Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 15

Morning came and I awoke to the sound of many feet scampering past our tent heading toward the road. Not to be left out of the mad rush to the road I willed myself out of bed and dressed myself in the simple white with blue pinstriped man's shirt I had on the previous evening, ran Shilka's brush through my unruly mane a few times before exiting the tent. It was later in the morning than we were used to getting up and Shilka was already up and out of the tent before me. I noticed her standing along the roadside and I moved through the crowd and stood next to her to find out what was going on. It did not take long to find out what all the commotion was about, the army in all its splendor was here and the first group was marching in formation eight abreast down the road from the north toward us.

They were a smartly dressed army in blue and white tunics with grey leggings that went up under their chainmail armor that covered them from shoulder to thigh. The first line were the flag bearers, followed by four men on horseback. From the decorations on their tunics, these were the senior officers, most likely of General or Field Marshal rank. The one in the center I would guess was the senior general as he had the most decorations and was wearing a helmet with golden plumage, unlike the others that wore blue plumage. Shilka confirmed that the man with the golden plumage was the General of the Army. She went on to say that the King was on his way to join the army somewhere South of us, and that the Prince was on the way to Grimsod Castle to assemble the reserve units currently being assembled in the north. From this information, it seemed that Shilka had been busy this morning collecting details.

Shilka informed me that she has been ordered to remain here until the King arrives and that the wagons would be splitting up here for various destinations. We continued to talk as the army passed by. Shilka finally volunteered that she is as I had suspected, the King's consort and he wanted her with him. Of course this made me wonder why he would be taking her with him to a warzone, and where the Queen might be in all this mess. She went on to tell me that I would be going on to Grimsod Shire and that arrangements had been made for Teela to accompany me, as her owner was the Reeve of Grimsod Shire. I was sad that I was going to be separated from Shilka, but at least I would have someone that I knew along for the ride.

I watched with interest from a military point of view as the troops passed by. The army looked and marched smartly and their officers popped off a crisp salute as each section passed the General who was still on horseback by the side of the road reviewing his troops as the paraded past. I looked at the General from time to time to gage his response to the troops and those around him, and on several occasions I caught him looking in my direction. I guess I really stood out being the only person with natural honey colored skin, long black hair and brown slanted eyes in the area. I did not notice that Shilka had stepped away from my side as I was paying close attention to the troops, their uniforms, and the weapons that they carried. The first units to pass by carried long pikes about six or seven feet in length with long wide pointy tips attached to the business end. These soldiers carried a short sword or long knife about twenty inches long attached to a belt at their hip. All of them like those to follow wore simple chainmail armor from shoulders to their thighs.

The next variety of armed group to pass was the swordsmen. They had affixed to their waists as wide leather belt holding a scabbard with a sheathed Gladius type sword. Attached to the other side of the belt was a small knife, a hatchet, or a mace. It appeared as if the choice of the secondary weapon was up to the individual soldier. As they marched the soldiers carried a round shield that may have been metal or polished wood. The background of the shield was painted white with a blue and grey lion emblazoned in the center. This appeared to be the royal crest or possibly the national standard. Throughout the procession there were no projectile weapons to be seen. No bows, no slings, nothing but cutting, stabbing and hacking style weapons which meant that this was an army without archers. I started to think that instead of going north with the wagons, I should just slip off and follow the army out of sight and off in a distance to see the battle that was coming and to see what sort of foe they were going off to meet.

It had been several hours since the troops had passed. Once the road was clear we were marshaled to our wagons for our final destination. Before leaving the tent for the final time I threw the backpack on my back and tapped out the code on the wardrobe collar that turned the bag to little tiny nano balls and stored it in my wardrobe collar. I decided to make the trip in my pinstriped shirt and a pair of plain brown peasant sandals. Today I left my hair down, not wanting to go through the trouble of braiding it for the ride. I slung my neatly rolled bedroll over my shoulder then looked around for my friend. I met up with Teela and we walked toward the group of wagons that we had been assigned to.

