Lady shadow tried to maintain a solemn mien, but she her smile kept sneaking up on her lips.
Shana knocked politely on the parlor door. "Excuse me Mistress, General Darial reports that the grounds and mansion are clear of bog mimics."
"Is there any report on our casualties?" 'Lyssa asked.
Shana nodded briskly. "We have confirmed 30 of our staff and visitors slain, and twice that number wounded. 14 missing and unaccounted for. The enemy dead in the house proper is over 70. And on the grounds outside almost 400."
Lady Shadow excused herself to set several of her mountain tigers on patrol with the giants. They would smell out any encroaching bog mimics or other enemies and deal with them. The giants would provide powerful backup in case the tigers ran into something even they could not handle.
Since the tigers were over 6 feet high at the shoulder and weighed over a ton, there was little that they could not handle without aid. When the giants saw the big cats, they were dubious at first, until they found out that the mountain tigers had human level intelligence and were perfectly capable of holding their own in conversation as well as in battle.
Another thing a bored giant guard discovered was that mountain tigers are fanatic chess players and would discuss the game for hours given the chance.
Prissy was getting impatient sitting by Mad Tom's fireplace sipping tea.
"As much as I enjoy your company," Prissy said, "I'm getting worried about my husband and the rest of my family."
Tom opened the oven door and pulled out a plate of cookies. "Everyone is safe and sound my dear." He said. "Would you like a cookie or three?"
Prissy started to reply with some heat, then the tempting odors of the hot cookies reached her nose and her resolve melted away. "Ummm, I guess one or two wouldn't hurt..."
"I understand that there's a small matter of another missing child to deal with?" Tom said as he seated himself next to Prissy. She sighed with guilty pleasure as she bit into a steaming cookie. Then she started to explain about Lady Shadow's missing cub.
When she finished, Mad Tom stood up. "I think it's high time I met this lady." Prissy stood up and took Tom's hand as he led her to the front door of the hut. She reached out and snagged a handful of warm cookies from the plate on the table. Mad, the old hermit might be, but he was a hell of a baker! Tom opened the door to the hut and stepped through. Prissy was munching on a cookie as she passed through the door. It took her a moment to realize that she was now standing in the main foyer of the mansion. She spun to ask Tom how he had done that. The old hermit smiled and placed a finger across her lips gently. "Shh, You know I hate questions like that." Prissy opened her mouth to say something anyway. Tom stuffed another cookie into her mouth with an impish grin. "One of the two foolproof ways known to shut a woman up."
Swallowing to clear her mouth, Prissy managed to choke out, "And what, pray tell, is the other way?" Tom cackled laughter, "You're married, and so the other method doesn't apply here."
Prissy gave the old hermit an exasperated look. "Come on," she said.
Prissy left Tom seated comfortable in the parlor then went looking for her co-wives and their guest. The first room that she looked into contained a pair of very messily dead bodies. Prissy spun on her heel and raced back to the parlor. Slamming the door closed behind her, Prissy called upon all the defensive magic she still commanded. "Stay calm and stay put," she ordered Tom." Something is very wrong here, and we may be in a lot of trouble." "Calm yourself. The battle is long over." Said Tom indulgently.
"Piss on that." Said Prissy grimly. "There's fresh corpses in the next room, and I wanna make she we ain't next on the agenda."
The door to the parlor opened suddenly, and Prissy damn near fried 'Lyssa and Lady Shadow out of sheer reflex. She would have toasted them had not Tom exerted his will just the slightest bit and deflected the energy bolt just enough to pass between the newcomers to impact on the opposite wall of the hallway behind them.
'Lyssa and Lady Shadow dove for the floor when the deadly energy bolt flickered past their ears. "Damnit Prissy, what are you trying to do?" yelled 'Lyssa. Lady Shadow's face showed
why she was as much feared as respected. Her lips were wrinkled back in a soundless snarl and her hears were flat back against her skull. Her tail was lashing and the claws had emerged almost 2 inches long from her fingertips.
'Lyssa looked over at her guest wryly. "Sorry about that. You remember Prissy? My co-wife? She's just a tad bit excitable sometimes."
Gradually, Lady Shadow calmed down. Glaring at Prissy for a long moment, she then walked over to the sideboard. "Do you have any wine in here? If she's going to be tossing lightning around, I want to have a few drinks in me first."
Prissy walked slowly over to Lady Shadow. "I'm sorry, I really am. I just saw those dead bodies in the other room, and I panicked. What's been going on here anyway?"
"Come to think of it, where the hell is David?" 'Lyssa asked suddenly.
"I don't know," Prissy said helplessly. "We gated out of here together, but I ended up in front of Tom's cabin instead of in the Great Hall. And David wasn't with me. I've spent the ' last hour or so since then sitting in Tom's kitchen." "Hour or so?" exclaimed Lady Shadow. "But you left almost a week ago!"
Prissy turned to Tom to demand an explanation. But when she opened her mouth to speak, Tom lifted a finger and she suddenly found herself with another mouthful of cookie.
Tom rose to his feet facing Lady Shadow. "I am honored to meet you Milady," he said with a deep bow in her direction. I understand you have a question to ask me."
Tom looked over at 'Lyssa, "Settle down pretty lady, the others are just fine for now." He turned back to the ruler of the mountain domain. "And what is your question?"
"My only offspring was stolen from me from her crib while she was just a cub. I know she is alive from the warmth of the amulet I always carry. But I have searched for her for centuries and found no true trace of her or her abductors."
"And what is it you would know?" Tom asked.
"How I can find her. And where." Lady Shadow asked without much hope. She had been disappointed so often in the past.
"As to where she is," said Tom, "That's easy. She is in an underground vault. How to find her, you have been looking in the wrong places. You have been looking for someone who wanted to harm her or to cause you difficulty. The being that took your cub fancies itself to be a collector. And of course, to a collector, pristine condition is a primary consideration."
Lady Shadow sat down hard in one of the chairs next to Tom. Her knees wouldn't hold her anymore and her stomach was churning. Was it possible that she was at the end of her search after all this time? She hardly dared let herself hope.
Prissy stood beside Lady Shadow's chair and stroked the back of the cat lady's head and lightly scratched her behind the ears. Lady Shadow unconsciously leaned into the caress and relaxed ever so slightly.
"Retrieving your cub won't be easy," warned Tom. "Like most collectors, this being guards its treasures jealously and fiercely."
"Just tell me where." Lady Shadow said. "And I will find her though Hell itself may stand between us."
