A little over a candle mark later Fyn stood in front of a slightly shabby house. "Are you certain about this one?"
:No. Why can't you Valdemarans build a straight road?: Hansa grumbled.
"It's easier to defend a labyrinth." Fyn explained. She looked around until she spotted a street sign. "Ah, we have the right street and that looks to be the right house number."
Hansa looked around. :Who is this fellow?:
Fyn grinned slightly. "He's my lover, not that we have spent much time together."
Hansa made an odd sound, like he was choking.
"That rumour about us is true." Fyn grinned, enjoying his discomfort.
Hansa followed as she headed up to the door. Her knock was answered by a man in his late forties. His steel coloured hair was tired back by a leather thong. Around his eyes were crow's feet. He looked her over sceptically.
"Yes?" He asked rudely.
"Is Gabin here?" Fyn asked. "I need to speak to him."
He stepped back and closed the door. She heard it lock.
:Yup, those Valdemarans are so polite.: Hansa said drily.
Fyn debated waiting and opted not to. Using her Fetching, she unlocked the door. Stepping inside she followed the owner of the house.
"There's this crazy red head asking for you. Could she be one of those prostitutes who leaves children with you?" A gruff, male voice asked.
Fyn smirked slightly. "No, I am his lover."
The looks on the faces of the three men was priceless.
:Oh Vkandis, I can't believe you just said that.: Hansa groaned.
Fyn swung off her cloak, revealing a scandalous amount of cleavage by Valdemaran standards outside of a court to-do or a brothel.
"Gracious Gods." The youngest man muttered.
The eldest looked past her to his open door with a scowl.
Gabin looked ragged, worse than when he had been recovering from a knife wound in his gut, but he smiled when he said her name and crossed the floor to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and searched her eyes for something for a long second. Fyn sensed he was looking for welcome.
Fyn smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He rested his forehead in the crook of her neck. She felt his hands shake slightly. She found herself struggling for words to comfort him.
Fyn managed to manoeuvre him towards his bedroom relatively quickly, telling him she needed him to help remove the corset. She could tell that set off all sorts of wicked thoughts in the minds of the other men but she didn't mind.
It took Gabin and Fyn several minutes to figure out how to get her out of the gown; it was only when she started looking for a knife to cut it off that Gabin found the hook in the back. It took both of them to settle the offending garment over a rickety chair. The corset was folded along with it, or she'd be going home in an indecent state. The long Karsite undergarments were as shrouding as the dress. There were still seven petticoats, a knee length shift, and an undershirt.
"And this is their idea of summer wear." Fyn said in disgust.
Gabin chuckled dutifully.
"Would you care for a back rub?" Fyn offered.
"A what?"
"You've never had a back rub?" Fyn asked. "Get your shirt off and lay face down."
Gabin obeyed her without asking more questions, Fyn took it as a bad sign. She suspected his mind was running in miserable circles and he needed to share those thoughts to break their spell.
After several minutes he finally started to relax as he strong fingers worked the muscles as she often did for Tyree. Finally she dared ask him what was wrong. She debated using her Gift to help him but decided it was not what he needed. The warmth of the room and the rhythmic rubbing lulled him into a relaxed trance. Finally he started to speak. His voice tremored at times as he told the terrible and heartbreaking story. As she listened to him speak of the poisoned little girl she had to bite her lip to keep from crying. Eventually he ran out of things to say.
Fyn hesitated to disturb the silence for several minutes. Eventually she moved so she lay next to him.
"Thanks for coming for a visit." He finally said.
"It's my honour." Fyn assured him.
"How's Keli?"
"As good as can be expected." Fyn muttered.
"You sound like you are ready to break. What's wrong?" Gabin asked and cupped her cheek in one scarred hand. His thumb stroked across her flesh, soothing the quiver of pain that was throbbing inside her.
"I told you how Keli adopted me after I tried to pick her pocket?" Fyn had to force her voice to remain calm.
