Chapter 35: A Matter of Titles

Shar shifted awkwardly, tapping his many, many, many toes against the steel floor of Star City, crossing and uncrossing his arms over his chest. He pressed a finger to his goggles, making sure they were in place, and let out a little sigh. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea. After all, how was he supposed to know if 'Kujo' would make an appearance or not? Simply relying on what someone, a stranger, said wasn't exactly the most secure source of information around, now was it? He sighed again, shifting boredly between forms (a cat, a mouse, the blond-haired boy, the black-haired boy, a fly, a spider), before finally settling back into his natural dragon-taur self. "You're just brimming with talents, aren't you?" Shar's head snapped upward. Where...? A hand, sporting four fingers and two thick thumbs, appeared out of the shadows, waving itself around wildly before disappearing back out of sight,” Did you get another one, then? You did, didn't you? Dammit Winquist." "We did. Erich Emmanuel Bishop. He wasn't on the list." "Not on the list?" the voice sounded petulant,” How could he forget Bishop. One of m- Yes, yes, yes, he has Bishop then. Anyone else?" Shar shook his head,” You said-" "I'd give you more information if you kept me posted, I know, I know," 'Kujo' let out a little sigh,” What did I tell you before?" "Why he needed those people." "Ah, right. Power hungry little bas..."he trailed off, muttering,” Should be happy the way he is,” letting out a little cough, Shar watched at the shadows straightened themselves up a little,” First things first, who are you going after now?" "I don't know. The list, and the watch, have gone missing." "Have they? Oh, that's wonderful!" Kujo let out a bark of laughter,” That’s simply perfect! Well, that's it then, you're done now, aren't you?" "Jeffrey's commissioned a second." Silence descended. Kujo stirred in the shadows, drooping a little,” I see...and Winquist has agreed, has he?" "So long as we don't...hinder McKale's attempt to collect everyone else on the list." Kujo cursed. "And that we...visit him when we're finished, all of us, so he may take the restrictions off the watch. Watches." "Visit him?! Why? Did he say why?" Shar shook his head,” If I may, that's the question I was hoping you'd answer." Kujo flopped down against the wall, and for a second his legs were stuck out in the light, plain and clear for Shar to see. They were long and mottled brown, just as that glimpse of his feet at been. Incredibly, long, in fact. Kujo could well be over eight feet tall with legs of that length. With a yelp Kujo tucked them back into the darkness, and Shar suspected he was being subject to a rather nasty glare. "All right,” said Kujo,"Tell me what you know, and I'll see what I can do." "Winquist is collecting princes in order to gain power, as you said, how he may gain power from them, I do not know. I've also noted that the names on the list are not all names of princes, but of persons who may be somehow related to being a prince, for example, Kutoth, a murdon name, indicates the person in question is of high rank, hence the 'ku' prefix,"Shar paused,” In much the same way your name-" "Yes, yes, yes, I understand all that. What else?" "I know McKale is in line to become a prince...princess...or rank there equivalent." "And you don't think it's a coincidence that McKale is the one who's being sent to collect Winquist's princes." Shar shook his head no. "That's rather bright of you, isn't it? What else?" "Winquist knew that Jeffrey and I were attempting to impede McKale's collection of said persons. I don't understand how he could have known that." Kujo didn't answer, but Shar saw his shape shift uncomfortably in the shadows,” I can't give you the answer to that." Shar nodded,” And my previous one?" "Why he wants to see you all after you've finished checking off all those names?" Kujo stirred,” Including mine?" Shar nodded. "That's rather obvious, isn't it?" Shar cocked his head, lifting a brow quizzically. "To get McKale, of course. And to leave no witnesses, as it were." Shar nodded. He'd thought as much. "It's about time you got back to your bond, wasn't it?" "Yes." "Good luck, then," Kujo watched as Shar's form began to flicker out of sight,” And keep me posted!" .:.:.::.:.:. Cy tucked her wings against her sides and dropped down to a window sill, pecking absently for show. She scanned the room out of the corner of her beady little eyes, watching the myriad of servants wandered back and forth through the hall. Prince Brennan was no where in sight. Resisting the urge to sigh she reopened her wings and swooped on inside the throne room. He couldn't have gone very far. He didn't seem to be the sort of person who'd bother with leaving his castle if he didn't have to (or even if he did have to, for that matter). She kept close to the ceiling as she flew, not in fear of cats slipping around the corners and trying to take a swing at her, but just incase birds were on the list of the prince's least favored things. Cy didn't want to have to outrun a second set of stampeded, armored guards, after all. Ah, here was a familiar sight. The pale, peaky face of Cassander peered around the rim of a doorframe. He disappeared