Chapter Fourteen
Chandelier
The ornate ballroom was often considered the crown jewel upon the Frost Manor. With enough capacity to hold around three hundred and then some, the expansive room was arranged atop the far side of the building as to allow it to look over the snowy plains of the Aurora Fields. Massive windows towered even the tallest of beasts, only to be topped by smaller windows—all covered in elaborately carved gold trimmings depicting war victories long in the past. A mural telling the same tales spanned across the ceiling. In the very center of the hall was a crystal chandelier of elephantine proportions. It sparkled gloriously in the candlelight, down upon those considered worthy to stand in its presence.
At the top of the massive stairway leading down to the ballroom, Stella sighed deeply. This had never really been her thing. It was heartwarming that so many people would gather to put together such a massive celebration in lieu of her return to the Frost Manor, but it just made her uncomfortable in the long run. These ornate carvings, the massive chandelier, the sweeping white stairway down to the marble floor…even when she was younger it had seemed far too excessive.
And now that she had been outside of the manor, said thought only throbbed harder at the back of her head.
Stella shook it off as a hand landed on her shoulder; she looked up with a weary smile to her uncle as he extended his hand outwards to her. A warm expression of worry was painted onto his features—his niece couldn't help but feel bad that he had noticed her little internal conflict. It wasn't even a real conflict. Stella had to remind herself that she was living the 'high life' here, and no matter how weird or awkward it felt, it just wasn't fair to turn up her nose at it and act ungrateful that all these people had gathered to celebrate her return.
With a weary sigh, she smiled weakly and placed her hand in her uncle's. He led the girl down the stairs slowly, her smaller hand clutching his tightly. A small and reassuring squeeze came in return.
"I know you're worried, Stella. But don't be. We're all just happy to see you back. We missed you." He reminded the white fox; Stella looked down at her feet half out of embarrassment and half to make sure she wouldn't trip over the long white silk dress they had shoved her in. Then, quickly, her eyes darted back and forth across the ballroom and back up the stairway. "Are you looking for your bounty hunter escorts? I'm sorry to say this, but Vanessa told me that they left earlier today."
"They left? But Nack told me that he was coming to the ceremony." Stella protested. Erik glanced around, worry in his eyes, unsure what to say to her. "Uncle Erik, they TOLD me they would come."
"I know, sweetie, but they seem to have just up and left after we paid them." He said uncomfortably as they reached the final step; Stella's gaze was drilling into him. "Vanessa says she signed the check and everything. It was all very odd. I suppose you can only expect bounty hunters to be bounty hunters. They unfortunately just happen to be the types who only care about money. It's very pandemic in that industry, I'm afraid to say. I'm sorry, dear."
"But they said they—" Stella was about to protest when her aunt swooped in on them, a group of ladies in tow. One of her arms reached out to pull the white fox girl towards her into a hug, breaking her hand away from her uncle's simultaneously. Stella made a loud coughing sound as she was smothered in the thick silk and heavy padding of her aunt's dress, her ears surrounded by the shrill and piercing laugh that seemed to be a necessity for noble women.
"Here she is! Here's my baby, the star of the show." Vanessa cooed. Stella had to hold herself back from cringing at the near saccharine tone—as well as the cooing and preening that followed from the women at her side, who poked and prodded at her like she was some sort of doll. "Ladies, this is my niece! She just got back from a VERY big adventure, didn't she?"
Stella started when she realized the question was addressed towards her. "Uh, yes. I went a long way away. To, uh, try and find…uh, try and find some things. It was a big adventure. I saw lots of cool stuff."
"My, my, what it must be like to outside of the Aurora Field." One of the women, a small mouse aside Vanessa, said dreamily as she fanned herself. "Its full of all that danger that you see in the movies and whatnot! It must've been very trying to someone of such stature as yourself, with all those awful criminals trying to dig into your dear inheritance."
"Awful, huh? What?" Was all Stella could manage. Her aunt shot a cold glare at the mouse; the young woman froze in her place. "What's she talking about?"