"Yes."
"Before that I lived with my sister down in Exile's Gate. She was a maid in a grand house until she ended up pregnant. She was let go without her last quarter's pay by the lady of the house. She came home but my mother and father didn't welcome her. They were mean drunks and that night they both went after her. I tried to protect her and end up knocked out for my troubles. When I woke up, my sister had hauled me out of the house. We spent the night hiding in an alley. We tried to go home but our parents told us we were ungrateful wretches and refused to let us in."
Gabin cursed her parents. "It's bastards like that that drove so many children to the safe house, you know?"
"Yes I know." Fyn smiled and rolled onto her back.
"What did you and your sister do?"
"We spent several nights on the street. Thankfully we had a few marketable skills."
"What were they?"
"My parents were thieves and would use my sister, Naia, to scope out houses. Naia was a well-trained lady's maid and at the higher reaches of society a good lady's maid was worth her weight in gold. Naia would be hired away from an employer every few months but not before she learned the location of every safe in the house. A few weeks later my parents would send me in with Naia to rob them blind."
"How old were you?"
"It started with I was six or so. I don't really remember." Fyn admitted. "At first I would just take the goods and run it home but when I was seven or so I was better than Naia at cracking safes so she would keep watch while I would crack the safe. I hit the last house she worked in to get some money and was nearly caught."
"You went in alone?"
"I had to. Naia had some broken ribs. Probably wouldn't have been such a near call if I wasn't so intent on demolishing most of the house. I destroyed every piece of furniture on my way out. Anyways, we rented a room down in Exile's Gate using what we got. Our rooms were robbed the first week, of course."
"So you lived off what you lifted?"
"Basically." Fyn stared at the ceiling. "She wouldn't let me take big risks so I didn't get much. Six moons later, she died giving birth to my nephew. She never gained enough weight. He was sickly so he didn't live."
"Oh." Gabin rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "And now Keli…"
"She's miscarried several times already. The healers are worried. Tris is a wreck."
Gabin looked over at her. "What was your nephew's name?"
"Aian. I wanted him to remember his mother."
"That's a good name." Gabin said with a nod. "I got mine because I wouldn't shut up. I was always gabbin' away. Smidge is short for Smidgeon, a baking term."
Fyn found herself smiling. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." Gabin pulled her close again. "Soon you will be Auntie Fyn again. You just have to keep it together for a little while longer."
"Auntie Fyn. Gods." Fyn wrinkled her nose. "Thanks for listening. I haven't even told Keli what my parents used us for."
"Why not?"
"She has blood so blue it makes the sky pale in comparison. I know she feels guilty for having so much as a child compared to me. I haven't told her it was six moons I was alone on the street, not a couple weeks. I haven't told her about the times my sister sold herself to make enough money to buy bread."
"But you can tell me?"
"That is hardly a tear jerker in the real world. Keli and Tris grew up in the sheltered glass bowl of the nobility, they would react badly."
"Is that why you propositioned me? We have a similar background?"
"No."
"Then why?"
Fyn bit her lip for a second. "I think we have similar reading habits."
"Honestly? Books?"
"Books." Fyn blushed.
Gabin started laughing.
"What is so funny?"
"Smidge and Tyber were teasing me earlier that I always expect to find everything in a book. I didn't think you were a bookish person. Oh, wait, one of those books you left for me when I was at the Healers was a history written by a Naia Tyree."
Fyn's cheeks heated.
"You wrote the book, didn't you? A history?" Gabin sat up and stared at her. "It was about the true story behind some old songs."
"I got interested in the stories behind songs when I was in Bardic." Fyn shrugged.
Gabin pondered that for a minute or two. "I am sleeping with a genuine author." He sounded absurdly pleased with that bit of information.
Fyn was helping Tris move the furniture out of her room when the first wailing cry on an infant made them both jump and drop the dresser, breaking off one leg.
Tris ran his hands through his ice white hair and stared at the door. "Do you think I will be welcome now?"
