The air in Beruthiel's chamber was full of supressed excitement. The three cats on assignment, Yawla, Athel and Pirro, had returned, mission successful. Everyone was pleased, except for Huine. She eyed the three with envy. Yawla was smugly grooming herself and Pirro was curled up in the Queen's lap. Always a favorite because of his size, he was basking in his success. Of the three, only Athel seemed not to care about their triumph. Huine was miffed just the same. It wasn't fair! Those three got all the assignments because of their size and got all the benefits too. Huine had tried to sneak up on Yawla once, put her out of commission for an assignment, but that skiddish Pirro had warned her and the resulting cuffing from Lome was enough to keep her from trying it again.
Unnoticed, Huine stalked out of the room through the ankles of the entering maid. She slunk through the shadows of the corridors, feeling sleek again now that she wasn't being compared to the little ones. She was wandering aimlessly at first, but decided after a while to sneak into the King's rooms. It always proved a challenge getting in, and Huine wanted to prove her worth to herself.
As luck would have it, one of the king's men was just leaving his chambers as Huine turned the corner. He was a regular in the King's rooms and Huine had seen him before. Like most humans, he was more involved with his own thoughts than the environment around him. Huine slipped into the King's chamber all too easily and caught the door from shutting all the way with her back paw. Running under the table quickly, she escaped the notice of Tarannon, who seemed to be playing with a toy ship.
There was some shuffling of papers on the desk and Huine heard Tarannon reading a letter, exclaiming now and then and muttering in appreciation. She recognized the tone he was using, it sounded like important news. The King set the letter on the edge of the table when he finished with it and turned quickly to look at something else. The paper fluttered to the floor and Tarannon didn't seem to notice.
Huine couldn't believe her luck! She snuck to the edge of the shadow and batted at the letter, slowly sliding it closer. After a few minutes of slow pushing the letter was completely under the table. The cat quietly picked up the letter in her teeth, tasting ink and hoping the words weren't smearing too much. She edged to the door as quietly as she could, doing her best to keep the paper dry. She heard footsteps outside the door and dashed back under the table. A man entered with a missive for the king, distracting both. Seizing the opportunity, Huine made a rush for the door.
Ten minutes later she was back at the Queen's door and slipping through the flap in the wall just for cat convenience. She laid her letter at the Queen's feet and purred, sure that now she would finally be appreciated.
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