Mystery Attacker
"But Mom," whined Lilka, "I don't want to wear this stupid dress. It's way too stuffy, and I can't move around really well. And it itches too. What's wrong with the skirt I usually wear?"
"Lilka, can you at least dress up for one day? For Raftina's sake, it's your sixth birthday today. Don't you want to look nice for all of your guests?" asked Virginia, on the verge of breaking. Neither of her children were being very cooperative today. Ashley was giving poor Jet a run around, not standing still for one minute, and making his father chase him all around the house.
Lilka told her mom, "But I'll mess it up. I'm going to probably drop some cake or ice cream in my lap, or spill my juice across my front." Which was and was not true. Lilka did have a reputation for getting messy when it came to things like that. But she'd never once gotten it on an outfit, only her face.
Virginia finally conceded. "Ok Lilka, you don't have to wear the dress. I wonder if I ever gave my mom half the trouble that you and your brother give me and your father." She knew that Lilka wouldn't take that the wrong way, after all, she'd been much colder in the days that she'd had amnesia, and went around as the heartless Megami. Lilka and Ashley were used to her pretending that they were just along for the ride, so as not to appear to be a weak willed woman warrior to her clients.
"Guardians," muttered Jet as he sat down on the couch, totally exhausted, "These two are enough to drive anyone crazy. How in Zephyr's name did you ever raise them so long on your own?"
"Don't ask me. I guess I just have a knack for dealing with kids. Besides, we were on the road, and they knew that certain things would just cause trouble for our travels. But now that we've got our own place, they have a little more leeway to get into trouble and run around," suggested Virginia.
Jet picked up a newspaper. On the front page, he saw an article. The headline read, " Little Rock Miner Murdered, No Suspects Named". The article went on to talk about how this man named Edwin Roughnight had been working in the abandoned mines, believing that he would still find something even though they'd been dry for years. One day, he was late coming home and his neighbor began to worry. They found him in a ditch, shot to death in the chest, and lying in a pool of his own blood.
Jet looked at one paragraph. "The weirdest thing about this is that his blood was all blue. The sheriff speculated that he might have had his lungs punctured as well, and he had lost air, but further examination showed that it wasn't the case. No one knows exactly why this man's blood was blue. And no suspects can be named in this shooting. Roughnight's only known family, a daughter, had moved from Little Rock years ago, and no one knows how to reach her to tell her of her father's death."
"Hey, Virginia," called Jet, "Take a look at this. Your mom's maiden name was Roughnight, right? Do you think she could have been the daughter of the man who they found murdered in Little Rock."
"That is my grandfather! Mom always told me that he was mining in Little Rock, always looking for some remnant of the Kingdom of Adlehyde, which was rumored to have been located around that town somewhere. Did someone find out that he was a Shaman?" she pondered.
Jet asked her, "What's up with all this commotion over blue blood? I thought that meant there was some sort of oxygen deficiency when your blood was blue. So what's their problem?"
Virginia read through the article. "Well, this is no oxygen deficiency. Shamans bleed blue when they're using their full powers. The magic in our bodies causes some strange changes when it gets cast, maybe it does eat up oxygen. Or it could be that the blue is some kind of magical color, after all it's the same shade as the Teardrop. Most times, we bleed red like a normal human being. This shows that he was trying to defend himself with his magic when he was taken out."
"Mommy," said Ashley, "Uncle Clive and Aunt Catherine are here, and they want to see you."
"Tell them that we'll be right there sweetheart. Daddy and I have to discuss something that's very important. Can you and your sister entertain the guests until then?" asked Virginia.
Ashley replied, "Ok Mommy." He then ran off with Lilka to greet the Winsletts. Virginia and Jet, however, remained behind in the living room, talking about the murder and what could have happened.
Virginia wiped sweat off of her fevered brow. "Well, I don't know about you Jet. But for me, this is kind of freaky. I mean, what if this guy knew grandfather was a Shaman, and is looking to murder our people? I could be next. And the children, oh Raftina please guard their souls."
"Don't worry Ginny. Whatever happens, I'll protect you from harm. I'm sure it's no more than a freaky coincidence that the murder happened to be carried out against a Shaman in general and your grandfather in particular. Probably some tavern thug who'd had too much to drink. After all, he had no enemies, and you said that Shamans are always careful," Jet reminded her.
* * *
The party was a huge success. Lilka and Ashley, dressed in their casual clothes, had managed to keep clean for the whole time that the food was out. Kaitlyn entertained everyone with her newest hobby, the violin. Her father had brought it home with him from one of his journeys, after she'd expressed an interest in learning music. And she'd taken to it like a duck to water.
But shortly after Kaitlyn had begun playing, shots fired out. A voice from outside yelled, "I know you're in there Maxwell! You can't hide from me forever. Come on out and face me like a man. Even if you are a girl, I'm not showing you any mercy. You're going to die for what you've done."
Virginia was expecting it to be another dumb bounty hunter. She sighed, they still happened to get ideas once in awhile. So she ran outside with Jet, Clive, and Gallows close behind. The children were left inside with the others. But what they saw wasn't what they were expecting.
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Heh, I seriously ripped off SaGa Frontier's Mystic Blood. I wanted to do something like this, you know, magic blood, royal blood. But I remembered that I'd made Virginia bleed in the other stories, so I made it a linking to her magic.