Tris had been chased out again when the Healers realized his fear was affecting Keli. Apparently it was a common problem in lifebonded pairs even when one wasn't empathic.
"Tris, you stay here, I will check. Talia told you to stay out here." Fyn hurried to the door and opened it slowly. Talia was on the other side of the door waiting for her; she'd been shielding the room against the anxious feelings of Tris.
"You can tell him he has nothing to worry about." Talia told her. "And he can come in now."
Karlee was present in the room as well as a senior Healer, Keli, and a swaddled infant. Karlee hurried over when Fyn was swamped with such relief her knees nearly gave out. "Fyn, sit and breathe, for the love of all the gods! Even Heralds need to breathe!"
"Tris, come here!" Keli called with an exultant but weary expression.
Fyn and Tris quickly joined her on the bed, reminding Fyn of all the times she had crawled in to join them when she was little.
"I think he looks like a Rodry." Tris announced.
"No." Keli said firmly. "His name is Aian."
"What?" Fyn yelped.
"I figure he will have enough to live up to with parents like us and an aunt like you that he deserves his own name, free of ties to legends." Keli explained as she cradled the tiny infant.
"Why is his hair white?" Fyn asked.
"It will darken, that is normal for Adept mothers." Keli explained. "Gods I am tired."
Fyn kissed Keli's cheek. "I will let you three be. Someone has to finish the nursery."
She left Karlee and the other Healer deal with the mess of the birth and preceded Talia from the room.
"I'd send Jemmy down to help you, but he's a little far away." Talia said as she headed to the door. "Perhaps Dirk can help."
"No need." Fyn assured her. "Thanks."
"You should have told her you were so panicked over the notion of this baby." Talia scolded her.
"It would only have worried her." Fyn shook her head. "It's over now."
Talia glanced at Fyn's shaking hands. "It's nearly dawn. Get some rest."
"I can't, my bed is in pieces." Fyn pointed out. "And I need to get back to Karse."
Talia looked at the Firecat sprawled on the couch. "I don't know if he is ready to go."
Hansa opened one eye and looked at them both then closed it again, dismissing their chatter as unimportant. Fyn had to assure Talia she was fine half a dozen times before she managed to get the sceptical Herald out the door.
Fyn was moving a chair when Karlee joined her.
"How do you put up with all their cooing and cuddling?" She asked. "It's so sickeningly sweet."
"I'm used to it. I am surrounded by lifebonded couples. Talia and Dirk are just as bad. Queen Selenay and Prince Daren are like that in private. That's one reason why Kris, Lyra, Jem and I became so close. It's not that we weren't loved, but with a lifebonded couple you can sense you are not part of their inner circle. I never want to be that bound up in someone." Fyn pushed a rocking chair into place.
"You are happy with what you have with Gabin then?" Karlee asked.
"I doubt we'll last a year. I am happy with what I have with Tyree though."
Karlee picked up a thick tome that was on a nearly empty book shelf. "Do you think Jem feels the same way?"
Fyn stared at her for a second. "Jem prefers quality over quantity when it comes to connections."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Karlee asked in frustration.
"It means that if he thinks there is a chance of permanency he will try for it." Fyn explained.
"Oh." Karlee smiled. "I was kind of hoping he might be interested in something a bit more permanent."
Fyn grinned.
Karlee blushed and set down the book. "Did you hear the news?"
"About Gabin being arrested for being an idiot? Yes. I told him last night to get a Herald before doing something heroic. Apparently he felt he didn't have time."
"Are you going to visit him?"
"I don't know if I have time." Fyn admitted. "I am waiting for my ride to wake up from a catnap."
:I am not having a catnap.: Hansa protested. :I am just not moving.:
"He loves the couch." Fyn grinned.
"I don't blame him. That couch is insanely comfortable." Karlee said as she looked over at the large white cat.
:You have time to go see your lover.: Hansa said with a contented purr.
