Chloë (26 page)

“Prince
Philip, this was not part of
our
agreement,” growled Sir Reinhardt.

“Things
change, Sir Reinhardt.  Things change.  Consider your rough treatment
of my daughter to be set aside… there are too many questions. Let’s close this
with what’s left of our dignity intact.”

“That,”
snapped Sir Reinhardt, “is not good enough!  Plan ‘B?’”  he laughed.

All
eyes jumped between Philip and Reinhardt in confusion.  The confusion
vanished and changed to horror in a blink of the eye as Reinhardt pulled a side
arm on Philip and reached for Chloë.

It
all seemed like slow motion to Chloë.  Reinhardt’s gun, coming to
bear.  His evil arm reaching out for her. 
Not again!
Oh,
not again!
  Chloë snarled as she lurched out of Reinhardt’s reach and
brought her Live Steel blade out to play.  The sparks seemed to dance and
float in the air, twirling like maple seeds in the wind, dancing like
dandelions on a cool Spring breeze.  With a clumsy yet still effective
lunge, she sprang forward and shredded the pistol in Reinhardt’s hand. 
She growled defiantly as she centered herself, ready for the next round from
Reinhardt’s playbook.

Chloë’s
smile broadened as she
felt
the display of Live Steel behind her:
Heather, the quintet of younger girls and even Second Mother herself. 
Swords, halberds, armor, even that spritely and ethereal display of Lily’s, she
could
feel
it,
see
it. 
Don’t mess with the ladies of
House Stratford!

Reinhardt
recoiled, his hand intact even if his weapon wasn’t, and snarled.  There
was never good to come of such a snarl, there was hatred and evil in it to the
core.  Reinhardt went for a remote in his pocket, and the world around
them exploded in confusion.

Not
again!
Screamed Chloë’s
mind as her senses became overloaded.  No.  No this time there was a
difference as she felt Heather grab her from behind and extend her armor to
engulf them both.  Gunfire!  Gunfire from the Shukurae filled the air
as things chattered around her that she could not fully comprehend.  Her
eyes and ears had been spared the lion’s share of the assault by Heather’s
quick action, but that didn’t make things around her less confusing.  Smoke
whirled in the air while the chatter of metal on the marble floor caught her
off guard.  She wanted to help, to lash out, but she was afraid to leave
the protective cocoon of Heather’s arms and armor.  Boots, boots running
past.  Sounds of Shukurae defiantly bellowing in their own language. 
Wave after wave rolled by until at last the smoke cleared and Heather’s armor
relaxed.

Heather
looked more angry than scared, while the quintet of girls completely circling
Second Mother looked
pissed! 
Second mother, still with a longsword
in her hand remained calm as she looked to Heather and Chloë and nodded. 
Chloë spun around to find Philip gagging and coughing from the smoke, but
otherwise unharmed.

“Caleigh!”
screamed Grandmother Heigen, “He took my Caleigh!”

The
Shukurae stood close to them as they tried to sort out what all had
happened.  Stun grenades and smoke had gone off, that much was
obvious.  Chloë was amazed to find that the Shukurae had been completely
unaffected by the stun grenades, they were truly formidable.  Smoke… well…
everyone had problems with that.

“Some
form of spider inspired robots,” commented one of the Shukurae as he kicked the
battered pieces lying on the ground.  “Complete with smoke dispensers and
stun grenades.   Good for climbing and as a scare tactic, not very
good at fighting.”

“Where
did they come from?” asked Grandmother Heigen with dread in her voice.

“They
seem to have been built into part of the elaborate light fixtures on the
ceiling…”

“Those
were gifts from a week ago…” melted Grandmother Heigen.  “False favor…
from Reinhardt no doubt.  What of my daughter, Caleigh?”

“It
appears that Reinhard made off with her in the confusion.  My guess is he
planned
on grabbing Lady Chloë, but she proved too dangerous a target.  Don’t
worry, the port is locked down, he can’t escape with her and our troops are
already scouring the grounds.”

“What
if he has a private ship hidden away?  He seems to have planned ahead,”
asked Chloë blankly.

“Between
the Amsterval ships and our own ships, he would not make it out of orbit, Lady
Chloë.  They are here… someplace…”

“Get
Father!” barked Heather.  “He could track a fish up a waterfall!”

