Page 18 of Leda’s Log (Legion of Angels #13)

LEDA PANDORA AND THE SEVEN KITTENS

A spen blinked at me, her eyes hopeful. “So, what do you say, Leda Pandora? Will you help me?”

Angel let out an enthusiastic meow.

“Your opinion is duly noted,” I told my cat. Then I shifted my attention back to Aspen. “What exactly do you need me to help you with?”

“I need you to help me become Queen,” she declared, then folded her hands in front of her.

She was so prim and proper in her princess dress, complete with a tightly-laced corset, airy sleeves, and a full skirt adorned with gemstones and embroideries over layers of petticoats.

One of Angel’s kittens—Tiger Lily, whose elegant black stripes over a sleek white coat made her look like a cute, lovable white tiger plushie—batted playfully at Aspen’s skirt.

“Help you become Queen?” I laughed. “Oh, is that all?”

A crinkle formed between Aspen’s eyes. “I’m serious.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are,” I said. “It’s just, well, I’m not really much of a Queenmaker.”

“Leda Pandora can do anything she sets her mind to,” Aspen declared with a congenial smile.

“Leda Pandora was also trying to take some much-needed time off.” I sighed. “All right. Come on over.” I waved her forward. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear what you have to say.”

I sat back down. Snow, our snow leopard kitten, plopped down in my lap. I rubbed him under his chin, and he immediately started purring like an engine.

“Thank you.” Smiling, Aspen dipped her chin to me, then carefully lowered herself onto the picnic blanket.

She’d only just finished spreading out her skirts when Duchess stretched herself out on the silky fabric. The kitten’s light silver coat sparkled in the warm sun, glittering nearly as much as the gemstones on Aspen’s dress, in fact.

“So, how am I supposed to make you Queen?” I asked as Nero sat down beside me.

“Remember how I told you that in my world, the new Queen is decided by popular vote? The form that vote takes is a series of contests and elimination rounds called the Princess Games. Each candidate demonstrates her skills, and the people vote for their favorite princess. The winner is crowned Queen.”

“That sounds like quite the spectacle,” I said.

“This system has existed for thousands of years. And in all that time, it’s never failed to ensure that the best candidate becomes Queen.

The system works. At least it did work.” Aspen sighed.

“I’m not going to make the list. I would have made the list easily, but then I got stuck in an apple tree for a few weeks.

That threw all my plans into chaos. The Ball of Champions is upon us—the gala where the candidate list will be decided and declared—and I’m not ready.

I thought I could count on my allies, or at the very least my friends…

” Her sigh was heavier this time. “But she’s the very reason I’m even in this situation to begin with. ”

“She?” I asked.

“Lavinia, one of the other princesses. She’s my friend—or at least I thought she was my friend.

It turns out that she was the one who magically-sabotaged the apples.

So that when I traveled between worlds, the apples reacted to the portal energy, drinking it up.

The apples and I merged into one being, and that tree planted itself in the space between realms. Lavinia fully expected me to remain forever stuck in interdimensional limbo. ”

“She sounds like a real charmer,” I commented.

“Yes,” Aspen said tightly, “and if I don’t become Queen, she surely will. That would be catastrophic for my world. That’s why I need your help, Leda. I need you to find a way to get me on the candidate list. I need you to get me into the Princess Games. Once I’m in, I’m confident I can win.”

“Why me?”

“You have an uncanny ability to come up with solutions that other people miss, to think outside the box,” she replied.

“Like when you saved me from the tree. No one else would have thought of embracing the apples rather than fighting them. That’s the kind of sideways thinking that I need right now. ”

“Yeah, I do excel at moving sideways.” I tapped my fingers against the picnic blanket, and Bonbon, our kitten with the black-and-white spotted cow-pattern coat, pounced on my hand. “Ok. I guess I could help you.” I tickled Bonbon on her tummy. “How much time do we have?”

“Until the end of the day.” The princess wrung out her hands. “The Ball of Champions is tonight.”

“Ah, so no pressure then,” I quipped.

“There is a lot of pressure,” Aspen replied, dead serious. “The Princess Games only come around once every few centuries. If I’m not on that list by the end of the day, I will forever lose my chance to rule the kingdom.”

“I see.”

Tux, Angel’s enormous tuxedo-coat kitten, let out a tiny, pitiful meow, as though to say, Aren’t I just the cutest little fluff ball that you’ve ever seen? You have absolutely no excuse not to give me your full and undivided attention!

“All right, here you go.” I tossed a cookie at the begging kitten.

He meowed in appreciation, then tore into the cookie with his sharp teeth.

Aspen watched him, her eyes wide with surprise. “Your cat eats human food.”

“He’s not the only one,” I said. “It’s a family trait.”

Duke, our dark silver kitten, pounced on his brother. The two boys rolled and wrestled, fighting over the remains of the cookie. Nero watched them, cool and quiet, like he was assessing potential soldier candidates. Sierra, in contrast, squealed with delight.

Those squeals grew even louder when Blaze joined in the fight. Blaze was mostly white with black accents on his face, legs, paws, and tail. He sported a big, bright white blaze right between his baby-blue eyes. His blaze looked like war paint, a symbol that marked him as a fierce warrior.

“Seven kittens.” Aspen’s gaze swept across Angel and Shadow’s babies.

“Yeah, we like to call them ‘the Lucky Seven’,” I chuckled.

“Only you call them that, Pandora,” Nero said. “Everyone else calls them ‘the Destruction Seven’.”

I smirked at him.

“Do the kittens have any special powers?” Aspen asked.

“Well, they poop a lot,” I said, shrugging.

Her nose crinkled up. “I see.”

“I think we’ll have to wait and see what powers they get, if any. They are still very young.” I leaned back on my hands. “So, returning to your quest to be Queen. Before we get started, is there anything else I should know?”

“I won’t lie to you, Leda,” Aspen said. “This quest , as you put it, won’t be easy.

In fact, I might even call it impossible.

From what I hear, the Committee has already chosen their twelve candidates for Queen.

The announcement at the ball is just a formality.

Furthermore, the ball itself is only a few hours away.

Even if we can persuade the Committee members to change their minds, I don’t see any way to obtain the missing documents I need to qualify. ”

“Documents?” I asked.

“All I need is a stamp on my application packet,” she said. “But the notary refuses to even see me. I suspect Lavinia paid him off.”

I was hating this Lavinia more and more. I couldn’t stand bullies and dirty cheaters.

“Don’t worry,” I told Aspen. “I know things seem grim, but that’s why you came to me, right? I’ve faced more impossible odds than these and won. I will get you on that list. That I promise you.”