[Mekatra]

Joane headed out the door without acknowledging him again. She checked every few moments to make sure he hadn't tried to sneak off as they made their way toward the castle in the pre-dawn twilight. Several of the guards bowed their heads slightly to her as they got closer to the gates. Only a few questioned his presence and each time she quickly explained him away as an errand she was running for another noble.

When they reached the royal quarters she knelt down in front of the most powerful man in the kingdom. He was middle aged, grey streaks beginning to find their way into his coal hair. His eyes were a stormy grey and in the flickering light from his fireplace they absorbed the flashes of orange and red. "I assume you're the "gift" from Brighton?" He addressed Trevor directly. "I don't believe this plan is a good one, but I am willing to give it a try."

[Crystalkitsune85]

As he was being escorted, he noticed that the night was waning and that he would soon be losing his cat parts. He heaved a sigh and stood there as he was led to the throne room. He watched the man who 'owned' him now and he watched as his captor knelt before the King. He wasn't obligated to do the same but he figured if he didn't do something, lady guard would make him genuflect anyway. He just inclined his head slightly.

As they talked, he noticed that it was becoming dawn, and with the rising of the sun, his hair faded to a paler color and his ears and tail disappeared. He stood there now just in his black outfit, and bare feet. "Well I'm not sure what plans you have for me.....sir," he forced out. "But whatever it is, I'm only a cat boy at night. Not sure what your fetishes are, but hopefully the cat parts aren't required..."

[Mekatra]

Joane cursed under her breath at his impertinence and clamped her hand on the back of his neck, forcing him to his knees. "If you wish to keep your foolish head, you would be wise to watch your tongue and mind your manners." She hissed at him.

The king's expression didn't change, but his words seemed to take a bit longer to come to him. "I need an assassin and thief to work for the crown. Off the record, unbeknownst to anyone other than a small circle of my advisors. You will serve in this capacity and if you fail, you will die. Painfully." If his sudden change bothered the monarch he made no sign of it. "Your training will fall to Joane. I understand she was an unsavory character before her father claimed her from her mother."

The knight looked away, clearly ashamed of her past.

[Crystalkitsune85]

He wasn't surprised when he was forced to his knees forcibly. He remained there listening to the King tell him what he wanted of him. " Okay so you are hiring me for my skills....that I was arrested for?" he asked slowly trying to piece the situation together, trying not to say something that would offend. He then realized he heard the word assassin and stared at him like he grew a second head. "Wait, you want me to kill people for you?" Now it was all coming together.

He slumped back onto his legs and muttered quietly as the King talked to the guard who brought him here. Apparently, she was going to train him and he knew she wouldn't be happy about it.

[Mekatra]

"You're a common criminal and you want to try to pretend you balk at harming others?" The king's voice was harsh. "Prison or the gallows are still options if you suddenly want to pretend to be a model citizen." He waved his hand in dismissal. "You have a fortnight to decide and begin your training, if at the end of that time you haven't showed any progress and have found your allegiances, we will rethink this arrangement."

Joane's hand found the back of his neck again and she dragged him forcibly from the room. "I feel it would be quicker to just kill you now. Do you actually have qualms about killing people?" She shook her head in surprise.

[Crystalkitsune85]

As he was dragged off again "Hey now...I was just stealing from people....taking their stuff to sell for money. A boys gotta eat ya know." he said. He didn't bother to struggle, just be led wherever. "I never once thought about killing people..." he huffed. "I can be a thief and not have a desire to kill someone."

[Mekatra]

Joane pulled him into a small side room. "Did it never occur to you that other people could be blamed for your theft? Servants flogged, maids turned out onto the street? You act as though your actions have no consequences. Don't act like stealing to eat is a required act. You could have found honest work, you chose not to," she snapped angrily. It took her a moment to get her anger back under control but when she did she pointed down the hallway. "To the knight's quarters. Down by the stables. You'll sleep on the floor in my room."

[Crystalkitsune85]

Of course, as young as he was he never knew that his actions had such dire consequences. "What kind of work could someone like me find? I'm a little freak that has to hide from people at night because of cat parts coming out of my body. Not exactly something you want people to see, but guess the 'cat's out of the bag' now." he said. "I've been living on my own for as long as I can remember. Nobody even batted an eyelash concerning me. Don't you think I tried working somewhere? to be an assistant somewhere but they really don't' like you disappearing at night."

