GT Chapter Twenty-one

Never let down your guard simply because your goal is in sight. Or, if you do, don’t wear your favorite gown that day.

-Lady Chatterwick’s Journey

Maria had never been allowed to freely walk the streets of the city in which she lived, and she was amazed at the treasures and tragedies it held. As the two kittens traveled branches, roofs, and narrow dividing walls, she took in everything around her. Even when she came through with Tobias and Tia the first time, she had been so worried about falling and the rather shocking recent events that she hadn’t been able to look around.

As she crept over a branch, she saw two children snuggled beneath the tree. Their clothes were rough, but tidy, and the older one scratched out letters in the dirt for the younger one to identify. Shopkeepers called out their wares with hearty, cheerful voices, and a girl sobbed in the street outside a doctor’s office. A thousand stories played out, and each person was the hero or villain of their own small drama, no more or less important for the station to which they had been born.

For a long time, she had felt trapped by the expectations of being a princess. Even more, being the plainest, most boring princess in a family of beauties and social butterflies. She saw the laughter and sorrow of a hundred people, entirely unaware they were being watched, and she realized that they were all just doing the best they could.

By the time they reached the castle, both kittens were tired and quiet. Tia seemed apprehensive, but Maria was simply thoughtful. Was it possible that she was the one who had expected the most from herself? If she simply… did what she wanted - within reason - could she just be herself? Was it all right to be who she was inside, and not worry about what others thought of her? Could she, in fact, use who she was to help others, like Kable, who wanted to change the course of their own lives?

By silent agreement, the kittens stopped at the top of a tall, fragrant cedar with long branches whose feathery tips just brushed the castle walls. They were at the front of the castle, far from the tower they had climbed down from when they left, and they quietly observed as carts, carriages, and pedestrians alike bustled in and out under the watchful gaze of the guards.

“They don’t allow cats in at all,” Tia said, finally. “We’ll need to sneak in, but it’s not too hard. Tobias was too heavy to make it from the branches of this tree, but we can do it. The hard part will be getting to the queen’s chambers. Guards patrol the halls constantly, and we’ll have to go when we won’t be caught. If… When you turn back into a human, you can get me back out, but if we’re caught before that-”

She swallowed hard, lowering her voice to a whisper. “If the guards catch a cat, the cat is never seen again.”

Maria blinked. “But, Mother would never let them kill a cat just because she’s allergic. There are even a few in the stables, and unless someone official says something about them, everyone ignores them, as long as they catch the rats and mice. They just aren’t allowed inside at all.”

Tia shrugged, ears half down and tail-tip twitching nervously. “Still. Never seen again.”

A shiver ran down Maria’s spine, fluffing the fur along her shoulders, but she shook it off a moment later. “It’ll be fine. After all, we won’t be caught.”

The black and white kitten stared at her, then shook her head, muttering, “I can’t believe you just said that. Now we’re doomed for sure.”

Maria glared. “Just tell me how we get in.”

Sighing, Tia looked down at the whiplike branches below. “You just have to get enough momentum, and then time the bounce of the branch to lift you up as you jump.” She tilted her head toward the baroque statue that stood in an alcove at the top of the gates. It depicted a lovely young woman in flowing robes, her hands held out in welcome. In one palm lay a stalk of wheat, and a small animal curled in the other. One branch of the cedar stretched toward the statue, ending only a few feet from the hand holding the animal.

“Wait,” Maria said, feeling her tail curl in fear, “you expect me to jump there? What if someone sees us? Why don’t we just go in the way we came out?”

Tia sauntered back toward the main trunk of the tree, glancing dismissively at Maria as she passed. “We can’t go up that way.”

Maria still balked. “Then how did Tobias get in? Let’s go that way!”

Scampering down the tree, Tia called back, “He went in and out as a human, most times, obviously. If you could do that, we wouldn’t be here.”

Far more carefully, Maria made her way down to join Tia at the cleft between the long, trailing branch and the tree trunk. “Surely there’s another way,” she whispered. Before Tia had told her they had to jump, she had felt quite confident in her feline skills, but now the fifty feet between them and the ground made her dizzy.

“Nope,” Tia said, cheerfully. “But you’re a cat now, and cats-”

“Can do anything,” Maria finished with her. She hissed quietly. “Fine, but if I fall, I’m going to haunt you forever.”

Tia’s tail twitched in amusement, and then she was running, claws digging into rough red bark, leaving a trail of fresh cedar scent behind her. A moment later, she flew gracefully through the air, landing neatly in the statue’s palm, which was much larger than Maria would have guessed from looking at it from below.

Maria tried to take a step, and realized that her belly was glued to the branch below, her own claws dug in so deep that sap was beginning to seep out and get into her fur. She looked down at the people below, who suddenly seemed tiny and impossibly far away, and her head spun.

“I don’t think I can do it, Tia!” She yowled in panic, unable to force a single paw to move.

Tia [aced agitatedly. “Be quiet,” she hissed, just loud enough to be heard over the murmur of voices and clatter of hooves rising from the ground. “Just run!”

