Oblige (2 page)

Three hours later, Lilia’s wristband chirped a warning. Madame Zel was nearly home, and she wanted a meeting with all family members. That meant Lilia was going to have to find Briel.

Sighing, Lilia headed up the stairs and walked down the long halls until she reached Briel’s room.

The weak voice came from within. “Come in.”

Lilia entered and looked over at Briel with the compress on her eyes. “Sick again?”

“I thought it was confined to mornings.”

“It happens whenever and wherever. Madame Zel is on her way back, and she wants a family meeting in the sitting room.”

Briel pulled away her compress. “You aren’t family.”

“I know, but I can sit.” She snickered. “She still made the order, so we are going to comply.”

The young woman grunted and got to her feet. Lilia helped her to the door and supported her down the stairs.

“You are going to have to tell Madame Zel, you know.”

Briel nodded. “If I am going to keep puking, I would say you are right.”

Lilia tried not to smirk. It was amazing how what she had considered to be English euphemisms translated through her mind. She guessed that puking was universal.

They were in the entryway as Madame Zel powered in and glared at them both before heading for the sitting room.

Lilia simply steered Briel into the sitting room and used her wristband to order tea and some dry crackers in with the rest of the snacks.

When Briel was settled and Madame Zel was glaring at her, Lilia stood to one side.

“Lilia. Sit!”

Blinking, Lilia took a seat next to Briel on the small couch across from Madame in her throne-like chair.

Hemmra brought in the tea, and when she was out of the room, Madame let out a whistle and the doors shut and locked.

Silence hovered between them for a moment, and then, Madame inhaled sharply. “Briel, why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? I had to hear it from an Almoss. They were smug in that little fact. You will not be able to be our hart.”

Briel swallowed. “I just figured it out, Grandmother.”

“Lilia, did you know?”

“I suspected, but the vomiting confirmed it.”

Madame looked at her with narrowed crystal-grey eyes. “Are you pregnant?”

Lilia laughed. “No, Madame. It takes more than just seeing a man for me. I require the same mating procedures that your species does.”

Madame leaned back and smiled slightly at Briel. “Did he declare for you?”

She made a face. “He did not. I am guessing that this pregnancy was planned on his part.”

“Excellent. We have another Zel on the way. Now, in the meantime, we need to plan. Lilia, will you fight for us as the hart?”

“I would love to oblige, but I will require a bit more training. If Briel can train me, I will do my best for you.”

Madame Zel got a slow smile crossing her features. “We have a chance, but you will need to formally be a member of the Zel family.”

Briel blinked. “That is done by blood contract.”

“Well, then, it is a good thing I have the lawyer and notary coming in an hour.”

“What do you need me to do, Madame Zel?”

“Change out of the boring outfit you are wearing and dress like a Zel. You have thirty minutes.”

Lilia didn’t argue, she headed upstairs and came back twenty minutes later with one of the gowns she had been forced to accept and her hair up in a twist with a braided coronet and small tendrils around her face.

Madame Zel smiled when she returned to them. “Much better.”

“Thank you, Madame Zel.”

Briel nodded in approval as Lilia took a seat and got herself a cup of tea. Lilia noted that the crackers were all gone and patted herself on the back for a good call.

The tea was still warm and that was all she needed to keep her attention from waning.

Madame Zel cleared her throat. “Lilia, you are going to become a member of the Zel family so that you can represent us in the hunt.”

“Of course, Madame. How do we reverse the blood contract once this is over?”

“We do not. If you do this to the best of your ability, you have earned your place in our bloodline. Briel won’t mind. She has more money than she can spend in nine lifetimes. That little one will have its own portion of the estate. There is plenty for your short life.”

Lilia rolled her eyes. “Don’t rub it in. What if I choose to have children?”

“Well, daughter, you will have to divvy their inheritances up from your shares on to your offspring, but if they aren’t ugly, I will think about giving them more.”

Lilia laughed, and the door chimed, announcing their visitors.

