The Felinites

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dexter's Point of View

We are nearing the royal castle, the only building above ground on Filinus. The castle might look like a ginormous rock jutting out of the ground from a great distance. Princess Cleo clings to my arm as I lead her back to the castle, talking quietly so nobody else can hear.

"You saw her too?" Princess Cleo is asking.

"Yes, she would be hard to miss" I reply curtly.

"I have not seen her in a while and I thought she was banished. I was so sure I was keeping close track of all the criminals of my kingdom" the princess whispers.

"I know, I don't understand how she could just reappear though" I answer.

"You don't think the Edacions could have taken her in and turned her into a traitor, do you, Dexter?" Cleo asks.

"I honestly don't think they are smart enough to do that. Remember, the Edacions are strong, but quite stupid" I say.

"Right, okay. How else could she have come back?" Cleo asks me, her blue eyes wide, begging for me to put an end to her worry.

I search my brain to give her the best possible alternative, "She might have been only temporarily banished. Perhaps she only recently was allowed to return" I suggest.

She smiles, clinging to the possibility, knowing the end result of any other scenario would be horrible. "Yes, that has to be it. I will ask Father to see if that is the case" Princess Cleo agrees as we enter her chambers.

The castle consists of twenty cave rooms. There are four floors with five rooms on each level. The first floor is entertainment; ballroom, dining room, kitchen, library, and a large bathing room. The second level is the guard's living quarters. There are twenty men in each of the humongous rooms on that level. The third floor is the servants' living quarters; three rooms filled with ten servants each, one room for laundry work, and another, yet much smaller, bathing area. At the top are the royal rooms; Queen Nala and King Sebastian's room, Princess Cleo's room, two guest rooms, and the largest bathing room imaginable.

Princess Cleo's cave room is my favorite in the entire castle. The walls are dotted with gems, a blue fuzzy rug is placed on the floor in the center of the room, and she has a small shelf against one wall for her crowns, a hand mirror, and a brush.

"Sit," Princess Cleo orders, gesturing toward the rug. I obey and let her drag a brush through my tangled red-brown short fur. When she is finished she places a mirror in my hand for me to admire her handiwork, even though all she did was brush my fur. I'm not much to look at, especially not since I had my tail chopped off when I became a guard. All royal guards are required to have it cut to a stub so that it won't be a liability in a fight. My emerald green eyes are truly my best feature.

"Good job" I tell her, giving the mirror back to her. "May I ask why you invited Abby to join us for supper?"

"Because I get lonely and it would be an excellent opportunity to try to know her better and I love to know my kingdom's heroes" Princess Cleo replies. I would be offended by the comment about her getting lonely if it weren't for the fact that I know she simply means she wants another companion. Her mother and father are always too busy to spend any time with her and they are so protective over her that she never gets the chance to make friends.

I try to ignore the guilty feeling in my stomach about today's events but talking about Abby doesn't help much. If I hadn't started talking to that other guy, Abby would never have gotten involved. "It's uncanny how much alike she looks to you," I comment.

"We don't look that much alike" Princess Cleo disagrees.

"Yes you do. You have the same breathtaking blue eyes, same unbelievably tall height, same long coat length, and even the same long and bushy tails. Your ears are identical, too" I reply.

"But her coat is a few shades darker, all Felinites are fairly tall, and she doesn't have the royal birth mark" she counters as she touches her fingers to the golden designs running up her arms to create the star on her torso.

"I am so sorry that I let you get attacked today" I burst suddenly, the guilt washing over me to the point that I just cannot take another second of it.

She bends down in front of me, tilting my chin up so that I can't look away and brush her words off, "That was not your fault, Dex. It was his. He was the one who decided to try to kill me. If it weren't for you Abby and I would both be dead."

I sigh and push her hands away gently as I stand to take my position at her cave entrance, not at all reassured by her attempts to cheer me up. She lays on the rug and stares at the ceiling and we fall silent for several minutes. I do not know what, but I can tell something is definitely bothering her. "What are you thinking about?" I ask cautiously.

"The stolen potions" she whispers, wearily.

"Don't stress over it. King Sebastian will take care of that situation" I reply.

"What kind of future ruler leaves everything for Daddy to take care of?" she snaps. I stay quiet for a moment and she speaks again a few minutes later once she is calmer, "I don't understand why one of our own people would take our whole supply of potions right before the deadline that it has to be delivered to the Edacions by."

"Nobody can understand the way a criminal's mind works" I answer, but I share her anxiety. The potions we give to the Edacions are the only thing keeping war at bay. Edacions are an aggressive race who loves war. They use the potions during battle to move quickly, because their reflexes are slow.

The Felinites signed a treaty with them centuries ago stating that we would supply them each month with teleportation potions if they maintained peace. Every bottle that we had made to deliver to them this month was stolen and we do not have the resources or time to start from scratch. The ingredients used to make the potion is grown in a greenhouse on Filinus, but only enough grows each month to fill the Edacions' order and we are usually able to keep a few bottles as well. King Iago, the Edacion king, has been threatening war for three days and our only option is to find the thief.

But that is nearly impossible. The thief seems to be very smart and is always sidestepping our attempts to find him or her. we have even tried tracking the potions using an advanced device one of our scientists made.

"I am determined to find the thief and make sure he, or she, pays" Princess Cleo grounds out as she gets up and starts to leave her room.

"Where are we going?" I ask falling into step behind her.

She giggles, "I am going to the bathing room; you can go wherever you wish."

"Ok, I will meet you back in your room in half an hour then" I reply as I lead her to the bathing room and make sure there are servants and female guards there to keep an eye on her. Then I go back to my room on the second floor to try to catch some rest before dinner.

Author's Note

Hello again magnificent Earthlings, Felinites, and Edacions. I know this chapter is short and boring, but there is some important information in it. It took me forever to finally decide to make this chapter in Dexter's POV. I really hope you are enjoying this book so far. Comment and tell me what you think. I will update again Tuesday.

~Thanks for reading~