to a cat is also ridiculous and silly. Not even his uncle would approve of It. Is it possible to call a marriage to the princess a mesalliance?