behind the wall just as quickly as he came, and Cy could see his hand darting out to shut the door. Flapping wildly she dashed through the doorway, just as it clicked shut behind her. With a shiver, she transformed herself in a beetle and scurried up the side of the wall. Brennan wasn't in the room, but one well dressed looking man, besides the too-thin Cassander, was. "Where's the prince?" whispered the man, keeping his voice hushed and low. Cassander made his way to the man's side and crouched down,” In the courtyard, riding. He won't be back for at least an hour." "Ah, good. Down to business then, Cassander?" "Indeed, my lord." Cy stopped mid-scuttle toward the nearest window (she was here for the prince, after all, not for some silly little dalliance between a servant and...whoever this man was), and craned her little black head toward the pair. My lord? "He still refuses the crown?" "Quite. He says the title 'king' is not worthy of his name. A despicable word, in his opinion, my lord." "Indeed,” the man's lip curled,” And the servants?" "Fearful, but severely hateful of his lordship." "Don't call him that." "Yes, my lord." "What of the knights? Have you managed to sway them to our cause?" "Many continue to be loyal, but do to Brennan's recent command of having one of their number and his family executed for failing to capture a thief, many are beginning to see the logic in our cause. I have not informed the other advisers or the honored knights, my lord. I do not believe they would take our rebellion in kind." "Certainly not, Cassander. We will deal with them when we must. Have you devised a way to rid us of our young prince?" "Not yet, my lord, I fear the honored knights-" "Of course." "And you've heard the rumors, haven't you? That the prince has..."his eyes darted around the room and he lowered his voice,” Powers, not of this world." "You don't believe rumors, do you Cassander?" Cassander wrung his hands in his robe. Clearly he did. "No, my lord." "I thought not,” the man got to his feet,” Very well, Cassander. Do what you must. When next we meet I expect you to have a plan." "Very well, my lord." The man strode across the room and opened the door, streaming out into the hall without so much as a word. Cassander sat for a while longer, clasping his hands together and lifting his head ceiling-ward. He muttered something inaudible, perhaps a prayer, and got to his feet. Brushing dust from his robes he crept across the floor and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. Cy dropped from the wall, returning to her natural dragon form (albeit a few feet smaller, so she could comfortably fit within the little room), and padded toward the far wall. She sat there in silence, fighting a grin from growing on her face. Perhaps, she thought, brow furrowing with the effort to keep her mouth suitably un-smirked, she could get more out of this than just one more name checked off on that list. More than a one up on Shar, even. Finally, her scaly lips curled upward and she let her eyes flutter shut. She let out a little laugh, starting as nothing more than a quiet chuckle and slowly building, building, building, until she was fair hysterical with giggles. Oh, yes, she could get a hell of a lot out of this. .:.:.::.:.:. "You know, darling's taking an awful long time, isn't she?" Hush furrowed his (or her) brow, staring up at the sky. "Quite, Hush. It's getting awful dark out, isn't it?" "Indeed, Sakay, quite dark indeed." McKale looked up from the watch (or the scattered bits of it that he could find), to chance a glance at the twins. They were sitting expectantly on a fallen log, alternating between snuggling with each other to soak up what warmth they could from the otherwise chilly air, and attempting to lick the berry juice out of their fur. Neither activity was working very well, but it kept them occupied. "Love?" one twin craned his neck toward McKale. "When's darling going to be back?" McKale gave a little shrug, offering a hesitant half-smile to the pair,” Haven’t a bally clue." The twins gave a little sigh and flopped themselves over the log, curling around each other,” You don't think anything's happened to her, do you, love?" "Of course not!" McKale's heart leapt at the words. Hopefully nothing had happened. Swallowing that thought he picked himself up, dusting off he knees (which was pointless, really, his robe was dirt stained and ruined from nights sleeping on the ground, a bit of swiping wasn't going to fix it any) he strode toward them and plopped himself down beside the log, scooping the twins into his lap,” She’ll be back soon." "You sure, love?" "Positive." He hoped. And just as McKale had begun to think that perhaps the twins were right, Cy dropped out of nowhere (possibly having shifted from that odd looking bug buzzing about above their heads), her lips twitching as if she were trying to keep them from spreading into an obnoxious grin, or something of the sort. Cy planted her hands on her hips, jerking her head back until her bangs were out of her eyes, and said,” I have a plan." "Oh, that's jolly good then, isn't it,” said McKale." "We were beginning to think you'd died or worse..." "...but a plan's good as anything else." Cy rolled her eyes and expelled a sigh.