Chloë (4 page)

Chloë
smiled at Maria as she started on her second round of breakfast.  Maria
and Gwen were wonderful cooks and while the previous day’s breakfast had
felt
wonderful, this one
tasted
wonderful.  She sat and ate with Heather
in the kitchen along with the pride of thirteen-year-olds.  “So, you are
Lily,” began Chloë as she pointed to the young, solid white one.  “And you
two,” pointing to the twin pair of girls with solid black fur, “are Lilac and
Violet.”

“Correct,”
grinned the pair in unison.  “But which of us,” began one, “is which?”
finished the second.

Chloë
just laughed, “I have no idea.” 

The
pair just glowed as they returned to the food at hand.

“That
means you two are Rose and Iris,” smiled Chloë.  Those two had normal
coats, unlike the solid black coats and hair of Lilac and Violet, Dawns as they
were.  Not only were their coats of the more common variety but the pair’s
markings were just like Chloë’s, much like a snow leopard with clean black
rosettes.  “And no, I’m not going to guess which is which.”

The
pair just laughed and went about their meal.  “At least we have stable
names.  I think the triplets actually swap names.  They are such a
silly set of Aurorans.”

“Aurorans?”
asked Chloë, she was unfamiliar with the description.

“Oh! 
Sorry about that,” offered Heather.  “I should have filled you in! 
Aurorans refer to all girls who have a solid white fur coat and hair.  The
naming comes from the first known one, a girl named Aurora, some five hundred
years ago.  Likewise, solid black Taiks are now called Dawns.  My
older sister is the first known one and the description comes from her name,
Dawn.”

“I
have to confess, I have never seen Aurorans or Dawns until I came here,”
replied Chloë.

Heather
shrugged as she smiled, “Hey, even here on Afon they are all very rare. 
Unheard of in the lowlands, only to be found around here.  Well, save for
Moira.”

“But
Moira’s mother was from the Highlands,” countered Lily.  “She just spent
the first part of her life offworld.”

Heather
nodded, “True!  I forgot her mother was from the East Black Forest.”

“Speaking
of Moira, did you see how Father was hanging off of her last night at dinner?”
joked Rose and Iris speaking alternately.

Heather
just grinned broadly, “I thought everyone knew that already, she’s due in
Spring.”

“Another
sibling?” asked Chloë.  “You have a huge family already!”

“Yep! 
And just so you don’t get any odd ideas, the family is large even by Highland
standards,” laughed Heather.

“Okay,
I have to ask,” joked Chloë.  “Are you always this giddy?”

“Oh
no,” replied Lily.  “Heather is in an evil blue funk.  You should be
around her when she is in a good mood.  Positively frightening!”

They
all had a good laugh at that.

“Heather,
are you up for taking Chloë into town?  Maggie needs to talk with her
today,” interrupted Maria.

“Sure,
no problem.  Well, I hope there is no problem.  Is something up?”

Maria
shook her head and smiled, “Just procedural.  Nothing to worry about.”

Chloë
nodded and smiled at Heather, “After last night I expected something needed to
be said.”  No one had even mentioned the previous night’s activities. 

“What
happened last night?” asked Lily.  “Seriously, whatever happened, I slept
right through.”

“Unwanted
guests,” offered Maria.  “Father, Gavin and Heather took care of it.”

“I’m
sorry I screamed last night,” offered Chloë.  “I just didn’t know what was
going on.”

Heather
blew a raspberry, “Dad loves the melodramatic.  He was hoping not to wake
anyone.  Was it the light from outside that woke you up?”

“That
and the footsteps on the roof,” replied Chloë with a shudder.

“Yeah,
well one of them fell backwards off the roof.  He looked terrible
afterwards, but that is what people like that deserve.  He should have
minded his own business.”

Breakfast
finished with happier thoughts. This time Chloë was on dish drying detail,
rather than washing, and everything went much more smoothly.

