Ah, good. The Young Master has returned. It has been a burden not knowing if he would survive his Masters’ Quest. See how happy the Old Master is. There is much to do in this, his last winter of rule, and much for the Young Master to learn, even if he thinks he already knows it all, as young Toms tend to do.

The leaves have begun to turn, soon it will snow. Old Master says the harvest was good this year. At harvest end each family brings a bag of grain or bushel of fruit to deposit in the Palace stores, along with a kitten to join the Old Master’s Grain Guardians. At the storehouse they are given scraps of reed on which is scribbled their contribution. At the accounting house they hand in the reed scraps and a kitten and receive bowls of rice and a dried fish for that day’s meal in return. The account books must be accurate, deposits properly credited to the family who brought them. The Old Master once could track a mouse through a field as well as I, but his eyes are not what they once were. The accounts are tedious work and need a young man’s eyes. It is time.

Young Master will feel restless, no doubt, and wish to be hunting or defending the outposts, but his attention will soon be occupied elsewhere. Do you see the young miss hanging out the storeroom window? She is a sweet-tempered, obedient child, very pretty; but her spitfire sister, a rare beauty from all accounts, has been promised to the Young Master in marriage. She pretends to be displeased with this arrangement but secretly has been dreaming of the Young Master since first she saw him at Temple, according to house cat gossip. She is rumored to be bringing with her a cat of incredible beauty: sleek, ivory-white with a brown mask, boots and ears. I look forward to that.

Few humans think to hold their tongues lest we hear their secrets when cats lounge in their presence; more should. Still fewer humans think to learn our language, as the Old Master has done; more should. It is why he has successfully held this kingdom in the sky; we are his secret army, unnoticed as we slip in and out among the bustle and hum of daily life, detecting unrest, overhearing plots, and parsing murmurings so the Old Master may quell them before they become raging fires.

I will tell you something that may save your life some day. If ever you are about to impart an important secret to another, check around you carefully before you speak. If you see a cat, hold your tongue.