by Thomas Rowe
“ What are the charges, Head Constable?” he asked.
“ Consorting with a demon unwittingly, mutiny, attempting to lead others to mutiny, and threatening a clan official,” Cropper announced.
“ Those are serious charges. I believe that all should be known before I pass judgement,” The Marquis stated.
“ Lady Longclaw, you were witness to the accused’s plans. Please tell us about what you observed.”
Lady Longclaw stood, studied Jeremiah a moment, and then turned toward the Marquis.
“I observed Jeremiah Pineneedle meeting with a group of animals from other clans. Jeremiah was urging the others to get a vote of no confidence against the Marquis of Cougars. When I confronted him, he and the others threatened to harm my family,” Lady Longclaw reported. Those present looked sympathetically toward the Marquis’ assistant.
“ Jeremiah Pineneedle, is what Lady Longclaw said true?” the Marquis inquired.
“ It is true. I was deceived by a demon. He lead me to believe we would all be in danger. I am sorry for what I did,” Jeremiah explained. Members of Jeremiah’s own family gasped at the thought of what he had done.
“ Jeremiah, I have met this demon that you spoke of. He was an arrogant liar that used you easily. It has been noted that you did not know you were dealing with a demon,” the Marquis interjected.
“ Did you have any desire to become a Duke yourself?” he continued.
“ No! I was afraid that the clan would be threatened if the Marquis’ chosen heir could not lead us,” Jeremiah answered.
“ Did you have any grounds for this belief?” the Marquis pressed.
“No.”
“ What were you afraid of?”
“ Lady Longclaw was formerly a nurse. She is the daughter of the Harvest Warden. I was afraid she could not lead us.”
“ Lady Longclaw is the grand daughter of Commander Sage. The Harvest Warden also has served the Cougar army with distinction.”
“ I did not know. I ask the Marquis for mercy,”
The Marquis shifted his gaze from Jeremiah to those present in the crowd. Seated in the front row were the Duke and Dutchess, the Longclaw family, and representatives from other clans. Chaplain Lewis sat next to Head Constable Cropper waiting to help any that needed him.
“After consulting with Lady Longclaw, Chaplain Lewis, and our law, I have decided to show mercy to you, Jeremiah Pineneedle. The punishment for mutiny is banishment. Your case, however, has extenuating circumstances. Since you appear to be genuinely repentant, I have decided to offer a lesser punishment. Jeremiah Pineneedle, you can take an oath of loyalty, spend 3 weeks in confinement, and return to school. You seem to have missed out on many things and I think it is time you caught up. Of course, the other option is banishment,” the Marquis ruled.
“ I would like very much to see the oath,” Jeremiah responded.
“ Very well, Chaplain, could you please show Mr. Pineneedle the scroll?”
Chaplain picked the scroll up in his mouth and walked over to Jeremiah. He dropped it in front of Jeremiah and then gently unrolled it.
“ I will take the oath. It is fair,” Jeremiah announced after reading the scroll.
“ Be warned that if you break the oath you will be banished,” the Marquis warned.
“ I, Jeremiah Pineneedle, give my allegiance to Cheshire, the Marquis of Cougars. With the Divine Master as my witness I promise to abide by the laws of the Cougar clan and to support the Duke and Marquis in all that is good and lawful. I will not lift a claw against the Longclaw family or slander them in any way. I take this oath of my own free will in the presence of the Duke, the Marquis, and my neighbors. With the Master’s help I will honor my word.”
“ Today is the beginning of a new life for you, Jeremiah. Make the most of it.”
****
After the trial the Cougar and Longclaw families had retreated to the Cougar homestead. There in the shelter of the covered courtyard the families relaxed. Gabriel and Elizabeth discussed recent events while Cheshire and Leana talked. Needless to say, young Paul elected to tag along with his sister.
“ I hope that Jeremiah makes good use of the grace shown him,” Chesh commented.
“ I think he will. I would not have limited my complaint against him if he had not seemed genuinely sorry,” Lea interjected.
“ If he or anyone else tries to bully you again you can take them on claw to claw,” Paul offered. Cheshire shifted his gaze to the young cougar.
“ Paul, I hope to not make combat a hobby,” Chesh replied.
“ But you are so good at it,” Paul countered.
“ I do what I must to protect the innocent and keep the peace. I prefer to live in peace,” Cheshire explained modestly.
“ Son, every Duke since the beginning has wished for a peaceful reign. We have all learned that what is just and right must always be worked and fought for. One day there will be perfect peace. It will be in the Master’s court though,” Gabriel interrupted. Both Cheshire and Leana turned toward him.
“ The Cougar Clan has two champions that will guide them. I could not be prouder of both of you,” he smiled.
“ We’ll do what we can,” Chesh replied.
