The Felinites

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dexter’s POV

          I literally danced with the enemy. King Sebastian commanded me to protect Princess Cleo from Abby. He never told me to lead her away from a party and take her to my secret cave. So what am I doing? Why am I still holding her hand? I let her hand fall out of my grasp as I begin to direct us toward the castle, which is in the opposite direction of the party.        

        “I have to meet someone who is still at the party,” Abby tells me, stopping in her tracks.

         “Would you like me to walk you back?” I ask.

         “No, thank you. I will see you later,” she answers as she walks in the other direction.

         “Alright, farewell, Abby,” I call to her back. She does not reply but I did not expect her to. I watch her scamper off back toward the still going party. I wonder who she might be meeting. Why would she let me lead her away if she knew she had to meet with someone else? Perhaps she knew that she had time before she had to meet this mysterious person.

         When I enter the castle I am greeted by another guard. He is a Chaser but I cannot remember his name. “The king waits for you in his library.” He tells me.

         “Thanks,” I reply.

          I head for the library, where, sure enough, King Sebastian is waiting. His feet are propped up on his desk in front of him and he leans back lazily in his chair. The rows upon rows of books take up most of the room.

         The king smiles as I enter. He sits at his desk. “Your name is Chester, right?”

         “Dexter, actually, sir,” I reply.

         “Oh, yes, yes. How could I possibly forget? Sit, sit, there is much we need to talk about,” the king says. Then he rings a tiny bell to call for a servant, “How about some refreshments?” I just nod. “Shall we begin with your trip with my precious daughter to visit her fiancée?”

         “It was quite the adventure, sir,” I answer.

         “How so?” King Sebastian prompts. Four servants enter carrying trays filled with snacks. They sit the trays on a table and leave once they make sure the king needs no further assistance.

         “All went smoothly until we reached Prince Cornelius. He had one of his temper tantrums and upset Princess Cleo. She ran off down a hall and I followed her,” I explain. “I could not find her at first and searched a couple of the rooms in the hall that she went down. I found… many… interesting things.”

         “What did you find?” the king demands.

         “One room was filled with holograms of war plans. We have underestimated the Edacions. They are not as stupid as we thought,” I reply.

         “Do they plan to attack us?” he asks next.

         “No, we are safe. I found something else, too. Another room stored these strange machines but I do not know what they are,” I answer. “They are so hard to describe.”

         The king pulls a sketch pad out of his desk drawer and pushes it toward me, “Draw it.”

         I am not the best at drawing but I do the best I can and show it to him. “It looks something like that.”