When we got to the wagons one of the soldiers pointed Teela toward one of the wagons in the front of the column, she thanked him properly and went on her way. Once Teela was out of sight, one of the soldiers grabbed me by my free flowing hair while the other two took me by the arms. The soldier holding my hair said, "The General has a special wagon set aside for spies", while one of the other soldiers chimed in with, "Lord Hetch and his inquisitors will soon get the truth from you".

Teela looked back for me as she climbed onto the wagon she was assigned to. Upon seeing my plight she jumped down off the wagon and tried to help me but a few more soldiers detained her. As my hand were being bound behind my back Teela was escorted back onto her wagon and I was dragged off to a wagon with high sides, a roof, a locking door at the rear and two windows on the sides with iron bars. I was unceremoniously tossed into the back of a prison wagon by two of the more burly guards. My pert little butt bounced as I landed on the hard wood floor. I was furious at these people, and at myself for having not decided to go my own way while I was watching the troops pass.

My mind went through all the things I could try to do to escape including firing arrows out the tiny window of the wagon but knowing my luck they would just keep me locked in the wagon and set a fire under it. Along my line of thought I was convinced that somehow Shilka or Teela would find a way to help me out of this... that is if they knew exactly what had happened and why. The soldiers made sure to arrest me after Teela was ushered to her wagon. I was sure that at one of the rest stops she would come to find me. I also thought of resorting to violence as soon as the doors were opened but that idea was crushed when we stopped for a rest. When the door was opened I was dragged out and chained at the wrists and ankles, with connecting chains being attached to my collar. My thoughts then turned to how to pick a lock but that was not a subject that was covered at the academy.

As I had thought, Teela came looking for me and found me just as the soldiers were escorting me back to the wagon from a rest break. Other than being allowed to relieve myself I was confined to the wagon. My meals were passed in through a slot in the door of the wagon, and from what they were giving me; it looked like the stuff that the other people, and perhaps the horses did not want.

When night came my fellow travelers made camp and I was left on my own in the wagon. I am not sure how she did it but Teela convinced the soldiers guarding me to let her stay by the wagon to keep me company. They would not open the door for her obviously but they would let her stand by the barred window so we could speak. For those of you keeping track, the UT was up to 87% and rising.

Teela was able to find out more about why I was being held, and without quoting her word for word, it goes something like this. An army from an unknown land had invaded the kingdom to the South and were laying siege to the capitol. The army of Teela's country was going to their aid in force under the personal direction of the King. The only details that she knew was that they were dark skinned and had black hair and different facial features than her people have. The commanding General of the Army easily picked me out of the crowd and had me taken into custody and I was being sent to Lord Hetch for interrogation. Teela assured me that Lord Hetch is not a nice man and that I should cooperate with him. She did not go into detail, but I think I got the picture of the sort of man he was from her facial expression each time she mentioned his name.

During the six day trek to Grimsod Castle Teela would come to my wagon and tell me what was going on and sometimes sneak me a little extra food, or at least better food than I was being given by the army. I must have smelled awful after not having had a bath for so long and being locked in a hot rolling sweatbox with very little ventilation. I asked Teela if she could ask the soldiers if I could have 2 minutes in a stream or creek, anywhere that I could clean myself up, but the answer was an obvious "no".

Along the way I had plenty of time to play with my retractable claws. I was getting better and faster at getting my claws out, and I was now able to concentrate on the transformation so that it did not cause me pain. I found myself with a full set of large cat paws when I found myself concentrating on paws instead of claws. After my paws emerged with claws retracted, it was easy for me to control my claws and extend them. My paws were as wide as my hands were and were covered with a short black fur matching the color of the hair on my head. The fur gradually trailed off and blended into my skin above my wrists.

