12 Chance and Fate

"Alright," I said to the small cat grey cat who somehow managed to radiate more authority and badassness from his little furry body than I had ever encountered in a grizzled and seasoned adventurer, "what the fuck is going on?"

"You were born with the Mark of Destiny upon your soul," Nirir told me. "And now, you are beginning to awaken to your fate."

"Um, bullshit," I said. "I'm a shopkeeper who's hearing voices and having conversations with animals. That's not destiny, that's madness."

"Nirir cocked his head quizzically, his one eye studying me. "Voices, Peacemaker?" he asked.

"Yeah and… you know what, no. It doesn't matter." I shook my head. "Why do you keep calling me that? Peacemaker? What does it mean."

"It means one who makes peace."

I frowned at the cat. If it was possible for felines to give someone a shit-eating grin, I swear Nirir would have been doing exactly that at this moment.

"You say it like it's a title," I said.

"It is," Nirir told me. "My people have awaited the coming of the Peacemaker for many generations. You alone possess the power to lay to rest the feuds of our blood." There was a sort of somber wistfulness to his voice that took me back, and I found myself wondering exactly how Nirir had come to be so battlescarred.

"What do you want?" I asked the cat.

"I want you to come with me, so that your destiny can better be explained to you." <I want to lay my head down and rest these old bones, content that I have no wars left to fight.>

I hesitated, just for moment, and then nodded. "Alright," I said. "Take me where you need to take me."

"Very well," Nirir said. "Follow me."

And with that, the cat turned around and began walking out of the alley. Still somewhat bewildered, I followed.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"To see King Mraw," Nirir said. "To announce before His Royal Majesty that the Peacemaker has at last arrived."

"Right, I guess that makes sense," I lied. "But what makes you so sure I'm this Peacemaker guy?"

"The king will explain."

I didn't say anything else, but I kept following the cat. By this point, we had exited the alley and were walking down the very public street, so I wasn't about to talk to the cat and let everyone around me know that I had completely lost my mind. Gods knew passerby would already be seeing me following a cat around and probably think I was a little bit weird because of that.

We turned a corner, and then another corner. We walked down a winding street before cutting through an alley and turning onto another winding street. It occured to me that I had absolutely no idea where in the city a kitty monarch would deign to establish his court, so wherever we ended up, I was sure it would be illuminating.

Nirir had just led me around yet another corner onto yet another street when I heard a voice call out: "Hey! Corvus!"

Oh joy of joys, now somebody I knew I had seen me following a cat around.

I turned in the direction of the voice to see a very familiar red-haired woman holding what appeared to be a wrapped-up bastard sword in her strong and sturdy arms walking toward me.

"Oh, hi Nel," I said. "Shouldn't you be at the forge?"

She held up the wrapped sword. "You're not the only one who gets stuck with delivery duty," she said with a grin. "What about you? Shouldn't you be at the store?"

"I, um," I said. I glanced over at Nirir, who was sitting a few feet away, watching us and flicking his tail irritably. "I'm on break," I said lamely.

Nel saw where I had glanced. "Who's the cat?" she asked.

"Um…"

"Peacemaker, move!"

Nirir suddenly jumped and barrelled into me. He managed to get enough height to hit my gut and get me to stumble back, which was a good thing since a pot fell onto the street where I had just been sitting. It smashed into the ground, and all the round pebbles that had been packed into it spilled onto the street.

I glanced up just in time to see a black-clad figure on the roof of the building above me. The figure quickly ducked away, but I thought I caught a flash of serpentine eyes glaring down on my person.

Oh fucking hells; that part wasn't a dream either.

"Holy shit!" Nel shouted, and I realized that we had attracted the attention of pretty much everyone else on the street, and a small crowd was quickly forming around us.

"Hey guy, are you alright?"

"Oh damn, where did that come from?"

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm… fine…" I managed, and stumbled away. "I'm alright, thanks." Nirir darted ahead of me, heading down the street and into an alley. I ran after him.

In the alley, I paused to catch my breath. "What the fuck?" I asked.

"The assassins still seek your death," Nirir said.

"Yeah, I gathered that."

"What the shit is going on?" Nel asked.

I looked up at her, standing at the mouth of the alley, still holding the sword, her mouth agape. "Is that cat talking? What assassins? Did that cat just fucking speak?"

My brain tried to formulate an explanation for her, but all that came out of my mouth was: "Well, I guess it's nice to know I'm not the only one who can hear him."

That was true, but probably not what Nel wanted to hear.

"What the fuck, Corvus!?"

"Um," I started, then hesitated. I pointed to Nirir. "He can explain better to me."

It was at this point that I learned that cats were capable of sighing.