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It was almost embarrassingly easy to dodge around the people attempting to catch me and dash out the door. My feet sank into the white fluffy stuff my Blue Servant called "snow", and my fur puffed up from the sudden cold that attacked my poor paws. If I were a lesser being, I would have turned around and dashed back inside, but I was not one of those weaker-willed creatures.
I was Countess Tiphane Seraphina Amelia de Bore, Lady of the Manor, and I was on a mission.
Heavy footfalls behind me along with the raised voices of my servants calling my name was all an attempt to get me to slow or even return to them. However, a smaller, more desperate sound kept me running.
"Tiphane! Please come back!" Ah, my Blue Servant, the one called Aymeric although others called him silly names like "Lord Commander" and recently "Lord Speaker". He was very nice, reminding me of his parents, fine servants that they were, but he often forgets that I am a grand lady and not a silly kitten. He will learn one day.
"Get back here, you cursed cat!" I couldn't help but snicker and dodge the rather clumsy attempt at catching me by the Pale Stray. It had been interesting when my Blue Servant brought him home, full of strange smells and sounds of mating. I had ensured that the Pale Stray knew his place in the houses. I was the Lady, and he was staying with my permission. A few swipes of a claw had him understand where he was in the order of the house, and I have only had to remind him once or twice since he accepted his place.
I felt more than heard hands reaching for me, and I managed to duck under a leafless bush, flicking my tail out of the way of those clever hands. I was not fully sure about that stray that my Blue Servant brought home. He smelled… different in a way I was not sure was a good thing or a bad one. The fact that he was Dangerous made me wish to avoid him at all times. At least until I could figure him out.
The metal chime heralded my newest servant, the Sparkly One, and while his lap was so very comfortable, his fingers gentle on my fur, and his voice soothing, I could not turn back just yet.
You see, I am getting up there in the years, and while I still have many more years ahead of me, I knew I would need to start training my replacement soon to ensure everything continued running smoothly in the house. After all, it would not do to let a bunch of toms think they could run a house as easily as a fine queen like myself. Unfortunately, since the Big Cold began, I have not been allowed outside and thus was unable to search for my replacement the old-fashioned way. However, the faint, desperate mewls I was following let me know that perhaps my replacement had come to me.
Lady of the Hearth knew sometimes it happened that way.
Ducking through another bush, I found the source of the sounds, and I wanted to hurt someone badly. It was a tiny kitten, barely weaned, but smelling of blood, terror, and hunger. I was not sure if the blood was the little one's or someone else's, but I did not hesitate to pick her up by the scruff and race back to the Sparkly One. He would help the kitten, and then I would see if this little one would be my replacement or would go to another house.
"Prithee, my lady, what hast thou discovered in yonder shadows?" asked the Sparkly One, crouching down as I approached. I could see the others gathering around out of the corner of my eye, even as the two strays hung back.
"A kitten," breathed my Blue Servant, his eyes wide, and I allowed him to take her from me. His hands were gentle as well, but not as gentle as my Sparkly One. Curling his fingers around the shivering kitten, he rose to his feet and began calling for the others. Meanwhile, I purred and rubbed against the hand held out for me before allowing the Sparkly One to gather me into his arms. Good servant. I should not have to walk any farther than necessary in this cold stuff.
I was rushed back into the warmth of the manor, the scents of the food room tickling my nose, and I hopped out of the Sparkly One's arms onto the high surface. I ignored the few attempts to remove me from it as I walked over to the large water dish. The Blue Servant had a little water in it, and he was gently washing the kitten who was hanging limp from his grip on her scruff.
"Don't worry, little one," I said, hoping to soothe some of her anxiety. "My Blue Servant is very gentle and so is my Sparkly One. You're safe here."
"Mama?" whimpered the kitten, opening bright blue eyes to look around before squeezing them shut again at the sound of water splashing. I tilted my head, my ears flicking as I thought before I flicked my tail, coming to a decision. I had gone out to rescue this one, introducing her to my servants, so I had decided to make her my responsibility.
"I am your Mama now, little one," I said, watching the color slowly returning to her fur. I had thought she was a dark-furred baby, but a dark red color was emerging from the dirt. I was also glad to see no injuries, but the kitten was so thin I could almost see her ribs under her fur. Blue eyes opened again, focusing on me, and I crouched down to get closer to the kitten without getting into the dirty water. "Did your mama give you a name?"
Tiny ears drooped. "Mama told me to run. Stayed back to stop the mean toms, but the rocks fell on her."
My heart went out to this little one, and I decided right then and there, she was staying with me here. My Blue Servant lifted her from the water before running fresh, and I purred as loud as I could, hoping to soothe her as much as I could without getting into the water. I greatly disliked getting wet as it took forever for my fur to dry, and my skin itched the entire time.
