“Who’s down there?” called a voice from the hay loft.
“It is I,” said Cador, smiling at the familiar voice.
A blonde head smiled down at him over the edge. It was Raelyn. “Come up here.” He finished settling his horse and climbed up the ladder to the loft. There, in one corner, sat Raelyn tending a litter of baby kittens. He sat down beside her as she explained, “Pamplemousse had kittens two days ago. I’ve kept them hidden because Mother thinks they are a nuisance and would probably drown them. Aren’t they cute?”
Pamplemousse was a very ample cat with a gorgeous tortoise-shell coat which she was inordinately proud of. She left off licking the heads of her motley brood to give him a look that plainly said, Say otherwise and you will die a painful death at the end of my twenty claws. Cador patted her head and said, “Of course they are. When they’re old enough, I can take one home with me as a companion for Arthur’s old Harold. He’s such an old hound and I think the company would do him good. Besides, I think there are rats in my room.”
“Well, there won’t be any rats around here for a very long time,” said Raelyn confidently. “Both Pamplemousse and the tom are excellent mousers.” They took a few minutes to fondle the furry little heads who mewled so sweetly. Raelyn took a few moments to look at Cador. He looked tired and weary. “How did it go with Arthur?” she asked.
Cador shot her a look. “Well enough. I guess Lot filled you in on what happened.”
“You really shouldn’t provoke the priest like that,” she admonished. “Everything he does, he does for your benefit. Why can’t you just be friends with him?”
“You try being friends with a man who only talks to you when you do something wrong,” Cador countered. “He flat doesn’t like me and he is always ready to find fault with me. Besides, I wasn’t even gambling today.”
“So why didn’t you explain that to him?” she asked.
“I didn’t get much of a chance, did I? Its not an exaggeration to say that he was jumping up and down like a child having a tantrum. At least he got his exercise for the day,” he ended bitterly.
“Cador,” she said, soothingly, “I need you to be friends with him. We can’t get married unless he marries us and I fear, my love, that he never will if you continue to antagonize him. So, please, for me, try. Try to be nice to Father Paulus.”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him, somewhat mollifying the frustration that was bubbling below the surface. “Alright, fine,” he relented. “But only because you want it so.”
“Poor Cador. Its so hard for him to play nice with the other children.”
“Oho!” he cried grabbing her about the waist and tousling with her. “If that’s how you feel about it, why should I try at all?”
“Stop it! Stop it!” she cried. Raelyn was terrified that he would try to tickle her, which was torture for her. “Cador ap Gerren, I swear I will foreswear myself and not marry you if you touch me.”
He laughed and simply locked her in a tickle free hug. “You know I would do anything for you,” he assured her.
She looked into his eyes and replied, “I know. Let’s not make Mother keep dinner on our account,” she said, before he could kiss her. He smiled knowingly at her and helped her down the ladder to the ground.
Today, I just wanted to take a little time to leave you with an historical note. The great mouser, Pamplemousse, was mouser to the royal house in Britain at this time. Part of this story will explain how she became attached to it and, let me assure you, this is all historically accurate. Pamplemousse caught more than five hundred rats and mice in her day, earning her a commendation from King Arthur himself. Her descendants still roam every hall and every room of Windsor and the royal houses to this very day. Here is an artist's rendering of the famous Pamplemousse:
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