DH AN: Well looks like I have an early Christmas gift. A double update for An Heiress' Mantle! Actually I kinda wrote Chapter Seven before even starting Chapter Six but an update is an update right? And no I haven't forgotten about completing the Plunny of Doom that's ripped my heart in two every other line.

AN 2: Just a brief reminder that this Fic occurs after Not As I Know Him has been resolved.

AN 3: As always a big Thank you to the lovely Attahua for allowing me the use of her Aviary. Also, go read her fic An Emerald Phoenix Renewed. Vexing Little Bird deserves all the love. Enjoy Chapter Six.


Chapter Six

Arlomhe steps outside the office, still shaking. Of all the days for things to return to normal. She finds Bryn still waiting by the outer door.

"I sent Gabriel to the kitchen… Raji's a lot better at restoring morale than I am." Bryn watches as she shows the most pathetic smile he's ever seen. "Looks like I might need to send you that way too."

"I'm fine, Brynny."

"And I'm getting a raise." The sarcasm drips from his words. "Your bluffs really need work."

"Can you come with me?" Her left hand immediately presses against her right upper arm.

"You're really confusing sometimes y'know. Recently, you've kept insisting you're not a kid but then you need your hand held a second later."

"I can't quite convince myself that things won't come crashing down on me today."

Bryn's fists clench loosely and shame etches itself onto his face. "If I had been ten minutes sooner I-"

"Would have probably been caught in the collapse too." She stops and leans against the wall. "Again, you got me out. Demotion aside, you were the hero of the day." She paces rather slowly and keeps the fingers of her right hand in contact with the wall.

"So… something's been bugging me." Bryn breaks the monotony after a few moments.

"Is it about still having to lug pen and paper around and provide account for everything you do when there are cameras doing the exact same thing? Because that seems annoyingly redundant." Arlomhe shrugs and immediately regrets it.

Bryn's halt is audible and his voice goes soft. "Why didn't you rat me out or hang that rather embarrassing situation over my head?"

"Because it's not right to hold a stupid mistake over somebody's head…" Arlomhe doesn't voice that rumor that's been going around for years that suggests she's in a position far more suggestive than merely whispering in The R.H.'s ear that would only be solidified in the eyes of some, should word travel as it naturally does. "And for goodness sake, you were rambling about the wrong century and about seven months ahead of yourself; that's embarrassing enough. Telling on you would just really make things worse." She cracks a grin. "Besides, that's something a 'Ms. Human Sword' would do." The smile vanishes. "If you recall, I'm 'Ms. Human Shield.'"

"You were never supposed to hear that."

"Well, it's not exactly inaccurate. And relax, would you… It's kinda natural to lose a bit of your filter when under the influence of alcohol."

"That better be from something you had read." Bryn rubs his temples with his left hand.

"One, I'm underage. And two… if I were of drinking age, inebriation isn't a luxury I'd be able to afford."

"I don't think either of us understands how lucky I am that you caught me making a liquid-courage fueled fool out of myself." Arlomhe hears the disdain laced through the euphemism. Her face twists in discomfort at a light jab of pain right where the shoulder and arm meet and it's useless to hope Bryn doesn't notice. "So the shoulder's acting up again."

"I quit bandaging it a week ago." She waits for the second lecture.

"You know that was stupid, right?" Arlomhe sighs and nods in confirmation twice. "And you're going to keep it bandaged till you're given the official all clear, right?" Arlomhe again nods twice.

"You scared a lot of people." Bryn carefully puts his hand on her left shoulder. "You scared me. You scared Raji… goodness poor woman nearly fainted when they brought you in. And she's someone who sometimes slices into her own fingers by accident without batting an eye on the rare occasion it happens." Bryn shudders. "You scared him. Do you have any idea how much it takes to do that?" Then Bryn stuffs his hands in his pockets. "He didn't leave your bedside for two days." It's an afterthought and the phrase is a whisper strewn with mild disbelief. The whisper makes her think that was something he wasn't supposed to see.

"Two days?" Her start is audible.

"As far as I know." Bryn steps alongside her and spares her a glance. "But then again, he piled on enough paperwork to bury me for three weeks. I finally finished all that yesterday."

Arlomhe stifles a giggle. "You always are in the nick of time."

