Chloë

by Marcus LaGrone

  “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!”

  6

  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. Nothi
ng 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!”

  7

  Chloë stood in front of a mirror in her bedroom back at the house as she spun back and forth in one of her new dresses; its flow was perfect. It bounced and lifted with every turn but fluttered expertly back into place ever so elegantly. She had worn finer fabrics, but quite honestly she had never worn anything that had fit her so perfectly. There was a level of art and craftsmanship that was present here that was sorely missing back home. “It is gorgeous,” beamed Chloë. “They all are. Machine sewn garments have nothing on these.”

  Heather nodded, “That is what happens when you have people who take pride in the work for its quality, not its speed.”

  “Indeed. I noticed the stitching was uneven, but symmetric. That threw me for a loop. But now wearing the garments I can understand: the density of the stitching changed to help control the stretch of the fabric. That is an amazing level of detail and understanding!”

  Heather nodded with a smile, “There are many lowlanders who visit just for clothes shopping. I think you are starting to see why.”

  “Yes. Yes indeed.” Chloë suddenly frowned, “I hate to ask, but how expensive were these?”

  Heather cut loose with one of her signature raspberries, “If Dad said ‘don’t worry’ we don’t worry. Besides, I think they’ve been emptying the pockets of everyone they deport.”

  “Was there a problem with those other three?”

  “Don’t know. We can ask Dad later. But I seriously doubt there was a problem on our end. If they leave when asked nicely, they get to keep all their teeth.”

  “This is just a side of you I would never have suspected, Heather. Not exactly brutal but…”

  “Mercenary?” Heather offered with a grin. “Hey, I’m happy to be sunshine and roses. But I’m not going to roll over and play dead if someone is causing problems.”

  Chloë smiled weakly, “I, on the other hand, was instructed, trained, to roll over and do as I was instructed without pausing and without question all of my life.”

  “Didn’t take as well as they would have hoped for,” grinned Heather. “Be proud of what you are and the fact that you did finally take a stand.”

  “I’m not so sure if it was I who took a stand or if it was just that my governess felt sorry for me,” murmured Chloë.

  “Don’t sell yourself short, even with your governess’ support, packing up and leaving home and traveling 7000 light years away isn’t something you do lightly.”

  Chloë tried to smile, “Yeah, I guess so. Although it wasn’t much ‘packing up,’ I only made it out in my nightgown!”

  They both had a laugh at that. Chloë suddenly noticed Heather’s ear was twitching, “You all right? Your ear is twitching.”

  Heather laughed, “Sorry about that, just straining to listen. My dad came in the front door and I was trying to tell if he was coming up here or not. He likes sneaking quite a bit, and I don’t like getting caught.”

  “Do I really sneak that much?” suddenly asked Llewellyn from the hallway.

  Chloë’s fur spiked on end before she broke out laughing, “Yes, yes that is considered sneaking!”

  Llewellyn was grinning broadly, “The dresses seem to suit you both quite well.”

  “Yes indeed, sir, eh.. Llewellyn! They did an excellent job and it is a perfect fit. They seem to take quite a lot of pride in their work.”

  Llewellyn smiled broadly, “You should tell them that in person. They always like hearing that. Especially from lowlanders. Everyone there seems to take pleasure in precision over accuracy, if you know what I mean.”

  Chloë nodded, “Then I will be sure to do that next time I’m in town. What of the others that Tobias was going to confront? I hope things went more smoothly than the first.”

  Llewellyn looked hurt, “Um, I thought Heather did an awesome job. Wasn’t that smooth enough?” He fired back to his own question with a broad grin, “And yes, the others went smoothly. Two were detained, the third left willingly. I think he realized things were going to be a bit rougher than he planned.”

  “Um, sir, may I ask a question?”

  Llewellyn just stared at Chloë like she had lost her mind and stuck out his t
ongue.

  “Oh,” giggled Chloë, “Llewellyn, may I ask a question?”

  “That’s much better,” he replied with a broad grin.

  “I know Heather is really awesome in hand-to-hand, and I imagine you are even more so, but how can you afford to be so cavalier around firearms? I’ve heard mention of Live Steel in passing, but honestly I’m none the wiser.”

  “Do you want the touchy-feely answer, or the overly technical answer?” Llewellyn asked with a gentle grin. That was nice—no sarcasm, no melodrama.

  “I guess a bit of both, actually.”

  “Excellent choice! Heather, hand me a short sword!”

  Heather held out her hand over her father’s and then winked at Chloë. There was a sharp blast of blue sparks that erupted from her hand in a blink of the eye formed into the outline of a simple, double edged short sword. Just as quickly the blue sparks were gone and the blade fell from Heather’s hand into Llewellyn’s.

  “Whoa!” exclaimed Chloë, “That is both impressive and a little spooky!”

  Llewellyn offered a fatherly smile, “The humans have basically theorized that the weapons are stored in a ‘pocket dimension’ that is just slightly out of phase with our own. Items can be brought back and forth across this boundary and provide a method for storing a vast array of items. We commonly say ‘Live Steel,’ but that is just a name. The items can be wood, metal, liquid, just about anything that the operator is comfortable with. The blue sparks are an artifact of the two dimensions racing past each other and then slowing, giving off optical radiation in the process.”

  “Čerenkov radiation,” chimed Chloë, happy to understand at least one aspect of what was going on.

  “Exactly!” smiled Llewellyn.

  Heather stuck her tongue out, “Bleah! Physics… heavy on the ‘icks’”

  Chloë giggled. No matter what was going on Heather, always seemed to be able to make her laugh.