“Don’t
forget to swing by the dress shop on the way back,” reminded Maria.  “They
should have some more things ready for Chloë.”

“No
problem, Mom, that should be fun,” grinned Heather as the pair headed out the
front door.

Two
days ago Chloë wasn’t sure if she could stand the sight of another tree. 
Now, fed, refreshed, and in pleasant company, she adored the trees.  Tall
and proud, fresh and full of life.  The birds, flying squirrels and the rest
of the plethora of life were a welcome contrast to home.  Home.  She
hadn’t given it a second thought in almost a week.  She was curious what
the elders were saying, what of her father and her suitor?  Most assuredly
they were mad at her governess but were the rest scared, upset, or merely
annoyed at the inconvenience of her escape?  She sniffed the forest
air.  Whatever their emotions, she was free. No longer a puppet to be
bounced around at will, dangled as a prize, shown off like a trophy.

“Next
time something silly is going to go down,” started Heather, “I’ll be sure to
fill you in.  No need for you to panic and all.  Dad just didn’t
think you would sleep very well if you knew that there were people watching the
place.”

Chloë
offered a feeble laugh, “He was right, of course.  I would have just laid
there staring at the ceiling until it was all over.  I’m just glad none of
them had guns.”

Heather
laughed, “Well actually two of the three that came in my window had guns, as
did the three outside watching.  Gavin took care of the ones outside. One
of the guys fell out of my window backwards and the other guy got whacked over
his head with his own weapon.  They were professionals, just not very good
ones.  Okay, that and Gavin and Dad just thoroughly outclassed them all.”

Chloë
was taken aback at the comments of firearms, but it was Heather’s cavalier
attitude that blew her away, “I saw you go toe-to-claw with those three outside
your door.  And your father just stood there.  Um, that’s a little
creepy.”

Heather
just laughed, “If Father thought I was in danger he never would have allowed
it.”

“They
were a head taller than you and easily half again heavier!”

“Yeah,
and they stunk!  You saw them go down.  No trouble at all.  Not
very often I get a chance to spar at full speed and power; that’s why Dad let
me take them.”

“‘Let
you?’ as in you asked?” asked Chloë.

“Well,
yeah, I had to ask. Dad wouldn’t just throw me into a situation like
that.  I don’t know, I was just kinda upset about everything you’d been
through and wanted to do my part to help.”

Chloë
laughed with fine tears being held in check. “I’m deeply honored and flattered
that you wanted to help me.  Just please, don’t put yourself at risk on my
account.”

“Why
not?” fired back Heather with the closest to serious expression Chloë had ever
seen on her.  “I thought that is what friends are for?  Besides, like
I said, if Dad thought I was in
real
danger he wouldn’t have let me
fight them.”

Chloë
hugged Heather, “Thank you, but I still hold you were being silly…”

“Me,
silly?” beamed Heather.  “What are the odds of that?  Come on, let’s
get the rest of the way to the town and see what Maggie wants.”

Heather
knocked on the door outside of the mayor’s office.  Their trip to town had
been pleasant enough, but now was the time for seriousness. 

“Come
in,” called the mayor.

The
pair swiftly entered the room and closed the door behind them.  Chloë
stood there trying not to look nervous, but she could tell her fur was already
starting to crawl.

Maggie,
the mayor, did her best not to laugh as she looked up, “Oh my word,
Chloë!  Calm down!  You look like you have got static worse than a
mid-winter’s day.  Sit!  Both of you.  Relax, Chloë. 
Things are fine.”

Chloë
clumsily found her way to a chair.  She was slightly relieved at the
mayor’s reassurances, but doubt still hung in the air.  “You wished to see
me?”

“Yes. 
The nine men who were brought in last night were able to confirm the delicate
nature of your situation.  Indeed, the Altshea Consul here in town was
outraged, not just at those men’s action, but the situation that you were
in.  We have already gotten confirmations from the five Altshea
prefectures and two cantons that border the Highlands that they are ready to
legally defend you should those back at your home decide to press the
issue.  The consul is with the escort taking those nine men back to
Altshea territories and I’m sure he will want to meet you when he returns to
reinforce the commitment the Altshea government has to protecting you.”