"Oh, some of the locals are exaggerating the story of your experience. Never you mind." Vanessa reassured her niece, gesturing that the women aside her leave. It didn't take a second glance—they immediately disappeared into the crowd. "It's a story that's getting around. Some of those with lesser breeding are making it into some fantastical tale of criminal activities and espionage. You know how gossip is. Once the word gets out, they'll never get the story right! Though I suppose the criminal part is right."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, those beastly men who accompanied you in…" Vanessa gave her niece a disapproving glance. Stella curled her lip up in annoyance. Was her aunt talking about the Hooligans? They had been the only reason she got back and her aunt has to go and badmouth them. "…and you said some things about a few other convicts who gave you trouble. Not that you'll ever have to deal with them again. You, my dear niece, will never have to deal with anything of that sort ever again. You can stay here at the Frost Manor forever and ever and avoid those awful sorts."
"Auntie, I don't think—"
"Well of course you don't need to think right now, there's more important matters to be attending to!" Vanessa chirped, grasping her niece and dragging her across the room. The crowd seemed to form a large hold around them as Stella's uncle followed after the pair in confusion. Stella glanced back and forth in confusion as the guests strayed away from them like they had the plague. "YOU need to worry about talking to this nice crowd about coming back to the Manor, and how you will treat your inheritance! Charity and whatnot, they like to know that sort of thing."
"You didn't tell me I had to make a speech!" Stella squeaked desperately. Vanessa looked back at the girl in confusion, and then shrugged.
"Impromptu is a very valuable skill." Her aunt reminded the girl before sticking her fingers in her mouth to give out a shrill whistle. The attention of the entire room was immediately on the both of them. Stella blushed visibly and tried to shrink behind the taller fox, but her aunt pushed her out to the middle of the floor to slink off into the crowd. One free hand pushed her husband back as well, who seemed to be in the middle of trying to lodge a complaint with his wife. Stella looked around nervously.
"I…I, uh. Hello. I'm Stella. Uh, Stella Frost. Stella Mia Frost." She glanced back at her aunt, who gestured her to continue. "L-Lady Stella Mia Frost. I ran away recently, I guess, to try and do something. It was a pretty wild adventure…but I think you all kinda already found out about it f-from gossip. But it was probably the most interesting thing to ever happen to me. Maybe the most fun thing to ever happen too. I went to find my parents, but I t-think, uh, I think I found m-myself? M-maybe?"
She glanced to her aunt again. The vixen was tapping her foot.
"U-uh, b-but anyways. I was told that, uh, you wanted to know what I was going to do with my inheritance…" She trailed off. A pang of regret hit Stella's heart when she realized that there probably was no one in the room who had come just for her. They had all come to hear about her bank account and where it was going. What happened to her was interesting gossip to them, and they enjoyed it, but they were all here for the money. To find out how this new figurehead in the Frost family would partake in their celebrations of self-indulgence—after all, there wasn't a single person in the ballroom who was short on cash.
She stared at the marble floor, her head dipped and eyes welling with tears as mutters began to break out in the confused crowd. The only people who she had really felt a connection with hadn't even bothered to come. They had left as soon as their paycheck was signed with Stella as a footnote on their careers. She sniffed loudly, rubbing her face and trying to hold back the tears. Frost Manor and its decades of decadence….for what good? To lock their entire family up in a remote mansion and refuse to be around anything real? Why was she even back here?
With those thoughts clouding her mind and sobs choking at her throat, she didn't even notice the gasps from the crowd and the crackling sounds from above. A massive shadow overtook the girl and her red eyes turned to meet the chandelier, its shimmering crystal edges and gold decorations descending upon her with the speed of light. Her eyes widened, a scream catching in her throat as the decadent light came to crash down upon her.
And then all the air seemed to come out of her.
She weezed loudly, a crumpled pile on the foot of the stairs. The remains of the glorious chandelier were now a pile of crystal and misshapen gold in the middle of the room. A rough, dark brown leather glove rested firmly on her waist—at her side sat Nack, pushing himself to his feet with a grumble. The fox stared at him with an open mouth and wide eyes; he returned the look with a crooked grin.
"Hey, how's it going. Big day, huh?" The weasel coughed. It was only then that the girl realized that he was covered in bruises and scratches. "Assassination attempts everywhere in this place."
"Nack, what happened to you?" She cried out, stumbling to her feet. Small hands pulled the bounty hunter up aside her. Nack turned to look at the uncomfortable crowd—they kept their distance from the weasel and his blood matted fur. He grinned widely to showcase his massive fang, snapping his fingers and pointing to the ceiling. Almost on cue, a scream rang out and a large white wolf plummeted from the ceiling to crash onto the pile of crystal shards. Quickly afterwards, the room shook as Bark landed firmly aside the mess. "Ahhh! W-what the…?!"