I would play with the transformations after dark when it was not so easy for someone to see into the wagon. One day when I was playing with my paws and claws I had transformed my hands and feet into paws which allowed me to slip out of my shackles, then a quick tap of the wardrobe collar and I was free from my chains. It felt good to be free, well that is until we stopped for the night and the soldiers noticed that I had freed myself from my chains when they dragged me out of the wagon for a latrine break.

Being in such cramped quarters all day long, my legs were a little bit wobbly to begin with as I was stood up outside the wagon. I tried to resist as the soldiers reattached my shackles, but since they already had a hold of my arms and the odds being four against one, my struggles did not end well. Once I was securely chained up and being held by two of the soldiers, their sergeant began to question me as to how I got out of my restraints. Of course I could not tell them how that happened and each refusal to answer brought a hard backhand across my face. Four times he asked, and four times he struck me with the back of his hand leaving my lower lip split and the left side of my face stinging and glowing bright red. The fifth time he asked me how I got loose one of the soldiers holding my arms took a hold of my hair and pulled hard bending my head back. My refusal to answer caused the sergeant to ball up his big ham fist and send it crashing into the side of my head sending me down and out for the count.

I awoke the next morning with a terrible headache. My advanced healing abilities had kicked in while I was out and my lip was almost completely healed, only a slight cut remained but my head and cheek was still sore and if I had a mirror I would probably be able to confirm that I had a black eye to go along with everything else. I guess as punishment for unchaining myself and for refusing to answer I was denied breakfast. I was thankful that this would be the last day of the six-day journey to Grimsod Castle. I knew nothing good awaited me there but at least I would be out of this prison wagon and maybe I could find a way to escape, or perhaps Teela could convince Lord Hetch that I am not a spy and I would be set free.

The rest of the trip went without incident and my minor bruises and split lip healed up nicely. It was getting close to the dinner hour when the wagons crossed the drawbridge and entered Grimsod Castle. When the wagons stopped the soldiers came for me. My legs were like rubber and as I tried to walk I stumbled a bit. Two of the 5 soldiers that dragged me out of the wagon took me under the arms and dragged me to a side entrance of the main building inside the castle. Before we entered the door I was transferred from control of the soldiers to the custody of the castle guards. It was then that Teela arrived walking three or four paces behind a handsome older gentleman. I assumed that this was her owner and found out later on that he was.

The guards clipped my chains to a post near the entrance as they respectfully greeted the Reeve. While they conversed Teela came to me and we were able to talk briefly. She explained that her owner had made arrangements for me to have a bath and time to make myself presentable for Lord Hetch before I was to be brought before him. I would also be kept in custody at this time but not in a cell or in the dungeon. She offered a plain white linen dress to the guards for their inspection. One of the guards gave it a going over then nodded as he passed the garment back to her. Teela handed the dress to me and suggested that I wear this when I meet with the Lord in the morning as my conforming to their dress standards and not looking like a little Asian savage may help sway his decision on what would happen to me next. She also went over the standard of conduct that would be expected of someone of our collared status when in the presence of a Lord or a member of the royal house. I thanked her greatly for the information and the advice and that I would be at my best when I was taken before him.

Even though Teela told me where I would spend the night, I had still expected to be taken to a cell in a dungeon somewhere but was proven wrong when instead I was taken to a room in one of the towers. There were bars on the windows and the door was locked from the outside. Two castle guards were stationed outside, they were big men, perhaps close to seven feet tall and were well armed. The bed was modest; there was a chamber pot available, and a large cask of water along with several towels. I made use of everything before slipping into the bed. It was not a good nights sleep as my thoughts were occupied by the events that would unfold in the morning. I did not know how I could prove that I was not a spy; all I did know is that I could not be 100% honest about how I came here. I knew that the story that I had told others was as close to the truth as I dare come, but would it be enough to convince Lord Hetch? Only time would tell.