Fyn's lips pursed in amusement but she looked away.
"And Karsites have the gall to say Heralds wallow in sinful comfort." Karlee muttered.
"Who said that?" Fyn asked.
"Over at the Healers we've had more Karsites than you can shake a stick at. Most of them are too busy looking down their priestly noses to achieve anything worthwhile. I hear the mages are less irritating since all the mages were culled of Solaris's non-supporters ages ago."
Fyn saw Hansa was no longer lying at his ease. She was fairly certain he was worried, but she was not as good at Cat body language as she was with Companion body language. Fyn decided not to stop Karlee's grumbling. "Has nothing of value come from collaboration?"
"Some medicines." Karlee shrugged.
Fyn sat in the rocking chair and studied Karlee.
"Don't give me that look." Karlee protested. "Do you know how they treated Healers? Karsites forced the healers they captured to work until they died. I know firsthand about the bandits. My hometown was near the borders of Karse and Hardorn."
Fyn cocked her head slightly to one side.
"You're still giving me that look." Karlee grumbled. "I am going to go check on my patients. If I don't see you before you vanish, give my regards to Jem."
"Before you go, you should probably apologize to the Karsite Firecat who has worked so diligently to create this peace you distrust."
Karlee turned and stared at Hansa in all his glory. "He speaks Valdemaran?"
"Of course he does."
"Oh Gods, I feel like an idiot." Karlee covered her mouth with both hands.
:There is still descent among the Healing priests?: Hansa said worriedly.
"Not that I saw in Karse." Fyn assured him. "But I only met one Healer Priest."
"Oh gods." Karlee whispered again. "He's talking to me?"
:Why did you think that I would not know Valdemaran?: Hansa asked her.
"Relshric said that we Valdemarans are so polluted that Firecats only came here under the greatest duress and then only with Karsite translators to buffer you from us." Karlee explained.
:What a load of horse manure! Is Relshric here still?:
"Don't you know? He said you sent him specifically because you knew he had the spiritual fortitude not to be tempted by our hedonistic ways."
:I take it those were his words exactly. Come, we are going to find him and set him straight. Valdemar is our ally and I do not consider the love of comfort or your fellow people sinful. I rather like Fyn and she has a lover.: Hansa hopped off the couch. His tail was in the air like a battle banner.
Karlee turned to Fyn.
"Go. I think it will be amusing to watch." Fyn suggested.
:I will find you when it is time to go so you may check on your lover.: Hansa advised her. He paused and looked back at her. :May I ask you an awkward question?:
:Certainly.: Fyn said.
:Is the act of lovers…: He couldn't finish his question. :Never mind, it is wrong of me to ask you. Don't answer.: He hurried out the door.
Fyn bit her lip to keep from laughing as they left. The last thing she heard from both of them was Karlee apologizing for assuming he couldn't understand her but that she was not sorry for speaking her mind.
Fyn rose from her chair and went to Keli's room. The door was slightly ajar.
"Did you hear that?" Fyn asked.
Keli shook her head.
"Hansa was curious about the act of lovers. He couldn't bring himself to finish his question."
Keli and Tris, who was still at her side, chuckled.
Fyn gingerly approached the basinet next to the bed. "He's sleeping?"
"He's had a big day." Tris left the bed to join her by the basinet. "Thanks, Fyn."
"For what?"
"For not knocking me out and sticking me outside when I was being unreasonable." Tris ruffled her hair affectionately. "Even when Keli orderedyou to."
"Have you told Kev yet?"
"He sent word saying he can't leave his children right now but he will come as soon as he can." Tris bent over his son and traced his cheek with a finger.
"Is he awake?" Keli asked.
"No. He's still sleeping." Fyn assured her.
"Tris, let her hold him." Keli ordered.
Before Fyn could protest Aian was placed in her arms.
"I have to go check on Gabin. He managed to get arrested." Fyn tried to put the baby back in Tris's arms.
