Kunnang Thai

It is hard to say goodbye, now that my days upon the earth and under the sun are almost complete.

To pass beyond the Veil and never more set my eyes upon those whom I have loved cannot but bring sorrow. As every dawn must come at last to dusk, every journey has a beginning, and must also reach its end.

And yet there is also joy. Every duty I have been given in my summers upon the good green earth is done. They have all been fulfilled with honor and with pride. I have betrayed no trust that was ever placed in me, and I have known love. I regret nothing.

I am ancient in years now, after the way of my kind. I am weary, and beyond the Veil lies a bright new morning, full of unknown promise.

There will I go, as all who have come before me have gone, with my tail held high, and my eyes bright and open wide. There will I be welcomed by all who have gone before me.

I am of the Kunnang Thai: the Noble Ones of Siam. We are the First Family of the Highest Clan of the Folk. Even the haughty Clan of Man bow the knee to my kind, though few of them realize it.

I walked the first of my paths upon the earth many lifetimes ago, in the land we Cats name “Many Flowers,” Siam, as the ancient whitebeards still call it.

We of the Clan of Cat do not write as the humans do, but rather sing our stories and tales, that they may be forever remembered. Thus do our oldest songs tell that Creation’s very center was in Siam, land of Many Flowers. In the dawning of all things, when the Spirit Above first breathed out the universe, it was here that he set the Clans of the Folk upon the good green earth.

The Clan of Cat, with the Kunnang Thai to lead them, were from the first, friends and companions to the Clan of Man. We still are, though long ages have passed. We will continue beside them as long as they and we exist. Such is our place and our purpose, upon the earth and under the sun.

It was in those days that Thai Sha’an, father of all the Kunnang Thai, pledged himself as protector and friend of the young Princess Na’emah, daughter of Siam’s first great King. So it is remembered, and so it has been sung. We revere and honor Thai Sha’an, as we follow in his steps.

I am “Spirit Hunter,” of the Folk, and of the Clan of Cat. My original human companion knew this true name, though she spoke it in the old speech of Siam: “Nak’la Wiyyan.”

I have walked many paths since my beloved first friend parted the Veil and made her final Journey, but still I miss her. She shines in the dusk of my remembrance like the first star of evening. Many lifetimes have passed for me since I stood proudly between her and all danger, but I can yet hear her voice as she calls for me.

And still I remain “Nak’la Wiyyan,” the Spirit Hunter. The young humans I keep safe have called me many affectionate things, but this is my true name. It alone describes me as I am. It will always be mine, until I make my last Journey and walk no more beneath the sun.

We are blood-sworn defenders and protectors, we Kunnang Thai. Each of us is pledged at birth to a young human of royal blood. This child we guard from all evil, in both the world the humans know, and in the realm of the spirits, which none but the eyes of Cat may see.

We Cats are not like the Humans in our life-walks. They live but once, then part the Veil and are gone, but we are different. In the morning of the world, the Spirit Above decreed for my kind nine lives, and nine mortal paths to walk, upon the earth and under the sun. So it is remembered, and so it has been sung.

If I am so fated as to lay down all of my lives, one by one, in defense of the human Prince or Princess to whom I am sworn, then so may it be. I am Spirit Hunter. I am Cat. I am Kunnang Thai.

From Siam, beautiful nexus of Creation, the Clan of Man spread out to fill up the world, and wherever they set their feet, Cats walked at their sides. Wherever they built kingdoms, domains, and empires, Kunnang Thai, of the Clan of Cat, have faithfully guarded the children of their rulers and high families.

Where there were enemies who threatened the young Royal Ones of those realms, we have defeated them or died in the attempt. Never have we betrayed the trust that was placed in us.

When at last the humans crossed the wide sea and came to the land that lies beyond the sunset, we journeyed there beside them. If they should find still more lands beyond even those, if they venture to the very stars, the Cats will go there also, with the Kunnang Thai leading the way.

As the noblest family within our proud Clan, we bear distinguishing marks upon our bodies, that all may know and honor us: a creamy coat, with darker mask, ears and tail, and eyes of sapphire blue. We are the Kunnang Thai.

I now walk my ninth and final path, upon the earth and under the sun. I am in the evening of the summers that were ordained for me. When I have reached my end, and accomplished all my tasks in the world of men, I will part the Veil and make my final Journey.

Until that day, until my final moment of life, I am protector and friend to the Princess Sarah, First Daughter of the Kingdom of United States. I am pledged to her safety and happiness, after the ancient ways of my kind.

