Footsteps rang into the room from the hallway, and Alice opened her eyes. She was greeted by the sight of some very white and fluffy hindlegs. “Good morning, Burc,” she said and sat up. She blinked a few times and yawned before rubbing her eyes with her fingers. The soldiers, who had introduced themselves as Janissaries, had brought her to their barracks and gave her a room to stay in, telling her the Padishah would see her tomorrow. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn yesterday, but her leather armor was propped up on a nearby chair. There was a knock on the door, and Burc’s tail twitched.

The white cat’s ears twisted to the side, and Burc smacked his lips a few times before saying, “They’re asking if they can come in.”

Alice didn’t respond, climbing out of bed instead. Even if she did respond, they wouldn’t know what she was saying, so she opened the door herself. Two men dressed in the robe-like clothes that were the Janissary’s uniform were waiting outside. They nodded at her and gestured towards before turning around.

“They want you to follow them,” Burc said and leapt onto Alice’s shoulder. She debated on whether she should remove him to put on her armor but decided against it. All she really needed was her shield, and she didn’t plan on getting into any fights. “They said they’ll bring you to eat something first before giving you time to look presentable for the Padishah.”

“What part of me doesn’t look presentable?” Alice asked and snorted.

Burc shrugged and slumped forward, leaning over Alice’s shoulder, his front paws almost reaching her waist. “I’m just a cat. Why would I know?”

Alice sighed. Well, at least she was getting somewhere, even if she couldn’t understand the local language. If she spent some time learning it, she could use the Padishah to help her look for Tafel them. She didn’t know how large the empire was, but it was clearly better than her searching by herself. As for causing a ruckus? Wasn’t a whole empire clearly searching for someone a large enough ruckus? It probably was.

The meal that the Janissaries served her was similar to what she had eaten the previous day at the inn. There was just less fish inside. It only took her a few scoops with her spoon to finish what was in the bowl. Did they purposely give her a smaller serving because they thought she was a child? She looked around, but the Janissaries were eating the same thing. Perhaps breakfast consisted of this little food. Alice shrugged and ran her fingers through Burc’s fur. He was gnawing on a piece of fish. At that point, someone came and sat in the seat across from her. He said something, and Alice nudged Burc.

“Good morning,” Burc said.

Alice furrowed her brow and tried to repeat the man’s words. He smiled at her clumsy pronunciation before chuckling. He was young, about twenty-five or so. Unlike the other men here, his beard wasn’t completely filled out, and his face still had traces of baby fat.

“He said it’s really true that you can talk to cats,” Burc said. “And he wants to know if all cats speak the same language.”

Alice raised an eyebrow and glanced at Burc. “Do you?”

Burc shrugged. “I haven’t met all cats, so how would I know?”

“I guess that’s true,” Alice said and scratched her head. She looked at the man sitting across from herself. “Did he introduce himself? Is he here to take me to the Padishah?”

“Nope,” Burc said. He put down the remains of his fish and licked his paws. “He was just curious. Now he’s saying goodbye, he has to pick up his salary.”

“So, what, I’m like an animal in a zoo now?” Alice asked and raised an eyebrow. She frowned and stood up. “Let’s go back. I’m going to make myself look presentable by putting on some armor.” Earlier, she had thought she wouldn’t be getting into any fights. She still didn’t plan on getting into any, but it never hurt to wear armor just in case a fight spontaneously happened. Safety first.

After finding her way back to her room, she saw a bucket of water and a rag placed on her bedside table. Someone probably delivered it to clean her face, so she did. She also combed down a few frizzy hairs with her wet fingers before putting on her armor. Her shield was strapped to her wrist like a watch, but her pouch of food seemed to be a little emptier than yesterday. Alice frowned. “Did you take jerky out of my bag?”

Burc cleared his throat. “Yes. It’s my salary.”

“You couldn’t’ve asked me before you took it?”

“I could’ve, but I didn’t want to.” Burc licked the back of his paw, ignoring Alice’s gaze. “Why should I have to ask for what’s mine?”

Alice’s expression darkened. Burc reminded her of the stray cat one of the secretaries at the guild had taken in. It had stared at her and knocked over a pile of her papers without breaking eye contact. It wasn’t allowed inside the building after that. A sigh escaped from Alice’s lips. “That’s fine. Take jerky whenever you want as long as you continue translating for me.” She could survive without a few sticks of jerky but navigating through this world would be a lot trickier without Burc’s help. So even if he was inconsiderate and stole her food, she’d have to put up with it. Alice tightened the straps on her armor before rotating her arms and stretching her legs. Just in case she got into a fight, she’d make sure her limbs were warmed up. She didn’t want to pull any muscles after all. The Padishah was the ruler of the empire. If she pulled her leg muscle while pummeling him—not that she was going to—how was she going to escape properly?