The oath, blood contract and formal adoption of Lilia into the Zel clan took an hour, and the housekeeper was fidgeting again. It was dinnertime, and the food was getting cold.

Lilia signed in blood, Madame Zel signed in blood and Briel witnessed in blood. The contract was bound, and the notary sealed it.

The officials were dismissed without ceremony, and the ladies headed into the dining room to save the housekeeper from a seizure.

Briel sat at Madame Zel’s right hand, and Lilia was set at her left.

“Thank you, Madame.”

Madame smiled. “Call me Mother. I have adopted you as daughter. That will give the Almoss something to chew on.”

Briel paused and smiled. “Welcome to the family, Aunty Lilia Zel.”

Lilia looked over to Briel. “Good grief, if you have to call me something, call me Aunty Lil.”

Briel’s smile bloomed into a grin. “Aunty Lil it is. I have to say, this is really taking the pressure off me.”

The first course was brought in, and Lilia picked up her eating tines, waiting for Madame to eat first.

“Why is the pressure off you?” Lilia smiled at the servant who brought her her meal and turned her attention back to Briel.

Madame took the first bites. “You are now the inheriting Zel family member. My heir, as it were. I know that with you at the helm, this business will continue to flourish and Briel will be cared for. I need not fear for the next generation and whatever child Briel is carrying.”

Lilia paused and set her tines down. “I am not...I mean, my stay here wasn’t...”

Madame Zel waved it away. “You are a Zel now. Full citizenship of Wralik is yours. It is a burden and a gift. I am sure you will make full use of it.”

Lilia hadn’t been set on Wralik as her home. It hadn’t occurred to her that doing this for the Zels would firmly anchor her to the soil, whether she wanted it or not.

It seemed that she was now in this for the long haul. She had better not get caught during the hunt.

Crawling on her belly through low bushes was not how Lilia normally spent her days, but Briel was following her and checking her trail as they went.

It was five days into survival training, and Lilia hurt in every joint in her body. It was the last day of physical activity, and the rest of the time was going to be spent on figuring out what she could eat in the woods. It would give her muscles time to heal.

“Excellent, Lil. Your trail looks like that of a M’nar sloth. If you have to crawl, you will be unable to be tracked by sight.”

Lilia got to her feet and brushed the dirt off her knees and palms. “So then, I just have to watch out for the Almoss’s sense of smell.”

“Well, they are the best perfumers on the planet. If you aren’t careful, they will be able to track you based on your scent alone.”

Lilia rubbed her back and groaned. “Right. Can I take a break?”

“Take an hour, but we need to practice your tree climbing. You aren’t fast enough for my liking.” Briel put her hands on her hips and scowled.

Lilia patted her on the arm. “Yes, coach. Go and have something cool to drink, and I will meet you at the patio.”

“Where are you going?”

Lilia winked and whistled a low tone, repeated it and whistled a final time. Thudding feet came running, and her Liako beast came out of the woods to kneel at her feet.

Briel shook her head and backed away. “I can’t believe you spent your first two months here learning to do that.”

Lilia laughed and swung up onto the bear-horse’s back, threading her fingers in his mane. “I think it was worth the effort.”

Briel didn’t have time to answer. Lilia leaned forward and the beast under her took off through the forest.

She hadn’t named him because it wasn’t her place to do so, but she loved spending time with him when she wasn’t required to be working.

They ran directly into his herd, and the other members of his family rubbed her legs, the sharp teeth were carefully guarded as they marked her as their own.

It was her favourite way to pass the time, but when her hour was up, she shifted and he brought her back to the house with the thunder of his feet keeping them company as they travelled.

Briel and Madame Zel were waiting with a light meal and some water. The beast Lilia was riding knelt, and she slid off his shoulder with a scratch under his chin before he bounded away.

Briel wrinkled her nose. “You smell like Liako.”

Lilia chuckled. “I know.”

Madame Zel stared and then cackled, clapping her hands. “I think we might just have a chance at keeping the forest.”

Lilia smirked and drank the water set aside for her before quickly consuming the food set out.