Sarah will be the last of my young human wards. I am proud to be her friend, to love her and keep her safe. It is a covenant that cannot be betrayed.

I am, always and forever, of the Kunnang Thai. Whatever I have done in the sight of the Spirit Above was done with pride, and from love, and the trust Sarah places in me is the Old Trust, that never has been broken.

United States is a kingdom far different from any other I have seen in my many lives. Its ways are strange, mysterious to me. It is wide beyond imagining, and not all lush rainforest like Siam, though myriads of green trees do grow within its boundaries.

It is not all lofty mountains, though it does contain many spectacular peaks, high and crowned with white. There are wide plains where the countless cattle of this land graze, harsh deserts, and green fields enough to feed the world.

My Clan is represented here by Civilized Cats of every breed, family, and color, and in the wild live Puma, Lynx, and Bobcat, as well as many other families related to my own.

Of Tigers there are none, for they seldom leave their homelands. I do not miss them at all; they are of uncertain temperament, and perilous to approach.

Other Kunnang Thai dwell here as well, but these serve the lesser noble families, guarding the children of Governors and Senators, as well as other nobility beneath them, after the strange ways of this land.

I and only I, guard the one and only daughter of the ruling family. Her father is neither King, nor Kahn nor Emperor, but bears the strange title of “President.” His subjects do not address him as “Highness,” or “Majesty,” but simply “Mister President,” or upon less formal occasions, “Sir.”

My Princess Sarah will have none of that, and after the manner of daughters in every land beneath the sun, calls him “Daddy.” By the way his face lights when she calls to him, I see that “Mister President” is well pleased with his daughter’s manner of address. His heart is good, and he loves my little Princess. I honor him, this ruler of a strange and wonderful land.

Sarah’s name for me is “Sir Lancelot.” We Cats learn of human speech by listening and watching, and so I soon understood that she had named me for one of her own kind, a warrior who lived long ago. It has a strange and unseemly sound upon the ears, but it was given in love, and I took it up as my own.

I learned much later that this first “Lancelot” had been a defender of the weak, good, kind, and brave. It is a strong and appropriate naming, and I embrace it proudly. I will strive to be worthy of it.

A child of six summers, my Princess is as beautiful a little girl as ever graced the earth upon which she walks. Her hair is the color of a flaming sunset, and her eyes are the blue of an autumn sky. A happy child, she is not troublesome, loves easily, and if she has any fault at all, it is that she is too quick to trust others.

I have loved all the young Princes and Princesses I have protected in my many lives, but it is possible that I love the last, Princess Sarah, most of all. My days with her are filled with sunlight and joy, and I rejoice in each of them, as though it were a lifetime in itself.

It is sung by my kind that real love is the only part of any living being which can never die, but lingers even when he has departed, a testament to his passing. If truth it be, then when I am gone, say of me but two words: “He loved.” They are all that is needed to tell the tale of Spirit Hunter, of the Kunnang Thai.

The Royal Palace of Sarah’s father is nothing like the mighty edifice where I once dwelt in Bangkok; it is merely a great white house, built in the center of the capital city. It is spacious and comfortable, but contains no ivory and little gold. Nor is it the grandest house in the Kingdom. That is reserved, by the strange traditions of this place, for the one who possesses the most treasure.

Its throne, which sits in a wide oval audience chamber, the center of all power in the Kingdom, is only a large chair of polished wood and rich leather. It carries great dignity, but is plain, by the lavish standards I have known.

The President who sits upon it is not the son of the last ruler of this kingdom, and nor was that President the son of he who preceded him. Neither will my Princess succeed her father upon the wooden throne, for that is not the way of this place.

When his time upon that exalted seat has expired, a new President will instead be chosen arbitrarily from among the Nobility, by a process I do not fully comprehend.

Curious and strange are the ways of this land. It seems that the deeper one delves into its customs and traditions, the more unfathomable they become. That should not have surprised me, for the ways of humans have never been easily understood, and vary widely across the world that turns beneath the sun.

Human affairs are of only passing concern to me, so long as they do not endanger my Princess. Let the humans embroil themselves in strange and shifting customs if they will; the ways of my kind have remained the same since the morning of the world.

If the folk of this kingdom choose a new ruler for themselves every four summers, what is that to me? My Sovereign is Sarah, and she will be my Princess long after her father has left this place for a lesser house. I honor him, not because he rules, but because his daughter loves him.

One of their customs is not strange at all, and meets with my entire approval. On constant vigil in and around the great white house, there is a cadre of elite household warriors, not chosen at random, but carefully selected for their loyalty and prowess.

