It looked like a scene from an old movie: people plaguing their liege to solve their problems and make everything alright again.
Cora blinked, twirling around to take it all in. The large hall was ornate, intricate carvings decorating the pillars that popped up in regular fashion along the walls that were covered in tapestries and paintings. A few large windows let in late afternoon sunshine, the places where the light would fall bereft of carpeting but tiled in mosaics instead.
She looked up. The ceiling looked like an escapee from an old palace, but perhaps that's exactly what she was seeing, she realized. The ceiling held large swathes of painted clouds where dragons, griffins, and all manner of winged beings cavorted. In between the cloud pictures were thick beams of wood inscribed with fanciful runes and ornate lettering.
Cora turned back to the woman.
She was sitting on an ornate, overly stuffed throne. Her head was cocked to one side, resting on her fist. She'd obviously been doing it for a while considering how deeply her elbow had sunk into the armrest. She shifted just a bit, a stray bit of sunlight catching on the discreet crown she wore on her head.
Even as Cora stared at the crown, one of the beings in front of the woman, a dwarf by the looks of it, protested.
"But, my Queen! We need a mayor!" The rest of the beings with him nodded.
"But I am the Mayor, and I find nothing wrong with my rule," the Queen replied gently. She sighed. "Does this have something to do with the war? The effort will go on, and we not falter."
Cora frowned at the woman. Despite how hard she concentrated, she couldn't see the woman's face. She could see everyone else's, though.
"Are they still petitioning about that?" A man asked, walking through a door behind the throne.
Cora blinked. There was another throne next to the woman's, just as ornate but darker somehow.
"We protest!" Another of the beings said, an elf whose mellow alto was streaked with distressed anger.
"You've been protesting for a week now. Aren't you tired?" The man shot back, sitting down.
Cora's eyes drifted over his outfit. Ornate was the only word that kept occurring to her. The whole place reminded her of the vacation her Great Aunts had taken her on before Great Aunt Jerry died. They'd toured some very old palace complexes in Europe.
"But, sire!" And this was a Greek chorus.
"Enough! She's too nice to tell you to leave, but I'm tired of hearing the same argument ad nauseum. Huh?" The man turned towards Cora, his crown catching another glimpse of sunlight, but this reflection seemed darker, more shadowy.
Cora's lips parted in shock. She took a step forward to see better, still unable to make out either the Queen or King's face.
And opened her eyes to see bars of moonlight dancing across her bedroom ceiling.
Cora sat up, gasping in shock. She wildly looked around, trying to reconcile herself with her surroundings.
"It was a dream?" She placed her hand on her chest. Her heart was wildly thumping in her chest, threatening to jump out of her throat. "But why am I so scared?"
She flopped back onto her pillows, trying to control her breathing. She felt like she'd run a long, tiring race, only without the sweating.
"But what was that? Some weird GoT nonsense?" Cora muttered before turning and punching her pillows. "Reminds me of the game a bit, though," she murmured to herself as she drifted back to sleep.
*****
Bliss didn't deign to open an eye as the front door opened. The sunlight was warm and comfortable for now. In a few minutes, it would retreat to just a thin bar that wasn't conducive to napping.
"And how is Mama's cute lil' prize baby?" Her person cooed, tapping over to her in those ridiculous paw accessories.
Bliss sighed as one sparkle stone adorned nail scratched at that one itchy spot she could never reach. She held her head up, eyes still closed as the stiff hairs on the bridge of her nose was gently rubbed.
"You give the cat more attention than me," the Irritant said, closing the door. From the sounds, he was carrying crinkly bags.
Bliss opened her eyes as her person tapped away towards the food place. Despite being the Irritant, he still paused next to her and gave her an awkward swipe of an unburdened hand.
"Well, if you won me blue ribbons, I would give you more as well," her person said from the food place.
"I thought you were retiring her?" The Irritant said.
"I am! I promise! Just one more show and that's it. Then I'm going to talk to the vet about taking her off the Trayquel."
"And won't that be marvelous." There was a rustle as the Irritant put down bags. Some of them sounded like they were full of things for her. "Don't expect me to be around when she starts yowling."
"Don't be crass." Her person came back and stopped right before Bliss. "How is the sweetest, cutest, most wonderful kitty in the whole wide world?"
Bliss opened her eyes and blinked them in utter contentment, eliciting an 'ooh' of excitement from her person.
"Did you see that? I got a kitty smile," her person said as she tapped back toward the food place. There were smacking sounds. "Let me just change shoes and we can go. Can't hike in heels, after all!"
"We're not hiking. It's just a walk around a nature trail," the Irritant called after her. He walked until he was next to Bliss. "Well, furball, me and your mom will be back in a few hours. Watch over the house."
Bliss flicked an ear at him before standing and stretching. Of course, she'd keep watch. Her den was her den after all!
*****
Bliss opened her eyes and looked at the forest. She'd had an idea, but now it was a certainty. Sleeping in the new sleepy spot sent her here somehow.
She crawled out of the tree bole she was curled up in. Bliss looked back at it. She'd thought that it might make a good sleepy spot when she saw it. Not too obvious from the outside and bereft of any animal smells made it a good choice.
She slowly stretched, admiring her claws as they flexed into the leafy soil.
"So, can you be considered a weird two-legger," a familiar voice asked from next to her.
Bliss looked over to see one of the mice she'd met a few days earlier. Upon consideration, it did resemble the mousie her person had brought home, only with a proper tail instead of grey feathers.
"I have four legs, so I think not," Bliss replied, straightening up and sitting, wrapping her tail neatly around her paws. "What are weird two-leggers?"
"They just show up and do stuff and then vanish before coming back, like you," the mouse replied.
Since Bliss had last seen it, it had acquired a tiny golden collar and a tiny metallic belt with little pouches.
"I came because my godfather wanted to see you," the mouse said.
"Your godfather?" Bliss considered the word.
She'd heard it before but was quite sure that it didn't mean here what it had meant when her person and the Irritant argued about it.
"Just come! It'll be fun!" The mouse said as it darted away in the greenery.
Bliss hesitated for a moment before giving in. It would probably be fun. At least it would be better than just wandering around the person settlement.