Extra

Chapter Eleven: A King Dethroned

Determined not to worry about such a thing on his girl's special day, the Cat King faced the front again, just in time to see his daughter end the kiss; her eyes sparkling magically. Smiling a little foolishly, the princess turned to the congregation as the applause died down.

"I know what you're all thinking," she informed them, smiling mischievously. "I should have gotten married a while ago."

There was some good-natured laughter, as the princess's single status had been a favorite topic for many years. She smiled indulgently, and whistled twice. A servant immediately approached the princess, bearing a silver sword with amethysts on the hilt as another servant approached the king with a matching sword.

The king's heart stopped, since the twin blades were only used for one purpose. He glanced up at his daughter, as she accepted the ancient family weapon.

"Come on, Haru; it's your wedding day, for crying out loud! Don't you even want to wait until after the honeymoon?"

"No, Father," Haru said softly, holding her weapon ready. "Part of my marriage negotiations with Baron's father stated that I would immediately challenge you for the throne. Take your weapon now, before I strike."

Feeling a little flustered, the Cat King took up the family sword. Again, he looked over at Baron's father as all the wedding attendants began to clear out of the center of the room, to give the two royals enough room for the battle.

"Why should you care when my girl becomes queen, babe?"

The man flinched; his eyes turning angry as he held his own daughter close.

"I want to see you repaid for what you did to Naoko."

The king scoffed.

"I gave her a crown; what's so bad about that? Wait; why would you care about my late wife?"

The gold and gray haired man glared even harder.

"I care about her because she would have been mine if you hadn't stolen her."

At first, the king didn't quite understand. He blinked once or twice. As slow as eternity, memories began to resurface.

"… I miss being with a real gentleman."

"I had someone in the human world, you know. Someone much better than a king."

"I'd rather be with the man I love than have a thousand crowns. Why did you have to take me away from him?"

"Always remember, Haru; despite what your father says, it's more important to find a Mr. Charming than a Prince Charming. And when you find him, promise me that you'll never let him go."

"I promise, Mommy."

Then it clicked. The king's mismatched eyes contracted into slits as an unholy hiss escaped his throat. No wonder the name 'von Gikkingen' sounded so familiar.

"Cornelius!" He raised his weapon, and began to charge not at his daughter, but at the human that his wife refused to stop talking about, even until the day she finally died. The blonde beauty gasped as her father pushed her into Machida's arms, but the king's daughter intercepted the madman, and raised her own blade to meet his before the king could harm his rival.

"I am your opponent, Father. No one else." With a heave she sent him back a few feet, but the king wasn't about to be deterred from his goal. He landed on his hind paws, and raised his blade once more.

"Stay out of this, Haru! I have a score to settle with Cornelius!" The Cat King tried to attack the human again, but his daughter stood firmly between him and his goal, starting with a standard stabbing attack that forced the feline monarch to his guard to deflect the blows.

"What score?! You're the one that ended up with Mom!"

"Yeah, but if it weren't for that guy, we could have had a happy marriage!"

The Cat Princess snorted indelicately as she struggled to contain her explosive emotions.

"If you hadn't stolen Mom, she would have had one, Father! You have no one to blame but yourself for taking a girl that already had a sweetheart!"

The king became even more infuriated, and began attacking his daughter, who smoothly dodged each blow with a practiced motion.

"We've been through this, babe! I gave her more than he could ever have given her!"

"No, you didn't! Whenever Mom wanted something, she would go to anyone in the kingdom besides you to actually get it! You never gave a care about what she wanted, except for the few times they were the same as what you wanted!"

The king roared as he took a swipe at his daughter, missing her easily by a mile.

"What are you trying to say; that you didn't want to be born?!"

The princess fiercely swept the king's legs out from underneath him, making the king fall on his back and then roll away.

"I never wanted to be born under the conditions that I was! I didn't want Mom to regret that I was born, and I never wanted to be here because what you wanted was apparently more important than what everyone else wants!" With tears running down her carefully made-up face, she started taking swipes at her father again.

"The mark of a true leader is one that's willing to sacrifice something he or she wants for the good of the people! There's so much more to being a royal than getting your own way all the time!"

