by Isaac Crowe
“Any lacarnian that chose to live in the city had to have their claws removed. It is an old law meant to bring peace in the villages. Now it only gives the Protectors more power. In any event, the inspectors were tasked with verifying, and if necessary, removing the lacarna’s claws along with keeping a written record of all whom they admitted.”
Eve starred at Mr. Penna in shock. “That’s what you did?”
Neysa put her finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”
Eve huffed, but shut her mouth, allowing Mr. Penna to continue.
“Unlike your claws, Evangeline, the claws of those that came to the city were brittle and of little use. Few even had them. The collars are what they hated, and rightfully so.”
“We placed the collars around their neck to show they were certified by us. A strange stone mined from the southern mountains was then split in two with half placed in the collar and half given to the lacarna’s partner, or kept with us. This stone had the odd property of pulling itself together when its pieces came near each other. This gave us a way to validate who the lacarna belonged to.”
Eve, about to burst, raised her hand.
“Yes, Evangeline?”
“I can’t believe anyone would want to live in the city bad enough to give up their claws, even if they weren’t that effective. And when did the collars change?”
Mr. Penna sighed. “You are as impatient as Maxwell. The collars I will get to. As for the lacarna, I often wondered what they left behind when they entered the city. I eventually got the chance to find out.”
“The law provided a way for the Protectors to know how many lacarna lived in the city and the larger outlying villages, but not how many lived out in the woodlands. Lord Avram, the leader of the Protectors, feared the lacarna would one day start another war with the humans. In order to properly defend the city against such an event, he wanted a better idea of their numbers. To that extent, they decided to survey the surrounding woods.”
“I was chosen to administer the survey. I believed their concerns unwarranted, but I could not pass on the chance to see the lacarna in their natural environment. To top it off, they assigned Lieutenant Laskaris, a friend of mine for several years, as my escort. I began to have dreams of a grand adventure.”
Mr. Penna sighed as Eve raised her hand. “Yes.”
“Why’d they pick you and Mr. Laskaris?”
“They picked me for my meticulous record-keeping. They chose Peter for his reputation. He had spent the last few years patrolling the outlying towns, settling any dispute between the lacarna and humans fairly. The lacarna grew to trust him despite their dislike for the Protectors. They knew that trust would take us to places few humans could go.”
“We spent a couple of months traveling from village to village before we met a lacarnian messenger from a village on the edge of the Urania forest. Peter told her of the Protectors’ concerns. She assured us that, as long as the humans left them alone, the lacarna had no intention of starting any conflict. To confirm this, she agreed to take us to her village, Xylia, where we could talk to her chief.”
“I must admit, I was rather disappointed when we arrived at Xylia. I had expected the exotic, only to find a mostly normal village. A few homes were constructed out of limbs, vines, and such, but they had made several out of logs as well. Apparently, several humans lived in the village with the lacarna.”
“The messenger brought us to the chief who also assured us that the lacarna had no intention of any violence against the humans. The fact that they had allowed several humans to join their village backed their claims in our eyes. At that point, Peter decided we had surveyed enough.”
With Mr. Penna starring tiredly at her, Eve raised her hand. “Weren’t you supposed to survey all the villages?”
Mr. Penna chuckled. “Peter played a little loose with the rules sometimes. Not in a criminal way, mind you, but he believed the Protectors had a tendency to go overboard at times. That is one of the reasons he got along so well with the lacarna. He found the very idea of them mounting an attack ridiculous.”
Eve laughed. “That kinda sounds like Max.”
Mr. Penna shook his head. “More than you know. I felt the same mind you, but I wanted to continue in hopes of learning more about the lacarnian culture. When I spoke of this to the Chief, he kindly invited us to spend as long as we wanted in the village. In fact, she pointed us to a rather excitable girl that had a great capacity for talking.”
Neysa crossed her arms. “Hey now, you don’t need to go adding the extra commentary. I had just moved out of the forest and never met outsiders.”
Eve, in surprise, skipped raising her hand this time. “You mean you first met Neysa in that village?”
“Indeed. She was the first lacarnian either Peter or I had really sat down to spend time with. We spent an entire day with her as she told us, in detail, of her village deeper in the forest. Xylia had little in common with it.”
Having never heard about the lacarnian villages, Eve’s excitement got the better of her.
“What was different, Neysa? How did they live in the forest? Why did you leave?”
Neysa uncrossed her arms, smiling. “I left for the adventure. You see, the lacarna built the outer villages to give them a chance to interact with humans and learn more about them. In order to attract the humans to the villages they tried to adapt their lifestyle by building a small log inn and opening a trading shop containing plants and animals only found in the forest,” Neysa giggled. “We even wore clothing.”
Eve’s eyes grew wide. “You mean you didn’t in forest villages?”
Neysa rocked back in her chair, laughing. “Not a thing. lacarnian’s are almost all female and humans weren’t allowed in. We didn’t see the point. After all, clothing is too restrictive, don’t you think?”
Eve pulled at her shirt. “Well, yeah. It itches too, but I’ve never had the option to go without them.”
