While the Queen’s Away the Cat Will Play
Queen Druciah was in excessively high spirits while she prepared for her journey to see the Witch. Caterwaul had done his part. The spell was cast, cursing all of the mirrors in Harsizzle. If anyone dared to look into one, they instantly became a cat. Most of the people who owned mirrors smashed them shortly after seeing what was happening to their loved ones. If Druciah had not been en route to the forest, she undoubtedly would have found it all quite hilarious.
Since he had done what she asked of him, Druciah kept her promise and allowed the cat to stay behind in the castle. She could hardly have done otherwise, as he was unconscious and likely to remain that way for several days at least.
The queen had been so pleased with him in fact, that her last words to her staff were, “If you need anything done, see Caterwaul. I am leaving him in charge.”
As she and her party had ridden away, she’d smiled at the sight of all of the new cats that had already taken up residence in her lands.
If she had given it any real thought whatsoever, Druciah probably would have liked it better had she not added the part about Caterwaul being “in charge,” because once he regained consciousness, Caterwaul took it to heart. The way he looked at things, if he really was in charge, he was going to do things his way. You see, Caterwaul assumed that the queen and her party would fail. He knew what the forest was like, and he assumed that the queen would come running home before she got even fifty yards into the woods. Therefore, if she did not return within two weeks, he would assume it was because she couldn’t and had been killed by some forest peril.
After two weeks and a couple of days had passed, the cat was sure they were all dead. That meant, or at least he assumed so, that Castle Cathoon was his to do with as he liked. Ever since he had arrived, he’d been dropping hints to the queen about redecorating at least part of the palace. Plus most everyone on staff heard that she had made him her heir. Now it was his chance to go all the way.
He was sad that the queen had to die for him to get this chance. But such was life. If he had to wager on which of the perils got the travelers, he would have guessed Joffrey. That crazy Joffrey was always a snap-first-and-ask-questions-later kind of turtle. He kind of liked the idea of Warwick Vane Bezel III becoming turtle food, but not his friend, the queen.
Nevertheless, it was now more than a month since they’d set out, and they were all dead to his mind. To a cat, a month was an eternity. There was no use in wasting valuable time grieving. He had brick masons coming over in the afternoon to build him a nice low bridge overlooking the brand new koi pond he had installed the day before. If there was one thing that Caterwaul really enjoyed, it was popping a big, ugly goldfish in the face with his paw.
Pretty soon, most of the castle’s residents were also convinced that the queen was dead and that Caterwaul was now the new master of the kingdom. He decided to pull out all the stops in his attempt to remake Cathoon Castle in his image. He assembled the most talented builders, painters, gardeners, and artisans from all of the nearby villages and told them what he wanted them to do.
First and foremost, he wanted to see color. All that time he had spent with the Witch in her dank forest cavern had nearly driven him insane. Now he was going to take these gray castle walls and lighten them up. That meant warm colors, such as yellows and oranges, and cool ones, such as light blues and purples too, all swirling around on fields of white. Since it was now “his castle,” he thought nothing wrong with any of the major changes he planned to make.
He hired the most talented glass masters to replace the windows in the great hall with stained glass ones depicting scenes of his “heroic escape” from the forest. There was nothing Caterwaul loved more than to lie on the floor while the sun shone through the windows and onto him. He assumed that having stained glass windows of varied colors would vary the temperature of the rays, and he was right. He especially liked to lie in the sun first thing in the morning. Sometimes he would remain there for hours unmoved. Then he’d stretch a bit and shift positions to allow exposure of every part of his fur to the warmth of the sun.
The outside of the castle grounds, he had manicured meticulously, and a hedgerow was planted in the form of a maze so that he could get his exercise for the day. He had ramps built, too, so he could run up and down on them, giving him hours and hours of enjoyment. Since he was a cat, he had special catwalks built to his design that spanned the castle both inside and out.
He replaced the old crystal chandeliers with imported mobiles, which almost always showed depictions of cats from faraway lands. He hoped someday to be able to travel to those places. Some of them made music when the wind blew across them like chimes. Caterwaul loved these best.
He had giant bird feeders constructed so he could gaze out the window and watch birds. After all, who doesn’t like to stare at birds? he thought. He installed scratching posts in every room of the castle and filled them all with hundreds of cat toys. There was no doubt who was master of the castle now.
Last, he created an exercise room complete with balance beams, rings, and all sorts of gymnastic equipment. If there was going to be a whole slew of visitors, Caterwaul wanted to be sure they could keep themselves in decent shape.
The humans working at the castle all knew Caterwaul was in charge, and they did whatever he asked of them. Caterwaul got along well with humans. However, out of the entire castle staff, the one Caterwaul liked most was Orris the chef. He considered Orris to be a friend, and he believed the feeling was mutual.
Orris often would sit at the koi pond beside his new master, who punched and prodded at the waters. He watched as the black cat swiped at the fish the way a boxer throws out his jab, and every now and then, Caterwaul would hook one of them on his claws.
If and when this happened, the cat would give the fish to Orris to prepare for an elaborate dinner. It might not be the same as one of the former queen’s feasts, but still it gave Orris the practice he needed. However, this was something that did not happen often. Caterwaul, unlike most felines, liked to practice catch-and-release.
With every passing day, the castle became more Caterwaul’s creation. He wondered what the queen would have to say if she saw it, then he briefly paused a moment to silently reflect upon his companion.
Caterwaul thought about what might have happened to Druciah. He missed her terribly. She had been good to him. The thought that she and her entourage might have been killed and eaten by a giant turtle disturbed him. But he was confident that if she were still alive, he certainly would have heard something by now.