The two duelists had taken a few steps away from each other to breath for half a second, and then rushed together again.

"You said you loved me!" the king howled as he brought the blade down on his beloved daughter, who brought her own blade up to meet his. Once their blades clashed, the princess did a fancy jump into the air, and landed on her feet. The king turned again to make another pass, but his girl, now a good fifty feet away from him, was still kneeling on the ground, facing away from him with the sword still in one fist.

"I do love you, Father. No matter how many rotten or selfish things you do, I'll always love you. But I am through with standing aside and letting people suffer because of your actions."

With that, all of the king's fur fell off his body without warning. The king, suddenly feeling colder than he could ever remember feeling, dropped his weapon in order to cover himself up. His daughter slowly stood up and turned to face him; her sword's tip pointed to the ground. She raised her other hand, so that her father could see a glimmering purple gem in her fist. The king gasped, and felt his bare forehead. The princess smiled sadly.

"Someone needs to fix the mistakes you and our forefathers have made. And it might as well be me."

Haru firmly pressed the crown to her forehead; a pupil appearing in the middle of it to match her other ones, the signal that the crown was accepting her as the new Cat Queen.

There was a thunderous applause from everyone in the throne room; the sound carrying throughout the castle and the kingdom that no longer had to live in fear of its monarch.

The king turned red with embarrassment as his daughter stole the white tablecloth in front of the priest in order to wrap it around her father.

"I've taken the liberty of securing a nice quiet estate for you out in the country, Father. That way, no one will be around to laugh at your appearance while your fur's growing back."

"How considerate," he said softly, gripping the tablecloth while looking at his new son-in-law. 'I should have known. Baron looks exactly the way Naoko described her old boyfriend.'

Haru smiled once more, and kissed her father's cheek.

"Natori, I don't think my father will be up to celebrating right now. Why don't you take him to his new home?"

The advisor nodded numbly, and helped his monarch to his paws as the new queen addressed the cowering felines.

"Let's adjourn to the banquet hall, shall we?"

This announcement was greeted with much enthusiasm as the cats began to filter out of the room. Haru stole one more hug from her father before allowing her grandparents to sweep her into their arms.

"Honey; that was fantastic!" her grandmother gushed proudly, kissing the girl's cheek as her grandfather mussed her hair up a bit.

"Sorry to say this, sweetheart, but that crown's a little creepy."

The Cat Queen shrugged; the third eye rolling with her regular ones.

"I know. I just need to deal with it. Shall we, Baron?"

Her husband nodded, his own eyes glowing with admiration as he offered her his arm. As the royal couple walked out of the room, the Prince Consort glanced back at his sire.

"Was that roughly what you had in mind, Father?"

The middle-aged man bit back a laugh as the servants started sweeping up the pile of lavender fur; the ex-Cat King leaving by another exit with his tail between his legs in humiliation; still holding the tablecloth to himself like a blanket.

"I'd have liked to see some blood, personally, but the complete shaving was a nice touch. Thank you for doing that, Haru."

The Cat Queen smiled warmly for her father in law, and tightened her grip on the man she would share the rest of her life with.

'I kept my promise to you, Mom. I found a Mr. Charming, and I'll never let him go.'

A beautiful warmth flooded the brunette's body almost like music. Without warning, Haru started to cry, but unlike the tears she had cried her entire life, these weren't from sorrow. Baron stopped walking in order to brush the tears away with his gloved hand; the last reminder of his true species.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked softly, wondering if she was regretting what she had done to her father, after all. She beamed up at him, and wrapped her arms around his chest for comfort.

"Call me crazy, but I could have sworn that I felt Mom's approval of you just now."

Almost like a dream, a light breeze fell across the Cat Queen's cheek, just like a loving kiss.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Lots of love to; Drifting One, Bibishi Kuronecko787, Lanari, Lunarobi Pride, QuickStar, kittydemon18, EarthGurdian, and Muu-chan for the thought-provoking reviews.

I know, I know; people wanted me to have Cornelius beat up the Cat King, but it felt more appropriate for Haru to do it. I hope you like my twist on his punishment, and that you'll like the next story even more.

YarningChick

PS; if anyone DOES make a convincing sketch of Baron on a motorcycle, please let me know!