by Sophie Stern
I’m guessing that with all the starvation and shitty weather, people haven’t exactly had time to be sneaky and go traipsing around.
As I approach the south side of the main town, the one that leads to the castle, I keep to the shadows. Yeah, I’m a scrawny little cat, apparently, but I don’t want to draw any attention to myself. I move carefully, cautiously, and try to avoid drawing anyone’s attention.
It’s not difficult.
There aren’t many people walking around, which is unusual at this time of day. Usually, the townspeople are bustling around, laughing, chatting, and drinking. My favorite thing about Draco Patriam is that it really is a lovely little community, but apparently, it’s not anymore.
I don’t see anyone.
Quickly, I make my way down the once-thriving streets, stepping around trash and garbage that’s spread across the cobblestone roads. This place has always been quaint. Now it just looks trashy and forgotten. After awhile, I hear voices, and I slow, trying to pinpoint where they’re coming from.
Up ahead, there are two men talking at a corner. I slink up, slowly, careful to stay in the shadows. They’re talking in hushed tones, but I can hear them quite clearly. There are two men: one old and one young. A father and son, perhaps? I don’t recognize them. Not that I know everyone in my country. It’s a small damn place, but there are still enough people that I don’t know each person by name.
“Only a few more days,” the old man says. “Until the anniversary.”
“Aye,” the younger man says. “It’s all anyone is talking about. We’re all hoping it means this barrier will fall. She’s not keeping anything out, you know? She’s just keeping us locked in. Nobody likes it.”
“I always thought I’d live to see Sapphire reign,” the older man says. He’s whispering now. The hushed tones are a necessity, I know. No one knows who might betray them to the queen, and something tells me she’s not exactly merciful when someone pisses her off. “Who would have thought she would off and kill herself like that?”
“Come on,” the younger man says. “You know better than that, pop.”
The old man mumbles something I can’t quite hear, but the younger man nods.
“They’re gathering,” he says quietly. He looks around now, nervously, as if someone is going to overhear him. Gathering? Who’s gathering? Are they going to try to overthrow the queen? That would be quite good for me if it’s true. I could use backup when I try to destroy my sister and end her reign.
But it could be dangerous for the townspeople who are hungry, starved, and worried. They’ve all been worked half-to-death, I imagine, judging by the scrawny men in front of me.
“At the ceremony,” the older man nods.
“Of course,” the younger man agrees. “Tell Elix and Sarah. Back gate. Twenty before.”
An uprising.
At the ceremony.
Of course.
It had to happen eventually, didn’t it? I’m sure Ruby and Alexandra have plans in place to handle something like this. They have to at least have an inkling of how unhappy people truly are. No one stays quiet forever. They can’t. The world can’t function on silence.
Hopefully, I’ll find my mates and save the day long before an uprising has to happen. The last thing I need is for my villagers to start killing each other and fighting over the throne. My entire goal is to prevent that from happening.
Still, it’s good to know that if I die, if I’m killed, that there are good men and women willing to stand up and make a difference in our world.
If I can find my mates quickly and get them to recapture the throne with me, everything will be fine.
No villagers need be harmed during the making of this beautiful future.
The old man opens his mouth to say something more, but then he stops and looks directly at me.
“Aaron,” he says. “Don’t move. There’s a cat.”
The younger man’s body goes stiff. “A live one?” He whispers.
“Yeah,” the older man keeps his eyes locked on me. “I don’t know about you, boy, but I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Two days for me,” the younger man says, and he turns toward me.
That’s when I realize I’ve made a grave mistake in allowing myself to be spotted. I should have been more careful. I underestimated being a cute little kitten. I thought people would see me and think I look sweet. I didn’t realize they’d think I look delicious. Hopefully, I haven’t overestimated my ability to run away because that’s what I have to do now. Before they have a chance to charge at me, I turn and I race away, down one alley and then down another.
“Get it!” One of the men calls, and I can hear their footsteps pounding, but I don’t stop to look back. I head straight toward the castle, away from the town, and soon I manage to dive into some bushes just outside of the village. I hear them calling and looking for me. Soon the two voices morph into four and then six and then eight.
“Here, kitty, kitty,” I hear them calling out.
I’m wasting time hiding. I need to hurry up and get to the dungeon where my mates are. It’s going to be much harder to get there in my womanly form than in my kitten form, but I can’t risk going out now. These guys won’t hesitate to eat me, and then my mates really will die at the hands of my sister.
I sigh, and I slink deeper into my hiding spot.
Chapter Six
Moonstone
Of course this would happen to us.
To me.
Typical.
It’s not like one single thing in my entire life has gone fucking right. Call me a pessimist. I don’t care. For once, I just wanted one thing to go right.
Mating Sapphire was supposed to be that thing.
It was supposed to be my “right” thing.
There was no way any of it could go wrong, yet somehow, that’s exactly what happened.
I just want to know how.
How could Ruby have so desperately betrayed us?
How could Alexandra have known which spell to cast?
