By Decree of the Blessed Court

(Author's note: This short story is set before “In Search of the Cat King” but can be read independently.)

Back when the king of the cats was still the crown prince, he would spend much of his time as a house cat named Daithi, living under the care of a young man named Aidan and his parents. He liked watching humans as they went about their business, constantly stumbling through moments of sorrow and joy in their own different ways. The hustle and bustle of the mortal realm provided a special kind of entertainment that simply didn't exist in the world of the fairies, in his opinion. 

Every summer, Aidan and his parents would pay a visit to Aidan's grandparents, who lived in the middle of the countryside. The elderly couple's house stood in a meadow filled with colorful flowers, less than nine-hundred yards away from a large forest, which was said to be a favored meeting place for the fair folk. As far as Daithi knew, this rumor was false, since the forest was once a battleground, where countless soldiers fought and died centuries ago, their bodies turning into nourishment for the saplings that slowly grew to become a lush forest, though not a single human alive today knew this information. The fairies, however, were fully aware of this grim history, and the spirits of light were too scared to enter the forest, while the spirits of darkness avoided the forest due to the river that flowed right through it, for unlike good fairies, wicked fairies couldn't cross bodies of running water. 

The Cait-Shìth were unfortunately notorious for roaming graveyards, plotting to steal the souls of the recently deceased, which placed them among the creatures unable to cross rivers. Daithi didn't wish to make excuses for his kind's behavior, but he thought it was unfair how certain fairies were called benevolent despite committing the cruelest of acts against humans over trivial offenses. On the other hand, the Cait-Shìth aimed to steal souls because they wished to turn humans into fellow cat spirits after death and keep the fairy population from dying out. It was impossible, however, for fairies to actually steal souls, so his kind were technically not guilty of wrongdoing. Therefore, Daithi was baffled by how the well-intentioned Cait-Shìth, who were unable to truly harm humans in the first place, were seen as evil, even though the so-called good fairies could hurt or even kill humans on a whim without facing judgement. 

At any rate, the cat prince assumed he was unable to cross bodies of running water like the rest of his kind, so he never attempted to do so. When he heard Aidan's grandparents lived in the vicinity of the infamous forest, his first thought was that they’d chosen their residence wisely, since they were unlikely to suffer from magical shenanigans if they remained near a location disliked by fairies. As both grandparents were fond of cats, when Aidan and his parents traveled to the countryside around midsummer, they took Daithi with them. Aidan spent the first week of their vacation helping his grandmother tend to the garden, reading through his grandfather's impressive book collection, and stargazing outside at night with Daithi resting by his side. He was very happy his cat friend had been allowed to come along, and Daithi was also glad he could spend time with his human friend in these peaceful surroundings.

During the second week of their stay in the countryside, Daithi suddenly began to feel as if he and Aidan were being watched. Whenever they went outside, the cat prince thought he could hear the faint sound of fluttering wings, and he occasionally caught a glimpse of tiny shadows disappearing into the grass. It didn't take long for him to realize that other denizens of the fairy world were observing him and Aidan in secret, though he had no idea why they were doing this. He wondered if Aidan had accidentally done something to offend the spirits, and considering how petty they could be, he feared they were going to severely punish his human friend. If that were the case, he was determined to guard Aidan from them until they gave up and left. The fairies, however, were far more persistent than he'd expected.

It was on Saturday morning when there was a knock on the front door. Aidan's grandmother opened to find two smiling children, a boy and a girl, standing on the porch. Behind them was a wagon filled with food products, so she assumed they were here to deliver the bread she'd ordered from the village grocery store. After thanking the children and paying them the delivery fee, she brought the freshly baked loaves into the kitchen, where she sliced them to make toast. At breakfast, Aidan happily munched on the toast while Daithi enjoyed an appetizer of warm milk before his usual bowl of delicious, homemade cat food was served. Less than an hour later, however, the cat prince noticed that Aidan and his relatives were yawning and looking very drowsy. They seemed just moments away from falling asleep in their chairs, which is exactly what they ended up doing within the next few minutes, much to Daithi's alarm. He tried to wake them up, but they all seemed to be under the influence of sleep-inducing magic. The bread they ate must have been enchanted, he realized, and the ones who delivered it had most likely been fairies in disguise.

