Abbernathy and the Cat Kingdom

(28) - Reunion -

Abby's whole body felt numb. It had since Rawlo and his family had been murdered, since the king had commanded his Wanesguard to grab her, Lucy and Sebbi and drag them here.

Rawlo's murderer stood before them, his head split wide by a grin as he caressed the blade of his ax with his forefinger. And next to the Commander, stood another Aelurian, with a patchwork of greasy, knotted fur and glazed over gold eyes stared dimly at them, its arms twitching.

Commander Feign moved aside so two Wanesguards could move into the room. They pushed a small, dark-skinned woman foward. Abby's heart sunk to the bottom of her shoes. Margo fell to her knees, her wrists weighted down by thick chains. 

She'd been captured. The guards whispered to one another and then, Rowland raised a slender finger and pointed straight at Abby, Sebbi, and Lucy. The heart she'd thought had plopped straight out of her body, leaped up and thudded against her chest. Abby looked hopefully toward Sebbi and Lucy, who seemed to notice the guards moving toward them, swords partly out of their hilts.

She grabbed Lucy's wrist. "What do we do?" she said frantically.

Lucy took his other hand and placed it over hers, intertwining their fingers. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be alright," he whispered.

Abby smiled but she was sure it was a pathetic smile. It wouldn't be alright.

Abby'd been right. It wasn't alright. In fact, it was wholly the opposite of alright. Margo'd been captured. Lain or the creature she imagined was Lain, was chained up to a pillar, squirming and hissing as Feign hurried them into a room. The windows were covered in moth-eaten curtains of midnight blue silk. A four-poster bed stood opposite them, a canopy of light blues and creams draping over each of the golden pillars. A solid inch of dust coated the rich wooden dresser drawers. The decorated mirror that stood next to the bed gave Abby the impression this had been a girl's room once.

A figure stood by the window, obscured in shadow. Rowland's smile slithered wider across his face as his eyes landed on whatever it was. Lain screamed and Abby had wanted to do the same. But she couldn't bring herself to. In fact, she couldn't bring herself to do anything she felt she should be doing. Crying, shivering, screaming, pleading. Nothing. Abby stood stock still, Lucy and Sebbi on either side of her, her pulse racing, her eyes focused on the creature by the window. Something inside her told her she knew that creature.

"Come now," Feign cooed, his voice a great deal sweeter than when he'd captured Abby and the rest. He held his outstretched hand toward the figure. "This is a reunion. We should all be celebrating." 

The Aelurian thing lurched forward at his command, and Abby felt a pain shoot through her chest. She grabbed at her dress and pulled. Suddenly, she found herself in so much pain, she wanted to rip free of her clothes, of her own skin. It was like the blood, the very air inside her was being constricted, suffocated. She fell forward, expecting to fall but not caring because she wished the pain would be over. Sebbi caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Abby, what's wrong?"

Abby managed to turn her head enough to make out the worry etched in each of Sebbi's features. She wanted to tell him how she hurt but her words were wrenched out of her mouth before they could be spoken. Instead, another rush of hot pain coursed through her chest and she heaved forward. Her head was growing light. The room was starting to spin.

The figure moved closer and then, amid all the searing pain Abby saw a pair of very familiar gold eyes.

She sneezed so vehemently, she toppled onto the floor. The creature continued walking toward them. Gold eyes, patchwork fur. Abby didn't know if it had once been black, white, or grey; it was so mangled by now it was impossible to tell. But those eyes. Abby knew them. Knew this Aelurian, but where? And why did it hurt so much?