Apprentice Cat: Toby's Tale Book 1 (Master Cat Series)

by Virginia Ripple

  The barman turned to walk away again. Terence dropped back to the floor, growling as he tugged at Lorn’s pocket. Lorn pulled away with the sound of ripping cloth. In an instant Terence had his paws back on the counter, dropping a cloth bundle in front of Lorn with a clink. He barked again.

  “I said—”

  The barkeep strode back to them and eyed the little bundle. He reached toward it. Two brown paws, one on either side of the man, slammed down on the money pouch. Both dogs uttered a low growl, showing their formidable teeth. The man looked from one dog to the other.

  “I don’ ‘ave no infermayshun,” he said, licking his lips. “Jus’ got good drinks is all.”

  “In that case, I need a pick me up because I’ve been dragon all day.”

  “Wa’cha be needin’ then is some ale an’ a bit ‘a comp’ny. Rachel,” he hollered. “Show these fine gen’lmen to our best table.”

  A voluptuous young wench in a low-cut peasant’s dress sauntered up to them. Lorn placed his hand on the bar to heave himself off his stool. The bartender’s fingers snaked out and grabbed his wrist.

  “That’ll be two silvers.”

  The young mage gulped. He dug through the money pouch, then shakily dropped two silver coins into the barkeep’s open palm.

  “This way, gen’lmen,” purred the wench.

  The three followed the young woman to an empty table at the back in a darkened corner next to the huge fireplace. Rachel prodded it with a long poker, then flounced away. Lorn crammed his large body into a chair behind the table, facing the rest of the room. Toby and Terence took up a stool to either side of the boy turned man.

  “She didn’t ask if I wanted something to drink,” said Lorn.

  “You’re only here for information. She don’t expect you to want a drink. Now listen up. Our snitch’ll be here any moment.”

  Toby listened intently as Terence hastily whispered instructions to Lorn on what to ask and how to act. A wiry man approached their table, his rolling gait making it clear he was more comfortable on a boat than on land. He yanked out the chair opposite the small group, spun it around and landed on it to straddle the back.

  “I ‘ear tell ya lookin’ fer a pick me up,” said the man as he leaned on the chair back.

  “Aye,” answered Lorn.

  “Bin drag’n?”

  “Aye.”

  “May hap I got wot ya need, ‘cept there’s this thing. Gotta terrible thirst ‘n got no coin, see?”

  “I believe this’ll buy you a drink or two,” said Lorn, pushing two silver coins toward the man.

  “Tha’s a start, but, ya see, I gotta real pow’rful thirst.”

  Lorn dug another silver coin from the money pouch. The man reached for the coin, eying the pouch. The boy turned man closed his meaty fist around the coin.

  “You get it after you talk.”

  The man ran his hand over his shaved head, scratching a spot just above a dragon tattoo. He glanced behind him. Licking his lips he leaned in closer. Lorn leaned in too.

  “How much ya wan’?”

  “How much do you have?”

  The man glanced at the money pouch again. He leaned across the table, his hand snaking out. Toby caught a whiff of marigolds and wet metal. He sneezed. The man jumped. Lorn seized the ruffian’s wrist.

  “You see my friend here?” asked Lorn in a low voice. He jerked his head toward Terence, who gave a feral grin. The man tried to wrench away. Lorn squeezed tighter.

  “He doesn’t take kindly to thieves.”

  Terence growled. Lorn let go of the man’s wrist with a shove.

  “Now,” said the boy turned man, “I think we were in the middle of making a deal.”

  “Cap’n’s gotta boat load headin’ out t’marra.”

  “Does he have a buyer yet or do we have a chance at it?”

  “Oh ‘e’s always gotta buyer afore he sets out. But if’n the price is right?”

  The man licked his lips and lifted an eyebrow. Toby’s lip lifted in an instinctive snarl. He snapped at the air and huffed, wondering what price the captain would place on his own mother. Lorn scratched the dog’s ear.

