Cautiously, Tae lowered himself to the ground, then headed briskly for the proper wall. He had not climbed it in nearly twenty years, and then he had used self-made bracers fitted with steel claws. Now, he relied on his years of practicing on his own tower walls to scale without need of anything but his own dexterity and strength. Fingers wedged into miniscule cracks, toes gripping through his soft, thin soles, he headed for the familiar fifth-story window, with its gauzy curtains rippling in the breeze.
Once there, Tae paused at the sill to get his bearings. The room appeared much as he remembered, the canopied bed holding a large figure he knew well. Matrinka had never lost the weight from the first of her three children, and she had added more through the years. Three cats shared her bed, one on the pillow curled against her head, one tucked at her feet, and the last stretched to its full length along her back. Furniture stood like towering shadows, and the rectangular shapes of two doors broke the fine line of the walls. All of these things passed Tae's inspection in an instant as he searched for danger. Likely, a Renshai guard shared this room with the queen, a quick, deadly master of the sword who would kill Tae first and wonder about his identity later. He would have to dodge the lightning sword strokes until Matrinka recognized and rescued him.
Yet, to Tae's surprise, he saw no other human figure, no movement other than the irregular sweep of the curtains. He lowered himself to the floor, still tensed for a wild attack that did not come. Finally, he crept cautiously toward Matrinka and swept aside the canopy.
The ginger-colored cat at the foot of the bed rose and started toward him, purring.
Ignoring it, Tae studied Bearn's queen. Her thick curls swept across the pillow and surrounded her gentle features like a mane. Her face held more lines than he remembered, and long strands of white hair lay knitted among the black. Age has touched us all, Tae realized, but he also knew Matrinka's appearance had never been what won her so many admirers. She was sweet and gentle, loving and kind, with the sort of nature that attracts long after youthful vigor fades.
"Matrinka," Tae whispered loudly.
The ginger cat caught up to Tae and rubbed its entire body against his arm. Turning to repeat the process, the cat raised its tail as high as possible to tickle Tae's face.
Absently, Tae stroked the animal, gaze still fixed on Matrinka, who had not moved.
"Matrinka," he repeated, this time nudging her shoulder gently.
The queen's soft, brown eyes popped open. She rolled toward Tae, dislodging the other two cats, a massive black and white and a plump little calico. They both yowled a complaint. Another cat scratched insistently at the bedroom door.
Matrinka jerked to a sitting position, pulling the blankets over her sleeping gown. "Tae? What in the gods' names are you doing here?"
Tae forced a smile through his exhaustion. "Always great to see you, too." He glanced around the room, still wary. "Where's the crazed Renshai?"
Matrinka placed a hand over her mouth and yawned daintily. "Does anyone know you're here?"
"Do you think I'd be in the queen's bedchamber if they did?"
Matrinka rolled her eyes and gave Tae a searching look. "You didn't."
"Didn't what?"
"Didn't climb in that window." Matrinka turned her gaze toward the curtains.
"Didn't I?" Tae continued to search for a bodyguard. By now, any Renshai worth her weight in salt would have sliced him into jerky. "And here I thought I did."
"And I thought you gave up sneaking around like a common thug when you became king."
"I've never been common or a thug."Tae shrugged. "And if a king can't sneak around, who can?"
"Come here." Matrinka held out her arms.
Tae embraced the queen, feeling tiny in her arms and enveloped by the sisterly warmth of her. To a man, Bearnides were a massive, mountain people, large-boned with coarse features. They shared the dark eyes and hair of Easterners, but all resemblance ended there. Eastern hair was fine and soft compared to the dense, bristly locks of Bearnides that tended to curl; and the Easterners bore a swarthy hue that made these people of the mountains look pale as Northmen in comparison.
The moment they released one another, Matrinka lashed out a hand that caught Tae squarely across the cheek.
He jerked backward, shocked. "Ow, damn it! Why did you do that?"
"Because you did something extremely foolish, and your mother isn't here to slap you."
Tae rubbed his aching face. He had never handled violence well. "My mother never hit me in her life."
"She should have. A lot. Maybe you wouldn't be so stupid if she did."
Tae had to admit that Matrinka had a point, though he did not like the way she made it. "I thought we were friends. You're making me sorry I came to see you."
"Good."
The scratching at the door became more animated, accompanied by vigorous meowing.
"The last five people who struck me are all horribly dead."
Matrinka refused to relent. "So kill me. You'd put me out of my misery."
It was the last thing Tae ever expected to hear from easygoing, sweet-tempered Matrinka. All anger vanished immediately. "Matrinka, what…?"
Paws flicked beneath the door, and the noises turned to heart-rending yowls.
"Can I let that cat in, or will a horde of guards descend on me?"
Matrinka wrapped the blankets around herself, dislodging the cats, then walked to the door. She opened it a crack to admit a silver tabby angrily fluffed, tail twitching. The cats already in the room rushed to the opening, squeezing into the hallway. No cat, it seemed, could resist an open door. Matrinka shut the panel before guards could look in or any more cats could enter. *What took you so long?* Imorelda plopped down on the floor, smoothing her coat back to normal with her tongue, her tail still lashing.
From long experience, Tae knew their mind-communication had limits. Outside, on open ground, he could generally "hear" her about as far as he could see her. Indoors, they nearly always required a presence in the same room. Walls, floors, ceilings, and doors cut them off completely. *I'm sorry,* Tae sent back.*I only just got here myself.*
The cat made a loud noise, halfway between a growl and a purr.
Tae ignored her to focus on Matrinka, who walked slowly back toward him from the door. "Matrinka, what's going on?" *I was about to go look for your broken, bloody carcass under the window.*
Matrinka sank back to the bed and closed her eyes. "It's been a monstrous year, Tae. I don't know how much more I can take."
Tae recalled Matrinka's strength through the many and varied adventures they had survived together. They had weathered deaths and injuries, wars and poisonings, wrongful imprisonments and miraculous escapes. It seemed so long ago, when they were young and inexperienced, irresponsible and youthfully immortal. Nothing had seemed impossible. "Is it the pirates?"
Imorelda leaped onto the bed and crawled into Matrinka's lap.
Matrinka stroked the cat, at first absently, then with focused attention. "It's Imorelda, isn't it?"
"Yes." *A true queen. She recognizes my exquisite and exceptional beauty.*
Tae could not help teasing,*What she recognizes is your putrid smell.*
"You're talking to her, aren't you?" Matrinka clearly attempted a happy tone, but she could not hide the deep sorrow that tinged it. *If I stink, it's only because I've been forced into close quarters with an unwashed human for so long."* Imorelda turned her back on Tae, kneading Matrinka's lap as she moved.*I've bathed. Have you?*