"You and I both know I'm just lucky that business trip took as long as it did."

"Why didn't you tell me about the paperwork problem?"

"You're still in a twist over my demotion. You really think I was gonna give you something else to consider stepping in for?" He rubs his finger and thumb along his forehead in frustration. "Sometimes I doubt whether you have even a shred of self-preservation in your body."

"You're saying I care too much." Arlomhe halts and stuffs her hands into her pockets, choking the concealed cloth in the right pocket and the material of the left pocket itself. "Aren't you?"

"There's no such thing."

"Would you rather I didn't care at all?"

"I'm not suggesting that." The words come with uncharacteristic haste. "After all, you're probably the only person gutsy enough to even think to attempt making sure we get any time off."

"I'm still hoping that I won't have to even think of nudging him this year on that… You think I would have sworn off that after the year he almost put a blanket denial on all the holiday season requests…" She rubs her hands together in a vain attempt for warmth. "Fortunately I was able to convince him otherwise."

"I knew I owed somebody for my good fortune on that!"

"Consider the debt paid."

"Oh nonononono, me getting you out of that mess was not even at the same level and you know it."

"That was two years ago and I don't have time to keep track of IOUs."

"You helped me see my family for the first time in years." Bryn sighs and he leans against the wall. "Maybe for the last time too."

"You asked him?"

"He said no."

"Does he know about your family situation?" Arlomhe trembles. "About how your sister could be dying?"

"No…Well you're the only one who I've actually told; I try to keep my professional details and personal details separate if it's of my own choice." He reveals a small sad smile. "And it's my mother. My sister is the closest thing that my mother has to a nurse; she provides very basic around the clock care."

"So no calls mean your mother's gotten worse?"

Bryn nods slowly, and he's started shaking.

"This isn't right." She pulls his sleeve back towards the direction they'd come. "This isn't right." She repeats with a gentle yank on the sleeve. "We're fixing this right now."

"What do you not understand about 'he said no'?"

"Extenuating circumstances." With another abrupt yank of his sleeve, she gets less than a foot before he digs his heels in and loosely grasping Arlomhe's sleeve, pulls back. "Harkin, let go!"

"Sorry for the abrupt lesson on self-preservation." He gently pulls his sleeve free and releases hers. "But it proves my point; you don't have an ounce of it in your body."

"Bryn! This isn't right and you know it."

"There's backbone and then there's stupidity- you're bordering on the line."

"Was it retaliation… for not getting me out of that mess unscathed?"

"I don't know."

"Well he does and I will get an answer." The words come through her teeth as she takes a step forward.

"Ms. Sharti, please for once in your life, think before you step in something."

"I always do."

"Sure doesn't look like it from where I stand." Bryn sidesteps around to effectively bar her from proceeding further. "And we really do need to see to that shoulder.

"What part of 'I'm fine' don't you seem to get?"

"The holding your shoulder and grimacing in pain part." Bryn states flatly. "You'll feel better." He adds as an afterthought.

"Then we go get you your time off."

"No. Then we leave it be." Bryn shakes his head and gently pulls her back towards the direction of the infirmary. "There's no need to send you into another trap."

"It wasn't your fault."

"No matter how many times you repeat that it's not going to make me magically feel better."

"That won't make me stop saying it." Arlomhe lets loose a small laugh. "I get a small smile from you every time."

"What can I say, you've grown on me kid." They stop at the infirmary door. "Come on, let's get you patched up so that you can care beyond what I think is wise to your heart's content."

"How're you holding up?" Arlomhe frowns. "Geeze here you are fretting over me like a mother hen for two weeks and I'm just now realizing that you might've been injured too."

"Surprisingly, the thick shirt did its job." He cracks a grin. "I was a little achy and prolly went deaf for two days, because livid doesn't even start to express his displeasure that such a simple retrieval mission was botched." Arlomhe doesn't miss the shudder that travels head to toe from the man. "That whole you being unconscious thing didn't help either."

"Bryn I'm sorry. This mess is all my fault."

"And I'm king of the world."

"Brynny, I'm serious!" Arlomhe steps inside, barely avoiding a trembling fit. "That demotion should be mine, you shouldn't have to account for every single thing you do, and he shouldn't be withholding something from you when you may not get another chance."

