Abbernathy and the Cat Kingdom

(25) - Blood Moon Ball - | Part One

Two of the Wanesguard greeted them at the front gate. Caravan after caravan drove past them, eyes of green, silver and blue glittering through the sheer fabric that adorned the windows. Abby made it a point to avoid direct or accidental eye contact.

It made her nervous standing in front of a castle, where, at any time, a single guard could stick a sword through her neck like she was a human kabob. Instead, her gaze wandered from Sebbi to Lucy. How must they feel? This was their home, taken from them when they were kittens, or whatever the Aelurian equivalent of a kitten was.

This place should have held thousands of memories for them, but instead, stood empty and unfamiliar. Like a picture frame that housed no photograph, just a bunch of what ifs and what could have beens. Abby gulped, feeling guilty. At least she had pictures, or did before the fire. Dozens of them of her mom, her dad, a younger and still just as wrinkled Mimi. Sebbi and Lucy had none of that.

"What of your blood?" A husky voice spoke, breaking Abby from her train of thought. She looked up and found a very human pair of brown eyes glowering at her. The man's skin was dark, almost blending into the stone he stood sentinel in front of. He held a sword at the ready, one of those cruelly carved Wanesguard blades.  Abby shied away and looked toward Margo with a pleading, "help me, I don't know what to say," look.

Margo smiled and answered the guard calmly, coolly, rehearsed words falling from her lips without missing a beat. "Half-moon," she said and gave a little curtsey. "Relative of Corcious and Lattrilark, Lun'ren and Lun'essra of Kraag."

Abby blinked. Those had sounded like a bunch of imaginary words to her, but the guard seemed mollified by them and stepped aside. Margo gave him a nod, before she ushered them through the impressive black stone gate and into Darkmoore Castle.

Through a thick tangle of squirming vines, and a smaller, inner gate, Abby found herself at the edge of a garden unlike any she'd ever seen before. Tons of the night sky trees grew here, their canopies clumped together, creating one never-ending night sky. Tiny bugs flitted from leaf to leaf, their pulsing red bellies reminding her of the goldenflies from home. A waterfall cascaded into a crystalline basin, where benches littered with plush-looking pillows sat on either side. The water reflected the stars overhead, the Blood Moon. Lanterns hovered mid-air, hundreds of them, causing the shadows to shrink back and stay near the walls. Abby's slippers made those familiar clicks across the gold-flecked stone pathway,  a sound that helped ease her thumping heart.

Human men and women flitted from one section of the garden to another,   extravagant dresses and suit jackets billowing out around their large, fur-less frames. They laughed and smiled, and it was as if all their jagged, sharp Aelurian edges had been ground down and smoothed.

The path meandered its way to the castle's main door - an arched monstrosity of black stone that crawled with purple brambles and some kind of black flower. It peeled back slowly, revealing a party of a different sort. Abby grabbed the hem of her dress, inhaled, exhaled deeply, and then, straightening her shoulders, crossed the threshold and entered, her two cats at her side.

Once inside, Margo gathered them into a nearby corner. Music wafted through the halls, which were lit by hundreds of candles. Most of the guests moved past them, having no trouble balancing without their tails, and headed into the main hall at their right.

"Remember," Margo began, her voice a low whisper. "Half-moon. If I know Aelurians," she grimaced, "and unfortunately, I do, they will ask about your blood. Tell them that and nothing more. Keep the conversation light."

She straightened Lucy's jacket and ran her hands down his arms. "If you see someone die, ignore it. It's not an Aelurian gathering if there's not at least one bloodline that gets extinguished."