ade and Sable arrived fasionably late at the ball. As they entered Amber's house, if you could call such a large building a house and was announced by the bellman in the foyer.
"Presenting Sable, Champion of Auvreanae."
The music stopped at the announcement and Sable stepped forth into better view by those at the bottom of the stairs on the dance floor. There were a few appreciative gasps from several Ladies. He had selected a pair of black pants that showed off his shapely muscular legs and a white, loose fitting shirt that hung open a little at the chest. He was muscular and well toned and knew exactly how to show off his body.
"Presenting Lady Jade of Auvreanae."
Jade stepped forward and stood beside Sable who removed her midnight blue coat. She stood regally allowing people to look her over as Sable had. She wore a dress that rested over her left shoulder leaving her right one exposed. The skirt of the dress reached her right ankle was angled upwards towards her left knee where the material slightly overlapped however the split went higher so that when Jade moved she showed off a fair portion of her right leg in a daring split and also making her appear taller than she was as she had long slender legs. A simple white gold chain rested upon her hips and dangled down the side of the dress that wasn't split. The dress was a matching blue to her eyes with swirls of silver to match her fur. Her hair was partially up and weaved into it was blue ribbons. The rest of her hair hung down her back.
After a few minutes the music started again and people started to dance again. Jade smiled a cheeky smile and then started to saunter down the stairs, her hips swinging with the music. Sable grinned broadly and waited til she was near the bottom of the stairs before he leapt after her taking the stairs three of four at a time. He just beat her to the bottom and stood before her, issuing a challange. Jade accepted and offered her arm, where upon Sable slide under her arm, picked Jade up and swept her onto the dance floor, Jade's laughter ringing in his ears.
As the song ended Jade was beaming. Sable stepped aside allowing another gentleman to lead Jade accross the dance floor and went to join Amber at the table.
"Sable, lovely to see you."
"You too Amber, you look stunning tonight."
"A mere candle to the Lady." Amber replied. Her eyes seemed aglow and her hair looked like fire piled on top of her head. She had worn a dark brown dress that had a low cut V-neck and the skirt may have appeared simplistic when she stood still but when she moved swirled around in it's own little dance. "No Coal?"
"No."
"Oh. Maybe next time."
Coal and Amber had been an item a long time ago before Coal was accepted into Jade's service. They had split up on good terms and still cared deeply for each other even though both of them seemed oblivious to that fact themselves. Sable found the two of them dancing around each other somewhat amusing. Amber chatted away idly and Sable listened until she broke off mid thought. He looked up to see what could have possibly distracted her and then he spotted the source. Coming accross the dance floor, making a direct bee line towards Jade with several people stepping out of his path, was Slate.
Slate was a Noble on the borders of Jade's estate. He had earned his title and his money. Not many a person knew what to think off Slate as he tended to like to keep to himself. Slate was reserved, the kind of person that would watch happily from the shadows, which is why many thought he was strange. He could appear intense but that was simply because he was highly intelligent and many found this daunting. Sable had gotten along with him and Jade had seemed fascinated by his eccentricity. Slate was Grey with White and Black streaks. He wore Black pants and a black shirt to match and looked beautiful in a rough around the edges kind of way.
When he reached Jade he waited for her to turn, to notice him. She did so and smiled warmly. He extended his hand and she took it. A new song started and Amber and Sable watched from the sidelines. Many people moved off the floor to watch as well. If Sable was the Samba, Slate, was the Tango. When the song ended Jade was clearly beaming. She patted Slate's cheek gently and then swept off the dance floor, she would not dance again that night.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Jade spent most her time chatting to Amber and anyone else who joined them at the table they sat. After several off the guests had left Jade had also decided it was time for her to go. Sable left to get their carraige and Amber walked with Jade to the entrance where the bellman lightly placed Jade's coat over her shoulders. Jade embraced Amber warmly and then stepped into her carriage after it pulled up. Sable watched Jade as she looked out the window all the way home. When they reached the entrance to the grounds of her castle Jade looked up and noticed Sable's expression.
"What?" She asked.
"You seem bemused."
"Oh." Jade said blushing slightly, which confirmed Sable's suspicions that she had been thinking about her dance with Slate.
They walked quietly through the halls heading to Jade's rooms. Sable then went to get Coal and Emerald. They would finally find out what Jade had learnt. Coal agreed to get Emerald who was in the kitchens and Sable then walked through his room to Jade's. One of the entrances to the tunnels was to be found in Jade's study, this is where he headed. There was a huge oak table in the centre of the room, surprisingly clear of books. Two long bookshelves lining both sides of the room. Then a wall that was mostly blank. Upon the wall hung a potrait of Jade's parents. It was clear where Jade had inherited her looks. Under the potrait was the entrance. You couldn't see it as it appeared just to be brick wall. But when one hand held the amulate and another was placed on the wall you could walk through it as if there was no bricks at all.
"Coal has gone to get Emerald, they should be here shortly."
"Good. I may take these ribbons out then, my head is starting to hurt."
Jade left the room and Sable went to pull out a chair when he heard a thump. He turned as it sounded like it had come from behind him, behind the wall. Grabbing a sword which was hidden between the wall and the bookshelf he held onto his amulet and walked through the wall.