These humans do not wear gaudy uniforms to distinguish themselves from others, but instead dress plainly, with just a small lapel pin to identify their calling. Nor do they strut and preen for the public eye, for that is not their way.

They name themselves “We Who Serve in Secret,” and like me, they are sworn to shield the Royal Family and keep them safe, even at the cost of their own lives. It is their pride that they do so from the shadows, never calling undue attention to themselves.

One of them, a young human called “Carolyn,” was for a time pledged to assist me in the protection of my Princess. In the beginning, I found this completely unacceptable; Sarah is mine. I am quite capable of guarding her life myself, unaided and under any circumstances. Never before had that fact been questioned, and it came as a painful blow to my pride.

I was wildly jealous when Carolyn was first introduced to us, and strove madly to keep my body between her and Princess Sarah at all times. I fear we made quite a spectacle of ourselves, dancing around the room in this foolish manner.

No one, save her own family, is permitted to come near a young Princess in the care of the Kunnang Thai. No one! It is a law that came into me with my father’s blood, and can never be rescinded.

I hissed and spat each time the young human woman tried, and would have clawed her, if she’d been so foolhardy as to venture within range. I had never in all my lives been asked to share the great trust I bear, and the very thought was hateful to me.

Fortunately Carolyn was not so rash, but continued to smile and speak softly to me until I’d had time to compose myself. “Lancelot is a handsome boy,” she said to me. “Lancelot is a brave fellow! He won’t let anyone harm his little friend!”

Neither did she attempt to touch me with her hand. Not just yet. The time for that would come later, after we’d each established our positions in this situation.

Wise actions, for a human just reaching her adulthood! Maturity often comes late to the Clan of Man, if it comes at all, but this young woman seemed to have achieved it in full. She was polite but decorous, respectful, and attentive to proper protocol, just as one of my own kind would have been.

Curious, I finally reached out to Carolyn, with the power that was given my kind to see and know the hearts of others. To my pleasure, I found someone not unlike myself. She was fiercely loyal, proud, and utterly dedicated to the welfare of Princess Sarah.

She seemed a bit lonely, too: a condition not uncommon to those of us whose lives are spent in the guardianship of others. There had simply never been time in her young life for more than a few friends, or any of the other things she might have known had her calling been different.

I nodded in understanding. The household warriors who call themselves “We Who Serve in Secret” are a most exclusive society among the humans. They are not born to their places as we are, but must earn them with great effort. To be chosen to join them, is a lofty achievement by anyone’s standards.

For Carolyn to have become one of their number at her age meant that she was among the very best and most dedicated of her kind, and must have passed through many trials and tests in the attainment of her position.

I was glad I had waited, and not impulsively attacked the young woman the moment she first approached my Princess. The wise Kunnang Thai looks and considers before he strikes. Later may be too late. Ill deeds often come from haste: only a moment of time is required for them to be committed, and then they are utterly beyond retrieval, though lifetimes be spent in regret.

Instead, we quickly formed a close friendship, born from our shared purpose and dedication. It was hard not to love this remarkable young human, and finally I gave up trying.

Carolyn, of Those Who Serve in Secret, was to me much more. She was my equal in every attribute, virtue, and personal value. She behaved utterly as one of us would have.

Though she did possess the blue eyes of a Kunnang Thai, she, being human, of course lacked all our other physical markings. Her hair was the gold of a sunrise, and her body was trim and fit.

I perceived that these differences were in her case superficial. Carolyn was Kunnang Thai. She belonged as much to us as she did her own Secret Service.

Above and beyond everything else, I discovered that she was a “Cat Person,” one of that favored group of humans who own a great liking for my kind. That in itself spoke well of her intelligence and discernment.

As we became more accustomed to one another, my approval of Carolyn grew. Comrades in arms now, we began to divide our tasks between us, as a daily routine.

My place was at Sarah’s side, with my eyes directly upon her as much as possible, while my human friend posted herself just outside the entry to the Princess’ personal sleeping chamber and playroom.

I knew that no enemy would ever pass Carolyn, while she yet lived, and she knew that the same was true of me. Sarah was as safe with us as if an army had surrounded her.

I learned to recognize her soft knock on the door, the signal that someone she knew to be safe was about to enter. I confirmed her judgement by sight, scent, and hearing; only then was any person admitted to the presence of my Princess.

The most frequent visitors to Sarah’s chambers were of course her parents. Mister President came many times in each day, and was not above playing on the floor with his little daughter, to the detriment of his clothing and great amusement of his attendants.

