The Non-Human Society

Chapter Thirty Six - Vim - Letters. Scents. Heartbeats.

      "Lord Vim!" Montclair entered the room quickly with a huff.

Looking up from Amber's letter, I nodded to the panting squirrel. If not for having known him for over a hundred years, I'd have worried something was actually wrong.

"Your guest is taking a bath, sir," Montclair said.

"Cats do like to keep themselves clean," Trixalla said, entering the room from behind him.

Montclair quickly stepped aside for her, and bowed caringly at her as she entered.

"She smelled of blood," I said. Amber's blood.

The thought of it made me angry again, so I did my best to toss the thought aside.

"I shall prepare her room now, Madam," Montclair said eagerly, bowing once more before leaving.

"Thank you Montclair," Trixalla said as he left.

She watched him go for a moment, and once he was down the hall she went to closing the door. Giving us a little more privacy.

"She's a large predator, Vim. One of the great ones," she said as she went to sit.

"A large cat of some kind, yes," I said. The fact she was not just some normal cat, but a true one, was evident by the way the cats around the farm treated her. They were terrified of her.

Going back to finishing Amber's letter, I patiently waited for Trixalla's true purpose in appearing.

I made it half way down the last page before she cleared her throat. Looking away from the letter, to her, I found her giving me a gentle smile.

"What is it?" I asked her. She was acting as if I was sitting in her study and acting as if I owned the place.

Granted I was in her chair... and she now sat in what should have been the guests, mine.

"Mork told me what your conversation had been about," she said.

Of course Mork had heard our conversation. Maybe I shouldn't have brought Renn back here before hearing the whole story.

Trying to go back to Amber's letter, I realized I wasn't going to be able to. Not because I couldn't focus enough to read while speaking, but because it wasn't courteous to the one who had wrote it.

It was her last words to me... they were precious, and deserved my entire attention.

Putting the letter down on the small table in front of my chair, I sat back and nodded to let her know it was fine to continue.

"It is a miracle she is still alive Vim," Trixalla said.

"Isn't it? I've become very adept at restraining myself," I said.

Her eyes narrowed at me. "She's a real predator. All those like her die quickly. For their families. For their young. For those they cherish or the land they grew up on," Trixalla said. She said the last bit a little more seriously than the others.

"Hm."

Trixalla sighed, obviously upset that I wasn't taking this conversation as seriously as she wanted me to.

"The fact she didn't pursue those human nobles is a testimony to her personality. She's overcome the limits of her bloodline," Trixallsa said.

"Or her bloodline is simply that thinned out," I countered.

"Does that matter anymore Vim?" she asked.

"To some," I admitted.

"All the same. What do you plan to do?" Trixalla asked.