A Throne in the Heights

I scrambled up from the armchair cushion straight onto the high wooden bookshelf, climbing rung by rung until the entire slumbering room lay beneath me. 'Nobody move a single muscle down there, darlings, or your supreme ruler will have to pay a visit!' I chimed in a sweet, soaring falsetto, nudging a heavy brass bookend aside with the flat of my claw to clear a nook. Squeezing snugly between two thick leather-bound novels, I locked my limbs tight and dropped into absolute, unblinking silence, staring down into the darkness to make sure the quiet stayed broken-proof.