Her mother, who despite her exalted position, bore only the title of “First Lady”, came even more often, and also fetched the little Princess for family meals.

At these my place was behind Sarah’s chair, from which position I would be able to react quickly in any direction. Carolyn took her assigned post by the entry door. From there she scanned the room continually, after the traditional manner of her Secret Service fellows.

Her signal to me, if any threat should occur, would be a sharp slap on the wall beside her. I knew she had other ways of communicating with her human compatriots; the slap was meant for me alone. It meant “Enemies! Danger! Stand to arms and prepare for battle!”

Though it was my fervent hope that Carolyn’s signal would never come, under no circumstances did I relax while we were away from the Princess’ own chambers. The time for true rest never comes for the Kunnang Thai; he must remain vigilant even as he sleeps.

As events fell out, that ancient maxim proved horrendously true, for the Kunnang Thai and for Carolyn’s Secret Service as well. Sometimes vigilance alone is not enough, and then only valor can save, or perish in the attempt

I had dozed off beside Sarah’s little chair that evening, enjoying a rare interval of quiet time with her. Mister President was closeted with his generals in the great secret chambers below the royal house, and so did not take part in what happened.

First Lady was in the Princess’ chambers, reading stories to her from one of the little books with bright covers, that were Sarah’s most prized possessions.

First Lady’s guards had joined Carolyn in the hallway, and the white royal house was as quiet as the center of a mighty kingdom’s government can ever be.

And that was the moment the attack came.

I became aware of the intruders a few moments before Carolyn and her companions did. My kind are gifted with the power to see and know the hearts of others, and theirs were foul with hate, impossible to conceal from those with our senses.

I also recognized them for who and what they were, as a storm of gunfire and screams from wounded humans burst out on the floor below us.

I knew these intruders from long ago: the black-clad paid assassins of a small and warlike kingdom called Koryo. Far to the north of Siam, it is ruthlessly governed by the despotic family of the Kim Jongs.

They should never have been able to reach the doors of the house, or even the street on which it stood. Clearly something had gone terribly wrong.

For that matter, why had they come here at all, far from their homeland, assaulting the royal residence of another nation? There is no reason behind hate; it destroys until it is destroyed, or is consumed by its own poison.

The sounds of battle increased and came nearer, and First Lady made as if to go into the hallway, but I stopped her with a yowl and a hiss, and positioned myself between her and the doorway. Princess Sarah began to cry and call my name, but for the moment I could do nothing to comfort her.

Carolyn began to slap the wall beside her as loudly as she could outside the room, in our signal for deadly threats. I heard foreign voices shouting commands and battle cries, and more gunfire. The assassins were on this floor, and into the living quarters of the Royal Family!

As the Secret Service began to fall back toward us, Carolyn and the others in the corridor prepared themselves to be the last line of defense. First Lady forced the weeping Sarah to the floor, and threw herself on top of her.

The combat quickly became hand to hand, and I knew our people could never last. They were brave and true, but no matter how dearly they sold their lives, there were just too many enemies. There always are, with servants of the Kim Jongs, who own no honor at all.

The long, thundering rip of their weapons was just outside now. I heard Carolyn scream, “Lancelot! They’re coming in!” and then her voice was silenced in another burst of gunfire.

I felt her spirit suddenly brighten and expand, far beyond the confines of her mortal human body. It hesitated just a moment more, as if in farewell, and then rose up as a glowing mist, as she parted the Veil. Then my beloved friend was gone forever.

I felt sharp grief and rage, but there was no time to mourn for Carolyn now. The door suddenly splintered and exploded inward as her murderers burst through.

They meant to kill the entire ruling family of the kingdom, and cared not how many of their own lives they spent in accomplishing it!

But there was yet one defender left on his feet! I would not go down easily, and nor would my friend Carolyn go unavenged! When the first of the assassins entered, I leaped through the air and struck him on the upper chest, but he was clad in thick padded armor, and I could do no damage. I clawed my way upward to his unprotected face and blinded him, with two quick strikes.

I screamed my battle cry as I catapulted from his shoulder: “Kunnang Thai! Thai Sha’an!” The next Koryonin through the shattered door was prepared for my attack, and flung me off before I could do more than claw his face, but he stumbled and fell over his now eyeless companion. His weapon clattered across the floor and was snatched up by First Lady.

The blinded one did my cause more good alive and screaming on the floor than he would have dead. His writhing tripped several more of his fellows and bought me time to rise from where I’d fallen and rejoin the fight.

