Garden Of Poison

Emily blinked as she stared at the depiction of the fluffy white cat that stood close beside the boy, and she was rendered speechless. To think that she had thought Alice was a girl or a woman, only to find out it was actually a feline.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Raylen asked casually.

Emily’s lips parted, but it took a second longer before she spoke. "I thought Alice was a person."

Raylen couldn’t help but chuckle, and he responded, "It seems like you do see me in a good light after all." He offered her a smile before his gaze returned to the portrait. He said, "Earthlings aren’t worth wasting the Barter Soul on, and I might as well have found another use for it for myself."

Her eyebrows arched slightly as she pondered that Raylen was even odder than she had initially believed. But then again, perhaps the cat had been precious to him. She commented, "She was pretty."

"She is beautiful." Raylen’s chin lifted as if he took pride in his pet. He continued, "This is the only portrait she’s in. You should have seen her when I first found her. Skinny with visible bones, her coat covered in mud. I was tempted to call her Boney."

"I am sure she’s glad you didn’t call her that," Emily remarked, and a grin spread across Raylen’s lips.

Emily glanced behind her, and upon spotting a table, she slowly walked towards it before gently leaning her lower back against it so that she could rest her injured foot. She heard Raylen ask her,

"Did you ever have a pet, Princess? A pony?"

"Sky. My horse, back in Versailles," Emily replied, wondering if her brother Aiden was taking good care of her horse as she had instructed him before leaving the kingdom. "You said she’s in Hell? Alice."

"Mm," Raylen replied, slipping his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "All cats that die end up in Hell. They do not undergo torture like the earthlings, but they find themselves as strays or pets once more," he added with a smile.