This is the 7th story. It's a series of interconnected stand-alones, so this can be read without knowing anything about the others.
Disclaim!: I do not own the characters and am not making any money from this.
Chivalry
"Chivalry!---why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection---the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant ---Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword." -Sir Walter Scott
My legs are cold. Maybe that's what I get for standing in the middle of a river. Meggie's sleeping in the shade of the oak tree. The fish aren't biting anyway. I wonder if I can get on shore without her waking up.
I'm on the grass about five feet from her when she speaks without opening her eyes.
"Don't even think about it elf."
Damn. She's the only one who can call my elf and live. I chuck the bucket of water back toward the river and flop down next to her. "How'd you know?"
"Seventh sense." She yawns and stretches and props herself up on one elbow facing me. "What's your excuse short-stuff?" She ruffles my hair.
"Incredibly good breeding." I reply smoothing the blue-black strands back into place. I'm not really that short. I'm only a few inches shorter then what's considered the lower range of normal for my size. It's just that my step-sister happens to be near the high end of the range considered normal for her frame. Really, she's two inches taller then me.
"So."
"So. What happened with Ian?"
She sits up. "He came back a few days ago." I nod. "I told him I wasn't ready." She sighs and stands up. "I told him that, and I told him it would be better if I didn't see him again. For a time anyway."
Something inside me breaks a little. Even I liked Ian. And I'm the suspicious older brother. I trust Meg though. I only want her to be happy. "He just came back after two months away didn't he?"
"Yeah." Two red spots appear on her cheeks. "It's just, how could I be happy with him always being off beatin' up people in this or that foreign country? Movin' ever couple of years, what kinda life is that for Cody? I'm gonna be a lawyer ya know." She lifts her head up higher. "Can't be movin' all the time."
"How's Cody taking all this?" My towheaded nephew loved Ian. The burly peacekeeper was his idol, after his Uncle Kurt of course.
She kicks up some small stones along the water's edge. "He's takin' it pretty rough Kurt. I'm real glad you're here. If anyone can get his mind on other things it'll be you." She bends down and picks up a handful of small round pebbles and lets them drop one by one into the shallows. "Ah still feel so bad about it."
"Why?"
She shrugs her shoulders. "I dunno. Ah guess it's because he loves me. In spite of everything. He really just deserves better." Even from over here I can see her green eyes turn to glass as they fill with tears.
"Megan Marie. Is that why you sent him away? Because that is a really stupid reason."
She looks up at me quickly then away.
"It is." I insist. "The truth is, no one deserves you. You're too good for all of them. If any knave dares blacken the name of meine schoene Schwester, they will have to deal with me. I think you should rethink your reasoning here. But that is just me." I lay back on the grass.
She turns to look out at the river. I sit up very slowly and silently. My sister is looking remarkably fine today in an old pair of cut-offs and a halter-top. She still stands with her back to me; I reach out for the bucket lying in the grass. It still has some water in it. I toss the contents of the bucket to her right and dodge left myself. Predictably she avoids the water, sometimes it does seem like she has a seventh sense, but runs smack into me.
"Auf Meg!" Into the river she goes. I do a quick victory dance before she launches herself at me, soaking wet.
"Kurtis Michael Darkholme! You! Will! Die!"
I avoid her easily with a back flip. A series of somersaults puts some space between us, and a handspring changes my direction when she closes in. Finally she collapses.
"Okay, you win. I give."
I wait a few minutes, but all she does is wring out her hair and move out into the sun. I flip up and walk over on my hands. Surely she wouldn't hit a man who's upside down.
She frowns at me a moment. "Are you sure you should be doing that elf? Uneven ground and all." She thumps the grass with the heel of her hand. "Hate ta lose our Olympic hopeful before he even left the country."
"Ahh, that is something I need to talk to you about Meg." I settle in next to her. "I think I will not be going to the Olympics."
"What're ya talkin' about?! You've been wanting ta do this since ya were twelve! You didn't lose your standing or somethin' did you?"
She's worried. I look down at my hands crossed over my knees. "Mom thought it might look bad, what with Graydon running for office-"
"Are you nuts? Screw Graydon!"
An ironic smile creeps over my face, and for a minute I think she's going to hit me.
"Shut up." She doesn't hit me; she just goes cold. "Shut up Kurt." I still haven't spoken. "You don't know anything. So just shut up and listen. Don't let them control you. Change your name if you have to, but you're going to the Olympics."
"I'm going to become a priest Meggie." There, I said it. That may be the first time I said it out loud. I sneak a look over at her. She's plucking at the grass.
"And what does Momma think of that?" There's laughter in her voice.
"I'm serious."
"So am I. What did she say?"
"She says I am disinherited." I feel the grin coming back.
"Oh, that'll look real good on Graydon's platform. 'My stepsister is a slut and my older brother's disinherited'. Wonderful." She's laughing now, and so am I.
I add to the imaginary speech. " 'My mother's actually a lesbian who ran off with a German fortune, and my father...my father...'"I sober up quickly.
"What?" asks Meg, wiping away tears.
"His father." I'd forgotten, but now the details came back with grim intensity. "His father's in jail. He killed a girl up in New York." I dare not speak the words too loudly.
"No!" Meg's cry is soft, but genuine. I wonder how much I don't know.
"Yes, mother heard about it some months ago. I don't think she's even told him yet. He was working at some school, the girl was a student." Bastard, bastard, bastard. We sit in silence for a moment, but the brightness of the day won't let us brood.
"A priest huh?" Her voice is still unnaturally quiet. She clears her throat. "What about your job? I thought you loved your work. Designing faster ways to travel, with a bang?" We laugh at the running joke about my work at Stark Industries, AirTech division.
I have to admit, I will miss my work, but there is something even better to come I think. "I already quit. Handed my position down to some young protégé. A nice boy, from Kentucky or someplace that people talk funny." She punches me lightly in the arm.
"Kurt, have I ever really asked you to do something for me?"
"Hmm, 'Kurt, take out the trash,' 'Kurt, take me shopping,' 'Kurt, do that new dive roll through this hoop while I light it on fire.'"
She makes a face. "C'mon, I only made you try that once. And that's not what I mean."
"Okay, what do you want me to do for you?"
"Go be in the Olympics. After that go be a priest if ya want, but be in the Olympics first."
I think it over. "You want me to get disinherited?"
"I thought she was gonna disinherit you if ya became a priest."
"That's her threat for everything. If I'm in the Olympics, I'm disinherited. If I become a priest, I'm disinherited. If I miss Sunday dinner, I'm disinherited. But for you, I will go to the Olympics." Her face lights up. "If. If you promise to call Ian. That's all that I'm asking, that you call him. You see my request doesn't involve travelling to another country and risking the wrath of Raven Darkholme. I think it's the least you can do for an Olympic hopeful."
This sends us into gales of laughter again. When we finally calm down Meg looks at her watch.
"Well, I think it's time ta pack up if you want ta take Cody to that movie tonight."
We stand and she starts to roll up the blanket that was abandoned under the tree while I put my fishing gear in the trunk.
"Oh, Kurt, would you mind grabbing that bucket?" she asks as I walk back and she turns to go to the car.
"No problem." I reply. But as I bend over to pick it up, I realize my mistake. "Meg, no!" It's too late, and I'm hip-checked head over heels into the river. I come up sputtering just in time to see her slide into the driver seat and gun the engine, cackling with laughter and take off down the road.