Briel smiled. “Everything you are eating has been gleaned from the forest. For the next few days, we are going to be showing you where to find it all.”

Lilia cleared the tray and smiled. “Ready when you are.”

The day of the hunt was going to be bright and sunny. Currently, the sun had yet to make an appearance, but they were walking to the stones in the Zel family group, all ready for the proceedings.

As the current hosts, it was up to them to prepare the space. The servants had scrubbed the flat central stone and flowers were hanging from all the large standing stones.

In her mind, Lilia had always imagined that the stones were on a plain, but they were actually parked on a hilltop. There wasn’t going to be a quick run into the forest for her, she was going to have to slide down a hillside and bolt for the shelter of the trees.

Briel flipped a drape over the centre stone, and then, she placed a swath of white silk around Lilia’s neck. She would have to leave it behind when she started her run.

Her bag was packed and would be subjected to examination by the Almoss family, but she was sure that what she had packed would meet with their approval.

The first words of the day had to be spoken between the family heads in front of the official who would assure that it was done in Wralik tradition.

It called for a lot of hand gestures, but they upheld the tradition.

The first signs of the Almoss family were sounds and rustling in the trees below. When the men and women emerged, Lilia identified the first three as the matriarch and patriarch as well as their youngest son. When a huge purple Wralik appeared behind them and hiked up the hill with his people, Lilia was slightly less sure that she could evade him for three days.

The purples on Wralik were sent into the army and trained as rangers to protect the forests of Wralik. It was a job dictated by skin tone.

Briel grabbed her arm and stared at her in shock. She pointed down the hill and shook her head frantically.

Lilia gave her a soft smile and a shrug. They were in it now. There was no way out of this arrangement. Madame Zel had already looked into it.

Just to be on the safe side, Madame Zel had a fair-use contract drawn up for the forest fibres they needed in case Lilia was unable to avoid her pursuer.

Lilia settled the badge with the running deer on it between her breasts. When she checked out the opposition, it was the purple hulk who was wearing the corresponding hound badge around his neck.

The two families waited as the official hiked up the hill and joined them.

He caught his breath and finally said, “Once a decade, the Zel and the Almoss families gather for custodianship of the great forest. Today, they once again compete for that custodianship.”

He drew his breath. “Zel family, bring forth and identify the hart.”

Madame Zel put her hand on Lilia’s shoulder, and she walked her to the edge of the central stone. “I offer my daughter as the hart. Lilia Zel, my legal heir.”

The Almosses gasped and the younger son glared at Briel. The deep amethyst Almoss slowly smiled.

“Almoss family, bring forth and identify the hound.”

The matriarch of the Almoss family came forward with her hand on the arm of the huge man who didn’t look as if he could have been born of a normal Wralik.

“I offer my eldest son as the hound. Xerik Almoss, our legal heir.”

Lilia kept her face impassive, but that was news. Lemko Almoss always strutted around as if he was in charge of the family finances.

She looked up toward the man who would be hunting her through the woods, and his clear crystal-grey eyes were focused on her with scary intensity.

“Do the hart and the hound agree to the terms? The hart must avoid capture for three days or be at the mercy of the hound for three additional days, as well as the lost guardianship for her family.”

“I agree.”

“As the hound, do you agree to hunt the hart within three days or forfeit your family claims to the guardianship for ten years?”

“I agree.”

His voice rumbled out and nearly knocked her knees out from under her.

Madame Almoss looked between the two of them and smirked. “I am going to propose an alteration to the timeline.”

Madame Zel nodded toward the official and turned her head toward Madame Almoss. “We are listening.”

“I am so confident in my son’s abilities that I am willing to compress the timeline provided that he is able to pursue the hart one hour from her egress.”

Madame Zel looked to Lilia. Lilia gave her a short nod.

“How compressed is the timeline?”

Madame Almoss looked to the sun. “Sunset tomorrow is the new deadline?”

Her son nodded and his clearly cut lips curved slightly.

Lilia felt relieved that she was only going to have to run for a day and a half, but she had the feeling that he was far better in the woods than any other member of his family.