Fleck and the other guards came back to the kingdom looking bloodied and disheveled and carrying two unmoving comrades. They were greeted by a mob of curious Commoners and fuming King Slate.
“Again?” he snarled, baring his sharp fangs at them. “You retreated again? We could have finished this useless war with this battle! Why did you retreat, scum?”
Fleck answered in a calm and even tone. “One of our own was killed and the other is on the verge of death. We had to retreat--if we hadn’t Ob would have died and we would have been short of two good cats.”
“You’ll meet things far worse then death once I’m finished with you,” Slate growled darkly. But Fleck knew that it was an empty threat. He didn’t have very many guards as it was, especially as fully trained and able-bodied guards. “Anyway, leave the dead one out here and put the wounded one in your den. I’ll be in my chambers if you need to report anything to me.”
He left before any of the guards could say another word. They lovingly lay Mudsplash’s body down onto the grass. There was no arguing with King Slate. He was probably watching them quite closely right around now. They would hold kind Mudsplash always in their hearts.
The little group then carried limp Ob to the guards’ den, lying him down with care onto the softest-looking bit of dirt. Once they were one with this, they licked their wounds. A group of silent Commoners hurried over and began to treat the more serious casualties, such as Ginger’s tattered ears and Ob’s multiple wounds. Several hurried over to Fleck and began to fuss over her, but she shooed them away. There were far to many other, more serious wounds that needed to be treated other then her’s.
“What did you think of the battle?” Jade asked offhandedly. “You know, other then Mudsplash and Ob.”
Fleck blinked. Why would Jade ask her this? She then shrugged. “It was okay, I guess.”
Jade gave a small, dry laugh. “I thought that it was kind of fun.”
Sparrow gave a shudder and chimed in on the conversation. “I think that it was horrible,” he said. “And what did King Slate mean when he that we’d meet things far worse then death when he’s finished with us?”
Fleck shook her head. “Nothing. He’s just trying to scare us, but he’d never actually do anything to hurt us. He needs us to win the war.”
Sparrow nodded, but did not look comforted at all. “Poor Mudsplash.”
“I know.” Fleck hung her head. “Who’s going to train Tigger, now?”
Ginger stepped foreword. “Not me. I’ve already got a half-cat dummy that I have to train, and I don’t need another one.”
Slate slunk into the light of the den, right where Fleck had guessed he had been. “Actually, Ginger,” he spat out her name with great contempt. “you will. You are the guard who has been here the longest, so you have more responsibility. Anyway, Jade has two apprentices, so I’m sure that you of all cats can handle just one more apprentice, hm?”
“What are you, his favorite now?” Ginger asked, turning to Jade.
“Huh,” Jade said flatly. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“A bad thing,” Ginger replied with an agreeable nod, turning away from her friend. “For you, that is.”
Slate slunk away, probably to pout in his den. The mocking laughter of his guards rang out from below him, increasing his immense humiliation. His guards were far two... uncontrolled. They needed to truly fear him for him to be considered a good ruler. And yet they didn’t. He would have to try to figure something out. But what?
______________________________________________________________________
Fleck was out hunting with Sparrow. The pair were both doing well, catching a good amount of prey for Slate’s food stores. As they continued hunting, Fleck heard a hushed voice whisper her name from inside of a bush. To her great surprise, it sounded like Ember. But even he wouldn’t be stupid enough to personally come here in the middle of the day while she was hunting with an enemy cat. Or would he?
Fleck slipped soundlessly into the bush. There, she was greeted by Ember, much to her disappointment. He really was that stupid.
“Ember!” Fleck hissed under her breath. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I just wanted you to give me a report on what happened durning the battle,” Ember whispered brightly, ignoring the anger in Fleck’s dangerous tone. “And plus, I think that you should report to me like this every other day.”
Fleck bit her lip to control her rage. “One cat, Mudsplash, died because of the Motherlord. Another, Ob, is half-alive from his horrible wounds that he received during the battle. The Motherlord was destroyed by the guards durning the battle and it looks like there might be no hope of repairing it. All of us other guards received only minor wounds, but Ginger got some nasty scars on her ears.”
“Hm,” Ember said slyly. “I have a new mission for you.”
“Oh?” Fleck said disinterestedly.
“Yes!” Ember whispered loudly. “Your new mission is to kill this... ‘Ob’ cat tonight.”
“What?” Fleck gasped. No, no, no, no! she thought, horrified. She didn’t want to have to go through the horror of killing one of her friends again. Even Ob, who she wasn’t as close to as she was with most of the other guards, was still her friend.
“Isn’t it brilliant?” Ember thrilled, mistaking the horror in Fleck’s voice for excitement. “He’s on the verge of death, anyway. You will kill him, won’t you? You are truly loyal to me and only me, right?” Ember’s tone was full of such dark menace that even Fleck decided that it would probably be best if she just did it.
“Fine,” Fleck spat. “I’ll play your game. But why do you want to kill him, anyway?”
“Because that will be one less guard.” Came the impudent answer.
“Ugh. You disgust me,” Fleck snarled with obvious rage. “But if you are going to make me kill him, I’ll need a good dagger.”
“Okay, meet you by the river in the morning, then,” Ember said happily. His tone darkened as he added, “But he’d better be dead by then, or I know someone else who will be, instead.”
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-KittyLover8
© 2013
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