“Only
with Prince Philip’s permission,” replied Maria evenly.

“If
it had been one of us, you’d called him in a flash!  She’s Chloë’s mother;
that makes her
our
mother!”

Maria
shook her head, “It isn’t that simple…”

“Yes
it is!  Things are only complicated because we make them that way!”
bellowed Heather hotly.

“Things
were
made
complicated many years ago,” began Maria.  “Now, if you
can hold your temper, we will try this the other way.  Prince Philip…”

The
prince still seemed in a daze; what of his character that wasn’t showing
confusion was radiating hatred.  Hatred for the errant knight!

Maria
tried to move closer to Philip and was amused to find that the circle of girls
wouldn’t let her, “It’s okay dears, let me talk to the man.”  They
relented, but they were still quite unhappy.

Chloë
would have pegged the girls as nervous, but the expressions on their faces was
that of steely determination, not apprehension.  Only little Lily looked
like she was about ready to lose it and Chloë feared the fate of anyone in
Lily’s path if she did break down…

Grandmother
Heigen and Maria helped Philip to a chair as Maria continued, “Prince Philip,
he’s taken your wife, Caleigh.  My husband could easily resolve this in a
matter of minutes if you will agree to let him come and help.”

The
words seemed to whirl in Philip’s head, “Caleigh… what is he going to do with
her…”

“We
don’t know, your Highness, but we can help.  My husband would be perfectly
willing to extend the olive branch and come to your aid, but only
only
at your request.”

Philip
seemed to still be in a partial daze, the words were slow to come, but they
were clear, “If he is so willing to help, then why is he not already
here?  Is this some point of pride that I am supposed to
beg?
”

“Would
it matter if it was!” screamed Chloë.  “He has mother!”

Maria
smiled and hugged Chloë tight before turning to face the Prince again, “No, it
is not about pride.  It is about his word, he agreed never to return
unless asked.”

“I
cast him out?  Your husband?”

“You
and the other Houses bid him leave, never to return.  But he will come
back; he will help you.  You only have to ask.”

Philip
suddenly looked nervous, “You’ve dodged his name… Highlander’s house names are
matriarchal, that much I know… what is his name… his full name?”

Maria
sighed and smiled, “Llewellyn Stratford of Clan Silverglade.”

Chloë
had seen her father’s wide range of emotions over the years… anger, pride,
lust… But apparently she had never seen
fear
.  Much less fear at
such a level…

“Noooooo!”
screamed Prince Philip as he stood up in his chair.  “Never again! 
No!”  His nose and ears drained white and even his lips and pads seem to
grow pale.  He stood in the chair trembling before finally bolting from
the room screaming into the night.

“Well,
I guess that means ‘no,’” replied Raymond evenly.

Heather
just rolled her eyes, “What a stupid baby…”

“I
thought you’d be proud of your father’s reputation,” teased Maria.

Heather
glared at her Second Mother, “No!  No I’m not!  And this certainly
isn’t the place to make jokes of it!  Caleigh is in trouble!”

Maria
nodded, “You are correct, Heather.  That was poor of me.”

“If
I hadn’t lashed out, if I had let him grab me… Would father have come then?”
asked Chloë as she started to tear.

“Oh,
my little dear,” tutted Maria as she held her tight.  “Yes.  Yes he
would have.  But you made the right choice.  Don’t let anyone try to
tell you otherwise.  You stood up for yourself and did so with a great
heart.  You struck down the weapon that was threatening Prince
Philip.  Had things gone poorly, Philip might have been shot and killed.”

“But
instead a madman has my mother!” blubbered Chloë.

“Then
we had best be getting her back!” growled Heather.  “Come with me! 
We finish this together!”

Chloë
started to bolt to Heather but looked up to Maria.

“Go,
go with Heather.  You too Raymond!  Someone has to keep the two girls
safe.”

Chloë
nodded and ran to join Heather and Raymond.

“Can
the girls come, too?” asked Heather as her snarl started to evolve into a
sinister grin.

“No! 
They stay here with me!” snapped Maria strictly.  “It is against my better
judgment that I let you two head out.  Don’t push your luck!”