Tris relieved her of Aian and watched in amusement as she practically fled. "Don't worry, Aian, she does that for all babies, not just you."
Fyn rode one of her horses rather than ask a Companion for a ride to the Guards and didn't wear a uniform. No sense advertising that a Herald was visiting a prisoner. She tied the young stud, a descendant of a mare given to her when she was eight, to the railing in front of the Guard Hall. She had two others from the same line in Haven and a few at the Elluen estate.
She removed a heavy book from her saddlebags and headed inside.
An unusually accommodating young guardsman showed her to a cell away from the four, large cells on the second floor. It had stone walls and heavy wooden door that stood open.
"Normally this is our solitary cell but we decided to give Master Gabin and Master Tyber some privacy." The young guard explained.
Gabin was sitting on his bed, laughing at something Tyber said. Gabin fell silent when he saw Fyn and blushed.
"Herald Fyn." Tyber, the older man Gabin had been staying with, stood quickly and bowed slightly to her.
Gabin quickly stood as well. "Fyn, I thought you said you were heading back to Karse right away."
"Let me know when you leave, ma'am." The guardsman left her alone in the cell with the men.
Fyn crossed her arms over her chest and glared at both of them. "I'm torn between giving you hell and just washing my hands of you."
Gabin looked down and ran a hand through his hair.
"I will leave you alone." Tyber slipped past her and out the door.
"Yeah, we were stupid." Gabin admitted.
Fyn walked to Gabin's bed and sat down. "What are your plans?"
"I am not asking any of the Heralds to help me out." Gabin said as he sat next to her. "Smidge is looking for loopholes. A couple of the lawyers that took on some of my imps as apprentices have made it clear they could at least keep me from getting hung."
"But you are putting your faith in Smidge?" Fyn asked doubtfully. "He looks like a thief."
"He is one. But he is also clever and has a knack for finding things so I am hoping he will find a miracle. If he finds nothing I will accept the lawyers' offer. One wants Varian in exchange for his efforts of course."
"How old is he? Seventeen?" Fyn asked doubtfully. "You could hang. That is a lot of weight for a young man to bear."
Gabin smoothed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I won't hang."
"Why not?"
"The guards made it clear that if I am convicted they will look the other way while I leave." Gabin explained. "I might have to learn a new language, but I won't die."
"But you will have to leave." Fyn pointed out.
"Only if I am convicted."
Fyn rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Here, I brought you something to keep you amused. The wording is a little archaic." Fyn pushed the book into his hands.
Gabin opened the book eagerly. "You didn't write it?" Fyn could tell he was disappointed.
"No. Keli has a spare kicking around but I don't have one. The one I loaned you was from the Collegia library. This is a chronicle."
"What's a chronicle?" Gabin asked.
"They are the royal records of history in all its gory detail. Our mistakes, our successes, everything. Chronicles are rarely printed. This one had a very limited printing run. It was written just after Herald Vanyel died when Valdemar nearly lost a war with Karse." Fyn explained. "I thought you might like it."
"Thank you. I'll return it soon."
"Oh no, this is a gift." Fyn assured him.
Gabin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "A gift? But books are valuable…"
Fyn kept Gabin from pushing the book back into her lap. "It's for you."
Gabin didn't try to give it back to her again. He opened it again, this time to the printer's page. "This was printed over a century ago."
Fyn flipped it forward a few pages. "Not a single letter was changed from the original chronicle."
"What's this word, æcus?"
"It means axe." Fyn flipped to about two thirds through. "Here is a dictionary. Varian can help with the grammar. I thought you might like the challenge."
"Did you use this for research?" Gabin asked as he started trailing a finger down the page, trying to memorize the odd words.
"Yes." Fyn grinned when she realized he barely noticed her presence. "I should go."
Gabin snapped the book shut. "Before you go, last time you said you didn't want me to wait for you."
"I did." Fyn admitted. "I'm gone most of the time, so it is not fair of me to expect you to wait."