Before he could undo the sleeping spell cast on the family, the doors and windows of the house suddenly burst open. Someone grabbed Daithi by the scruff, shoved him into a sack, and then flung him across the room. By the time he managed to tear the sack apart, the trespassers were gone, and they had taken Aidan with them. Without a moment's delay, the cat prince ran outside in pursuit of the fairies who kidnapped his friend. As a fairy himself, he could sense the traces of magic that all fairies naturally left in their wake, whether they liked it or not. Though faint, there was definitely a trail of residual magic leading from the house towards the far edge of the meadow, where the forest of death stood. A feeling of dread slowly filled Daithi as the trail led him closer to the place that both good and wicked fairies did their best to avoid. If the fairies who kidnapped Aidan crossed the river flowing through the woods, it would be impossible for him to reach them. Unfortunately, his feline senses were telling him they’d already flown across the running water with Aidan in tow.

Just as he'd feared, the traces of magic stopped at the bank of the river within the forest. He tried to think of a way to cross the water, but no good ideas came to mind, and he could feel his suppressed panic threatening to explode in his heart any second now. For the first time in his life, he hated himself for being born a Cat-Sìth, a spirit of darkness unable to even cross running water to save his friend. As he tried to come up with a solution, however, a sudden thought struck him. Rather than inherent nature, perhaps intentions were what determined whether a fairy was allowed to cross running water or not. 

I might be able to fly across this river if I focus all my thoughts on rescuing Aidan and nothing else.

Taking a deep breath, Daithi stepped closer to the river, and doing his best to compose himself, he floated up into the air, desperately hoping the invisible barrier that blocked his kin from crossing rivers would let him pass through. At first, he felt some resistance while attempting to fly over the water, but after a minute or two, the barrier's strength began to decrease, until it finally grew weak enough for the cat prince to fly through. After landing on the other side of the river, he wasted no time in trying to locate the fairies. Judging from the newest trail of magic left on the forest floor, they seemed to have flown towards the thicket of hawthorn trees growing a short distance away. Daithi carefully walked towards the thicket while reducing the sound of his movements with magic as much as he could. The moment he stepped into the clearing behind the trees, however, a green vine suddenly shot out and coiled itself around his neck like a python. Though he tried to free himself, the more he struggled, the more the vine's grip strengthened, and in the end, he was forced to stay still to avoid dying from strangulation.

When the fairies saw he was no longer resisting, they appeared before him with stern looks on their faces. The cat prince noticed that Aidan wasn't anywhere within the clearing, and he hissed angrily at the fairies, who seemed completely unintimidated by his rage.

“Wicked prince of the soul-stealing cats, the fairy court orders you to leave the human world and never return,” the eldest-looking spirit said in a commanding voice.

“The poor youth whom you have deceived into accepting you as his pet cat will have his memories cleaned up by us. Once he forgets all about you, we will escort him back home and awaken his family from their deep slumber.” The fairy floating beside the elder glared at Daithi. “As for you, you must solemnly vow before the court that you will never interact with humans again, or else that vine around your neck will end your pitiful life for good.

The fairy court was impossible for a single Cat-Sìth, royalty or not, to fight without allies nearby. Swallowing his pride, he said to the fairies with the utmost humility, “Aidan is my dearest friend, and I'd never even think about harming him in any way. I beseech you, noble members of the blessed court, fairies of the most compassionate and merciful nature, please do not erase my friend's memories, and please allow me to remain by his side.”

The deferential attitude that Daithi showed towards the fairies softened them a little bit. However, they weren't willing to let an innocent human continue to stay near a creature of darkness so easily. After some contemplation, the fairy elder decided to give Daithi a chance to prove the sincerity of his friendship with Aidan.