"Well, it's not yours, I'm kinda stuck doing it until told otherwise and he can and he did. Drop it, would you?"

"What if I-?"

"Ms. Sharti, I can handle it. I don't need or want you sticking yourself in matters that really don't concern you." His entire body is tight as they pace back to one of the single occupant rooms.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave it be, if that's what you want."

"No matter how much I may want that, you won't change overnight." Bryn sighs somewhat shakily. "Sorry for snapping at you." He opens the door and shoves her very lightly in. As he flicks on the light switch he adds "If you really want to do something for me, don't be so darn reckless. Now I'm gonna go tell somebody you're here to get that shoulder of yours bandaged, then hopefully I can finally be done with the making note of everything I do."

"Hopefully Brynny." Arlomhe smiles at him as she plants herself on the bed.

Bryn pulls his head out of the doorway and quietly shuts the door. Arlomhe then immediately shrugs out of her cloak and the cold swoops in on her unprotected arms. Long sleeves are certainly in order for the rest of the day. She pulls the shirt over and off her head and lets it only slightly slide down her arms, barring it from sliding any further by pressing it between her chin and collarbone. She lets a wince slide past her teeth as she catches sight of the still present bruise. The attendant comes in after two knocks and an "Are you decent Ms. Sharti?" It's a quick job- even so she still can't watch the careful attendant wrap bandages around her shoulder; that part of the hallucination is still far too clear.

"All done." He states with a poor attempt at a smile.

"Is it worse?" All he can do is nod.

"Long sleeves are probably a good idea."

"I'll get right on that." Now it's her turn to attempt a smile. "Thanks."

He leaves and then she shrugs her shirt back on and slides her cloak over her shoulders, clasping the garment by touch. She exits out the private room's door and then makes her way out of the infirmary like a bullet. She skids to a stop at the hallway and dashes to the door of her allotted room, clinging to the knob as she nearly doesn't stop.

Quickly she pulls the first long sleeve shirt out of that drawer on the dresser and changes. She tosses her cloak onto the chair back, or that's what she had intended, but the cloak fell to the floor with a dull thud. Something threw the weight off. Her hand immediately goes rooting through the inner pocket to find the standard black flip phone that she'd yet to return to its proper place and then she finds the more probable culprit: The R.H.'s full set of keys- his office, the card vault and she can only guess what else. She doesn't exactly recall how or when they got into her possession- she's been using the one key that was result of his good mood almost six years prior. The only reason she can think of was over and done with a week and a half ago. So why hadn't he requested them back upon his return?

There are at least ten keys on the ring and the keychain itself is fitted with a heavy, thick, rectangular brass key tag engraved with those initials that a small part of her wishes she could forget. She runs her finger over the engraving with a soft exhale.

He absolutely terrifies her. That much is clear. But withholding his keys intentionally or otherwise does nothing but invite a wrath that not even she would be safe from. Pocketing the keys, Arlomhe heads for his office after pulling her cloak back on over her shoulders. She begrudgingly pokes her head into the atrium on her way; that room isn't one she'd be in of her own choice but she wants to check everywhere.

Upon reaching the office's concealed hallway, she opens the door with far more force than necessary. She doesn't bother knocking on the office door and instead tries the doorknob. To her surprise, she finds it unlocked. She spies the long-forgotten armchair -perfect for a nap- in the office's left corner as she warily steps inside. Arlomhe drops the keys into the upper tray, drags her feet over to the door and, the attempt to resist that nice armchair in vain, locks herself inside the office; shuffling over to the armchair, she collapses into it and drifts off to sleep.


The R.H. admits a small smile when he catches Arlomhe Sharti napping in the armchair to his right as he quietly steps out of the shelf-concealed hallway. That smile quickly slips into the far too easily setting frown as he sees the holes in the bottom of both of her boots. He will never understand how she manages to neglect her own needs while always ready to step in for another at the first sign of trouble. He steps lightly out of his shoes and then paces over to the desk to mentally review the details. Even in his less than stellar physical state, this retrieval won't present any problems. The keys in the upper tray catch his attention. Carefully, he turns on a silent heel to survey the girl anew. At least they were in good hands, though he wished he had known that she'd had them. It would have saved him quite the bit of uncharacteristic fretting. With a soft exhale, he recalls that there is a more pressing matter to tend to- aside from not alerting the girl to his entrance into and departure from the office. He pulls a sheet of paper from the desk, penning Better footwear Dear One, and leaves the now folded in half note in the little space where her right elbow bends. Fortunately her head is nestled into the opposite elbow.