"Thy lady doth seemed to be quite taken with thine newest acquisition," remarked the Shiny One, moving around to peer into the sink as well. "Thy tiny one's fur brings to mind the rolanberry right before it is plucked from its vine."
"Rolanberry would be a good name for it," the Pale Stray said, his fingers coming down to gently stroke over the kitten's head with more care than I had seen him with anything aside from my Blue Servant. Perhaps I might let him have a little more freedom in my house.
My Blue Servant hummed as he lifted the now clean kitten from the water, placing her on a towel. She mewled pitifully as he started rubbing her fur dry as best as he could. "She's so thin," he said, his voice soft before his eyes flickered over to me as if judging my reaction to the now clean kitten. "Tiphane is content to have her here." A smile curled his lips as he continued drying the kitten. "Rolanberry will make a fine addition to the house as long as Tiphane is fine with her."
I waited until my Blue Servant had unfolded the towel before I moved in to grip the newly named Rolanberry by the scruff and hopped off the counter, carrying her into the Big Warm Room. I heard my servants hurrying after me, and I curled up around the kitten near the fire and started licking her dry as I purred. She relaxed in my paws, snuggling closer, and I heard her poor stomach growling.
"Well? Go get her some food," I ordered my four servants, looking up at them with a stern expression. The four of them crowded closer, and I glared up at them, my ears tilting back in annoyance. "I said, go get her food."
The Dangerous One chuckled and turned away slightly, accepting something from someone behind them. When he turned back, he crouched down and put a shallow dish on the floor, nudging it closer to us. There was soft food in it, and I nudged Rolanberry, drawing her attention to it. "Eat slowly so you don't get sick."
The kitten unsteadily got to her feet and took a few steps towards the dish. Unfortunately, it looked like her hunger got the getter of her as she dropped, face first, into the dish, purring and gobbling the food down as quickly as she could. I sighed and flicked my tail, annoyed at her manners. I reasoned that there would be time to teach her proper manners once she had filled out a bit more and understood that there would always be food and water for her.
Rising to my feet, I decided to thank my servants for taking such good care of my new kitten at least so far. Walking up to my Blue Servant, I rubbed my cheek and then my entire body against his leg before letting my tail drag along his shin. He made a noise that might have been a gasp or it might have been a squeal, but I was already moving on. The Pale Stray earned a full-body rub against his leg before I whacked him with my tail to ensure he did not get any ideas above his station. It did pay to keep him humble after all.
The Dangerous One, I barely brushed against his leg but I did let my tail caress him before I moved over to the Shiny One. Purring loudly, I butted my head against his leg, rubbed my body against him, and curled my tail as best as I could around his leg, leaving a nice patch of my fur on his robe as I did before I sauntered back over to collect the kitten.
"Rolanberry, while a nice name, is not very Ishgardian," remarked the Dangerous One as he backed away from us, and I waited until the food was gone before coaxing the kitten back to the fire with the simple procedure of carrying her back. "Perhaps she might benefit from more than one name."
There was a snicker from the Pale Stray, and I looked up to find him staring at my Blue Servant with an amused expression. "Care to tell them what your beast's full name is? Or would you prefer I do so?"
"Tiphane Seraphina Amelia de Borel is a perfectly fine name for the current Countess of the Manor," huffed my Blue Servant, and his face was rather red for some reason. "however, if you insist that Rolanberry have an Isgardian name, I believe Genevieve would be an appropriate addition to her name."
Rolanberry yawned and quickly fell asleep as only kittens could. I purred at her, curling around her to offer as much comfort as I could, and my tail gave a small flip when she started moving in her sleep, twitching her paws as she chased something in her dreams. I hope that she never grew out of that adorable habit as many were wont to do.
A rustling of cloth drew my attention away from Rolanberry, and I looked up to find my Sparkly One crouching down in front of us, staring at her with a look I was unfamiliar with on his face. "Prithee, my lady, but tis apparent that thine kitten doth dance in her slumber," he murmured, a smile curling his lips just a touch. "A minuet mayhaps if the movement of thine delicate feet are mayhaps keeping time with the song in her dreams."
The Dangerous One hummed, a grin on his face as he nodded. "Rolanberry Genevieve Minuet de Borel the Third," he stated with a nod. "A fine name, do you not agree?"
"Why 'the Third' if she is the first one of her name?" asked my Blue Servant, focusing on the Dangerous One.
That got a shrug of those shoulders. "Every Noble House needs someone that is 'the Third' to reside there at some point, or how can it be a Noble House?"
The Pale Stray started snickering, but I turned my attention back to the kitten. "Welcome home, Rolanberry Genevieve Minuet de Borel the Third," I murmured, enjoying the humor even if it was not as grand a name as my own. "I look forward to teaching you everything I know."