[Mekatra]

"Most shops aren't open at night. Bakers, blacksmiths, furniture makers, they're not working at night. They wouldn't question you leaving just before dark." She shook her head. "You just took the easiest route without even thinking about other people. Don't try to play poor me, you're just another selfish creature that cares only about your own skin. If you can learn to keep your mouth shut you might make a good King's Thief and Assassin, because not caring for other people is an important trait for such a position." She opened the door to her room. It was clean but undecorated. She looked as though she was rarely here.

"Your training starts an hour before nightfall. You'll train physically until the sun rises, then you will have education until midday, then you will be allowed to sleep. Do you know how to read?" Her irritation with him was thinly veiled.

[Crystalkitsune85]

Trevor growled as he was led into her quarters. "Quaint," he said looking around the room. He knew that they wouldn't get along. She thought he was a freeloader and he was only trying to survive. If the situations were reversed...

"Vaguely," he said when he was asked if he knew how to read. "I didn't get much of a chance to read in my current situation but I know the basics," he said. "And I know numbers too. Aren't I a smart cat boy." he snerked.

[Mekatra]

"Oh wipe the sneer off your face. Quit acting so high and mighty. You belong in a prison cell, you should be thankful you're not hanging from the gallows or having a hand chopped off." She pointed to a corner of the room. "You can rest there. There should be some furs and a blanket in the chest at the foot of the bed." She was already getting a headache from the entitled cat boy.

"You'll be well educated by the time I am finished with you. A good thief knows how to read the world around him. A good assassin knows history and people."

[Crystalkitsune85]

He went to the corner without the furs. He was used to sleeping without warm things to wrap up into, and he didn't want to get used to it now. He figured he'd fail this little task of killing people and get kicked out or killed anyway.

He settled in the corner and just rested against the wall. "Sweet Dreams." he cooed as he faced the wall and just stared there for a while.

[Mekatra]

Joane watched the strange man with a frown on her face. She had been in a military setting for so long that she wasn't used to dealing with flippant individuals that disregarded authority. She sat on her bed and leaned up against the wall. Her eyes half closed as she let herself fall into a meditative state. When her father had finally claimed her she thought she was done with the shadowed path. No more theft, no more assassinations, she would face her enemies head on... but if her king demanded, she would obey.

Evening fell far sooner than she was prepared to deal with Trevor again. She nudged him gently with her food. "One of the kitchen servants is bringing some food. There is a room for bathing at the end of this corridor." She dug through her clothes chest and found some of her old training clothing. "These will do until we see if you'll be around long enough to need some clothes of your own.

[Crystalkitsune85]

Trevor didn't really sleep at all. He lay there against the wall for hours, curled in on himself. He wasn't calculating ways of escaping, he was smarter than that. Instead, he just reflected on his past. How he ended up in this situation, to begin with. So much in his life went wrong, starting with the day he was cursed. This woman didn't understand him as much as he didn't understand her.

When he was nudged, he got to his feet without a word and just went where instructed. Food...the smells from the kitchen had been nagging at his stomach for hours before she woke him. he tried to ignore the hunger pangs as he usually did but this time he was given food willingly. The notion of getting a bath too, that really shocked him. But then again he figured nobody wanted to work with a smelly individual so he took the clothing given to him and headed down the corridor as instructed and went into the bathing room.

[Mekatra]

In the center of the room was a large stone lined pool with steaming hot water. It seemed to be constantly fed by a series of pipes coming from the wall. There was another individual, a man with his back to Trevor, already soaking in the tub. Along the walls there were hooks for clothing and short stools to sit on while scrubbing or drying oneself. Buckets were provided so hot water could be dipped from the pool for quick bathing or to clean oneself before getting into the tub. A youth, not yet even in his teens, hopped up from a chair when Trevor entered. "Oh...uh.." he looked uncertain. He wasn't entirely sure that he belonged here. "Um... this is the Knights and Officer's bath...sir..."

[Crystalkitsune85]

He eyed the others in the room and when he was approached and talked to, he blinked. "Oh, uh the female guard who brought me here and who is in charge of me told me to come and bathe. Joane, I think her name is," he said as he looked around the room. "Am I permitted to bathe here or not?" he asked tilting his head. He assumed this youth was like a bath boy. Someone that would do the scrubbing and keep things stocked up, such as towels, soap, etc. "If not I can just go back to the room and tell her that you kicked me out..." he said nonchalantly.