Golden Daughter by Anne Elisabeth Stengl Read Free Book Online

effortless, and to the common eye it made her indistinguishable from her sisters.
    The curtain moved behind her. Calmly she turned to see the same cat slip into her room. Cats abounded throughout Manusbau Palace, kept on purpose near the storehouses to manage the vermin. But they seldom entered private chambers.
    Sairu, kneeling near her window with her paint pots around her, watched the cat as it moved silkily across the room, stepped onto her sleeping cushions, and began kneading the soft fabric, purring all the while. Its claws snagged the delicate threads. But it was a cat. As far as it was concerned, it had every right to enjoy or destroy what it willed.
    At last it seemed to notice Sairu. It turned sleepy eyes to her and blinked.
    Sairu smiled. In a voice as sweet as honey, she asked, “Who are you?”
    The cat twitched its tail softly and went on purring.
    The next moment, Sairu was across the room, her hand latched onto the cat’s scruff. She pushed it down into the cushions and held it there as it yowled and snarled, trying to catch at her with its claws.
    “Who are you?” she demanded, her voice fierce this time. “ What are you? Are you an evil spirit sent to haunt me?”
    “No, dragons eat it! I mean, rrrraww! Mreeeow! Yeeeowrl! ”
    The cat twisted and managed to lash out at her with its back feet, its claws catching in the fabric of her sleeve. One claw scratched her wrist, startling her just enough that she loosened her hold. The cat took advantage of the opportunity and, hissing like a fire demon, leapt free. It sprang across the room, knocking over several of her paint pots, and spun about, back-arched and snarling. Every hair stood on end, and its ears lay flat to its skull.
    Sairu drew a dagger from her sleeve and crouched, prepared for anything. The smile lingered on her mouth, but her eyes flashed. “Who sent you?” she demanded. “Why have you come to me now? You must know of my assignment.”
    “ Meeeeowrl ,” the cat said stubbornly and showed its fangs in another hiss.
    “I see it in your face,” Sairu said, moving carefully to shift her weight and prepare to spring. “You are no animal. Who is your master, devil?”
    The cat dodged her spring easily enough, which surprised her. Sairu was quick and rarely missed a target. Her knife sank into the floor and stuck there, but she released it and whipped another from the opposite sleeve even as she whirled about.
    Any self-respecting cat would have made for the window or the door. This one sprang back onto the cushions and crouched there, tail lashing. Its eyes were all too sentient, but it said only “ Meeeeow ,” as though trying to convince itself.
    Sairu chewed the inside of her cheek. Then, in a soft, smooth voice, she said, “We have ways of dealing with devils in this country. Do you know what they are, demon-cat?”
    The cat’s ears came up. “ Prreeowl ?” it said.
    “Allow me to enlighten you.” And Sairu put her free hand to her mouth and produced a long, piercing whistle. The household erupted with the voices of a dozen and more lion dogs.
    The little beasts, slipping and sliding and crashing into walls, their claws clicking and clattering on the tiles, careened down the corridor and poured into Sairu’s room. Fluffy tails wagging, pushed-in noses twitching, they roared like the lions they believed themselves to be and fell upon the cat with rapacious joy.
    The cat uttered one long wail and vanished out the window. Sairu, dogs milling at her feet, leapt up and hurried to look out after it, expecting to see a tawny tail slipping from sight. But she saw nothing.
    The devil was gone. For the moment at least.
    Sairu sank down on her cushions, and her lap was soon filled with wriggling, snuffling hunters eager for praise. She petted them absently, but her mind was awhirl. She had heard of devils taking the form of animals and speaking with the tongues of men. But she had never before seen it. She couldn’t honestly say she’d