  “That’s good. Still, I don’t want an angry buyer tracking me down because he thinks I stole his property.”

  “Aye,” said the man, darting glances at Toby. “Don’ think you’ll have that ‘appen, though.”

  “Oh?”

  “Bloke’s attached to a House. Don’ think ‘e’ll wan’ his Master to find out ‘e’s runnin’ goods.”

  “Which House?”

  “Hielberg.”

  Lorn leaned back in his chair and pulled at his beard.

  “So we gotta deal ‘r nah?”

  “Too risky.”

  “Jus’ like th’ other ‘un.” He spit on the floor, then sneered at the mountain man and his dogs.

  “The other one?”

  “Big black tom like tha’ ya think’s ‘e got balls, but nah. No guts. Backed outta th’ take when ‘e ‘eard who ‘e’s stealin’ from.”

  “Did he have a name?” asked Lorn. Toby glanced at his partner from the corner of his eye. He recognized that predatory look. It was the same one Lorn got every time he thought he was on to a way no one had thought of to twist a spell.

  “Don’ take names, jus’ coin,” replied the ruffian, tapping the table next to the two silvers. Lorn tossed the third coin next to its mates. The man scooped them up and left.

  The walk to the coach stop felt longer. The streets leading away from the White Dog to the more civilized areas of the town were shadowed and crowded with heaps of cloth that sometimes moved. Toby jumped as a shadow separated itself from the surrounding gloom. A woman in filthy rags sauntered toward them, her large breasts sagging beneath a thin layer of cloth. She smiled a come-hither smile, revealing missing and rotten teeth. Terence growled. The woman took a step back, studying the brown dog. She looked back up at Lorn. She reached a hand toward the boy turned man. Terence barked sharply. The woman made a shooing motion toward the dog. Toby stepped up beside his friend and growled at the woman. Casting a glare at the three the woman shuffled away.

  The group hustled down the dark streets. Lorn snagged the clothes he’d left bound into a bundle in the alley a couple streets away from the stop. Once they reached the academy and the coach had driven away, Terence reversed the transformation spell.

  “I hope I never have to do that again,” said Lorn, stripping off the foul linens he was wearing and exchanging them for his own clothes. “I was sure that old woman was part of some trap.”

  “She might have been. That’s why I made Toby ‘n me dogs. Figured less likely to mess with a man with two dogs.”

  “Great thinking,” said Toby. He felt a glow of pride creep over his skin.

  “Just part of the trainin’.”

  “Let’s get back to the room and discuss what we’ve found out.”

  The three hurried toward Toby and Lorn’s building, putting the largest hedgerow between themselves and the administration building’s illuminated windows. Toby wondered who was serving detention tonight. A robed figure stepped in front of them, the light from a nearby lantern post throwing the dark figure’s shadow across them.

  “Stop right there,” said a stern female voice.

  The little group halted. Toby’s tail fluffed to twice its size. He recognized the voice from their history class. Master Hedy was the one instructor who gave them detention every time they were tardy, which happened to be every fifth week. Is it fifth week already? Toby wondered if the night’s adventures had made Lorn bold as he took a step toward the teacher, straightening his back and lifting his chin.

  “Master Hedy, we were just –.”

  “You were on your way back from being off
campus. At night.”

  “But, Master Hedy, we can explain,” said Toby.

  “I’m sure you can and you will. You are hereby confined to your quarters until a proper hearing tomorrow in which your status will be reconsidered. That includes you as well, trainee.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said the three.

  The master mage stood aside as the youths slipped past. Toby glanced behind them as they left the shelter of the hedge. Master Hedy was glaring at their backs. Just on the other side of the hedge, hidden from the master mage’s sight, sat a spot of pure white fur with glowing yellow eyes and a smug expression on his face – Reginald.

  Chivato watched the black tom saunter into the work room, his glittering green eyes scrutinizing the room.

  “Is it ready?”

  The gray tom bowed his head.

  “Almost. I invited you here to see its final test.”

