Prince of Cats

They always warned children not to play with knives, but I was never one to listen to the rules.

He was the sharpest knife I had ever seen. The prince of cats, quick with a blade and quick with a temper, and when I see something that screams at me not to touch it I can't help myself. I had seen him before. He had a reputation and my uncle, the prince, in the few times he had spoken about Tybalt had done so with distaste.

Parties were the only thing that kept me from losing my mind with boredom, and with my uncle who he was, I was invited to many. It was at one such party that I had met Tybalt for the first time. He stood at the wall brooding and glaring and beautiful. He was a stillness in the chaos and I was drawn to him, though I wasn’t sure if I craved that stillness or wanted to disrupt it.

I grabbed a drink and sauntered towards him, leaning against the wall beside him. He glanced once before keeping his eyes on the party, like a guard waiting for violence.

“I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Mercutio.”

“I know who you are and I know that you favor the company of the Montagues.” He did not take his eyes off the party, but I took a drink to hide the annoyance that had twisted my face anyway and to keep from rolling my eyes. All I ever heard about was a feud that no one truly knew the cause of.

“I am at a Capulet party, am I not?” I pulled on a grin.

“Only because your need for drink and frivolity is higher than your loyalty.” He looked at me then and his eyes were piercing and filled with ambrosia.

I turned away before those eyes made me forget his words. “My loyalty is to that of the prince. It just so happens that I enjoy the company of a Montague.”

“I have heard who you enjoy the company of,” Tybalt said quietly.

I looked up at him then, at the question in his tone. His gaze lingered on me in a way that didn’t convey disgust, but rather hunger, before it turned back to the crowd.

I had a reputation that was an open secret only whispered about in corners and behind closed doors. They whispered that I enjoyed the company of men and I did nothing to quell whispers that were truths.

“Come with me.” I ordered and turned without looking back. I waited in the hallway wondering if he would actually follow, unsure if this was a good decision or not, but with every decision I made I never knew until it was done.

Tybalt appeared in the dark a few minutes later, he glanced behind himself, a cautious soldier. He stood straight and walked with such purpose that I was glad he had followed. I drank the last of my drink, setting the glass down, before I guided him into the quieter parts of the house. It wasn’t until I could hear none of the chatter and music that I turned back to him.

I stepped to him and cupped his face in my hand, smiling at his sharp intake of breath. I took his hat from his head and brushed his hair aside. He watched my every move with such intensity, expecting an attack at any moment. I leaned in close, tilting my head and looking into his beautiful ambrosia eyes, asking. With a sigh that released the weight of the world Tybalt closed his eyes and leaned into me.

I released my breath and kissed him gently, cupping one hand behind his head the other resting gently on his hip. My hold was loose, so that he knew he could break away. He was the one who pulled me against him, leaning into the kiss. He stumbled, pushing me up against a wall. I breathed him in as I trailed my hands along his back and feathered kissing along his jaw to give him a chance to breathe.

When my kisses came back to his mouth his lips did not respond to my coaxing. I pulled away, settling against the wall, but keeping my hands on his waist. He looked everywhere but my eyes. I saw his walls building up again. I touched my forehead to his closing my eyes, hoping that he would too.

“For tonight, just forget the world,” I whispered. “Tonight it is just us in a world that is uncomplicated and forgiving.”

I waited until he let out a heavy sigh, then I curled one of my hands in his and pulled him down the hall to a balcony. I sat on the ground and pulled him down beside me and I smiled at his willingness to follow. I splayed his hand, palm up, on my thigh and traced the lines there.

“You know that some people claim to be able to tell a person’s future by just their hands.”

“What do you think mine says?” Tybalt whispered the words as if he weren’t allowed to say them.

He didn’t look at me as he spoke, just our hands. I picked his hand up to look at it closer. I knew very little of how it worked. A gypsy once read my hand in a market place and I only truly remembered that it had to do with the lines in your skin and there was only one that I could remember her talking about because her face had looked so grave.

“This line is your life line,” I whispered, his was short and broken up. I held up my hand beside his. “It’s as long as mine.”

He reached over and traced his finger along it and every muscle in me froze, like a wild animal had given me permission to be near it.

“What does that mean?”

“It means we are destined for each other,” I whispered and leaned into him.

He looked at me with raised eyebrows and a slight scowl.

I laughed. “Or it could mean that we live short, but meaningful lives.”

His eyes turned intense, staring deep into my own and I wanted to kiss him again, but I was afraid I would scare him off.

“Or it could mean that I am an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

He smiled then. It was small and sudden, like it surprised him. I let out my breath in a sudden whoosh, looking away for a second and rubbing the back of my neck. I had always been charmed by the scarcity of a boy’s smile.

He was tracing my palm again, and had pulled it to rest on his own leg. His smile hadn’t stayed, but his face had relaxed.

“I have always thought that my life would end short because of this feud. My father cannot fight so I must. It is only me and Juliet left of the Capulet name. It can only pass on through me.”

Tybalt’s father had died when Tybalt was young, and I had known that Juliet’s parents had helped raise him. With how often they were together, perhaps they were more like brother and sister.

“At some point I will have to marry to pass down my name,” Tybalt said, lacing his fingers in mine. He held my hand tightly and I covered his hand with mine. Duty before heart.

“That is not today.”

He let out another world heavy sigh. After a few seconds he leaned his head against mine and took a long breath in. He stayed there for a few seconds and I didn’t move, reveling in his closeness.

“No, it’s not.” He let go of my hand, pulling away and when I looked up at him he laced his hand behind my neck. I smiled as he pulled me to him and he kissed me deeply because the night was ours and only known by the stars.