How could Ruby’s mates have been so incredibly ready to sacrifice everything for her?
How could they have hurt Sapphire?
Sapphire.
My heart hurts for my mate. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel pain thinking of her. She’s ours. At least, she’s supposed to be ours. I don’t know where she is. I don’t know if she’s okay. I don’t know if she’s scared and alone. I keep hoping that she’s not. I keep wondering if she’s missing us as much as we’re missing her because it’s been 360 days and all I’ve had time to do is think.
All I’ve had time to do is miss her.
And I do.
I miss her.
I long for her.
After a lifetime of loneliness, I was chosen from the orphanage to be a mate for the princess. It was like a dream come true for me. I was pulled from the ashes of that place and thrust into a life of training, of servitude, of waiting for my day when I would be able to rule over Draco Patriam with the most beautiful girl in the world.
Only that day hasn’t come yet.
Maybe now it never will.
Chrys is almost completely functional. He just sat up for the first time, but I can’t offer him my cheer or praise. I’m too sad. I’m too depressed knowing that we’ve been fighting to regain our consciousness for a year and although things have drastically been speeding up the last few days, it’s still not enough.
It’s not enough for us to find Sapphire.
It’s not enough for us to save her.
“She’s okay,” Chrys says. “She has to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” I manage to whisper. My voice is hoarse.
“Don’t be such a sourpuss,” Emerald says. Yes, Emerald. Always the voice of reason. He grew up rich. Money tends to have that effect on people. Not that I’m jealous of my dragon brother for being wealthy or well-to-do. I grew up in poverty and still managed to end up here. It’s just that I think he tends to have
a rosy idea of what the world should be like and that’s not always cloaked in reality.
“Always the voice of reason,” I whisper.
“Leave him be,” Chrys tells Emerald.
Garnet groans, but he doesn’t quite have his voice back yet. Mine’s only just come back. We could barely move or speak at all for months, yet all of a sudden, we’ve been progressing in leaps and bounds. The spell is weakening. This could be good, or it could be terrible. I don’t know.
I’m not sure how spells like this work. With the barrier spell Ruby put around the country, she can sense it. She has to use part of her energy holding it in place. Is the sleeping spell like that, too? Will Alexandra know when it fails? Will she be able to feel it? I’m not sure. I can only hope that she’s so old and evil that she won’t notice one little thing like a spell failing.
It would be better for us – for all of us – if she didn’t.
Losing the spell means we’ll be able to get up. We’ll be able to try to break out of here. Oh, I haven’t eaten in a damn year because I’ve been in an enchanted slumber, so I’ll probably be weak as fuck. I’m not under the impression that any of us will be able to fight our ways out of here. Not in these bodies.
We have alternate bodies, though.
And those are going to be stronger than ever.
Spurred by the desire to save our mate, our dragon selves are going to break out: wild and free and fierce.
And they’ll be hungry for blood.
“Garnet, can you speak yet?” Chrys asks, but Garnet replies with a grunt. “Hold up your fingers,” he commands, and as far as I can tell, Garnet does because Chrys fucking giggles like a giddy little kid. Doesn’t he realize how hopeless this all is? Doesn’t he realize that holding up fingers isn’t that great?
We’re laying side-by-side in a row on these big, stone slabs. My arms are crossed over my chest. Obviously, I’ve been laid here to die. I uncross my arms now, placing them at my sides where they belong.
Chrys notices.
“Moon!” He says. “You did it.”
“I did nothing.”
“You moved your arms.”
“It’s not that big of a deal, brother.”
“It is,” he says. “You think this is hopeless. I can tell. You always think the worst, Moon. It’s why we love you so much. We need someone who can be realistic, but this is one time you don’t have to be realistic or strong, brother. This is one time it’s okay for you to admit you’re not always right.”
“I don’t have to admit I’m right or not right,” I say, feeling stubborn. “The spell will break eventually, and when it does, we’ll have our revenge.”
“Revenge will be swift,” Chrys says in agreement.
“It will be the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted,” says another voice hoarsely.
“Garnet,” I whisper. “You talked.”
“Fuck that witch,” he says.
Then the room goes silent once more.
Chapter Seven
Sapphire
My two hours are close to up.
I’ve got probably twenty minutes until I’m out of time and out of luck. Twenty minutes and then I’ll have to try to infiltrate the dungeon in my human form. It may have been a year, but something tells me my sister’s guards are still going to recognize me.
If I can get into the building in my kitty-cat form, I’ll be a lot more likely to succeed in my mission. I’ll be much more likely to actually break through their defenses and find my men. They’re close. I can sense it.
When I reach the old guard’s tower, I’m a little surprised to see it in shambles and disrepair. Ruby has put absolutely no care into working on this building. I get it. She doesn’t want anyone to take notice of this place. Still, though. She could use a little bit of care when it comes to my mates.
My fur bristles at the thought of her hurting them.
Hang on, boys. I’m coming for you.
