Blackwood Castle stood against the horde, with demons guiding an endless tide of monsters towards the obsidian fortress. Their bodies mounted, rotting in the sun, ever increasing; as if the scent of one dead animal drew two of its kin towards the walls. The sight should have lifted Hamilton’s spirits, yet the earlier loss of his armies had sent him into a deep depression. With only one thought running through his mind.
Is my family safe? I need to get home.
But there was no way home. Not even Lady Nyota Green’s intervention could work that miracle. Though it had allowed him the opportunity to consolidate his losses. A chance to reconsider why he was trapped in the obsidian castle, and what his strategic goals were. Permanent portal or not, he needed to protect his lands first. He poured himself a fresh glass of wine, downing it like a shot. It tasted sour, as if someone had seasoned it with recently cut grass.
—
In the –recently scrubbed– great hall of Blackwood castle, new banners streamed from the roof. All the colors of Eldred’s raiders, the first felinid company, Greenwood, and Sintra, and the Silver Knights of Greenhaven. The last was a restructured company of landed knights, each had been selected by Arlet himself, then granted a combined attache of felinid and human warriors. Three of Greenhaven’s six Silver Knights were present, directing Greenwood’s support of Duke Hamilton.
Saryn sat atop one of the great hall’s rafters, hiding from Lyra and Cedric. Though Orion sat across from her, the one guardian she hadn’t been able to slip. Saryn’s tail flicked rhythmically, her vertical slits watching the comings and goings of the permanent portal.
“My lady, I see the look of a hunter in your eyes.” Said Orion, somehow making human noises from his panther mouth.
The first time she’d seen it, Saryn had not believed it was possible, yet she found speech to be surprisingly easy in her own feline form. Replying to the elder panther without altering her figure.
“There is a traitor in our midst. Someone who left this inside the Duke’s own wine casket.” Said Saryn, pushing a lumpy handkerchief towards Orion.
It was tied shut with twine, and stained purple, but the scents were unmistakable. He poked it, then gave it a wiff, eyes going wide and he took two steps back and nearly fell off the rafter.
“Treachery!” Hissed Orion, growling at the pouch.
“Wolfsbane, belladonna, and hemlock, for when you want to murder someone, make sure they die, and ensure they go out pissing and shitting themself. Highly effective too. The Duke would be dead right now if not for one of Hamilton’s personal knights, who sampled the wine himself. Doubly lucky that Ami was there to purify the poison before he died. But that wine came from our own stores. A logistical mistake could have sent that casket to Nyota’s lips. If there are more poisoned barrels we must find them immediately.” Said Saryn, tracking a pair of felinid scribes.
The slaves were half literate, and doing their best, but everything had to be checked by someone who could actually read. A local official or hired merchant, the type of person who traveled often during harvest season. Exactly when the portal plague had initially appeared. Nowadays, the knights represented half the literate folk in Greenhaven, causing painful shortages since they had to be pulled off the front line to teach and check other’s numbers. Mistakes were common.
“Could it have been another attempt on her life?” Whispered Orion, struggling to even suggest the idea.
“Too sloppy. Besides, the wine is paired poorly. Our noses are far more sensitive than a human’s, and that red wine smells rancid. You or I would never have considered drinking it.”
Orion gave the pouch another sniff, this time from a few feet away. He was no alchemist, but the wine did indeed smell like shit. A warning to any felinid. An obvious one.
“One of us did this.” He muttered.
“No umbraquin would bother. It was a slave. One who remains trapped in the mind of bondage. We need to find them, or they’ll never stop.”
The two scribes worked with the knight, taking his critique of their letters and correction of their numbers with ease. He ordered a new ledger be made and confirmed the numbers of supplies brought from Greenhaven, as well as who carried them through the permanent portal. Criticism the felinid scribes took with smiles and nods. They were too agreeable, and treated the knight with respect, not as a master slavedriver, but with the pious envy of a student towards their teacher. They wanted the knight’s approval, his knowledge, not his life.
“I’ve already ordered a hundred felinids to confess, and not a single one knew anything. Every single servant told me exactly where the wine came from, and where they deposited it. They didn’t even realize I was compelling them. Bah. A felinid here in Blackwood Castle tried to poison the duke. I won’t stand for it. Assassinations are delicate things, if I didn’t order it, then I expect our allies to be safe! Doesn’t the damned idiot realize Greenwood Keep is tied to this castle! Every last cat has gone through the permanent gate!” Snapped Saryn, so mad that she was spitting.
Orion licked her head and neck, the panther equivalent of a reassuring headpat.
“We’ll find them my lady.”
“No, –I– am going to find them.” Said Saryn, catching sight of her next target.