“You claim to be his friend. If so, would you be able to find him among a multitude of convincing imposters?”

“I believe I would.”

“In that case, we shall bring the youth here, along with nineteen logs transformed to resemble him. You will attempt to find the true Aidan among the fakes, without relying on magic or your feline senses. If you manage to find him, the court shall allow both of you to return home together. If you fail, however, you must leave immediately and never appear before humans again. What do you say, cat prince?”

“I accept the court's challenge.” The vine restraining Daithi vanished as he took on his human form, so that his feline senses would be cut off. “May I see Aidan now?”

“You may, but remember that you only have one chance to identify him, so do try your best.”

The fairies disappeared from view, and seconds later, there were twenty sleeping Aidans lying on the ground. At a glance, they all looked exactly the same. Without feeling worried, however, Daithi proceeded to examine the hands of each youth intently.

None of their hands look or feel anything like wood. Those fairies certainly are talented at transformation magic, he thought. 

Even so, there was no such thing as a completely flawless transformation, especially when it came to impersonating others. It took Daithi a while to inspect the hands of all twenty Aidans, but when he was done, he calmly walked back to the young man lying in the eighth spot from the right on the second row and pointed towards him.

“This one’s the real Aidan,” he declared.

“Are you sure?” the fairy elder asked from his hiding place.

“I'm sure.”

“Congratulations. You found your friend much sooner than we expected.” With a wave of the elder’s hand, the fake Aidans turned back into wooden logs. “How did you identify him so quickly?”

“Three weeks ago, he prepared a meal for me using the fresh fish he caught from the lake. While deboning the fish, he nicked his right palm, and though the wound wasn't serious, it left a scar so tiny that no one, not even Aidan himself, seems to have noticed it, except for me. I see his palm every single day, whenever he reaches down to pat my head or give me food. None of the imposters had scars on their palms, which is how I managed to find him without much difficulty,” Daithi explained.

The fairies were impressed by his attentiveness. Now they could believe he truly cared for his friend, and just as they promised, they allowed the two of them to leave the forest together. Just as Daithi was about to revert to his cat form, however, the fairy elder felt the need to give him one final piece of advice.

“Cat prince, while you may have no intention of hurting your human friend, if your adversaries ever discover his existence, they might try to kill him out of hatred towards you, or they might take him hostage to force you into doing their bidding. In the future, if you sense that your presence will endanger Aidan in any way, you must disappear from his life, or at least from his home, as soon as possible, before your enemies can find and harm him.”

“If such a situation ever arises, I will do as you suggest.”

The fairy court was kind enough to personally escort Daithi and Aidan back home. After placing the sleeping youth in his original spot at the dining table, the fairies undid the sleeping spell they’d cast on him and his relatives. When Aidan opened his eyes again, he noticed nothing amiss. All he felt was lingering drowsiness that was slowly going away, combined with confusion as to why he and his family had fallen asleep so unexpectedly. His parents and grandparents were also puzzled when they woke up, but seeing that the doors and windows were still locked from the inside, they simply decided they hadn't gotten enough rest last night. Daithi was greatly relieved that the fairy court had made sure to remove any suspicious traces before disappearing from the house. For all their self-righteous behavior, they could be quite careless sometimes.

“Sorry about falling asleep like that, Daithi. You must be feeling really hungry right now.” Aidan placed a bowl filled with salmon in front of his cat friend and smiled warmly. "Enjoy your breakfast.”

Believe me, I will, Daithi thought.

After everything he'd been through that morning, he deserved a treat. To be perfectly honest, facing the fairy court had been a harrowing experience, even for the calm and collected prince of the Cait-Shìth. Even so, Daithi had been willing to risk being executed by the court if it meant getting Aidan back. No matter what awaited them in the future, he would do anything he could to protect his friend, and that was a promise.