Chapter 6
"No, you may not sleep in my room," Isika told Hera for the seventeenth time. "Auntie is going to retire from feeding our family if there are people-sized beasts everywhere. You can sleep in the garden like a regular cat."
Not a regular cat. Hera told her. Ancient one. Royal guardian.
The huge silver cat regarded Isika through half-lidded eyes. She stood on her hind legs outside Isika's bedroom window, front paws resting on the sill. Behind her, stars were coming out in the evening sky. The Palipa looked as though she was readying herself to jump anyway, but just then, the door to Isika's room burst open, and Auntie Teru stalked in, wielding a broom.
"Shoo!" she said, shaking the broom at Hera's face.
"Auntie, is the broom necessary?" Isika asked.
"They do not listen to yo