Her werepanther guardian was trustworthy, but she did not confide her innermost thoughts to any. Especially not who the assassins were. She’d narrowed it down to a half dozen felinids in the first hour, then paraded through the keep interrogating random people to set those half dozen people at ease. Lull them into a false sense of security so they might slip up, make a mistake that she could capitalize on.
But the scribes were the last herring to catch. Their numbers told an irrefutable log of the would-be assassin. Saryn found her feet, cloaking herself in a ball of darkness large enough to bounce.
“Can we please take the stairs this time?” Asked Orion.
“Nope!” Said Saryn, leaping off the rafters and falling more than fifty feet.
Her bubble ball bounced with a sproing, absorbing the serval’s share of the impact and bouncing Saryn five feet into the air. Where she dismissed it. The spell vaporized as she landed on her feet, leaving her sitting on the warm obsidian floor, as if she’d always been there.
Orion floated down, his wing magic carrying him as gently as a bed of winged fairies.
“Showoff.” Muttered Saryn, struggling to contain her jealousy.
She had no affinity for wind, nor had she found a way to awaken her lightning. But the power to fly and become invisible was highest on her list, in her next life that would be her affinity of choice.
Her target left the great hall, and now Saryn pursued them, stalking after the would-be assassin. Through the long halls of Blackwood castle they prowled, out to the walls and back again, always watching, and often hiding behind a corner. A literal game of serval-cat and mouse-cat, where the mouse strove for survival and the cat hunted her next meal. For there would assuredly be a death when Saryn caught the traitor. She was already planning the easiest way to perform the deed, her claws weren’t long enough to tear open a throat, so it would have to be done with magic, or Orion’s wind blades. Saryn wiggled her nose in distaste, this particular quarry would render Orion useless. Unless… Unless she could catch the traitor in another act of sabotage.
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They prowled through another obsidian corridor, slipping into one of the many hidden hallways. Though calling them hidden was a stretch, they all smelled of fresh air, and had telltale indentations that tapestries had once hung over. Their tassels sitting flush against roof and floor, but all that had changed with Pandora’s reflowing of the castle’s stone. Humans no longer seemed to fit here, as if the building was now made for another race with taller, narrower proportions. Similar to the oddities of Greenwood Keep, with windows that were a bit too tall, and toilets a bit too narrow. It lent a disorienting quality to their pursuit, one that Saryn prayed would keep her concealed.
Three hours into their pursuit the traitor made a third mistake, slipping into a storeroom with two felinid guards, the same storeroom that the wine had initially come from. Saryn closed her eyes, conjuring two marble sized orbs of darkness, then she sent them zipping away, heading towards two important eclipsiarchs.
“Too easy.” Muttered Saryn, parading her feline figure right up to the two guards and holding one hand over her mouth.
The men looked at her with confusion, but held their tongues. Listening for new orders. A thud echoed from the storeroom, followed by a splash.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Muttered Saryn.
She pounced, leveraging all of her twenty pounds to leverage the door open, riding the handle as it swung inward and crashed into a barrel. Orion was a step behind her, ready to shield his lady from the traitor. Who whirled, teeth barred as she braced herself against an open casket of wine. The traitor hissed, aiming her shredded ears towards the door. Recessive shadow panther genetics bent to an Eclipsiarch’s will, cowing Orion in a second.
“Elise, what are you doing?” Asked Saryn.
Her tone was conversational, as if her elder sister wasn’t the idiot traitor.
“I’m fetching some wine for dinner.” Said Elise, eyes flicking from Orion to the two guards and back to Saryn.
“Oh? How thoughtful. But that vintage is sour, wouldn’t you agree, Orion?” Asked Saryn.
Her prompting guided him to the casket, where he sniffed once. He was silent, then sneezed as only a shadow werepanther could, loudly and violently. Black glitter erupted from his nose, spraying the carpet with cat boogeys and ichor.
“See, it's so foul we’ll have to pour it out.” Said Saryn.
Elise’s eyes widened, she knew she was caught, they both did. Her vertical pupils took on the air of a cornered animal, one that had been beaten and abused for the past decade, whipped, cut, slapped, and far worse.
“Guards, I am ordering you to take Elise into the dungeon and secure her there, she is to be fed properly, and treated well until mother can decide her penalty. Elise, do not resist, go to the dungeon and do not leave your cell.”
“You don’t know what it’s like being a slave!” Spat Elise, her teeth barred, “What they did to me! They all deserve to die Saryn. Help me kill them. It's what they deserve. Nyota would be pleased! Just think of how we were born, without fathers, dragged away and doomed to never know our mother’s love.”
Saryn cocked her head, still hanging on the door handle.
Ha, funny, I wish I didn’t know who my father was, that would be better than knowing it was my ex. Count your blessings Elise.
“You’re a fool. A petulant child that bears the very fangs Nyota restored. You’re a sad excuse for my sister, and for the first time in my life I’m ashamed of this family.” Spat Saryn, her words bringing out the worst side of Elise.
