Abbernathy and the Cat Kingdom

(33) - No Going Back-

Hestor's dead.

Margo stood slumped over the body, her face puffy, eyes red. She turned toward Abby. "They know where we are," she whispered. All her radiant shimmer had fled her skin, and even her hair hung limply around her head. Abby reached out and wrapped the small woman in an embrace. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Hestor's hand, stiff and covered in drying blood. It looked as though it'd been grasping something the moment of his death.

Margo gently pushed away from Abby and dabbed at her watery eyes. "He was coming to give me news."

Fraga looked at the small mouse woman. "News on what?"

Margo frowned. "The Shadow King."

The Shadow King.

As soon as the words had been spoken, a hush fell over them, and both Fraga's and Margo's faces grew grim.

"And what of him?" Fraga said clasping the gem at the end of her pendant necklace. The stone held a brilliant shade of blue near its tip while the rest of it remained crystal clear. Abby grimaced. If this stone was any indication of Fraga's life, she didn't have much time left.

"He's slain Siliasseeis," she said. "And Nocturnis."

Abby's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Had this Shadow King really slain King Nocturnis? She'd just seen him the other day. She shuddered as a flood of images, of Rowlo, of his weeping mother and unforgiving father, Rowland, his ace raised, barraged her mind.

"How could he be slain?" Lain roared, slamming a fist onto the table. Hestor's body shook, the cloth over him slipping low over his face. He stared at the ceiling with empty brown eyes, wide and panic-stricken.

For the first time since Abby had entered the great hall, she noticed Lain almost looked like a different person. He must have been offered the bath like Lucy and Sebbi and he stood before her, years of dungeon grim and dirt removed from his long, smooth grey fur. He looked younger and wore a deep crimson robe, a sword shoved through the braided cord and resting neatly in his hip. She could believe he had once been a Wanesguard, proudly serving the Royal family and denizens of Aelurus.

"Not recently," Margo said. "Probably years ago and replaced by one of Gravious's shadespore. The question now is why? Why show interest in a lesser king?"

Lucy, who'd remained silent until now, broke the silence. "What do you mean Nocturnis is dead? We just saw him."

Margo sighed. Fraga motioned to Menna and another kit whose fur was as red as its robe to remove Hestor's body from the table. Abby turned though she heard them unsticking his corpse from the table. She did not want to see them carrying a lifeless body somewhere. Abby wished, deep down, that Hestor would be returned to his family, be made a star where he could sit and feast and chat with his ancestors forever. Y'mestria, or whatever it was called.

Peace, she thought. Let Hestor find peace.

"He'll be buried properly," Fraga said assuredly.

Margo nodded, her eyes trained on the arched doorway where Hestor's body had been led through. "I know he will." She turned toward Fraga. "And I thank you for that."

The women shared a nod and then, Margo shifted her attention to Lain.

"I guess it's time I tell you why we rescued you," she said.

Lain leaned against a pillar, his slender arms folded across his chest. "I can't imagine why you would," he said flatly. "You risked the lives of the rightful heirs to save some emaciated, failed Wanesguard. I was always thought Cloudesmen were far more clever than they let on. I guess maybe not." He frowned.