Hey all. Here is the third chapter of 'Gher meets his match'. Now, I want to thank everyone for their reviews, they're really terrific. And to Raal the Sword Master, thankyou so much for the apology. I'm sorry that I made you apologise, it's just that I have very little self-esteem, and I thought I was a good writer and everything. Anyway, I will try to improve 'Orb of Roses', any way I can. Oh, and here's a happy note on that. I'm working on the fifth chapter and it's coming along.
Anyways, after the disclaimer, you can read the next chapter,
Disclaimer- I don't own anything that in all rights belongs to David Eddings.
Chapter Three-
Althalus sighed as he reined his horse in for the umpteenth time. How many times was Lorelle going to stop to look at things?
"Lorelle dear, I think you had better stop this break every minute. Your father is getting rather annoyed." Dweia said from her perch in Althalus's hood.
Lorelle nodded, a bit sadly. "Yes Mother." She said demurely as she mounted her horse and took one more look around at Treborea's countryside. They had been riding for a couple of months now and in a few more days they would be in Osthos.
"Now Mother, Daddy, I want you to say out of sight. Find a house or something to stay at til I call for you. That way, Leitha won't know that you are here." Lorelle, not waiting for confirmation, lifted her hood to cover her head, dismounted and walked into the city of Osthos.
"How long do you think she'll be gone?" Althalus asked Dweia nervously.
"Miss her already pet?" Dweia purred.
Althalus shot a look at the cat in his hood. "Don't start Em." He said warningly.
Dweia hissed at him. "Don't take that tone with Althalus. You are far too protective of our daughter. She knows how to take care of herself and she's incredibly intelligent."
Althalus sighed. "I know, it's just that I feel like I'm going to loose her."
Dweia nuzzled against the back of Althalus's neck. "Pet, she's growing up. All children do that." Dweia paused for a minute. "Now, let's go find us a place to stay, and you can have a bath. You're beginning to smell a little."
Althalus laughed as he took the reins of Lorelle's mount and nudged his forward with his heels.
Inside the gates of Osthos, Lorelle was looking around in wonder. "Wow, this place is incredible. Andine has a beautiful city." She murmured to herself, lost in the wonder of the city.
So amazed with the sights, Lorelle didn't notice that she was a few minutes away from a head-on collision. Suddenly Lorelle ran into another person and fell to the ground. "Ow." She said, shaking her head.
"Oh, sorry. Let me help you." Came a voice and a hand appeared in front of Lorelle's eyes.
Taking the offered hand, Lorelle felt herself being pulled to her feet gently. Looking up, she saw the deepest pair of brown eyes she had ever seen. Those eyes seemed to be familiar to Lorelle, and as they filled with amusement, Lorelle realised where she had seen them before. Grinning, she released the other's hand and nodded her head in thanks.
"Thank you." She said softly.
The young man, who looked to be about twenty-four, stared into Lorelle's amethyst eyes. When he heard his name being called, he turned to look where it came from. He waved at his friends, then turned back to Lorelle to find that she had disappeared from sight.
"Who was that?" He wondered to himself as he walked back to his friends.
Lorelle, from the shadows, watched as the young man walked back to his friends. She grinned to herself as she made her way to the fortified palace that was the home of Arya Andine and her husband Eliar. She looked up the walls and her grin grew as she saw the guards.
"Too easy." She whispered, deciding to creep in, rather than use the Book, or her own special abilities to make them not notice her.
After making her way into the palace, she rapidly changed her form to that of 'Ammy' and jumped onto Andine's throne, content to sleep while waiting.
"What's the matter Gher?" Leitha asked the young man she had known since he was ten.
Gher had a puzzled look upon his face. "It's nothing." He murmured.
Andine laughed. "Sure it is. You look more puzzled here then you did when you were discussing 'cause and effect' with Althalus."
Gher looked at Andine, shocked. "How did you know that?" He demanded.
"Dweia liked to keep an eye on the both of you. Sometimes she felt you two could be overly clever, when together."
Gher blushed a little. "Like I said before, it's nothing."
Leitha giggled. "So that's what has you so occupied." She winked at Andine.
"Hey!" Gher cried out indignantly. "Why didn't I feel you coming that time?"
Leitha's look was sly as she grinned at Gher. "Andine was nice enough to distract you for me." Her look softened as she looked at the man she considered a little brother. "We were worried. You weren't acting like your usual self." The gentle look was gone in an instant though, replaced by one of mischief. "She was rather pretty."
Eliar looked at Gher, a sly grin on his face. "Is Gher beginning to think seriously about girl people?" He teased.
Gher blushed, knowing that Eliar was teasing him about the fact that he had never shown any interest in the things that happen between 'girl people' and 'boy people'. This was fine if you were training to become a priest, but as Gher wasn't, it was slightly strange.