 Chloë
finally started to relax, “That is wonderful to hear, ma’am.  Although I
confess I’m still deeply embarrassed that I put the Stratford family in
jeopardy last night.”

Maggie
just laughed, “Gavin had been shadowing them since they entered our realm. And
the baron could have just as easily cut them down as captured them; he wanted
to catch them with their hand in the cookie jar, as it were.”

“Baron?”
asked Chloë with some confusion.

“My
dad,” offered Heather, “He’s the baron of these three dales.  Um, it’s
probably not like where you are from.  A baron around here is strictly a
military, not political, title.”

“So
I have not been addressing him correctly,” suddenly Chloë was nervous about her
social failures.

“Uh,
no.  Unless we are invaded or at war, he’s just my dad, Llewellyn. 
He helps train the troops and the militia and is responsible for the conduct of
the Rangers.  But he’s still just Llewellyn otherwise,” replied Heather.

Chloë
shook her head, “That is so very different than at home…”

“You
are in the Highlands, young lady,” mused Maggie, “A lot of things are very
different than where you were, back at the palace.”

Chloë
tried to let it roll, twice now that had floated by.  Hopefully it
wouldn’t lead to more questions.  Chloë was somewhat relieved that the
mayor seemed embarrassed by the
faux pas
.  “So things are all taken
care of, no more reasons to worry?”

Maggie
smiled, “Well mostly.  It was made known to us that there are other
parties hoping to return you to your old home.  Quite a reward, in fact,
has been put out.  But the locals as well as the neighboring Altshea and
Kulpgurie too, I might add, have pledged their support in making sure that any
further action against you is both futile and thoroughly unwelcome.  The
skies over the Highlands have become controlled airspace and the Shukurae
themselves have diverted assets to help enforce the blockade.”

Shukurae. 
There they came up again.  And once again they were brought up in a
positive light.  Oh, so many things were different.  Chloë’s head
started swimming.  “So this might happen again?”

“If
it does, I’m sure Llewellyn will make sure it ends far more poorly.  He is
like that,” Maggie offered sternly.  She fought to bring things to a more
positive light, “With the pressure from the central Altshea government, things
should be smoothed over very quickly.”

“I
do hope so,” murmured Chloë.

“Keep
your chin up, lass.  You are in good company.  Now shoo!  Go
enjoy the day; no sense in hanging around here.”

Heather
opened the door and beckoned Chloë to follow, “Come on, what she said. 
Let’s go make a positive day of it!”

Chloë
was hard pressed not to smile back at Heather; she was so contagious! 
“Yes!  Let’s!”

As
they hit the streets, Heather tucked her head as she muttered, “The guys last
night said they were trying to grab ‘the princess.’  Don’t hold that
little slip against Maggie.  I already knew.  Don’t worry, save for
Dad no, one else knows.  Well, Gavin might too, but he’s a good sort; he
won’t talk it around.”

Chloë’s
fur fluttered briefly as she tried to keep it under control, “Thank you for not
telling others.  I don’t mean for there to be a level of subterfuge; I
just want to be able to start a new life without the old baggage.”

Heather
nodded, “Understood.  Consider it dropped.”  Suddenly she beamed,
“So, where to first?  The dress shop or the confectioneries?”  

“Um,
we just ate breakfast…”

“And
that means what?” replied Heather with an evil grin.  “It’s not like it’s
going to spoil our lunch!”

Chloë
just laughed, “I’m following you!”

