The Princess and the Bear - Mette Ivie Harrison [0]
Mette Ivie Harrison
For Barry, Mensch
Contents
Prologue
The Tale of the Cat That Became a Man
Chapter One
The Hound
Chapter Two
The Bear
Chapter Three
The Hound
Chapter Four
The Bear
Chapter Five
The Hound
Chapter Six
The Bear
Chapter Seven
The Hound
Chapter Eight
The Bear
Chapter Nine
The Hound
Chapter Ten
The Bear
Chapter Eleven
The Hound
Chapter Twelve
The Bear
Chapter Thirteen
The Hound
Chapter Fourteen
The Bear
Chapter Fifteen
The Hound
Chapter Sixteen
The Bear
Chapter Seventeen
Chala
Chapter Eighteen
Richon
Chapter Nineteen
Chala
Chapter Twenty
Richon
Chapter Twenty-One
Chala
Chapter Twenty-Two
Richon
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chala
Chapter Twenty-Four
Richon
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chala
Chapter Twenty-Six
Richon
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chala
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Richon
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chala
Chapter Thirty
Richon
Chapter Thirty-One
Chala
Chapter Thirty-Two
Richon
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Hound
Chapter Thirty-Four
Richon
Chapter Thirty-Five
The Hound
Chapter Thirty-Six
Richon
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Hound
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Richon
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The Hound
Chapter Forty
Richon
Chapter Forty-One
Chala
Chapter Forty-Two
Richon
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books by Mette Ivie Harrison
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
PROLOGUE
The Tale of the Cat That Became a Man
LONG AGO, THERE lived a wild cat that was the sleekest, fastest, and bravest of its kind. It had been triumphant in battles against the most fearsome beasts of the forest: bear and elk and charging moose. But it was said to have an uncanny intelligence and a look to the eyes that was almost human. Those who had seen it claimed that the wild cat would even leap straight through a bonfire or dive into a river’s raging water to get at its prey.
Legends grew up around the wild cat, which was known by the striping around its nose, and humans sought to prove their prowess against it. But no matter how often it was hunted, the wild cat was never caught. Arrows were not fast enough and swords slid past it. Those who rode against it did not return—or returned very different men from when they had gone out.
One day, a young student of magic decided to go into the forest to see if even half of the stories he had heard about the wild cat were true. He found its trail and followed it. Then, with his own eyes, he saw the wild cat kill two deer in one leaping attack and defend itself against a pack of hounds that came against it in an attempt to take its prey. Two of the hounds were dead in the few moments it took for the rest of them to decide to retreat, and many more were injured in the battle.
The young man watched the cat carry off the carcasses, one after the other, to its lair. And then, late that evening, he heard a soft, warbling sound coming from the place where the wild cat had gone.
The student followed the sound until he had reached a small cave hidden behind a waterfall. He climbed to the entrance, then poked his head inside to see the wild cat playing a flute made out of bone. The bone had been hollowed out and the young man of magic could see strewn on the floor of the cave other similar flutes, perhaps of different tones, and even one lyre.
The student could hardly believe his eyes. A cat that could play an instrument stolen from a human was one thing. But a cat that could make the instrument? That was extraordinary indeed!
Now the student spread forth his hands and let the heat of his magic flow out. The wild cat made one strangled yelp before the magic overcame it, and then it began to change.
Slowly—one paw at a time, then a nose and an ear and a haunch—the wild cat was transformed into a tall, graceful man with tawny hair and faintly striped skin around the nose.
The young man of magic expected the new cat man to be pleased. He offered his own jacket and a few coins to help the cat man on his way.
“There is a town some miles south, past the edge of the forest,” the young man of magic explained