"Eliar, stop teasing Gher. He needs us on his side. You know how bad Leitha and Andine tease him. He doesn't need you teasing him as well." Bheid scolded lightly, while grinning.
Gher mumbled something incoherent as he walked into Andine's throne room.
Andine, walking over to her throne, stopped short, spying the bundle of fur lying on her throne.
"Emmy?" She asked in a whisper.
The black cat opened its eyes, blinked once and meowed. Standing, it padded its way across the floor to Andine.
Andine picked up the cat and sighed, a little unhappily. "You're not Emmy, huh?" She held the cat closer. "You sure are a beautiful one though."
The cat placed a gentle paw on Andine's face.
Andine looked at the cat and saw that she had stunning amethyst eyes. "I think I'll call you Ammy." She resolved.
Leitha walked over to Andine and gently petted Ammy on the head. "She is pretty." She said softly.
Ammy, obviously enjoying that attention, began to purr happily, bringing the attention of Eliar, Bheid and Gher to her too.
Gher sighed as he sat down in one of the chairs in Andine's study. Staring at the books, he didn't notice that someone was watching him.
On silent feet, this someone crept up behind Gher and leapt at him, but was surprised to find themselves caught in midair.
"Meow?"
Gher laughed at Ammy's confused meow. "I knew you were there, Ammy." He said, in between laughs.
Ammy's eyes narrowed and her ears flattened down to her skull as she began to hiss.
"Oh Ammy. Don't tie your tail in a knot." He said, still laughing.
This remark caused Ammy to stop hissing and look at Gher peculiarly. She turned her head to one side and seemed to be considering something.
Gher was curious. He knew there was something about Ammy. He was sure of it. He had told the others, but the others thought he was just imagining things, that he was pretending that Ammy was like Emmy. Suddenly he remembered why he came into the study. Out of all the people there, he was the only one to use the study frequently, and so he had hidden his gift for Leitha in there.
"Did you know that today is Leitha's birthday? We were going to have a surprise party, but since Leitha's so gifted, she found out two minutes after we planned everything. We're all going to give her her presents now." Gher said, grabbing his gift out from behind a rather large book. "Come on Ammy." He called, racing out of the room, Ammy close on his heals.
Inside the throne room, Leitha was looking happily at her family. How so much had changed. Before she had met Althalus, Bheid, Dweia and everyone else, she had been alone in her world of thoughts. Now she had a sister, a brother, her husband, and a mother and father, of whom no one had seem for years. She heard and anxious meow and saw their new cat, Ammy, pacing back and forth, ignoring everyone.
"Does there seem to be something wrong with Ammy?" She asked Bheid.
Bheid smiled at Leitha. "She's probably just a little sick of being cooped up."
Suddenly Ammy meowed triumphantly and padded over to the door. Somehow she managed to get it open and in walked another black cat.
The two cuts nuzzled for a bit, then they both began to walk towards Leitha.
The second cat looked familiar for some reason, and when it got closer, they could see that it had brilliant emerald eyes.
"Emmy?" Leitha whispered softly, hoping that she wasn't dreaming.
"You were expecting someone else?" The cat with emerald eyes replied.
Everyone sat there shocked. It was Emmy!
About to embrace the cat, everyone was stopped as the door opened again and in walked a man.
"Now where are my two kittens?" He asked, grinning at the looks he was getting.
"Althalus?" Andine cried, her voice rising, causing the others to wince slightly.
"Daddy?" Leitha asked.
The two cats padded back over to Althalus.
Althalus looked at one of the cats sternly. "Change back right now young lady." He ordered.
The smaller cat, Ammy, gave a small sigh and rapidly began to change shape. When Ammy had finished changing, in her place stood a beautiful young woman, about eighteen years old, with startling amethyst eyes.
"Daddy. Stop being so bossy. I took care of myself." Ammy replied.
Althalus simply smiled, enfolding the girl in a hug. "I missed you, that's all."
"Ok, what is going on here?" Eliar asked, shocked still.
Dweia gave a feline grin. "A few months ago, I got a request from someone. She wanted to meet her sister, and for her birthday, bring her back her parents."
Althalus grinned as he walked over, holding Ammy's hand. "That someone was our daughter, Lorelle." Seeing that they were going to interrupt, Althalus raised a hand. "You know Lorelle better as Ammy."
All right. I decided to place this note here. Ok, first things first. I know in the first chapter I said a few weeks, but then I realised, if Lorelle wanted to see the world, she wasn't going to do that if they ended up killing their horses or using the doors. Secondly, I know the age differences are slightly strange, I mean, the way I have it, Lorelle was born when Gher was about ten, and yet there is only six years difference. Well I can explain that. Lorelle kind of played with the house when she was younger, making it so that she aged a few years. Four in fact. Man, were Althalus and Dweia pissed off when she did that. You know how regular parents get mad, think of a Goddess and an immortal thief getting mad at you. Wasn't fun.