Our eyes met across the room, and I froze. Her eyes were blank as water, with no emotion reflected in them. However, I knew that if I made even a sound she would kill me. An eternity seemed to pass before the intensity of her gaze calmed. Her head tilted to the side, her long golden pelt slipping over her shoulder and a small smile grew. Her hand lifted into the air “Come here precious.” I knew that my life was in her hands, I knew there was no escape from this dwelling. But I also knew that if I went to her, I’d never be able to escape. Something in her eyes, in the curve of her wrist, the white of her teeth... and yet.

My eyes remained locked on the queen, but I gently uncurled from the corpse. I felt a chill as wind swept over the blood that covered my body but still I watched the queen and took my first step toward her. That is not to say I had forgotten all the predators that surrounded me, and having so many behind me that I couldn’t see kept my heart racing, and my ears searching for any errant sound. But I only heard my own heartbeat and the gentle sound of my limbs touching the stone ground.

I hesitated just a breath away from her hand. The smell of this predator wafted over me and my hair stood on end and my breath came in small deep breaths. But neither of us moved. Her hand held steady in the air, her claws blood red, but not pointed at me. Time continued to pass, and my back legs began to tremble from staying in one position so long. So hesitantly, I moved closer and pressed my cheek against her hand.

Instantly, the claws spread, pressing against my face and I felt relief for a moment, before she grabbed my hair and yanked me close. Panic set in as my neck was forced to the side and left vulnerable. My hands grabbed hers and my tails began to swing so that I would get the momentum to leave her grasp. But it was impossible, her grip and her body were like stone. I considered using my claws to rip my way out, but I knew that would be impossible as well. My magic was too weak after the shield earlier to even flicker in the air. Eventually I stilled. My two hands clutching her wrist, my legs having slid atop hers as I crouched above her.

“I don’t know what possessed you to kill my present. But I will not have you acting of your own accord in my court.” Her voice was as calm as before. “You are here because I have allowed it. You are ALIVE” she growled the word into my ear “because I allow it. Do you understand.” I went to move my head and she spoke “Use your words. I know you have them. I heard you speak to it.”

I opened my mouth and my brain scrambled to find anything I could say that would make this vampire release me from my death grip. A single word “Yes” slipped out with a whine. Instantly, her hand softened and she brushed it through my pelt. I turned my eyes to her and noticed just how close I had gotten to her. I hesitantly pulled away and she released me and I returned to the spot next to her chair.

The queen called someone’s name, and there was no hesitation before those gathered began to move once more. I curled in a ball and watched as the corpse was taken away, and the pool of blood ignored. As time passed, and people moved throughout the hall, no one stepped in it or cleaned it. I knew what a vampire was, so I waited for someone to collect the blood, or lap it like river water. But no one did. I watched as I cleaned my own tails of the blood. Before finally turning to clean my hands and feet, noticing the odd texture of my pelt again.

It distracted me enough that I looked away from the crowd, covered my body with my tails and stared at my hand. The pelt on my tail was the color of sand in the morning and snow on the mountains. But my hands, feet and torso were dark like an owl’s wings. And stranger, the more I stared at it, the more I realized. I expected to have fur on my limbs, not skin. A whimper slipped from me. Why did I not feel comfortable with skin? The humans and the vampires around me all had skin. But I wasn’t human. And I wasn’t vampire. I was... something else.

My fingers buried themself in my hair as I wrapped myself into a tighter ball. The empty gap that was my memory seemed to tug at my new memories, threatening to leave me blank. I wanted to know what I was WHO I was.

My thoughts scattered when I was scooped up by someone. Panicked, I tried to escape, but the stone grip of my capture wouldn’t let go. As though I wasn’t struggling, whoever it was swept their arm under my knees and brought me to their chest. I went to attack their face, when I found the Queen looking down at me. My clawed hand stopped before it touched her skin, but my tails continued to swirl beneath me as the queen cradled me.

I lowered my hand into my lap, and she watched me for a moment more. Her brown eyes seemed to see even the smallest movements of my hair. But then she looked up and started walking. I wanted to protest. I wanted to know where we were going. But I bit back all my questions. The firmness of her grip on my shoulder reminded me that she could easily snap my neck before I could do anything about it. I bit back another whimper at that thought.

The further she walked us, the colder the air felt on my exposed skin. I moved one of my tails around my hip to rest on my stomach and keep me a bit warmer. The other tail ended up curing around my knees and the tip rested on her wrist. I froze when it happened, but she made no reaction to it so I relaxed again. My ears could only hear my breath, and her footsteps as I looked around.

We were walking down some sort of stone hallway, but each stone was perfectly cut to fit with the others. But as I looked closer, I saw carvings of animals in the walls. But the queen was walking too fast for me to look in detail, but I saw birds and dogs and dragons. Eventually, we arrived at a door that opened with no one to assist, and the queen walked us into a bright area. The walls were white, and it seemed like mini-suns were in the roof. Doors of cold metal were on either side of us.

The stark difference had me glancing over her shoulder, but instead of an archway there was only a solid wall behind us. I must have made a noise because she spoke up. “Barrier Magic and a bit of teleportation. Every city in Korea has an entrance to my palace. Some, like Seoul, have more than one.” She glanced down at me as she walked and I marveled at her golden hair as it cascaded down her shoulder and onto me. It brushed against my exposed skin and I shivered at the softness.

