Where did they think she'd be running off to? "Sure." Don't want to keep the Kingdom waiting, babe." "A single song shouldn't do any harm," Auberon said carefully. The Cat King and Auberon exchanged a look that Haru couldn't decipher. "So I'm here now and it'll make her better now, right?" "You said that it was my hair making her sick because it couldn't draw from the Cat Kingdom sun, right?" "She's… she's sick," Haru haltingly reminded him. He looked incredibly smug over something he seemed to have planned very little of. "Your hair is so beautiful, it would seem a shame not to show it off at least once." "It's just for this evening," he supplied. "Yes, but I'm surely not going to stay there for the entire celebration, am I?"Īuberon seemed to notice her waning enthusiasm the Cat King did not. "Don't worry, babe your maids will help you to your seat, so there's no danger of tripping." "Is that all?" The Cat King looked confused by her concern.
"If it's left this long, it's going to get trodden on?" "No, no it looks beautiful," Haru was quick to assure, "but isn't this welcome ceremony going to be busy?" She consciously tucked a strand of golden hair back behind her ear. "Is it not fancy enough?" the Cat King asked. "You've been so generous, how could it not?" She moved her hand to her hair, lingering at the elaborate braids. Her mind flashed back to the crown she had bought Baron's temporary loyalty with, and she flinched, her hand dropping sharply away. Haru rose out of her own hasty bow and self-consciously felt for her tiara to ensure it hadn't slipped. "Is everything to your liking, Miss Haru?" To his side was Baron's brother, the man who had introduced himself as Auberon, and whereas the Cat King seemed built up of consuming smiles and slightly chaotic enthusiasm, his smile was wane. Or, at least, that was what she assumed the singular purple gem situated atop his head was, and even that had the uncomfortable habit of blinking in time with his own mismatched eyes. She had quickly learned to pick an eye and focus on just the one. His long grey-almost-purple fur stuck out at odd angles, as if he hadn't yet discovered the purpose of a comb and no one had found the courage to tell him, while his eyes had the disconcerting ability of wandering – usually in opposite directions.
She should have set her expectations lower. Truth be told, Haru hadn't been exactly sure what to expect when she heard there was not only a Cat King, but that he wanted to meet her – but noble and dignified had been the two main adjectives that had risen to mind. Haru frowned, but her thoughts were derailed when all three maids abruptly dropped into low bows. "Of course it will," one of the maids trilled. "I mean, isn't my hair going to trail if you leave it like that?" They gave her confused looks, and she specified.
"Isn't that going to be inconvenient?" she asked. She glanced over her shoulder at the cats' handiwork – pawork? her mind wondered – and noticed that even though they were braiding it, they were being very careful to keep it as long as possible. Even her veins, usually a faded blue, seemed almost green.
#CAT KING THE CAT RETURNS SKIN#
She fiddled with the hem of her sleeve and noted how, while the eternal sunshine made her hair shimmer, her skin seemed all the paler for it. Not trying to ignore the swirling storm of sickness and undirected dread building up within her heart. How many dresses could have been fashioned from that unseen material alone?įeline and floral motifs were decorated into the headdress and, as the maids assigned to her appearance fussed over her hair and wove it into intricate patterns, Haru couldn't help feeling like a princess.Įxcept, surely princesses were meant to be happier than this. The skirt blossomed out in multiple layers, yards and yards of fabric designed for the sole purpose of shaping her gown just right. The material was as golden as her hair, with flowers embroidered into the fabric in such excruciating detail that Haru couldn't being to imagine how many hours the seamstresses had sunk into it. It was unlike anything Haru had ever worn before, and not just because of its origin. In the Cat Kingdom, Haru ran her hands over her dress.