Mr. Penna shook his head. “Neysa is distracting you with silly little details.”
Neysa crossed her arms. “Fine, you continue then.”
“You see, Evangeline, the bodies of the lacarna living in the forest were different from the others.”
Eve tilted her head. “Different? How?”
“The lacarna that lived in the forest had tougher skin, hair that was thicker, closer to fur, and their arms and legs were more evenly proportioned to their body. Tell me, Evangeline, did you notice any differences between you and the lacarna in the city?”
Eve thought for a moment then looked directly into Mr. Penna’s eyes. “Y…yes, most looked more like humans that had grown ears and a tail and not as much like a cat that had become more human.” She paused for several seconds. “Mr. Penna, are you saying I’m from the forest?” Eve shook her head. “You don’t know that for sure, do you?”
Mr. Penna smiled. “The information Neysa provided fascinated me. I wanted to go see one of the forest villages for myself and record how they lived. Neysa; however, said few humans were ever allowed to enter them. At the end of the day, I headed off to the hut the Chief had provided us, thrilled with all the information, but disappointed that I could not go deeper into the forest.”
Eve planted her hands on her hips. “Hey! You didn’t answer my question.”
Mr. Penna held up his hand to stop Eve. “No, I did not. We have not gotten that far in the story yet.”
Eve crossed her arms. “Hmph!”
Mr. Penna lowered his hand. “The next morning, Neysa woke Peter and I before the sun had even risen. She could barely contain herself, enthusiastically telling us that she had received permission to lead us to her home village. I could not believe my luck.”
“We left immediately and arrived at her village the early the next day. When I saw it, I stood speechless. I could never have imagined such a place. It had no houses, huts, or other crafted structures, at least that I could see. Then, Neysa pointed to the trees. Far off the ground, the branches and leaves formed small, na
tural shelters. She told us that the lacarna lived in the open, only taking shelter during storms.”
“Neysa then led us straight to the center of the village, something that made me rather nervous. I asked Neysa if we should barge in without any warning, to which she informed me, in a rather smug fashion, that we in no way traveled quietly enough to surprise the village.”
Neysa broke out in laughter. “I couldn’t believe the noise you two made. They probably heard us when we started out the morning before.”
Mr. Penna cleared his throat. “The Chief of the village greeted us, with Neysa informing her about our wish to see how the lacarna lived. The Chief gave her approval, even inviting us to stay a few days. She said that as long as we did not interfere we could talk to whomever we wanted to, whenever we wanted.
“We stayed two days before the Chief politely insisted that we leave, apologizing for the short stay. We did not argue or ask why, as she had already given us a great privilege. We thanked her, along with the other lacarnians we had spent time with, and prepared to leave the next day.
“Neysa had us up and ready to go early in the morning. We reached the edge of the village clearing when we noticed the arrival of another party. I remember them well, as I have not seen another sight like it. First, there was an adult male lacarnian, a rarity among their race. With him was an adult female who held the hand of a very young lacarnian girl that stood between them. Finally, a few feet behind the lacarnians, stood a human girl of about nine or ten.
“I was curious as to who they were and turned to Neysa to ask if she knew. I found her as fascinated by the sight as I. At the sound of my voice, she jumped, told us we needed to leave immediately and ushered us out.
“From there, Peter and I returned to Moenia where we filed our report on the information we had gathered. I went back to processing lacarnians and Peter left for patrol duty.”
Mr. Penna stretched his arms and legs. “It is time for a break.”
“Ahh, Mr. Penna, you haven’t gotten to me yet.”
“I will in due time, Evangeline, but for now, please help Neysa and I clean up this mess.”
“Okay.
Eve jumped to her feet to help Neysa. I’m starting to understand Max’s frustration with Mr. Penna. He really does draw things out as much as possible.
Together, they cleared away the mess left over from the meal. Spook, having already done her part by eating the crumbs, climbed onto Eve’s head for a nap.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Neysa stacked several blankets in a corner of the room. She, along with Mr. Penna, positioned themselves on the blankets so that their backs leaned against the wall. Eve flopped down, stomach first, facing them, on her own stack.
“Okay, Mr. Penna, every thing’s put away. This time you can’t stop until after you get to my part.”
Mr. Penna’s eyes twinkled. “Do not worry, Evangeline. I will finish my story this time.”
Mr. Penna paused a moment as if to remember where he had left off, then started in with the rest of his story.
“Several months after our return to Moenia, I saw a surge in the number of lacarna that entered into the city. With them came stories of bandits that had chased them out of the human villages, forcing them into the protection of the capital. Not only did this tax our inspection and registry system, but it became a challenge to find places for them to stay. At first, we found empty houses for them, putting five or six in each. When those ran out, we invited human citizens to come and hire them as help with the condition they also board them. Unfortunately, the process was not well thought out. Before long, it turned into an auction house.”
Mr. Penna shook his head. A slight tremor shot through his body.