Her pace paused for the smallest moment before she looked up and kept walking. “You, precious, are now mine.” Her voice brokered no disagreement. “We are heading to my doctor, who will check your health. Then I will show you where you will be staying. As long as you heed me, I will give you privileges. Should you disobey me, even in thought, and the punishment will be dire. Do you understand?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

I started to nod and her eyes shot toward me. I bit my lip before letting out a quiet “Yes.” but that seemed to appease her and she kept walking. It didn’t take long before she walked toward a door. Only a moment later, the door opened and she walked us into a room. My eyes noticed many things, but focused on the table which was filled with a variety of metal tools. My stomach dropped, my tails puffed but before I could so much as move, the queen dropped my legs. My paws hit the ground, unsteadily. My waist automatically bent to bring me back to all fours, but her other arms still gripped my shoulder.

Her now free hand grabbed my chin and forced me to look at the queen. “You, my strange creature, are boring if you are fearful of everything you see. I don’t want a rabbit.” Her voice was calm and collected, but I felt my heart surge in both fear and anger. I wasn’t a rabbit. Rabbits were weak, they were prey. I was... not a rabbit. I flicked my tail once to flatten the fur, and pressed my head forward. She allowed it, though her fingers still pressed like cold ice against my jaw. I butted my forehead against her chin and she released me.

I turned to face the human I had seen as we entered. Now that I can smell her though, something about her is strange. She smells human, but something feels wrong about it. As though it was hiding a different scent. I felt a flicker of magic that had gathered in my tail and I used it through my nose now. It was like a dam broke, and the room was filled with the scent of magic. It was different from mine, but my tails began to absorb the energy and turn it into something I can use.

The woman must have said something, but I didn’t care. But I heard my queen respond. “I want to know what my precious is. Also, how her health is doing.”

I opened my eyes as the woman stood from her desk and came around her desk to stand next to me. “Lady BoSeokHi, please give me your hand.” I turned to the queen, assuming this woman was addressing her. But both women were watching me. I pressed a hand against my chest.

“Lady BoSeokHi?” I breathed out. Unlike the queen, this woman’s eyes were very expressive, and I saw her confusion. “Me?”

“Precious, what are you asking?” I turned to the queen.

I paused for a moment, taking in her eyes. “My... name?

“It is the name I have given you. Yes. Precious.”

I whimpered as a headache bloomed. I understood what was happening. For some reason, I knew their words. But I didn’t understand them. This whole time the queen had been calling me BoSeokHi, but I... I had heard her say precious. Suddenly, I remembered the conversation in the hall between the queen and the werewolves. They had been speaking in a different way, but I had understood. Even as I heard the two women talking in the room with me, I could now feel my magic grabbing their words, changing them to one I understand. Could I do this with all the ways people speak. I could feel that the world was filled with many languages, could I understand them all? And when I spoke... I had used the words the queen used.

Now that I could feel my magic responding to words, I chose to speak again and really hear what I said. I chose to respond to the growing panic in the new woman’s voice. “I am fine. My magic... I understand more of it now.” I opened my eyes, which I hadn’t realized had closed and turned to my queen. “I didn’t know I could speak.” I told her, but my ears picked up the growls and yips that I knew to speak. And yet, she looked like she could understand me. “Do you understand?”

“No. Explain more.” She pressed the heel of her palm against my cheek, and I could feel the prick of her claws on the back of my scalp in warning.

“I... I think my magic changes my words so that you can understand them. But... I am not using words.” The queen’s eyes stared unblinking down at me for the longest time, and my fear started to spike again. But she turned her eyes to the other woman.

“What do you know of this magic?” I tried to turn my head to face the woman, but the queen held fast so I turned only my eyes, my body still leaning toward the queen.

“Sounds like a translation spell, but for speaking. The clans have tried to make something like that for as long as I know, but I don’t think any of us had succeeded.”

“Tell me any Mythos that surround it. It will help identify my sweet new pet.” Her nails scratched against scalp softly. I couldn’t help the shiver that wracked down my body. It felt so pleasant. But she only did it once before stopping.

“Myths aren’t my specialty. I can put in a request with my mother. I only know there are various gods that have the ability to speak all languages. Egypt has Thoth, Yoruba has Eshu. But both are depicted as bird species, so I don't imagine a feline would be part of theirs. The Gangcheori might know more as well.”

“Those money grabbing dragons haven’t made a fair deal with me in a few hundred years. I’d rather speak to your Tanggol family.”

“I’ll ask for my mother to come help then. She is somewhere in Jirisan right now, but I will send a message. I imagine she will arrive within the next 5 days. Particularly if you ask it of her.”

“I do. Now, mythos aside. Check her health.” At this the queen turned my head and body to face the woman. The woman began to check the cuts and bruises I had acquired the day before trying to flee, then used cold metal to listen to my heart, then checked my tongue. She explained everything she was doing and why, but I only really listened with half an ear.

Inside, my mind was thinking on Tanggol and the more I thought the more I knew. A family of magic users who would train the next generation. They would often stand and mediate between humans and non-humans. I felt no need to be wary of this particular witch, but I didn’t want to meet any more if I could help it.

At one point in her examination, she tried to touch my tails. Instinctively, I turned and bit her hand. She cried out in pain and I released her hand, the tang of blood on my lips. The witch looked at her hand and then up in fear. But not at me. Her eyes were on the queen.

The queen scoffed at her. “Please, I am not so newborn that my hunger controls me. Are you finished with your examination?”

The other woman, who I now realized never told me her name, skittered around her desk while nodding. “Yes. I see no issue with her health, except perhaps that she is underweight. She should eat, and exercise. Weres get sick easily if their body is kept from it. I know you vampires prefer slow, but she will need to run.”

I ignored the rest of her words and I thought about running. Feeling the wind brush across my face, down my back, and to dance with my tails. The feeling of dancing in the air as I leapt from rock to branch. With a pang, I realized that this was my first real memory from before I was caught. Running. I should run again, maybe I will remember more.