Quietly retrieving his shoes, he steps towards the door and unlocks it far slower than necessary. He paces to the hallway door before stepping into his shoes. The R.H. pushes that door open and flings it shut with a touch too much force. Surely the noise has woken his office napper. He frowns. Shame, she probably needed the sleep.


Arlomhe jolts awake and narrowly avoids banging her head against her right forearm, only thanks to the paper rubbing against her nose first. Her eyes briefly scan the note while she tries to push the instantly present mocking tone out of her head. That shouldn't be the first thing she applies. It's been three weeks… it should be easier to understand that it wasn't real. She inhales through the nose and exhales through the mouth once before pushing the note into her cloak's left pocket and standing from the chair. Checking her analog wristwatch with all the Arabic numerals present on the watch face, she finds that she napped for close to an hour.

Arlomhe's attention shifts to the desk. She sees the keyring gone from the tray. If the note hadn't given away the fact that The R.H. had stepped in to find her napping in the chair, the absence of his keys would have. As it was, it confirmed he had been there. She steps over to the desk and her eyes are drawn to the white sheet of paper she handed him about two hours prior. She flips it over and scans it, twisting a handful of her hair around her finger once and then drawing the finger clean through. He… He's got to be kidding. This is a bad, bad, bad idea. He just came back today, and really if I had any sway whatsoever left I would have advised taking another day. She suppresses a groan. "I did advise taking another day." She lets the words slide past her teeth. She waits about half a minute more before exiting the office, retrieving the approved borrowed set from the spring-loaded compartment on the right side of the hall to lock the door, placing them back to the correct place and then bolts for the only other pair of shoes she has. It's a new pair of tan house shoes, but they're still miles better than her boots. Wet socks are no fun.

She grabs the small utility knife from the very bottom of her bottom dresser drawer and stuffs it into her pants pocket. This retrieval could very well go without any snags, and normally she wouldn't be as panicky about it. However, the bad feeling about this whole thing isn't something she is willing to ignore. Looking only to the spoils invites carelessness; it's something she's seen proven for years. She jogs with light steps through the halls, audibly inhaling and exhaling once upon reaching the door to the garage.

Arlomhe steps out of the doorway into the garage. This is also a bad, bad, bad idea. She doesn't even know which car he's taking or if he's even taking a car at all. Odds are in favor of the car though as this isn't exactly a leisure-trip and a car is at least a bit more audibly inconspicuous than a motorcycle; those engines don't exactly purr.

She quickly catches sight of a black sedan that has its trunk and driver's side back door open. Stuffing her shoes into the large inner pocket and flattening them as much as possible, she dashes for the open backdoor and pulls herself in facedown to wedge into the small carpeted area between the front and back seats. She's just settled in as comfortably as she can be, now somewhere between lying on her stomach and her side with her back facing the front of the car, when she hears footsteps, something being placed into the trunk, and then feels the floor reverberate slightly as the back door is pushed shut. Five minutes pass before she hears any sound again, as it's one of the few vehicles with a near soundproof cabin. Her employer is probably doing a visual inspection of the car.

The front driver's door opens and shuts and she can barely hear the jingle of keys over her own pounding heart that not even the noise of the engine starting can drown out. That 'no sense of self-preservation whatsoever' will likely be my undoing. I just hope it's not tonight.

She exhales softly and drifts off to sleep again; car rides and armchairs are always sleep's harbingers.

A combination of the soft squealing brakes and the cessation of the engine lightly rouses Arlomhe from sleep. The slam of a car door almost makes her bolt upright, and she fights that instinct just barely. Only two minutes later does she readjust as a dull flash lights the area for a second. With slow and deliberate breaths, she begins counting the time on her wristwatch.


DH: Okay so that's the other reason I'm posting these two chapters together, because you're kinda dying to know what'll happen next… or maybe that'd just be me if I were the reader. Please Review.