"Sebastian."

"Yes, young master?"

The blue-eyed boy looked to his butler, a sardonic smile on his childlike face. "Why is there a peasant girl and a cat asleep on my doorstep?"

The sounds of something crunching on the fallen leaves scattered on the road drew your attention. Your hands shook, it was getting dark and you had no one to call for help from if something bad happened. Peering between thick tree trunks, you could've sworn you saw a pair of magenta eyes glowing but, after you blinked, it was gone. You stepped closer to the tree line, "H-hello?"

Your call was answered by a pitiful mewl. Looking down, you spotted a little grey kitten.

"Oh hello there," you greeted the small creature, relieved that nothing was going to eat you.

You knelt down as the raggedy kitten wobbled her way closer to you, revealing the scabs and dried mud covering her dull fur. She pushed her nose against your leg, giving you permission to lift her into your arms. You did just that, scooping the tiny thing in your arms and rubbing away as much of the dirt as you could. When she was cleaned of most of the mud, she rubbed her soft head against your cheek. With a small laugh, you stood; just as rain began to fall.

The kitten mewled again, pressing herself closer against your chest. "Oh dear," you looked around in an attempt to find some sort of temporary shelter, but the trees lining the road had all shed their leaves. You could always turn back, you leaky cabin was only a few miles behind where you now stood, but something was drawing you further down the road. You had a feeling a closer shelter was in the direction you faced. "It's OK," you grinned down to your companion as you took a step forward, "We can walk!"

And so you did. You walked down the road all the way to a manor. It stood proud and ominous, with locked iron gates keeping out intruders. But, somehow, the gates unlocked, and creaked open. You looked around before cautiously stepping onto the grounds. The rain still wasn't giving up by the time you made it to the front door. The door was pressed back compared to the rest of the wall, giving you a foot or two of space to sit if you stayed pressed against the door. It seemed no one was in, causing a sigh to escape your lips as your smile fell, but still, you couldn't turn back. The kitten had been protected from the rain partially by your head and your arms, but you couldn't do much with the thin fabric of your dress. You looked out into the rain once more, and thought you saw a tall, pale man staring back at you.

You rubbed your eyes and the figure was gone again. "I'm going mad," you muttered, huddling against the sturdy door. The kitten touched her nose to yours and you giggled, "Yeah, it must just be the cold."

"At least this is dry," you said, looking up at the cover above you. The kitten pawed at you, getting your attention once more. With a grin, you pulled her closer to your face, "And we can share our warmth!"

Laying down on the cold ground, you shivered before holding the kitten closer to your chest. The two of you curled into a small ball and fell asleep like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well?"

The butler simply smirked at the young lord. "I have no idea," he told the boy, his red eyes on the kitten happily sleeping on the ground and the shivering young woman holding her. Removing his coat, he wrapped it over the girl in only threadbare clothing. "I have no idea."