Answer his summons, but first put your house in order

You thank the messenger, offer him some water and ask him if any of the high nobles have arrived yet. Like so many people he's a bit surprised when an archmage decides to treat him like a human being. As he names off a pair of countesses and a duke who were already in town you smile on the other side of your face. It can be handy sometimes that you're one of the few mages with some charisma. A duplicitous nature too, if you're being honest, but these are traits that have always served you well when dealing with other magic users. At times you've even pulled one over on nobles - and that bunch of backstabbers are the top tier in the games of lies and politics.

As the messenger rides off you feel one of your catgirls edge out from behind the door. You don't hear her - almost all of them have that feline talent for stealth that will only bond Leshak ever closer to them. It's Doe, looking worriedly at the retreating messenger. Behind her you can see Yvonne and Sandra waiting in the shadows.

"Is it bad - are you going to have to go away?" she asks.

"It's bad for the kingdom. The **** of a king always shakes the world. Luckily king Caravis waged a series of successful wars over the last five years."

"That's good?" asks Doe.

"He knocked apart a few enemy armies, stole a whole fleet from the Cofirnians, seized the Rovenham peninsula from Uhralos... not to mention capturing the capital of Mashevra, our close neighbor. With all that, even if our enemies wanted to attack us in the uncertainty of the succession they just don't have the men, money, material or magic. The four M's as some of the generals call them."

Although it doesn't seem to silence Doe's worries you see Yvonne straighten up slightly, an assurance developing in her stance. Ah, those little things that seem to seep through from woman to catwoman. Her soldier's instincts tell her that what you say is true. It may not be very nice, but it is true and it will help to protect you all.

"I'm going to have to make appearances at court. Swear fealty to Davris, play nice with the nobles..."

"We should come with you!"

You didn't even see Helena back there - her soft white fur blends in with the shadowed grey stone to the point where you can only make out her eyes.

"I can't bring you." A chorus of 'but's echos around the entrance. "No, really, I can't. Doe, can I take Yvonne, Sandra and Helena?"

"No - they're all about to give birth."

Before she can continue and before any of them can argue you turn to Yvonne. "Can I bring Doe and Renee?"

"Of course not, they have to take care of their babies."

Doe harrumphs and looks back at her.

"Well it's true. But I can make it, I don't think I'm that close." And so the argument begins. Only Renee and Alice are left out of it, presumably both are still sleeping soundly.

As your girls continue to argue that carriage you saw in the distance gets closer and closer...

By the time the dust settles the carriage has pulled to a stop. None of your girls are happy, but all of them agree that the others can't go. You give a bow to the carriage as Lessia and then Bethany step out. Lessia looks quite worried and Bethany is just about shaking.

"You heard?" Lessia says, almost whispering.

"How bad is it?"

"No one knew about it except the physicians and Davris. It is an old condition, but has been getting worse over the years. This spring father collapsed and broke his nose. That's when Davris took charge. I am lucky to have made it out - I had to see you. I talked to my father about the catfolk, he was interested, but with this I don't know. How will Davris react?"

"I'm sure the prince has other things to worry about right now, but all we need is a little opening."

"If you can't bring us with you then you should bring some catgirls in our stead," says Doe, looking pleased with herself.

"Oh, and you are?" asks Lessia, her court manners coming to the fore even as she realizes that Doe is naked.

You introduce Lessia to your girls. She's heard about them from Bethany and asked about them in her letters, but this is the first chance she's had to meet them. Her smile spreads across her face as, for a few brief minutes she's able to put aside all that's happening in the world and concentrate on happy things. She insists on going to see Renee and the new babes, she gets a chance to meet Alice too.

When it's time to go she looks out at the hall, at the collected catgirls - most awake and taking note of the human woman in the fine clothes. Lessia nods to herself and says "Doe is correct. Now is not the time to shy away. You... no we must be bold. Time for the nobles to meet their new friends. I can get a ballroom and a set of rooms in the ambassadorial wing - it is considered bad luck by the nobles. They would rather stay at an inn than be housed there by the crown."

"And then we invite likely friends to join them."

She nods. "You should pick one or two representatives as well. Nice girls like Bethany who can mix and mingle." At that Bethany's ears flatten and she starts looking nervous. Lessia strokes her tail until the fuzzy appendage stops swelling up. "Bethany, you will be with me. I will not enjoy meeting so many people either, but we must do this. For the good of all your fellows."

With that the preparations got under way. Lessia set Doe and your other lovers to work picking out catgirls to send along. You pick out three almost immediately, Narinna, Victoria and Kyelle. All three have a preference for clothes - in fact they have a bit of a taste for fashion. All three are a little bit meek, but secretly love being the center of attention. You just know that they will be perfect at a more subdued courtly affair. Quiet, careful enough, but once someone strikes up a conversation they will be happy to talk.

It helps that Narinna has the same striking white fur as Helena and a set of light green eyes that you feel like you could fall into. She's a tiny 5'0", but with such fine fur, a slender waist and a terrific ass there's no chance that nobles will miss the chance to talk to her. Narinna is also rather well spoken, though you aren't certain why. Her past life as a merchant's daughter must have provided a good education. She's your first pick, even though she's beginning to show thanks to that one pleasurable time you made her yours.

Victoria is the opposite, solid black fur just like Doe with dark brown eyes. She's blessed with a set of C cups though - truly something on her thin catgirl frame - even at 5'5" her torso still doesn't seem wide enough for that chest. Somehow this buxom catgirl wound up being incredibly soft spoken - again, hard to say why. According to the slavers she was actually a prostitute, or at least a very willing barmaid, but the more you see of her the less you believe it - despite the fact that she confirmed she sold herself for money under your truth spell!

Kyelle sports lovely brown fur, almost like a dark wood. Her breasts are little A cups and her ass is almost flat, but despite that no one will be able to miss her. You bought Kyelle for her staggering height - she was 6'3" as a human. When she transformed that dropped by just one single inch, leaving her as the tallest of all your catgirls. And she became good friends with Yvonne, the only other girl taller than 5'10" at the time you transformed her. Since Kyelle wasn't pregnant Yvonne began to... well you suppose you could say she exercised vicariously through Kyelle. The former beanpole has put on some muscle and while she won't appeal to a lot of nobles with that flat chest there are other nobles who might appreciate their own amazonian tigress. Like Yvonne she has an extra long, extra heavy tail that sweeps lazily from side to side and will draw the eye of any man.

You have only just finished getting the three of them to agree to come, spelled out what's needed and what's at stake, set them to work fixing each other's clothes and hair and so forth when Doe calls you over. She, Lessia, Bethany and your other lovers have been busy. You've organized three women, they've organized thirty. You just shake your head and busy yourself with one last important task - 'examining' your lovers pregnant bellies to make sure the babies are alright. In fact that means placing spells on Helena, Sandra and Yvonne to make sure they don't pop while your off at court. You don't tell them what you're doing - though Sandra can surely guess - because you don't want to reopen that argument and wind up with your lovers coming along. Too much to worry about without your women and your born and unborn children in the mix.