| The next morning Rathkanar awoke to find himself lying half out of bed. He was horribly distressed from having murdered his lover in cold blood, and her mother Corsine had not known what had happened to her. The king slowly climbed out of bed and washed himself off; some of Mari's blood came off on his towels. As Rathkanar went for a walk to calm himself down, he was suddenly confronted by Corsine, who came storming towards him. She was angry with the prince, but it did not stop her from bowing to him. "Prince Rathkanar," she began, "I must speak with you. Where is my daughter? Your guards took her from her bed last night and she has not returned. I am very concerned." Rathkanar sighed. "I know where she is," he said, shaking his head. "I am sorry." Corsine began to worry. "What happened to her?" she asked, almost crying. "Where is Mari? Is she all right?" It is time to be honest, Rathkanar thought. "She is dead," Rathkanar said. "She died serving all of us." Corsine burst into tears. "Why is Mari dead?" she cried. "Why did she die? I never got to see her again." "She died for a cause, for me," Rathkanar said. "If she did not die, all the rest of us would have." "What do you mean?" Corsine asked, crying. "My dream came true," Rathkanar said. "The spirits spoke to me; they told me to sacrifice Mari." Corsine's eyes became demon red and her fury accelerated. "Sacrifice?!?" she cried. "You are a horrible man!" At that moment, Corsine began to strike Rathkanar in the face and chest. Rathkanar tried to fend her off. "Leave me alone, woman!" he shouted, throwing Corsine to the ground. "Your daughter will forever be revered. She died to save our lives. She is a hero to all cat warriors. I can do no more." Corsine knelt on the grass and cried as Rathkanar turned to leave her. News of Mari's death spread around the kingdom rapidly. Many cat warriors were outraged; they verbally confronted Rathkanar with their discontent, sometimes physically. Rathkanar's guards found themselves busy fending off and arresting villagers. People even began to assemble to rally against the king. Some of the stronghold soldiers and guards came together to argue. "He is a traitor to our cause!" Gamer barked. "He can never be our king; he speaks of love, but he kills the woman he loves." "Here, here!" all the other cat warriors cried at once. "What are we going to do?" one black pantheress, Tuhalia, asked, shaking her head. "I know not," Lanom said, sadly. "I served him for so long and he respected me so much; I feel terrible about this." Just then, Rathkanar's personal assistant, Tal, burst through the door. "As do I!" he crowed. "I loved him as if he were my own son. He was a wonderful person. I am heartbroken." "We all are," Gamer said, his words spilling to the floor. "Our entire civilization will crumble under him; it is Rathkanar who will divide us." Some cat women sitting near the corner of the assembly hall cried. "He loved us once," they sobbed. "There was time when he was an insightful little boy. But now he is nothing but evil and corruption." Lanom finally stood up. "We must all take actions to stop him. I know not what to do first, but I know that we can all avoid this sort of thing in the future, if our future exists." Chapter 4, part 3 |