  He thrust his chin toward the waiting test subject. A man in ragged clothes sat shackled to the floor across the room. He glared at the cats.

  “Ye said I’d get fed, cat. Fed and warm. Didn’t say nothing about taking no test.”

  “Not to worry, friend. This is a test you cannot fail even if you try.” Chivato motioned a young cat to take a bowl of lumpy white gruel to the human. The small feline nodded and nudged the bowl with his paws toward the man.

  “Now that’s more like it.”

  The man snatched the bowl from the cat’s paws before he’d completed the distance, bringing the bowl to his lips and slurping the gruel. A magic shield snapped up around the two. The young cat whirled around, his eyes wide, fur standing on end. He looked back over his shoulder as the man began choking.

  “As you can see, a full dose ingested by mouth has almost instantaneous results.”

  The man’s eyes began to bulge. The sound of wheezing breath filled the work room as he slumped to the floor. He stretched a feeble hand toward the young cat. The tom backed away, the hair along his back standing up in a ridged spike, his tail fluffed. He bumped into the shield. He whirled around and clawed at it.

  “Let me out!”

  The man coughed and retched. Blood-filled vomit ran across the floor, stopping inches from the young cat’s feet. The cat screamed and clawed at the shield. The man lay upon the floor, his labored breath stilling. The shield vanished. The tom ran past the older cats to hunch himself, shivering, in a corner on the opposite side of the room. The black cat padded forward to peer at the dead human. He looked toward the trembling young feline in the corner.

  “What of him? Is he infected as well?”

  “No. If he had been, he would have died the same as the human.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Thank you. I believe this is my finest work yet.”

  “And what of its rate of infection?”

  “Depending on how the subject is infected, it could be anywhere from a few moments to two weeks.”

  “Is there any way to even that out?”

  The gray tom stared at the corpse on the floor, his eyes narrowed.

  “If I narrow the ways of infection and alter the potency of the initial ingredients, maybe add a time release agent…” Chivato ignored the sound of the black tom’s tail thumping on the floor.

  “Can it be done?”

  “I’ll need to consult my human to be sure, but, yes, I believe it can be done.”

  The black tom’s eyes narrowed, the hair around his neck bristling.

  “Do you need his help?”

  “I can make the adjustments myself, but I cannot be certain of the results and it will take more time before it will be ready for distribution.”

  A growl rumbled from the cat. Chivato sat with his tail wrapped around his toes, his chin lifted. A moment crept by. The black tom lashed his tail.

  “Do as you must. I want it released in two days time.”

  “It will be done.” The gray tom looked over his shoulder toward the door.

  “Arturo, we have work to do.”

  The man, dressed in rough woven peasant clothes, strolled into the room, glancing at the dead human on the floor. Grabbing a leather apron from the wall by the door, he nodded at the gray cat. He side-stepped the bloody vomit and reached toward the corpse.

  “You will need the gloves.”

  Arturo snatched back his hands, glaring at the gray tom. He stomped to the work room shelves and yanked a pair of elbow length leather gloves from a cupboard. After jerking the gloves on, the gravin hefted the dead body onto a small cart and rolled it away. The black tom watched him through narrow eyes until he disappeared beyond the door.

  “I do not trust him.”

  “He is harmless, nothing more than a domesticated beast as he should be.”

  “So you say, but even a domesticated beast can turn on its handler.”

  Chapter 6

  A dragon announced the hearing after the morning bell. Lorn and Toby arrived outside the conference room to find Terence already pacing in front of the closed doors.

  “They’ve been in there an hour already,” he said, looking up as the partners entered.

  “Who’s in there?” asked Toby.

  “Looks like all the teachers who didn’t have a class this mornin’, plus the head masters. My sponsors are in there too,” said the anxious young cat. “Oh. And your mother, Toby.”

  “Mother?” Toby’s heart sank.

  “Are my parents in there, too?” asked Lorn.

  “Not sure. I didn’t see ‘em go in, but if they were here early they may have been in the room before I got here.”