I circle the tower. I don’t notice any guards at first. Then, I spot two of them leaning against a tree nearby. The tree is about twenty feet from the entrance of the building. They’re smoking pipes and chatting casually. They aren’t paying any attention to the building.
“And she said that she didn’t want her mother to know.” One of the men takes a long puff from his pipe. He closes his eyes as he exhales.
“That’s rubbish,” the other one says. He shakes his head. “But her mother is a bit of a two-faced ninny, to be fair.”
The first man snorts with laughter. Suddenly, the second man notices me.
“Hey, a kitty-cat. Haven’t seen one of those in awhile.”
“Eh, let it go,” the other man says. “We had a big lunch and I’m too lazy to try to catch it.”
They start talking again, instantly forgetting I’m here, and I realize this is my shot. This is my chance. If there was ever an opportunity for me to sneak into the dungeon, it’s now. I move slowly toward the building and act as if I’m scratching my back on the stones. The guards don’t even look at me. For a second, I realize how nice this feels, and I do it a little bit more. Then I remember where I am and why I’m here.
The guys.
I have to save the guys.
My mates are the most important things to me in the world. I’ve been searching for them for what feels like an eternity and now I’m so close I can taste it. I’m almost there. I’ve almost got them.
The door to the dungeon is closed. There’s definitely no way I can open it without causing a scenes. That would definitely bring the guards over and I don’t want to bother them. If they’re going to ignore me, well, then, I’m happy with that. Besides, there’s a padlock on the door. I’m going to venture a wild guess and say they’re more concerned with keeping things inside the building, rather than keeping things out of the building.
I circle once more. There has to be a way in I haven’t thought about. The dungeons in the guard tower are two stories of pure misery buried beneath the main floor. Then there are two upper-stories that, to the best of my knowledge, are filed with random knick-knacks previous guards didn’t have any use for, so they left them there.
The guards are still talking, chatting away, and I hastily search the lower stones that make up the exterior of the building. If I could find a loose one or two, I could use my paws to pry them out. Then I could wiggle into the building. I’m tiny. I could do it without much noise or trouble.
They won’t even notice I’m here. I look around, carefully searching the building visually, and then I spot it: a loose stone.
It’s wide and heavy, but I use my paws to carefully pull the stone out of the base of the tower. It’s difficult using my paws to do this and the entire process takes a few minutes. I’m going to turn back into a girl before this is done if I’m not fast, and then what am I going to do?
A naked girl in the middle of nowhere?
Yeah, that’ll go over well.
Not.
Eventually, though, I pull the stone out and wiggle carefully inside. I realize it’s a good thing I’m still a cat because there is a ton of dust floating around in the air. I’m guessing the guards don’t often come inside this building.
Or ever.
If I was a girl, I’d be sneezing up a storm. I’d probably get sick.
I quickly glance around. There are torches on the wall. It seems strange, but they’re obviously enchanted to continue burning for long periods of time. “Long periods of time” could be a year. Maybe no one has been in here since Ruby locked them up.
I shiver at the thought.
Still, the lights give me a pretty clear view of the staircase that leads down into darkness, and I carefully begin to climb down them. It’s a difficult chore in kitty form, but I move slowly, slowly, slowly.
The first dungeon is, as expected, empty. This floor has a bunch of random shackles and a couple of chains. Nothing too serious. My parents never kept anyone here, as far as I know. By the time my mother was queen, this building h
ad been abandoned. I’m surprised it’s even still standing, to be honest.
As I go down the second set of stairs, this one to the lower dungeon, I realize I’m definitely not alone. If there was any doubt that this is where I’ll find my mates, it’s gone now.
I hear voices.
Male voices.
And I hear four of them.
Could it be?
Could the spell that bound them into sleep be breaking?
I listen at the door for a minute.
Sure enough, Chrys is talking.
“We have to find her,” he’s saying. “She’s out there somewhere.”
“They all think she’s dead,” Moon is practical. “She has the perfect chance to come back for us. No one will be looking for her.”
“What makes you think she’s coming back?” Emerald this time. “Maybe she’s forgotten about us.”
Oh, Emerald.
Baby.
No.
I would never forget you.
The door leading into the dungeon has a lock, but it broke long ago and wasn’t replaced. I use both paws to push the door open and it creaks loudly, announcing my arrival.
I enter the room to see four large, solid slabs. They’re all in a row, and each one is holding one of my mates. I catch my breath as I see them standing there. Three of them are sitting up. Garnet is still lying down, but we’ll help him soon enough. The other men seem too weak to stand, but they’re sitting, and that has to mean something. It means things aren’t as hopeless as they seem.
“What in the world?” Chrys says, cocking his head.
“It’s a kitten,” Moon seems a little surprised.
“A kitten?” Emerald asks. I can already see the wheels turning in his much-too-smart head. “We could eat it. I’m starving.”
I hiss.
Seriously, what the fuck is with everyone trying to eat me today? I’m a cute, adorable kitten. I’m not dinner. I’m not something people should see and automatically think, “My, this cat would make a delicious meal.”