Heather
grinned, “Had to try!”

“Where
to first?  Try to track him in the dark across the garden?” asked Raymond.

“First,
I want to try asking Prince Philip again,” offered Chloë.

“You
have two minutes and then we do this my way!” grinned Heather.

“Yes,
ma’am!” grinned Chloë.

“Stratfordslance!”
called one of the Shukurae.  “Here, you may need these!”  He produced
a Taik-sized pulse rifle and a commlink and tossed it to the grateful Raymond.

“Thank
you kindly!” he beamed in return as he readied the action on the weapon and
slipped the earbud of the comlink firmly into place. 

“If
we find anything we will relay it to you, brave Highland guardian!”

Chloë
laughed as Heather grabbed Raymond by the head and squarely kissed him. 
Heather grinned back, “Shall we find the loon?”

“Let’s!”

“North
end of the garden, lost in the hedge maze,” barked one of the Shukurae.

“You
heard the lady, let’s go!” grinned Heather.

Chloë
nodded and followed the other two out into the nighttime garden.  How did
Heather know that
that
Shukurae was a girl?  Chloë laughed at her
own ignorance as they ran through the flower garden into the hedge maze.

“They
say near the big bird,” relayed Raymond.

The
swan… Chloë knew right where that was and expertly guided the three of them
through the maze until they came to a clearing with a large topiary of a swan
with its wings extended.  Sure enough, Prince Philip was there, trapped,
looking like his next plan was to climb over the wall…

“Prince
Philip!” called Raymond.  “We need to talk!”

The
prince turned to face them with fear still in his eyes, “You sent for him,
didn’t you?”

“No,”
began Chloë calmly.  “We would never do that without your permission.
 Llewellyn is a man of his word.”

“And
you would call him
father!
  Do you know what he has done?”

“Yes,
yes I do.  He protected himself and his friends when the great houses
tried to ambush the peacekeepers.  That was cowardly on your part, why
bring in peacekeepers if you are just going to ignore them?  What did that
serve?”

“They
killed tens of thousands!”

“Who
struck first?  Who?  It wasn’t them!  They just defended
themselves!  How many others were lost in the Great War?   How
many millions died?”

“You
are a child, you don’t understand.  You weren’t there…”

Chloë
managed a laugh, “Oh, back to that argument again… Have you sat with Llewellyn,
eaten supper with him?  Have you walked with him through the woods on a
calm Spring evening?  Have you seen him play with delight with his
children?  With his grandchildren?  He’s a loving, caring man who did
things he isn’t proud of.  Horrible, violent things, but he did those
things to protect those he served with, those he loved!  He laughs, he
cries, he is no monster.”

“Prince
Philip, I personally lost two of my uncles that night.  I will never get
them back, but that is beside the point.  Llewellyn can help us find and
rescue Princess Caleigh and do so with minimum risk.  We just need you to
let him help us!”

Philip
shook his head, “No!  I won’t risk it!  Not again!”

“Would
you have a different heart if it was the Duchess Amanda?” screamed Chloë. 
“Would you?”

Philip
just stood there shaking his head.

“If
something happens to Caleigh, I won’t settle for a quarter of the land, I’ll
take all of it!  You will have to abdicate in my favor! 
Coward!”
screamed Chloë.  “Come on, he’s worthless,” snarled Chloë as she led them
out of the hedge maze.

Raymond
cued the comlink but the Shukurae had no new news…

“He
had a plan,” began Heather.  “We know that.  He went through all the
effort with the elaborate gifts to get his stupid robots in place, he isn’t
just acting randomly.  He probably planned to grab you not Caleigh, but
that is beside the point.  He had to have someplace in mind to hide you
while he made his ransom demands.  Someplace safe and secure.”

“Wait
a minute,” began Raymond suddenly.  “We all assume he ran out the front
door with Lady Caleigh, but did anyone actually see him do that?”

“Um,
no…” began Heather with sudden understanding.  “Like you said, we all just
assumed…”

Raymond
cued the commlink and parroted the obvious question around; the response was
the same, everyone had assumed he had run out the front door, but
no one
could actually recall seeing him.

“He’s
still in the château,” growled Heather.  “Quick!  Back inside!”