  “Have you heard anything?” asked Toby.

  “There was some yellin’ when I first got here, but nothin’ for the last little while.”

  Toby stared at the solid oak door, wishing he could see through it. He strained his ears forward. Not even a mumble. Lorn collapsed into an overstuffed armchair, cradling his head in his hands. Terence returned to his pacing. The three students waited. A woman in kitchen whites, laden with a tray of finger foods, went into the conference room just as the lunch bell sounded and returned empty handed. They heard the faint thump of an adjoining door close.

  Toby hopped to the arm of Lorn’s chair. He watched the door as the shadows in the room grew longer, stretching toward it. The dinner bell rang and Lorn’s stomach growled. Terence curled up on a couch opposite the partners, wide eyes glowing in the orange sunlight fading from the window. The door latch clicking open made the three jump.

  “If you would join us, please,” said a master mage from the doorway.

  Toby trotted in behind Lorn, finding it disconcerting to see the number of robe covered legs gathered around the enormous conference table. Just inside the door were three stools. The orange tom leaped onto the one to Lorn’s left, leaving the one to the mage’s right for Terence. Sober faces peered at the students. Toby forced himself to look only at the head masters as they entered from the opposite side of the room and seated themselves across from the students. The orange tom could feel his mother’s heated gaze raking his fur.

  “I believe, gentlemen, you are aware of the severity of the situation you are in,” said Master Jalen. The three nodded.

  “Ordinarily,” continued the head master mage, “this hearing would be conducted solely by Master Meredith and myself. However, given that Trainee Terence is being sponsored by the gravin of Hielberg County himself and the circumstances surrounding the choosing of Apprentice Lorn Ribaldy, we have decided to include your teachers and guardians as well.

  “During the time we have sequestered here, we have discussed academy guidelines and rules, as well as each of your performances to date. Your guardians have made assurances as to your characters and desire to continue your education.”

  Toby’s fur p
rickled. His paws felt numb. He wrapped his tail around his toes to still its trembling.

  “We’ve taken everything into consideration as we deliberated and have come to a decision. Apprentices Toby and Lorn and Trainee Terence will remain at the academy to continue their studies for the time being,” said Master Jalen.

  The gathered mages erupted in sighs of relief and grumblings. Toby closed his eyes and exhaled. He heard the rustle of cloth as Lorn relaxed as well.

  “But,” said Master Meredith, raising her voice to be heard, “there will be restrictions.”

  Everyone quieted. Toby kneaded the stool beneath him, his breathing rapid. Master Meredith gazed sternly at the three students as she continued.

  “You are confined to the grounds at all times unless accompanied by a teacher or with special written permission, which you are to keep on your persons at all times. Do you understand these requirements?”

  “Yes, Head Master,” the three answered together.

  “At any time, should you choose to disregard these restrictions, you will be dismissed from the academy without another hearing. Do you understand these consequences?”

  “Yes, Head Master.”

  The head master cat looked to her companion. He nodded. The head masters stood together.

  “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your cooperation and aid in this matter,” said Master Jalen, nodding to the gathered teachers and guardians. “This hearing is adjourned.”

  The instructors followed the head masters from the room, leaving the guardians to speak with their students. Toby wished he could scurry between their feet and out the door. He leaped from the stool, doing his best to make his fur lie flat.

  “I hope you’re satisfied,” growled Adele. He heard the soft tear of carpet fibers from claws as she paced toward him.

  “Just what did you think you were doing?”

  Toby looked away from her piercing yellow eyes. There was nothing he could say. He watched as Lorn’s father guided his son from the room by the shoulder, the man’s fingers causing deep indentations in Lorn’s clothing. The young mage’s mouth was a grim line. Toby wondered where Lorn’s mother was. Across the room sat Gravin Arturo, hands folded upon his cane’s head and a frown upon his face. Chivato’s stern expression mimicked his companion’s. Both were listening closely to whatever Terence was telling them.