“I despised the auction house, but knew of little I could do. The bandit attacks gave us little choice, or so I first believed. Then, one day, Neysa came into the processing center. When I saw her, I wondered why the bandits would bother with a lacarnian village on the outskirts of the forest. I wanted to talk to her and find out what happened, but one of the other inspectors got to her before I could, sending her to the holding area to await her turn in the auction.
“That night I had trouble sleeping as I wondered why Neysa was in Moenia. The next morning I informed my superior I could not be at my post due to an illness. I then slipped off to the auction house.
“I knew what went on at the auction house, but I had never been there myself. It broke my heart to actually see lacarnians sold to the highest bidder with no regards to age or family members. When they brought Neysa out, a chill ran down my spine. I decided immediately to buy her, despite the disapproval I would receive from the Protectors. I owed her that much for the kindness she had shown Peter and me.
“The deal done, I took Neysa straight home and questioned her. She told me that bandits had indeed attacked the village. She noted a few strange things though. First, they were very well armed, odd for thieves who spend most of their time in hiding. Second, they took nothing, instead burning the village to the ground. Third, guards from the Protectors arrived to escort the lacarnians to Moenia, even those that wanted to rejoin the villages in the forest.
“My talk with Neysa made me suspicious. From that point on, I paid very close attention to the lacarnians I processed. To my growing concern, more and more of them had the appearance of those that lived near or in the forest. Mystified as to why bandits would attack the forest lacarna who held nothing valuable, I began to keep a separate log of those I processed, hoping I might find something to piece the puzzle together.
“Then, one day, the Protectors escorted an unusual group of lacarna into the city. The physical features, typical of the forest lacarna, were much more pronounced. Some appeared more beast than human, almost as if a panther decided one day it would walk on two legs instead of four. Upon inspection, I also found them to have fully functional claws that could easily strip flesh from bone, far from the fragile, worthless ones I was used to seeing.
“Having not seen lacarnians such as these before, I could only conclude that they must have come from deep within the forest. A little girl I saw standing in line confirmed my conclusion. I recognized her in an instant as the lacarnian girl I had seen in the forest village. Sadly, the two adults from that day were not anywhere in sight.
“The stories of bandit attacks no longer made sense. A group of bandits could never penetrate so deeply into the forest. If somehow they did, the lacarna could easily drive them off. No, it would have taken a large, organized force to drive them out.
“Whatever the truth, I knew these forest lacarnians could not stay in the city. They could never adjust to such life, and I feared the humans would mistreat them for their beastlike appearance. Without thinking it through, I falsified the records of any I processed, marking them as clawless and having come from human villages. I hoped if I made them less of a threat I would have an easier time getting them out of the city, though I knew not how. In case I formed a plan, I made duplicates of their papers for my own possession, keeping their true identity in my personal logs.
“That night, the image of the little lacarnian girl haunted my sleep. I woke the next morning with the determination to get her out of the city one way or another, even though it would draw suspicion on me for buying yet another lacarnian.
I left for the auction house and arrived to find the place filled with people, making it difficult to move around. At some point, I found myself stuck behind a young couple discussing their anger with the treatment of the lacarna. Curious, I introduced myself and asked why they had come. They informed me they came to the city to adopt a child as they could not bear any of their own. The orphanage; however, had only a few children, none of which the caretakers would allow the couple to take. The two lived in a tiny village across the dead lands, a place the caretakers deemed too dangerous for the children. On their way out of the city they saw the crowd at the auction house and slipped in to see the commotion.
“With the auction s
tarting, I took a chance at the opportunity before me. I mentioned to the couple that, on occasion, a lacarnian child would be sold and the Protectors had no rules as to who could buy them. I assured them that such a child would thrive in the outlands, more so than any human child.
“The idea of purchasing a child in an auction appalled them. For a moment, I thought the lady would hit me for making such a suggestion. Their reaction left me no doubt that they would treat a lacarnian with the care and respect your people deserved.
“Desperate not to let them go, I explained how they could give a child a much better life in their village. I told them of the mistreatment the lacarna often faced in Moenia. I even offered to give them the money to make the purchase.
“No matter my tactic, I could not convince them. The man pushed me aside to leave, but his wife stopped him. The auctioneers had brought out the little girl. I could almost see their hearts break at the sight of her. The poor thing was ragged and scared. When the bidding started, I offered my money pouch to them. They hesitated at first, but, as they watched, some brute of a man took the high bid. With one last nudge from me, the man grabbed my pouch and bid until he won.
“After the sale, I went straight home and began writing letters to every acquaintance I had outside of Moenia. I told them of the auctions and of what I knew of the lacarna people. I offered to help finance any that would come. I also made counterfeit ownership papers of those I found homes for, in case I misjudged someone’s character.
“Less than a month later, Peter, clearly on edge, appeared at my home late at night. He stated that in two days he would take his son and leave Moenia for good. He asked if I would join him. In answer, I told him everything I had done, arguing that I could not leave with so many lacarnians to help. Upon hearing my tale, he said, with no uncertainty, that I must leave. He warned that, because of our friendship, the Protectors would be watching me closely. If they found out what I was doing, they would arrest me.