"I'd prefer to wait." Gabin admitted. "But now I don't know if I should ask it of you now."
"We can discuss it again when I get back from Karse." Fyn suggested.
"I'd rather know now." Gabin confessed. "Obviously it's over if I am convicted, but if I'm not..."
Fyn regarded him thoughtfully. She wished she could speak to Tyree. "I would like to continue seeing you when I am in Haven… but…"
"But you are rarely in Haven, I get it." Gabin assured her but was clearly disappointed. "I don't mind. I respect what you do."
Fyn hesitated. "Will you wait for me then?"
Gabin leaned forward and claimed her lips.
When she left a few minutes later Tyber gave her a knowing grin.
"Take care of yourself." Fyn ordered.
Outside a grey horse stood next to her horse.
:Herald Fyn. I was hoping I could ask you a question.: The horse addressed her.
:Varian?:
:Yes, I am worried about Gabin. Smidge is searching in the Exile's Gate library for anything that might be useful. I don't think he is going to have any luck.:
Fyn untied her horse and swung into the saddle. :What is he looking for?:
:Law books of all things.: Varian fell into step next to her horse. :I don't know how I can help. I can't even talk to him.:
Fyn considered the problem as they headed to the palace. :Talk to him. Tyree has always told me that sometimes you must break the rules. She says apologize later, when you have succeeded. And take him to the Collegia libraries. From what I have heard of this fiasco, it will take some esoteric loophole to get them off and the largest collection of law books is in our library, not down in Exile's Gate.:
:How?:
:You're a Companion, you can carry anyone into the Palace grounds.: Fyn pointed out.
:Right! You're brilliant. I won't tell anyone you told me to break the rules.:
Fyn watched as he spun around and trotted away. More than a few people protested a horse running free.
She just finished grooming her horse when Hansa wandered in.
:Thank you for allowing me to hear what Karlee had to say. Sometimes I only get the sanitized version. She invited me to visit anytime. Considering her opinion of Karsites in general that says a lot.:
"Just give me a moment to put Crescendo away."
:Crescendo?:
"I name all my horses after musical terms." Fyn explained. "Harmony is that chestnut and Aria is the bay. Good boy, Cres." She turned the stud loose in his stall.
:You didn't geld him?: Hansa admired the black stud.
"Actually, he makes me a tidy sum in stud fees." Fyn explained. "Heralds don't get paid much so I breed horses on a small scale. Harmony and Aria are both carrying at the moment and I have people clamouring for them."
:Are they special?:
"They are Shin'a'in crossed with the Ashkevron hunter blood lines. They have excellent stamina and are as sure footed as mountain goats."
:Lovely animals.: Hansa said as she headed towards the door.
"I just have to grab the dress." Fyn explained. "Nate would probably be hurt if I lost it."
:But you burned the corset.:
Fyn chuckled. "So I did."
Keli was lying on the couch when Fyn and Hansa entered.
Hansa looked longingly at the dark green couch.
"I have to get back to Karse." Fyn announced.
Keli pointed to the gown that was draped over a chair. "Excellent timing, the hertasi finished the gown. If you are not in a rush, I would like some company for tea."
:I don't mind.: Hansa assured her.
"Take that chair, it is even more comfortable." Keli advised as she gestured for Fyn to pour the tea. "I heard about the little fuss over at the Healers, Hansa. I hope you won't get in trouble."
:I won't.: Hansa settled into the chair. :Oh, Vkandis, this is heavenly!:
Fyn gave a cup of the lavender and herb tea to Hansa and another to Keli then took a seat on the floor next to Keli.
Hansa lapped at the tea. :I must say, this visit was not what I expected.:
"I bet normally everyone is much more cautious around you. After all, you are an avatar of Vkandis." Keli commented.
"Whereas here you are not all that remarkable compared to our Companions." Fyn added.