She devolved into a spitting, screaming rage. Elise howled in agony and for a moment Saryn thought she might attack. Orion rose onto his hind quarters, shielding Saryn with his body. But Saryn had planned ahead. The eclipsiarchs she had called upon with her shadow messages arrived, nearly simultaneously, though one held back, listening as the other found Elise sobbing.
“Mom?” Said Ami, brushing past Orion. “Mom, what's wrong?” She said, taking hold of Elise’s still trimmed hands.
Elise wiped her tears, comforted by the one daughter who had never abandoned her.
“Nothing, its all a misunderstanding Ami-”
Saryn tossed the pouch of poison onto the floor in front of them.
“Elise tried to poison the duke. Look in that open casket.” Said Saryn, pawing the air at the poisoned wine.
“What? Don’t be ridiculous Saryn, mom would never do that. Right Mom, you’re a healer…” Ami started to say, only to trail off as Elise clutched her hands.
Ami bit her lip, touching the casket as she channeled her own water affinity. An orb, transluscent and wet rose out of the wine, containing a second pouch, this one still a vaguely lavender hue, since the wine hadn’t stained it darker just yet. Ami swallowed, letting the orb of wine land next to the first pouch. They appeared to be almost identical, but the way Ami chewed her lip told everyone all they needed to know.
“It can’t be true, mom wouldn’t–” Ami suddenly understood, but dug her claws in, refusing. “No! You can’t take her! I just got her back!” Shouted Ami.
Her hand raised and the wine flowed into two blades of water, ready to cut down any who approached.
“That’s enough!” Snapped the final eclipsiarch, stepping into the doorway.
Though she was barely into the double digits, Lyra was a fully matured eclipsiarch, one who had met Lightning Lord Liam firsthand, as well as Sage Rhendal.
“Ami, who are those water blades for?”
“I won’t let you take mom!” Shouted Ami, growing more frantic as the world seemed to close in around her.
“They? Ami, look around you, we’re all sisters here.” Said Lyra, extending a hand towards Ami, inviting her.
“No!” Shouted Ami.
Lyra frowned, and swiped her paw through the floating wine. Whatever control Ami thought she had over the spell vanished and the wine returned to its casket. Driven home by her senior sister.
“Ami, no one will harm Elise. Pinky promise.” Said Lyra, extending her smallest digit.
“But-” Began Ami, trying to say ‘but she’s guilty’ and realizing she could never condemn her mother, nor could she lie to her sister.
“You’re a good girl Ami, cmon, I’ll make sure you two aren’t separated. If you want, I’ll even stay in the same room as you two. Then we can cuddle and make a meowtain! Just like we were always meant to!” Said Lyra, an honest joy in her voice, something Saryn could never quite emulate.
No matter how many attempts she made.
The quartet of eclipsiarchs made the trek to the dungeon, installing Elise and Ami in their new home. Felinid guards were posted, in addition to the extant human ones, and a trio of umbraquins appeared in the shadows, bouncing from each patch of darkness to the next whenever there were visitors.
Saryn left strict orders, Elise was not to be obeyed, or freed. Her only role now was to transfer her own magic to magi in need. Though Saryn allowed a few caveats to her orders, in case the castle walls were breached or if Duke Hamilton fell in battle. Under those circumstances Elise would be escorted to Greenwood Keep, where she would have to explain all her mischief to Nyota herself.
“So you’re just going to leave us here?” Asked Elise, looking through her bars at Saryn.
“You tried to kill a man. If you weren’t my sister you’d be dead already. Tell me, who else did you try and poison?”
Elise’s ravaged ears twitched in surprise. “What do you mean?” She blurted, careful to avoid Ami’s inquisitive gaze.
“Tell me now, before anyone is harmed. If more people die I'll have to tell mom about each death, instead of each discarded barrel of wine. She values any food quite highly, but not nearly as much as a human life.” Warned Saryn.
“I’ve done nothing wrong.” Said Elise, turning away from the bars to brush Ami’s hair.
Saryn knew that lie well. Elise hadn’t said ‘I’m innocent’ because she already justified the murder. To Elise, humans were still her torturers. It did not matter if they were innocent, they were human, and deserved the same torture she had received. Saryn didn’t bother trying to change her mind. Some slaves would never be able to adjust to freedom, still, it made her furious that one of her sisters had been so stupid.
“Cmon Orion, we’ll need to sweep the castle, make sure no food is served before we can smell it.” Said Saryn, heading to the hospital wing, and hoping Elise’s self centered stupidity hadn’t cost them the castle.
Greenhaven couldn’t spare the manpower to hold the walls. Nor did they possess the magical excess to install an exclusionary zone, that task would take another month to accomplish. Though if an exclusionary zone would work on demons was an entirely separate question.