“ Thank you, Master” Gabriel prayed sincerely as he walked back toward his guests. Cheshire and Leana had been returned to Evermore safely. Just as importantly Cheshire appeared to be at peace with himself again. The uncertainty that had seemed to have descended on the Cougar Clan evaporated like the morning dew, leaving behind sunshine and bright hopes for the future.
AFTERWORD
With a look of guarded curiosity, Paul watched as Leana inspected three large earthen bowls. All three bowls were filled with water, and in each was floating different types of leaves. One bowl was filled with rose petals; the next had pine needles; and the third contained the petals of various wildflowers. Leana had allowed all three bowls to sit undisturbed for three days straight. Now it was time to inspect her “perfumes”.
“Why are you doing this?” Paul asked as he watched Leana sniff each bowl.
“Because I want to know if perfume is as important to females as humans think it is,” Leana answered.
“What’s it supposed to do?”
“Well, perfume is supposed to make you smell nice and help you attract a mate.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. David’s mother says her husband is crazy about a perfume that is called Insanity.”
“No way!” Paul interrupted.
Ignoring Paul’s skeptical grumbling, Leana dipped her paw in the rose petal water and dabbed it on her cheeks and neck. She then turned toward Paul.
“Paul, do you smell anything?” she inquired.
“Don’t involve me in this. I feel dirty just hearing you talk about using perfume to rob cats of their wits,” Paul protested.
“For now don’t tell anyone about this. I want to see if there is any truth to this before I tell anyone about it,” Leana warned her younger brother.
“Who would I WANT to tell about this?” Paul countered.
Later that afternoon, Leana joined Cheshire to investigate several disputed homestead claims. It had not taken long for Cheshire to notice the rose perfume. However, the reaction was not what Leana had expected.
“Are you okay?” he asked her with a look of concern.
“What do you mean?” Leana asked in surprise.
“You smell like you walked through a rose bush. I was afraid that the thorns might have hurt you.”
“No. I’m fine. Roses are pretty and smell nice. What does the scent make YOU think of?” Lea continued.
“Thorns,” Chesh answered after a moment’s thought.
After returning home Leana dumped the rosewater out. Obviously using rosewater would not work. The next day Leana tried the wildflower blend and got the same result, except this time she was bothered by confused bees until she washed the wildflower perfume off.
On the third mor
ning Leana tried the pine blend. It was the last of her experimental perfumes. Looking at the least fanciful of her experimental creations, Leana sighed. No doubt this experiment would be a failure also. Not only was the pine blend her least exotic, it was probably her least aromatic perfume. She doubted that this perfume would do anything other than fail, but she was not going to admit defeat--especially in front of her little brother.
The morning went by smoothly. It had been spent finalizing the homestead cases. Cheshire had spent his time being a Judge and appeared to not notice anything else. After delivering his last ruling, Cheshire stepped down from the seat of judgement and Leana announced that the session was ended. Afterwards Leana joined Cheshire at his family’s den for lunch.
“You smell nice,” Chesh commented, surprising her with his observation.
“You noticed?”
“Of course. When my friend starts dabbling in scents, do you think I would not notice the pattern?”
“Well, what does it make you think of?”
“Leana.”
“I’m serious.”
“I am too. You live in the middle of a pine grove, so you always carry the scent of pine. Pine reminds me of you and gives the scent meaning,” Cheshire explained.
“Heavens! I never thought about that!”
Later that evening Paul eagerly waited for Leana to come home. He wanted to hear her latest failure report and watch her dump out her creation. He was surprised when Leana came home with a big smile and was being escorted by Cheshire. He was at a complete loss.
“Is it time to dump the last one?” Paul asked eagerly.
“Heavens, no. The pine perfume works perfectly. In fact it gives me an incredible influence over Cheshire,” Leana informed Paul smugly.
“What!” Paul exclaimed.
“Chesh, it’s not true is it?” Paul asked, desperately hoping that Leana was lying.
“Paul, I’m afraid it’s quite true. a whiff of perfume combined with your sister’s smile and I find it hard to say no to anything she requests,” Cheshire answered with a straight face.
“What evil have you done, Lea?” Paul demanded.
Seeing that Paul was ready to freak out, both Leana and Cheshire started laughing.
“There is nothing funny about this,” Paul huffed.
“Paul, we were joking. The perfume does nothing but smell nice,” Cheshire informed Paul with a laugh.
“It’s just that you were so awful about the whole experiment that we could not resist. The look on your face was precious,” Leana added. Paul responded by sticking his tongue out.
“That was mean! You almost scared the life out of me!” Paul pouted.
“You’ll understand when you are older,” Lea commented.
“I doubt it.”
Other books by Thomas Rowe
Eden Shard
Books in the Evermore Series
Eden Shard
The Battle to Confession