:Which is why there are so few Firecats.: Hansa agreed. :So we remain remarkable.:
"There were more than I expected at the little concert the other night." Fyn commented.
"Concert?" Keli prodded. "You performed? And not for a mob of children? Is the world ending?"
"No, it just seemed like the thing to do." Fyn sipped her tea. "Anyways, there were several Cats in the crowd."
Hansa debated what to tell them. :I can't be everywhere. There are others, like Karal, who could use the guidance. But no others know they are there. We prefer to act without being seen for now.:
"That makes sense." Keli acknowledged. "I want to thank you for not taking offense to Karlee's prejudice. I spoke to her superiors and she will be taking lessons in Karsite down at the Lord of Light temple. Her and her little mob."
:Her mob?:
"She has guardianship of a little girl and three boys who are too young to start lessons and have no place to go." Fyn explained.
:I can understand their wariness over at the healers. We, the Karsites as a whole, treated Healers in an absolutely horrific manner. An apology cannot even start to mend the wounds. I will consult with Solaris about what we can do.:
"You can let us know if there is anything that is a burr under the saddle to your people and we will try to ease the tension." Keli suggested.
:Stop bothering Solaris about the university would be a good place to start.: Hansa suggested.
"Actually, that is why, I am out here. I was talking to her, at her request, about the university. She has decided to go ahead with starting a nonreligious university. Apparently Tyree was able to answer her questions." Keli explained.
:Oh, she better not have pressured Solaris to agree.: Hansa said warningly.
"She wouldn't." Fyn assured him. "Companions have been involved with our University from day one. They have the facts like costs to build and what we are planning to offer when it opens next year."
"Besides, Solaris cannot be pressured into anything. You should know that."
:That is true.: Hansa admitted.
"Did you see Aian yet?" Keli asked.
:I peeked in earlier. He is adorable.:
"Yes he is." Keli beamed.
"He has very cute frog legs." Fyn commented and ducked Keli's swat at her head. "I should get into uniform."
Keli waited until Fyn vanished into her barely furnished room before speaking again. "Thank you for bringing my sister. It means the world to me."
:It was my honour, Herald.: Hansa assured her.
"Still I would like you to have that chair since you are so fond of it. There is not much else I could give a cat as a gift."
Hansa struggled internally for a moment. Keli could see the lust in his eyes. Finally he capitulated. :Thank you, I will enjoy it thoroughly.:
Fyn emerged wearing her finest uniform with a bag over her shoulder containing another set of formal Whites and some more clothing. She collected the fancy, now altered dress. "Ready?"
:Yes. Please, have a seat. Keli gave me the chair.: Hansa moved over for her. :Thank you again Herald.:
"Farewell." Keli waved.
"Take care." Fyn ordered just before she vanished.
She reappeared in Solaris's private room.
"Herald Fyn, I'm glad you made it back." Solaris greeted her. She eyed the chair with curiosity.
Fyn stood and watched as Hansa ran his paw over the smooth leather. "That's his."
:It was a gift.: Hansa settled into the chair.
:Fyn! You're back!: Tyree hurried into the room. :Oh, you brought the Cat.:
Fyn rolled her eyes and wrapped her free arm around Tyree's neck. "Be nice."
:I try.: Tyree sighed. :Solaris was kind enough to invite me inside. Nate has been getting more anxious by the candle mark. I think it's her Foresight acting up. Jem hasn't let her or her son move without him. I am so glad you're back. Now for the important bit, boy or girl?:
"A healthy boy named Aian." Fyn announced.
"I am glad it was uneventful." Solaris said.
"We better go." Fyn glanced towards Hansa who used his powers to move his chair into a patch of sunlight. He rolled over so his belly and chin were exposed to the sun.
:Why does he have your reading chair?:
:Keli gave it to him. There is another in the office.: Fyn pointed out.
Solaris showed them to the door and wished them a good day.
:I thought you were going to lose that dress.:
:A hertasi fixed it.: Fyn assured her.