When dawn broke one of the guards tapped the door with the tip of his spear and announced that they would be taking me to meet Lord Hetch shortly and that I should prepare myself. I set about getting dressed in the outfit that Teela had provided for me, unfortunately I did not have a bra or panties available and would have to go commando. It was about a size bigger than I should have worn but over all she did pretty well at picking out the size. I used the wardrobe collar to add a pair of simple leather sandals, then I saved this outfit combination into the wardrobe collar for future use, but I did add a bra and panties to the saved wardrobe profile. This morning I would leave my freshly washed hair hang freely down my back. This look I think made me appear a few years younger than my real age of eighteen, and perhaps might help convince the Lord that I was not a spy or threat.

When the time came, two guards remained at the door while two more came to me and gently bound my wrists together behind my back with simple leather straps. I was surprised that they were treating me so kindly while the soldiers were so rough with me along the road that brought me here. As we exited the room, two guards walked in front of me with two trailing behind. The two behind me each kept a large rough hand clamped onto my upper arm as I was escorted through the keep to the room where I was to meet the Lord.

The room I was not so large, it was more like a sitting room with the walls made of thick stones which were lined with simple cloth covered chairs. I was taken to the center of the room and instructed to stand here until the Lord arrives. I used my waiting time to look around the room. On the walls were many paintings, which I assumed were former Lords and Ladies of this castle. I was lost in thought about the paintings when the Lord arrived. The guards all snapped to attention and I did my best to curtsy with my wrists lashed together behind my back. Lord Hetch moved to the center of the room to stand in front of me, it was then that I dropped to my knees before him and kept my eyes fixed on the floor in front of me as I was told to do by Teela. I remained still and silent as the Lord approached me, then circled around me. I could feel his eyes looking me over as my ears picked up his heavy footsteps when he moved behind me. He cleared his throat then spoke in a stern voice, "So you are accused of being a spy for our enemy. It is clear that you do not belong here from the color of your hair and skin, what do you have to say for yourself?"

I took a deep breath, kept my eyes fixed to the floor in front of me and replied softly. My Lord, I come from a land far away called "Osaka", which is farther from your shores than I can recall. My memory is not clear on all of the events that led me to your shores, but I do know that some how my homeland had come under attack, perhaps by the very enemy that your army travels southward to confront. At the time before being marooned here I was in the care of our healers and unaware of what was going on. I believe that my owner Emperor Drax or perhaps his son Lord William had put me on a ship bound for safety, but somehow the ship experienced a problem and sunk at sea and the waves carried me to your shores. I do not know if my owners are alive or dead, perhaps they perished on land or were lost at sea when the ships I was on was destroyed. I do not know what has happened to my fellow travelers or if there is a way for me to return home, though I know I would if I could.

So an Emperor he asked owned you. Yes My Lord, I was bred for Emperor Drax then presented to his son Lord William on my eighteenth birthday and on said birthday this collar with the Emperor's crest was presented to me to wear as a sign that I belonged to him. I did not tell him that I added the Drax Corporation crest to my collar just last night thinking it would be something that might be expected on a collar of ownership. Lord Hetch came closer to me, placed his finger under my chin then lifted my face to meet his. He had stern facial features; he appeared to have lived a hard life. His eyes were blue and his hair was blonde like everyone else here but his hair was beginning to thin toward the center of his head, and many grey strands were visible. He inspected my collar visually then ran his fingers over the raised Drax Corporation crest. Very nice he commented as he paused to take in my facial features. He paused for a few seconds; his eyes met mine as his fingers moved from my collar to grip my soft black hair at the back of my neck. He stood up straight the turned to the guards and ordered, "I cannot be sure if she is a spy or not, take her to the inquisitors, they will get the truth out of her." With that said Lord Hetch released my hair, turned with military precision and left the room from the side door that he had entered from. Once he was out of sight the guards took hold of my arms and lifted me to my feet and walked me out of the room. I did not know what was going to happen but I knew it would not be good.