~ Chapter 7 - Confessions

Instructions

And then, through my misery, I hear a knock at the door… Hurriedly, I wipe away my tears and make the flower in my head bloom again. Forcing a smile, I open the door. It’s Wisteria, looking upset and guilty. “I’m sorry,” she says quietly. Wordlessly, I lead her through the room and she sits down heavily on a chair. “I- haven’t exactly been telling you the whole truth.” You don’t say, Wisteria. “It’s okay. I won’t be angry.” I say, although I know I’m probably lying. Tears trailing down her cheek, she explains to me what she did. “It was, it was great living in the Palace. I had everything I wanted, everything I needed, everyone there to support me. It was great. But then I went and- ” a sob escapes her throat. “I went and messed it up. I was playing with the kits, Cassie and Garnet, and we were having loads of fun. We were playing a game where I was trying to capture them and they would run away. I summoned a shadow entity to help me, the simple, harmless type, but when I caught them, it got b- bigger and bigger and bigger.” She stops to pause. “And then it was gone,” she said, tone disbelieving. “I didn’t know where it had gone, but I took the kits back to the Palace. I explained to my mentor what happened, and he went rushing off to the healing department, taking the kits with him. Turns out, I infected them both with dark matter. They successfully removed it all from Cassie, but…Granite died. Cassie was /such/ a sweet cat that she never blamed me for what happened, but soon after Empress Rosia died from her grief and I was banished from the Palace by her eldest son, the now Emperor Percideus.” “I was angry, upset and grieving for Granite, and let’s just say I wasn’t thinking clearly. I cast a spell over all of them that they would forget my name and what I’d done. Except for Cassie. But it seems that some Palace officials saw it coming and cloaked themselves. They remembered. They kept it quiet, but…” “About a moon cycle ago, they came to me with an offer.” Wisteria continues quietly. “Help bring in Dreamwalkers in return for my place back at the Palace. I know I shouldn’t have taken it, but…I thought of Cassie and…” her voice hitches. She takes a deep breath through her tears. “I’ve got to tell you. I was, s-supposed to take you straight to the Palace where they would hold you in the cells until the morning, when you would be ex- exe- ” My friend shakes her head sadly, but I urge her to go on. “They we’re going to execute you. Along with so many other Dreamwalkers.” She finishes, almost hopelessly, and my world wobbles. Execute us? Why? Why would they do that? It’s only after I’ve thought it that I realise I spoke out loud. “It’s the corrupt officials. Their little…plan. Send crazy old Albatross to run round the Villages screening of destruction, point the blame at the Dreamwalker, wait for them to be exiled by their Village, send some cat to pick them up, take them unwittingly like a lamb to the slaughter. Later on, they’ll release something about a disease spread in Dreamwalkers, or some evil plot they were planning.” She pauses to collect herself. “And it’s nothing like that. No prophecy or something about how Dreamwalkers are special or that some kit will overthrow the Emperor, simply because you’re a liability. You can access the Dream World and other cats’ minds. See how much gold or anything else they’ve been stealing or just how corrupt they all are. I’m so, /so/ sorry, Azzie.” Wisteria cries. My heart melts, and of course I instantly forgive her. I gently lick the tears from her face. “It’s okay,” I comfort her. “It’s all okay.” “I guess they hadn’t accounted for if we got to know our ‘victims’. Got to become friends with them, or even- never mind. But I’m glad I did, Azalea Topaz, and there’s no way I’m handing you over to them now.” She wipes away the rest of her tears, and a defiant look takes over her pretty features. It suits her, if I say so myself. “We’ll leave the City, find some Village together and then…I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out, maybe go our separate ways, or maybe,” she sounds a little hopeful, if I say so myself, and I feel flattered. “We’ll stay together. But we’ll be safe.” And the relief shines through, her beautiful eyes shining once more. “In the morning,” I whisper. “Now, let’s both get some sleep.” I don’t even think about leaving her so we both settle on the bed in my room, my pale blue and purple dreams mixing with her oranges and reds.