What Was He Supposed To Do?

"Come here, Casper," Molly ordered.

Erevan followed obediently and looked up at it. At least he was able to walk now, albeit with some difficulty.

"This is your food bowl. I'll get you something to eat when it's time to take your medicine," his master continued as she pointed out a small, colorful dish on the ground. "Over here is your litter box and this is your bed! These toys are for you too but I'm sure you won't want to play with them until you're feeling better."

He was completely lost. Were these items all meant for cats? He had never seen any of them before aside from the food bowl though there might have been a smaller version of what she called a litter box in his first prison cell as well.

Molly didn't seem to realize that he was not, in fact, a cat. But if this was the form his master preferred, he would have to stick with it. He was stuck for a while regardless because the only magic he had been able to use since getting hurt was universal translation magic in order to understand what was being said to him. That required almost no magic power at all.

Erevan was going to have to get used to this. What his master wanted, his master got. That was the way things had always been.

He watched Molly carefully, on standby waiting to receive further orders. The only one he got was to go take a nap after standing at attention for an indefinite amount of time. His master came over and patted his head while giving the order.

He was confused by the contact but wasn't about to disobey. He headed over to what he had been told was his bed and curled up in it before closing his eyes and going to sleep. His body certainly needed the rest. Maybe that was why his master told him to sleep. He would be a more effective soldier when he was healed.

===

Erevan didn't receive very many orders in the following days. Most of them were related to eating, sleeping, and taking his medicine.

Molly was very careful not to aggravate his wounds and was acting more like a nursemaid than a master. He didn't understand it at all. Neither of the kings he served had been anything like this.

His master came and went from the door leading out of his quarters frequently. It was not his place to question where Molly went so he simply waited to be called upon like a good soldier.

Usually, Molly came back with food, medicine, or some other items. Erevan was not expecting another cat to come trotting through the door behind his master one day.

He was white with red eyes, much like his original form, but this one was brown with black stripes and had yellow eyes. It was smaller than him overall but had a rounder belly. An enemy or a comrade-in-arms?

It immediately arched its back and its fur stood on end to make itself look bigger. Clearly, this cat was threatened by his presence. It circled around him while growling. "Who are you and what are you doing here? This is MY territory!"

"Be nice, Stella," Molly ordered.

The cat's posture relaxed slightly but it was clearly still suspicious. "Are you a friend or a foe?"

"That depends entirely on whether or not you are a threat to Master Molly," Erevan said plainly. "If you are, I will have to fight you to the death."

"…are you stupid? I PROTECT Molly! She's my owner and this is our house. You must be the reason she hasn't let me sleep with her the past week and a half. You're infringing on my job! I have to guard her from nightmares."

Oh. He hadn't realized his master—or he supposed he should say mistress—was female. Come to think of it, Stella probably was too. The tones and inflections of their voices were similar even if they did speak different languages. The translation spell helped him understand or speak anything but there were still subtle signs to show one was separate from another.

"There have not been any nightmares while I have been in this room. Mistress Molly and I have been the only ones here all this time," Erevan informed her.

Stella scoffed. "You really are stupid. Nightmares aren't a tangible thing. They're bad dreams that make Molly sleep poorly and wake up in a panic. She has a hard time falling back asleep after them too."

He frowned. How was he supposed to know that nightmares were invisible creatures that haunted their mistress in her sleep? Though he supposed he should have noticed the signs now that the cat mentioned them. She had woken up frequently in the night shaking and sweaty.

An unpleasant feeling flooded through him. He had failed his mistress already.

"I was unaware. I apologize for failing in my duty," Erevan said humbly.

Stella narrowed her eyes. "It isn't your duty; it's mine. Molly is mine! Just because Lily died didn't mean she had to bring in another cat. I'm good enough to make up for her absence. Ugh. This is the worst. You stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours. Got it?"

He didn't know who Lily was but if he had to guess, it was another one of his mistress's cat attendants. She had likely saved him because she needed another one but he didn't mind. It was the practical thing to do and being used by those with more power than him was all he ever knew.

"I will do my best to stay out of your way, Miss Stella."

"…Stella is fine. Nobody calls me 'miss.' It's not like I'm human," the cat said dismissively.

"Is Mistress Molly human?" Erevan asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.

"Duh. Humans run this world. You're a really weird cat, you know that?"

"I am not a cat."

Stella laughed. "Sure you aren't. If you're not a cat, I'm a dog."

"I truly am not a cat. I am the first great general of the demon king's army. I took this form to escape when I was heavily wounded and that is how Mistress Molly found me," Erevan explained. "You do not have to believe me but it is the truth."

"…you're crazy. Like I said, stay out of my way."

The cat sauntered off dismissively and jumped onto the bed before crawling into Molly's lap. She began stroking the cat, who seemed rather pleased by the attention. When Stella noticed him watching them curiously, she glared at him and hissed "mine" before resuming what she was doing before.

It seemed he was now in a power struggle with his mistress's other attendant. Wonderful. Just what he needed.

In the demon realm, everyone had their place. His was at the crown prince's side from the time he was very young once the former king saved his life. He was assigned to protect and serve him because they were close in age.

His old master had many attendants but none were as close to him as Erevan. Yet he still betrayed him because he believed his power was too great and that he would turn on him.

Preposterous! He would have followed that traitor until he died if he hadn't decided to betray him first. From what he had seen so far, Molly didn't seem to be cut from the same cloth. Stella was certainly loyal and that said something about the way she treated her attendants.

Right now she was stroking the cat and showering her with praises such as "good kitty" and "who's my best girl?" Stella was soaking it up and preening, occasionally shooting Erevan glances that seemed to say "I'm getting praised and you're not! Ha!"

He had been praised too! He simply didn't have Molly's attention right now. There was no need to be petty.

For the rest of the day, Erevan kept an eye on Stella. She kept her promise. He stayed out of her way so she stayed out of his until it was the middle of the night and he heard a scratching noise at the door.

"Hey! Hey, new guy! Let me in!" she yowled.

He sighed. He had been dead asleep too. "Why should I? Mistress Molly shut this door and I am not at liberty to open it."

"Because she needs me! This is around the time of night she usually starts having nightmares. I shouldn't have to be locked out because of you."

"I can take over your duties for one night. She must have shut the door for a reason."

"Ugh, I hate you! We don't need you!" Stella seethed.

Now Erevan was even more annoyed than before. He was a demon general! He could do so much more than this simpleminded cat.

"I am more useful than you think I am. I will be a far better protector for our mistress than you are."

"You dare—"

"I will not defy our mistress's will for you. Wait until she opens the door herself."

Stella pitched a fit for a while but eventually did quiet down so he assumed she left. He jumped onto the bed to see how Molly was faring and realized she was indeed having a nightmare based on how the cat had described them earlier.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't fight an unseen enemy. What sort of guarding did Stella even do in this situation?

He found out when Molly woke up gasping a few minutes later and sat up in a panic. A moment later, she spotted him and issued a command in a shaky voice. "C'mere, Casper."

Erevan did as she said but didn't expect for her to slump back down and bury her face in his fur as she wrapped her arms around him. Was this what Stella normally did? It was strange and vaguely uncomfortable but he had to follow his orders.

After a while, she stopped shaking and seemed to fall back asleep but he was still caged in her arms. Guarding from nightmares wasn't all that difficult a task to do. Why had Stella doubted he could do it? Had she simply been jealous that her duty could be done by anyone given the chance?