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There came a small mewing. She was cold and wet and hungry and scared. Her mewing was answered by a contented chitter, then a warm licking across her back, her stomach and sides. It was divine. This dried her and she no longer mewed. She then was lifted and placed down in a mass of warm bodies. She could not see them but she could smell them and the kitten knew she was safe. She was warm. She had a family. And, after a bit of work and another small mew, she found her dinner. Warm milk gushed down her throat and into her belly. She quickly fell asleep to a loud but content rumbling.

The days went by and the small kitten grew. She knew the smell of her mother and her siblings. When she mewed, her mother came. Even when she didn’t, she would be picked up and placed with her siblings. They were warm and her belly was often full of milk.

Her squirming gave way to very bad walking, before she could even see. And when her eyes at last opened, it was as if memories that were not her own could be seen in the wide world. She expected a wasteland, of black sand and ash and fire but what she found was the opposite. She was in a dark space, surrounded by other fuzzy lumps of white. Her siblings! And that larger shape that her siblings crawled over? That was mother! There was no fire and ash here, where had such thoughts come from? How did she even know what those were?

Days turned to weeks and the small kitten was often outside the den now. She could see the lush green world of her home in all its splendor. Green oceans of grass stretched beyond the horizon. Her siblings frolicked and played under vibrant flowers as the great light in the sky illuminated the world with its warmth. She had been confused at first when she had finally noticed the thing. It was hard to look at and gave a sense of… wrongness. But these thoughts were fickle and she knew not why they came at times in the quiet of night. She was too busy playing and stalking insects. 

One warm day, her mother brought back a large furry thing with big teeth. She was hungry for milk and tried to get a teat but her mother gave a low hiss. The kitten paused, tried again, hissed at again and then forcefully nudged to correct her behavior. Their mother did this to each of them, and there were a few.

Her pride terribly wounded, the kitten turned her attention to the large furry thing that was stiff as a stick and sniffed it. Cold too. Before she could do anything more, her mother clawed at the thing and her great claws tore down the side of it, leaving large gashes of fur and skin. The smell of rust bloomed from the gash, now running red with blood. She sniffed it carefully before licking the substance. It… Wasn’t so bad? Not as good as milk by any means. Their mother then tore into the gash and her maw came back bloody, she threw the piece she had to the floor and one by one she and her siblings sniffed it. Until one of her brothers decided to gobble it up. 

Then the frantic mewing started. 

This became a daily occurrence as weeks turned to months. They still got their mother’s milk but it became less and less as they turned to solids. She and her siblings had grown larger, stronger and more capable. The grasslands of their home were no longer safe from them, especially when their mother began to bring back creatures that were still alive. She let them learn how to hunt this way and it was a thrill. But their mother seemed… disappointed in some way. What was she expecting or wanting? The kitten often rubbed up against her mother and purred but there came no answers.

She had become a bit of a boss to her siblings. She was in no way the largest, nor the strongest but she had wits about her. Her temperament was also regal and well refined for such a kitten her age. She played but it had to be on her own time. She napped when she liked and was not interrupted, else she gave the one who woke her a good smacking. She often got to eat first because she was lazy and decided to just finish the prey instead of playing with them. Try as her mother might to curb her behavior, the kitten had a calling deep within her soul to be doted upon at all times and to see the world as her own personal perch. What more could she ask for? Her fur was slick and cleaned at all times. Her claws were sharp. Her eyes focused. So what if she didn’t do the whole survival thing like what her mother wanted? It wasn’t like she was going to be kicked out and left to fend for herself. She was too important for that.

Now the kitten was out exploring one morning, just seeing what was around the den, and gradually climbing to the top where she could survey the land- when an odd thing happened.

She heard… a strange noise. 

“There you are, my lord.” the sound said and she found herself being able to understand. At the mention of Lord, she remembered a dancing, glowing light, laughing and merry. She remembered a great fire that she ran from, the horned predator exploding with death. The great rain and the damp, damp, damp. Her hair stood on end as she jumped in the air, spinning around in a defensive position.

What she saw puzzled her senses. A thin creature of glittering skin, morphing into different lengths, with different colors and ornaments. It floated before her and had an exotic scent that made her want to sneeze. “ Long have I looked for you.” it said, drifting closer. “One who could finally match my grand designs.” It paused in its drifting, still as a tree. “But what’s this? You carry that light but the form…The form!” It spun and gave out a mighty cry. “Dashed, I say. I am dashed. My designs are ruined. How could this be? How could this be! Damn those divine idiots!” Its skin formed into a harsh grey, glittering with specks of blood and adorned with a deep shimmering gem. “Perhaps we shall have you try again!” 

It charged at her, swinging itself down hard! The kitten jumped out of the way and when the creature came at her again, her claws slashed it but she only ended up hurting herself upon the skin. With a howl of frustration, she backed up as the thing advanced, laughing manically. 

It was then she felt… cold. Worse than the chilly air of the morning or when she peeked out at night, away from the warmth of her family. This cold radiated deep inside and it sought release! She felt as if she was going to cough up a fur ball but instead a bead of ice ushered forth like a gale and smacked into the creature, knocking it off balance. She could control ice! This revelation sent a shiver of joy down her spine. Was this what mother had been waiting for?

“Why you-!” It called and the kitten focused once more.

It came at her again and as the kitten backed up to jump, her foot caught an odd angle of the rock and she sputtered, coming to a sprawl in the grass. With the terrible creature above her, she looked up and narrowed her eyes out of spite. 

“ENOUGH!” There came a bright flash of golden light and the air began to shimmer. Strange horns trumpeted like birds and as the terrible creature seemed to shrink into itself, becoming a smaller, silver lined stick. The kitten could see why. Just beyond it, a great gleaming thing had come. The shape was odd. Like a smooth rock with blades of grass shooting out of its… crown. Silvery-white was the skin, adorned with faceted white gems and inlaid with a warm gold. 

It towered above the floating stick and declared in a mighty voice, “You fool! My coming was yet to be, now forced by the likes of you. What do you say for yourself!”

“S-Sovereign, please. Have mercy. I meant no ill will upon you. This was just a lark, you see, a misunderstanding!” The stick quivered. 

“A lark! A misunderstanding! I should have your title for this and seize all your holdings. A lark!” it spun in a wide arc, the air seeming to clap with its presence. “Please. Be off with you before I decide to have a misunderstanding of my own, Lordling.”

‘A thousand apologies, Sovereign. Thank you for your magnanimous generosity.” the stick sniveled. 

“Be gone.” the Sovereign said with curt finality.

The stick then bowed, yes, bowed before vanishing in mid air!

The kitten was now alone with the gleaming creature and it was beginning to hurt looking at it. Somehow she could feel the weight of its gaze upon it, as if she were being crushed by stone. 

It spoke but this time its voice was calm and collected, yet still weighty. “I apologize for the stupidity of my subject. I can glean the reasoning but condemn the means.” It paused before saying, “You have an old soul. One whose destiny ended before his time. The divine are cruel in that way. Thus I bestow upon you the birthright stolen. You shall not be a sniveling Lord, nor a Lady but a Monarch, a Sovereign- A Queen. Thus it is said, thus it IS.” 
Something snapped into place inside the kitten- no, the Queen. She felt all at once the strongest she had ever been, and the most important being that had ever existed. She would be doted upon, loved, and cared for. She would rule her subjects with an iron claw. Mercy and punishment would flow from her mouth at a whim. This is what it meant to be Queen.

Her patron vanished with but one lingering thought shared between them- Rule.

So, the Queen went about her first royal action and frantically began to groom herself.