"THAT'S what happened to me." Nack tilted his hat, turning to face Erik and Vanessa. The red fox's eyes were wide in horror as he stared down upon the crushed chandelier and the body resting upon it; Vanessa's mouth was pulled into a tight line as her eyes narrowed into slits. Stella stumbled behind the purple weasel to peek out at the pair fearfully. "These wolves, they wouldn't happen to be a hired asset of the Frost Manor under one of your names, would they? Don't bother answering, I can guarantee that I've got better connections with the Auroran Wolves than you do. It'd be easy to find out even if you want to lie about it."
"W-what are you talking about?!" Erik stuttered, holding his hand out in front of his wife. Vanessa placed her hand on her face, shaking her head and muttering to herself in agitation. "What's going on?"
"Oh, shut up, Erik." Vanessa snorted, pushing her red furred husband to the side. He gazed at her in pure confusion; Nack watched the confrontation with amusement and interest reflecting in his eyes. "You act like such a little idiot sometimes. The dirty little bastard is accusing us of trying to kill our niece, and he's apparently got the connections to prove it. So it looks like the jig is up."
"What jig?" Erik asked in confusion. Vanessa rolled her eyes, moving to ignore her husband so she could approach the purple weasel. The bounty hunter moved to push Stella further behind him; Vanessa just snorted and sent a sleazy grin towards the young fox. The crowd behind them just watched in fearful awe as the white vixen and the gunslinger weasel glared at each other.
Then Nack grinned, pulling out a cigarette to light.
"So it had nothing to do with Stella's uncle to begin with. This was all you, wasn't it, Lady Frost?" He stepped to the side as Vanessa made a slight lunge at him; she slid expertly into place with her eyes set on the girl being pushed behind Nack as he moved. "You made the contract with the Auroran Wolves. You planned this whole ceremony thing all along. You intended to drop that chandelier on your itty bitty niece's head and take the full 100% of your inheritance, instead of the skimpy 20% you receive while she's alive."
"Auntie Vanessa…" Stella whispered.
"Oh shut up, you ignorant little brat." Vanessa rolled her eyes and threw her head back; snapping her fingers, the white wolves gathered around the ballroom to make a barrier around the guests who were attempting to escape. Nack glanced back at them nervously. A grim smile crossed her features, almost sarcastically pitying. "Alright, weasel. You caught me. I did it. I hired Svetlana Vasin to bring her back to the manor, and I hired the wolves to put together this party operation so the whelp could have an 'accident' in front of witnesses. No scruff, no paperwork, no suspicions. I even made sure one of my wolves got rid of you three so you wouldn't interfere...but I guess every plan has its holes."
"I guess so." Nack grinned; a trail of blood from the previous beatings slipped down his tooth and dripped onto the marble floor. The barrel of his gun fixated on the white vixen; she tossed her hair to one side, smirk not disappearing. He clicked back the hammer steadily, eyes matched with hers and hand on Stella's shoulder. As much as he was trying to keep his confidence, they were definitely out of their league here. Especially with her blunt confession. "Its definitely bold of you to say all of it in front of all these people."
"I have nothing to fear. I have an army at my disposal, and no need for this crowd. I can always find new people to hang onto my boots—I can't easily find a new fortune to try and pick up on, especially one so close to my bank account." The crowd around them began to shift into a panic, trying to push past the large wolves surrounding them. Vanessa chuckled as she watched the debacle, her husband watching on in horror. "But for you…"
"Oh what, you think a large mob of wolves can get us?" Nack laughed—it was uncertain, but he managed it as Bark strode up behind him to tower over both of them. Along his shoulder rested the still unconscious Bean; the polar bear had expressed discomfort at leaving his partner back in the room. Right now, Nack was beginning to see why. "Please, I would think you thought better than me. I already got rid of your petty little assassin, after all."
"Oh how true!" Vanessa let out a barking laugh this time, scaring the crowd back against the wolves that held them in place. "So, so true. That's why I invited a very special guest just in case of emergencies."
Her eyes traced up the rails of the staircase, smarmy smile pasted across her face. Nack followed her gaze, face whitening as his eyes travelled up the expanse of the massive, scar covered, gun-touting warthog now standing above them with amusement clear in his expression. Bark nudged the bird on his shoulder with his finger nervously, awakening the green dynamo—they were gonna need all the help they needed with what Vanessa was presenting them with.
Jeb the Tusk cracked his knuckles.