Chloë
enjoyed her puff pastry as the pair sat by a water fountain in the middle of
the street.  There were lots of fountains up and down the lanes of the
small town.  Chloë’s first choice of words would have been ‘quaint.’ 
Its simple stone and timber frame buildings all arranged in tidy little
rows.  It was compact but very comfortable and very clean.  Chloë had
visited other such simple towns back home; all of them seemed to be running on
the ragged edge of disaster when it came to things like sanitation.  This
town was as clean and tidy as it was charming.  She enjoyed the break
watching parents with their children as they went about their daily chores.

“We
skipping school or something?” Chloë finally asked.

Heather
just smiled, “I’m not.  Most book learning is usually done by the time you
are fifteen or sixteen and then it is off to find an apprenticeship or start
helping in a store or family.  Gwen, for example, did both.  She
started off apprenticed with a midwife, mainly because she was so very good
with little children and not so much in other areas.  Don’t get me wrong,
she is awesome on the mandolin and violin, but not the type to teach or work on
her own.  She ended up moving in to our house as a nanny that winter when
the five descended on us.  A year later she married
in.”    

Chloë
nodded, “Gwen does seem like such a wonderfully friendly person.  She’s
very observant, just a very quiet sort.”

“Less
weird now that you know her better?”

Chloë
laughed, “Very much so.  I’m very disappointed in my own first impression
of her.  It did her no justice.”

“That’s
okay.  You gave her a chance to have a second impression, and that’s the
good part.”

“So
what of you,” asked Chloë with a smile.  “Apprenticing, working or what?”

Heather
laughed and her fur danced, “Oh, I’ve been through three apprenticeships
already.  Longest lasted four months.  I’m still trying to figure out
what to do.  Well, on Wednesday and Friday nights, I teach
dance.   Not quite broad enough to make a living at it.”

“Your
entire family seems to ooze music,” laughed Chloë.  “That must be
wonderful.”

“Ivy
toured off world for two years before she was married.  Hit over a hundred
Altshea and Kuplgurie worlds and colonies doing piano concerts.  She’s
beyond good.  My aunts on my dad’s side… well, my dad’s younget brother’s
First and Second Mothers both were lowland musicians before they moved up here. 
Zoe, the First Mother is also fantastic on piano, while Tatiana, the Second
Mother of that family taught me some off-world dance as well as the local
stuff.”

“You
aren’t apprenticed to a dance instructor here?”

Heather
flashed a toothy grin, “I was, for two months.  At that point I was better
than her, had sucked her dry, and was better at teaching new people to dance,
too!  Oh, that went over so terribly well!”

“Wow! 
You must be quite a natural,” laughed Chloë.

“Yep
yep.  Two things I’ve always excelled at were dance and sparring. 
Not much of a career to be had teaching hand-to-hand though.”

“Well,
I wouldn’t mind learning to be able to defend myself.  Something I never
was exposed to growing up!”

“That,”
grinned Heather, “sounds like a lot of fun.  That and we need to get
Father to teach you Live Steel.”

Live
Steel.  There it came up again.  Oh well, Chloë was tired of
questions for the day.  That one was just going to have to wait. 
“So, to the dress shop?”

“Indeed!”

The
pair threaded their way through the light traffic back towards a dress shop
they had visited the previous day.  All about them people were busy about
their business, yet frowns seemed few and far between.  And what smiles
were to be found were sincere; everything seemed so much more real than at home. 
This is how people were; they weren’t putting on an act for Chloë.  Even
the frowns seemed nicer than the ones at home; they were honest.

Heather
did a sharp turn in front of the entry to the dress shop, spinning Chloë around
in the process so they came face to face with a young man who was ruggedly, but
neatly dressed.  He seemed a little shocked at the sudden face to face
meeting.

“Hi! 
You’ve been following us for the last fifteen minutes.  Ducking in an out
of alleys, and then trailing behind.  If you are just too shy to talk to
one of us, I do understand.  But lost in your own world like that is no
way to live.  Come on, talk!  You quite thoroughly have the attention
of two lovely young ladies, so now is your chance!”

Chloë
swallowed hard; she had been around Heather enough already to pick out the
sarcasm in her voice.  Something wasn’t right.