***
Kat woke with a sword poking against her neck. She was face-down on a dusty stone floor, and very uncomfortable.
"Turn over, slowly," a voice commanded, followed by a slight prod with the sword.
Slowly, Kat turned so that she was laying on her back, and the sword was pointed at her throat. Standing over her was a man, with dark brown hair and brilliant green eyes. There was something odd about him, but it took Kat a few moments of staring to work out what it was. He had ears on the top of his head, and a long, slim tail that was agitatedly sweeping the floor. She blinked. She must be hallucinating.
"What are you doing here," he demanded
Kat swallowed.
"Where am I?"
"You are within the estate of the Lady Auvreanae. State your business, or I will dispatch you."
"Sable? What is it?" called a female voice.
"Intruder, my lady. Do not come down."
"Well, it's a bit late for that, as I'm already here. You seem to have things well in hand though. What on earth is that?"
"That's the intruder, my lady."
"Well where are her ears? Strange looking thing. I want to examine it. Is it dangerous?"
"It doesn't appear to be, my lady. If you will hold my sword, I'll check."
The lady of the house appeared in Kat's line of vision, and she was startled to see that she had long soft-looking ears with silvery hair and a fluffy, matching tail, and deep Blue eyes, and was wearing a dress which combined these two shades to stunning effect. The competence with which she held the sword belied the soft picture presented, however.
Kat returned her attention to the guard, who pinned both her wrists to the floor above her head. As soon as he touched her, however, Kat gasped, as energy shot through her.
"Sable, I think you hurt her then."
The cat-man was looking at her strangely.
"The strangest thing just happened, my lady."
"What was it?"
"I suddenly felt like I knew her. And like there's nothing to fear from her."
"Hmm."
Kat blinked. A charm like he had described would have been easy enough to do, but she hadn't done anything of the sort. In fact, it had felt more like he had laid one on her. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, and noticed him watching her with the same expression as he ran his hand over her body.
The lady laughed, and the sword scratched at Kat's throat.
"I think she's a bit attracted to you, Sable! Is she safe enough?"
"She has no weapons, my lady. Should I take her to the dungeon?"
"No. I want to examine her. Take her to the study, but keep guard of her. I want to know how she got into this room."
"Yes my lady."
The cat-man grasped her wrists and pulled her easily to her feet, and Kat gasped at his strength. With his other hand, he took his sword back from the lady.
"Walk!"
As Kat was marched from the room, she saw a huge circle etched into the floor, and strange symbols surrounding it. She had no time to examine it, however, as she was taken captive.
Kat stood in the room, in front of the large oak table, waiting. Her head was hurting. She didn't remember any of the journey here, only the floor dropping out from underneath her, and waking with a sword point in her neck. She supposed that was enough to give anyone a headache.
Standing a few feet away from her was the sword wielder, Sable. Kat examined him carefully. It seemed that Santiago's claims were correct. There really were cat-people. He never took his eyes off her for a second. It was a shame he didn't realise that she wasn't trying to escape - yet.
The lady was seated now, on the other side of the table, also examining her.
"How did you get here?"
"Darryl teleported me here."
"And what is this teleport? How did he get you past my guards?"
"Well, it's a teleport. It doesn't go past your guards, it just goes from one place to the other."
"Is it a machine?"
Jade had books on machines.
"No, just Darryl."
"And what is a Darryl?"
"He's a person, like me."
"Hmm..."
Jade pondered the strange creature before her. Was it possible that this was the thing that the lead she had followed earlier had mentioned? Remembering, Jade took her amulet from around her neck, and removed the second amulet from the chain.
"An amulet! Then you must understand the teleport! Why all the stupid questions, when you can do magic yourself?"
There was a stunned silence in the room.
"Magic," Jade replied slowly, "is banned. The punishment for doing magic is death. No second chances. Are you telling me that you came into my home via magic?"
Kat's eyes widened in alarm.
"Magic is banned? But how can that be? You have to be able to do magic!"
"Why do I have to be able to do magic?"
Kat sighed.
"You hold an amulet. That means you're a descendant of one of the members of the coven. If you can't do magic, then the whole world is doomed."
Conversation stopped as Sable tilted his head. A few moments later, Coal and Emerald entered the room.
"What is that?" Emerald asked, alarmed.
"We're not sure," Jade replied. "I do have an idea, though."
Silence fell, as Jade thought back to her mission. She had spent days tracking the man who might have held an amulet. By the time she finally found him, and convinced him she was on his side, and that it was safe for him to give her his amulet, the authorities were almost upon them.
"Yes." Kat answered.
"What's a human?" Coal asked, struggling a little with the word.
"From what I understand, like us, but without fur and that. What we are seeing. I heard it from the guy I was tracking."
Everyone including Kat looked at Jade.