Maria closed her eyes, and in the darkness of her mind, an image of her mother flashed. Golden, and perfect, yes, but not so distant as Maria had thought only a week before. She wanted nothing more than to lean her head against her mother’s jasmine-scented bosom and be held in her warm embrace.

Without conscious thought, her body began to move. She flowed down the branch, feeling it narrow with every step, but instinctively understanding how to place each paw. The sway of the surface felt right, and as it lifted, so did she, pushing off with every ounce of strength in the powerful muscles of her hind legs.

Gracefully, she landed in the palm of the statue’s hand, and Tia, who was now perched in the carved stone arm, gave her an ‘I told you so’ look. Maria ignored her friend, melting into a puddle beside the now not-so-small animal she and her siblings had often made a game of attempting to identify. Jalinda, the oldest, had finally declared it to be a griffon, the symbol of their house, thus putting a stop to the many small squabbles that had taken place within the royal carriage.

To Maria’s shock, now that she was close enough to make out the details, it was a cat. The creature lounged languidly in the woman’s hand, its expression somehow aloof and smug all at once.

Tia giggled at Maria’s expression. “I know. I thought it was hilarious, given the Queen’s dislike of cats. But here one is, permanently carved into her own castle, looking as if it owns the place.”

“She doesn’t dislike… them…” Maria trailed off, shaking her head as she stared. “I mean, she’s allergic. She can’t help that.” Her whiskers twitched, and she, too, started to laugh. “Wait until I tell her, though. I wonder what she’ll say.”

Puffing out one last laugh, Tia turned and began to make her way down the statue’s arm, into the complex draperies of fabric. “I bet she’ll want to take it down.”

“No, she won’t,” Maria defended, following Tia as the smaller kitten vanished behind stone skirts. To her shock, there was a metal grate behind the sculpture, and Tia squeezed through it easily. Maria looked around as they made their way onto a perfectly cat-sized ledge inside the castle wall.

“I wonder why this is here,” she mused, trailing Tia’s tail so closely that the white tip tickled her nose and made her sneeze. Both cats froze, looking down at the humans milling about below, but none of them so much as glanced up.

Tia glared a little, but then gave in and shrugged, before continuing on her way. “The grate? Maybe to keep debris from building up around the statue? That’s what Tobias said, anyway. If it was solid back there, dirt and leaves would pile up, and someone would have to climb up to clean it out regularly.”

Maria nodded, though she had actually been more curious about the ledge. Still it was prettily carved on the outer edge, so it was probably just decorative, and happened to be in a convenient place for two invading kittens to use to enter. It was far too narrow for a human, especially since the smooth wall would prevent a person from getting any kind of grip with their hands.

Tia led them rapidly through and around castle walls, roofs, and balconies. She had clearly done this many times before, and Maria simply followed behind, while her mind basked in the familiarity of the sights and smells. The scent of roses wafted, heady and warm, from the garden, and she imagined that her family might be there, sipping peach tea and chatting with the courtiers.

Though perhaps they weren’t. Perhaps they were too worried about Maria herself to hold any parties? Maria couldn’t imagine her mother and father attending a gala if Jelly or Jonas, or any of the other children, were missing. Why would it be different for Maria herself?

In fact, now that she looked, she saw that while the people outside were just as she remembered, the servants and guards in the rooms they passed looked unusually serious. A few young maids giggled as they hung out sheets in the courtyard behind the main kitchen, but the cook herself poked out her head to yell at them to quiet down. Instantly, they lowered their heads and focused on their work.

Was that because of Maria’s disappearance? Or had something else happened while she was gone? Was someone sick? A rising tide of worry began to choke her, so when Tia finally came to a stop on a blue slate roof, she nearly ran into the other kitten.

Tia blinked. “What’s wrong with you?”

Maria shook her head, unable to speak past the lump in her throat.

The other kitten shook her head, ears twitching nervously. “Well, we’re here. What are you waiting for?” Though her words were brusque, she sounded hesitant, and a little sad.

Maria forced herself to focus on her friend, noting the drooping whiskers, and slouched shoulder. “What’s wrong, Tia?”

Tia shrugged, yellow eyes slanting away. “Nothing. Now, hurry up!”

Planting her paws firmly on the warm tiles, Maria shook her head. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

Tia sniffled. “It’s just… Once you turn back to a human, you’ll be too busy to- I mean, you won’t even understand Felis any more. You won’t want to-”

Maria bit her ear, then licked it as the kitten blinked at her, shocked. “Of course I will. I promised I’d go with you when you went to the Felis Court, didn’t I?”

Tia sniffled some more, and muttered, “That was then.”

Leaning heavily against the smaller kitten, Maria growled. “You’re my friend. Maybe my first friend. Our families are even friends, I think, so we should be able to visit each other. I’m going to tell Mother and Father that I’m going with you, and… and… if they say no, you can bite me again! Then we’ll sneak out and I’ll go anyway!” After a moment, she added, “I’ll leave a note, this time, though.”

The two kittens stared at each other, then giggled, the tension broken. Together, they poked their heads over the edge of the roof, staring down at the balcony below. Maria recognized the graceful pots of climbing tea roses, and the little table where her parents ate breakfast when they wanted to be alone together. Her mother’s rooms, and the end of this adventure, were just an easy jump away.

She leaped.