By some miracle, neither Sarah nor her mother had yet taken any lasting harm. I saw that First Lady had pushed my Princess beneath her little bed, and was blocking the killers’ path with her own body. She brandished her confiscated weapon as I flung myself upon a third opponent.

This one quickly lost his jugular to my sharp teeth, as he tried and failed to avoid my flying strike. I rode him down as he fell, barely avoiding being crushed beneath his body.

At that moment several things happened almost at once. Fire and thunder erupted over my head as First Lady, screaming her own battle cry, emptied her weapon into the Koryonin who were in the room or trying to enter its doorway. When it fell silent, she flung it and a wordless shriek of defiance into the faces of those advancing behind them.

Then more shouts and gunfire came from the hallway, as fighting began again outside our door. Reinforcements had come at last, from Those Who Serve in Secret!

Three of the new defenders came into the Princess’ chamber at once, to ascertain her safety and help me continue to guard her. The rest quickly finished the last of the Koryonin in the corridor.

True warriors as always, Those Who Serve in Secret had in my judgment committed only one error. They should have preserved one of the murderers, just enough alive, to be interrogated. Instead, all of them were messily dead.

That they did not may be excused on the grounds that none of us were feeling particularly merciful at the time. Had one of the Koryonin even wished to surrender, it is doubtful he would have been allowed the privilege, having assaulted the Royal Family in their very home.

As soon as all danger had passed, I went directly to my Princess, who was being coaxed out from beneath the bed by her mother. She was hysterical, having witnessed things this day that were never meant for young eyes, but seemed physically unharmed, despite the carnage that had taken place all around her.

Then I went out into the corridor, but as I had already known, there was my beautiful friend Carolyn, lying among the other dead. Her limbs were twisted, her golden hair was clotted with her blood, but her face was untouched, and almost peaceful in its repose.

It was the face of a warrior whose final duty has been fulfilled in all honor, and has gone to her rest.

I began the high, keening grief-cry of my kind, by which we mourn beloved friends who have taken their final Journey. One of the surviving human defenders made as if to pick me up, but I spat at him in rage.

These last few moments together were personal, a thing not to be disturbed! This was between me and my lost friend alone! I must grieve for her as one Kunnang Thai grieves for another, while there was yet a shadow remaining of her presence!

I howled my grief song for a very long time, until First Lady came to coax me into her arms and carry me back to my little Princess, who was yet crying in her ravaged bedroom. She clutched at me and buried her wet face in my fur, and we comforted one another, on that terrible day.

When they were finally counted, it was found that twenty-three Koryonin assassins had died, in and around the great white Royal House of the Kingdom of United States. Twelve brave warriors of Those Who Serve in Secret had perished in stopping them, one of them being my beloved comrade Carolyn.

It was a hurt deep within me that I knew would never fully heal. I would carry it all of my days, until at last I parted the Veil and made my final Journey. In all of the lives I have lived, upon the earth and under the sun, I have never felt old, but I did on that day.

I was a ragged old warrior, worn out by nine life-walks spent in the service of all the young Princes and Princesses I have loved, guarded, and kept safe. I have never lost a single one of my precious little charges! Let that be said for Nak’la Wiyyan, the Spirit Hunter, called Lancelot by his Princess!

But it was not yet time for me to go. My time upon the earth was not finished; my duties were not yet complete. I still had my beautiful Princess Sarah to serve, and I focused all my love upon her and only her.

Then Mister President was there, with his arms around all of us, and crying as hard as anyone. I knew I must compose myself now, and get on with what must be done. The pain of my loss was a great rent torn into my very spirit, but I was still Kunnang Thai, and there was still a royal Princess to be protected, comforted, and loved.

Less than a week later, the Chieftain of all those who call themselves “We Who Serve in Secret” came to us in Princess Sarah’s chambers. He smiled at First Lady, and then turned to Sarah.

He spoke kindly to her for a few minutes, but then he knelt before me. From the pocket of his coat he took a small object, and showed it to me. It was a lapel pin identical to the one Carolyn had always worn to show her calling, but it had been embedded in some clear material, and a metal ring had been affixed to it.

He attached it to my collar, the one Sarah had given me when I’d reached my full growth. With a smile, he gave me a scratch behind the ears. “Carry on, Agent Lancelot,” he said. “The United States Secret Service is proud of you.”

I will carry on, no matter how I long for my final rest. I must, for the honor of the Clan and my kind, and in the name of Carolyn, my lost friend. No Kunnang Thai has ever left a duty undone, and that is a tradition which must never be broken.

END