"As you all probably know by now, Coal was unsuccessful with finding out anything. The lead he followed was a dead end. The one I followed was not. I had problems finding the guy and when I did he was half starved and didn't smell to shabby either. He had been clearly running from the authorities for days, but he wore the amulate. He claimed to be a prophet. Said he could see the future. That a human would cross our path, like us, but different. Before he could tell me more we were discovered. He told me to leave him, that if I tried to save him we would both die. He said he had seen his death, he was not afraid. He ordered me to run and I did. I never even got his name. The ones who were found us where good. They seemed to keep track of me well. I even..." Jade paused looking at Kat then continued "changed and they seemed to find me quicker. Almost like the could sense the use of Magic. It took me a full day to shake them after that, and only then when I stopped using Magic."
"My lady, if I might make a suggestion?" Sable said.
"Yes?"
"It is late - well past the midnight hour - and it will soon be light. Perhaps we should think on things overnight and continue the questioning in the morning?"
Jade considered. He had a valid point. And although she trusted Emerald implicitly, she wasn't the brightest of girls, and it would perhaps be better for her not to hear all the details.
"Very well. Coal, you will guard her overnight. Put her in a guest room. Sable, you will take over from coal when the second breakfast bell sounds, and bring her back into this room, where the questioning will continue."
"Yes, my lady."
Although Sable was good at hiding his feelings, Jade picked up on his slight hurt none the less. As Coal led Kat from the room, Jade placed her hand on Sable's arm.
"Sable. I asked Coal to guard her tonight as I wanted you there for the questioning tomorrow. And I wanted you to get enough sleep, so we didn't miss anything."
Mollified, Sable smiled.
"Yes, my lady."
Morning dawned, and Jade sat in her bedroom, thinking. Sable had just left to relieve Coal from his post, and Jade was pondering the question of what to do with the girl. She had several problems. The first was, that the girl had no ears, tail, or fur. The next was the question of hearing the rest of her story. And the third was what on earth she was going to do with her, once she'd heard it. But she was human. There had to be a lot Jade could learn from her.
Jade heard Sable returning, and moved into the study. The girl stood where she had the night before, looking more tired and dishevilled. Jade sat and observed her for a moment.
"Tell me your story."
With a sigh, Kat began. She told about their worlds being one, and the cat-people and human soul mates, and the splitting of the world, and what had happened since then in her dimension, and then of the Santiago manuscript and her discoveries, and the conclusion where Darryl had sent her through into their world.
Jade pondered for a moment, and then replied.
"From what I have learned, your speculation of the coven taking power is correct. They did take power, and things were fine for a hundred years. Then, there was a disagreement within the coven. About what, it isn't known, but there was a huge war, which lasted for three hundred years. My distant ancestors, and Sable's, and Coal's and Amber's and Emerald's all fought on the side that lost. From that point, magic was banned. Our ancestors didn't give up the fight, it just had to be conducted covertly. And the rebellion was born. In the many hundreds of years since that time, the authorities have gained in strength and control, and the rebellion has struggled. We are fighting for the right to use magic, and the answers to a question we've been searching for for so long, that we've forgotten what it was. All we know for certain is that we need to collect all the amulets, and place them on the correct symbols on the floor, and then the book will reveal the answer."
Kat blinked. She had a strong suspicion that the amulets on the floor might just be the missing step in recombining the two worlds.
"But now we have a couple of problems. One - You don't look like a feline."
"That's easily changed. I can transmutate."
"So you can do magic."
"Yes."
"Right. Two doesn't really matter now. You know I can do magic, but I also know you can do magic, so I guess the two cancel each other out. Three - What are we going to do with you?"
"I thought that was fairly obvious. We have to get the rest of the amulets, of course, and solve the puzzle."
"You want to join the rebellion?"
"I want to stop the world from combusting. I happen to believe that the amulets could well play a particularly vital part in that. If getting the amulets means joining the rebellion, then that's what I'll do."
"There is one other problem."
"What that?"
"I got a letter today, saying that my house was going to be the subject of a random spot check for magic at noon. Is it possible that they could have known somehow that you used magic to appear here?"
"Yes. Teleportation causes huge energy disturbance, unless you muffle it. I don't know if Darryl would have or not, but probably not, as we were within the university."
"So they're going to come and search my house. Are they going to be able to tell that you're not feline?"
"No. Transmogrification is conducted by me, entirely on me. There's no outwards ripple at all."
"Well, that's good. The house is being prepared for their visit, so you had best clean yourself up. Sable, are you satisfied that she is not a threat to my person?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Good. Take her into my room and let her bathe. Then we'll see about dressing her. I think we'll make her a distant cousin? From my mother's side. I'll get Malachite to make up a book for her. What colour are your eyes?"
Kat turned, and looked at Jade.
"Ah. Very similar to mine. That's perfect. A family resemblance. Your name is now Sapphire."
"My name is Kat. Kathryn."
"Oh, of course. My name is Jade, and that, as you know, is Sable. The lass you met last night is Emerald, and your guard from last night is Coal. They'll all call you ma'am or my lady. You may call me Jade, as we're meant to be cousins. Try to remember that your name is Sapphire though. Now, go and bathe, and I'll come in and see you in a bit."
Sable led Kat from the room, and Jade looked at the wall. Something would need to be done about it.
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These stories contain material not suitable for children. We recommend that mature audiences only (18+) read these stories.