Two Cats

Chapter 10

Theodore’s keep is within view of mine, the dark-stoned structure located perhaps a little more than a city block away from Tucat Keep.

As a youngster, once the quarantine of my keep had been lifted, I had been placed in the temporary foster care of the Haundsing family while my keep was cleansed of all traces of the rose blight plague, bodies were properly interred, and my sanity was scrutinized.

I had spent almost half of a year with the Haundsing household, which, aside from various servants and house knights, consisted of Theodore and his mother, Lachia. I remember my time and activities in their keep with extreme fondness, and not simply because of the isolation of the years before.

Theodore had never had a brother, and had lost his father years before I became an orphan. We were both rather lost, each of us having been forced by circumstance to grow up far too quickly.

And so despite the fact that we might have been considered too old for such things, we both eagerly squeezed years of what we assumed was proper brotherly activity into those months.

Long story short – we’re both experts at the game of ‘Hide and Seek’

The hundreds of hiding places I'd found in his keep were often so good that I had to call out to him as he passed me for the fourth or fifth time, emerging from the shadows and causing him to jump with a start. Considering how hard I was to find when an observant guy like Theodore was actually looking around for me, it was comparatively easy to avoid people such as chambermaids, servants, house knights and the like. Even in the middle of the day.

Even now, as a full-grown adult.

I found myself filled with nostalgia, stifling a childish giggle as Lord Theodore Haundsing walked right past me. I was glad to see him finally descending the stairwell I'd hidden in, as the ledge I was perched on was cramped, my legs were beginning to complain vigorously, and the only company I'd had for the past half hour was a stone gargoyle.

“Theo!” I whispered, loudly.

The twitch of his shoulders as he spun around combined with the look of alarm on his face very nearly caused me to break into peals of laughter. I suddenly felt as though I were a teenager once more.

“Who-” he began, hand reaching for his sword.

“Theo, it's me! It's Vincent!” I whispered as I stood up slightly and away from the statue that obscured me, half to reveal myself and half because my legs demanded it. I rubbed them with a pained expression, attempting to encourage blood circulation.

“It - Vincent? You ... what in the name of Hades' hammock are you doing in here?” he said in a whispered voice that was so loud it likely carried his words nearly as far as if he'd spoken plainly.

“I had to talk to you about something.”

“Baal's bleeding bastard, Vince! I-”

“Shhhhh!” I hissed, making downward gestures with my open palms. “We probably don't want to attract notice from your household. I don't think either of us have an excuse prepared that would explain us conversing freely in the middle of your keep.”

“Well,” he said, voice dropping to an urgent, annoyed whisper, “that's true. How did you even get in here? What in all the gods' names could be so damned important that you'd risk your own neck just to see me?”

“As to the former, if I told you how I got in here, you'd just go and put some extra security there, and I couldn't very well use it the next time, could I? As to the latter, I've...” I trailed off, uncertain how to express my concerns.