“Oh,
come, come.  Talk to us already.  Don’t let your accent embarrass
you.  You aren’t just a lowlander, you are an off-worlder as well.  Your
clothes make that much obvious.  Nothing to hide here.”

Chloë’s
fur started to bristle, off-worlder.  Heather was calling down someone
that had been trailing them, face to face, in broad daylight.  She had no
idea how it was going to go…

“You
are indeed both quite lovely young ladies,” came the response with a thick
accent.  “I did not mean to scare you two, I was just enchanted and did
not want to make a scene before I knew more about you both.”

Heather
just grinned and all but glowed as she tucked her head flattered by the
comment.  She then giggled and hugged the unsuspecting man and nuzzled him
in the chest, “Aww!  Isn’t he so cute!”  She cocked her head at him,
playing out the serious tease, “Well, you go talk to your friends and see if it
is okay and maybe we’ll meet you for lunch!” 

The
man just stood there dumbfounded as his fur rippled, obviously
embarrassed.  His embarrassment turned to shock as Heather nonchalantly
rocked on her feet in front of him and field stripped the pistol she had just lifted
off of him.  She dropped the pieces of the weapon to the ground, but kept
the receiver. 

“You
might want to pick those up.  Don’t want anyone to think you were
littering.  Tobias over there might get mad.”  She nodded to a very
large and very square Taik who was watching the exchange from across the
street.  Heather then tossed the receiver across the street and Tobias
effortlessly plucked it out of the air.  Heather’s grin went broad,
showing off her perfect teeth, “Now go.  Talk to your friends and see if
you want to meet for lunch or if you would just rather leave now, tail tucked
rather than bobbed!”

The
man snarled and reached for Chloë.  Bad move.  Heather had a cheap
shot, and so she took it: a full power knee shot straight into the man’s groin. 
He started to yell out in pain, but Heather stifled his response with a full
body uppercut catching him neatly at the base of the jaw and square into his
larynx.  He fell over backwards, blood flying from his mouth, having
perforated his own tongue.  He started to churn on the ground, trying to
recover from the pain just in time to have Heather kick him square in the face
sending him to the ragged edge of consciousness.  “Don’t stalk girls; it
isn’t nice.  Pervert!”

Heather
dusted herself off as Tobias appeared from across the street and bound the man
behind his back with a serious set of arm-cuffs. 

“You
could have just let me handle it,” offered Tobias professionally.

Heather
grinned, “Aww, now this one is
actually
being cute.  Besides, I
left you the other three.”

“Three?
I only counted two.”  Tobias was annoyed but curious.

“Butcher
shop, book store and the guy down by the leather shop.”

“Leather
shop?  Crap, missed him.  Thanks, Heather.  Give my regards to
your father!”

“Say
‘hi’ to Fiona and Alexis,” she grinned back.

The
two just stared as they watched Tobias off-handedly shoulder the man and walk
down the street.

“And
that self-propelled mountain of flesh is Tobias,” Heather offered
dreamily.  “He’s not much of a talker, but he’s a heck of a looker and a
really nice guy.  He is a shoo in to be the next Chief Constable. 
His wife, Fiona, runs the bookstore.  She’s been blind since birth but has
memorized darn near every book to be found.  Dawn used to help read books
to her, wonderful lady.  Well heck, Alexis is nice too!  Don’t mean
to slight her!”

“So
you stole that guy’s gun when you hugged him?” laughed Chloë.  “That was
marvelous!”

Heather
pouted, or at least tried to, “It is only stealing if you plan to keep
it.  I ‘disarmed’ him.”

Chloë
just grinned, “
Mea culpa
!  I should be thanking you, but standing
here I’m just trying not to laugh my tail into a knot.”

Heather
smiled back, “Hey, a good laugh is always a good thing.  Let’s see if we
can make it those last ten feet and actually get
inside
the dress shop
this time.”

“Let’s!”