Outcasts of Velrune (17 page)

Mr. Penna nodded then walked out of the archway. Lady Metis motioned Max and the others towards the church.

“The evening is moving along. I will have beds prepared for you. You will need your rest. I have a feeling that there is more to your mission than we may realize.”

This got both Eve’s and Max’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“I am unsure of the meaning myself, but I have lived long enough to sense when things are about to change. We all may be in need of strength before long.”

Back inside the building, Lady Metis went about her own business. Melody led Max and Eve to one of the tables where others had already begun the evening meal. As soon as they sat, a couple of young girls brought each of them a bowl of a wonderful smelling vegetable stew. While he waited for the stew to cool, he took a look around at the others that slowly filled the hall. Most all were female varying in age from children to the elderly. Eve’s voice brought Max back to the meal.

“Mmm, this stew is really good, Melody.”

“The vegetables are grown here so it is nice and fresh.”

After the meal, Melody took Max and Eve to the sleeping quarters in the back of the building where the two were given cots next to each other.

Max hadn’t lain long before he grew restless. He could barely wait for tomorrow to come to set out on his first mission. On top of that, he had his father’s box with its mysterious contents. His mind raced trying to guess at what it might contain. Next to him, Eve rolled onto her side.

“Can’t sleep either, Maxy?

“No, not at all.”

Eve giggled. “Good, now I can tell you what I learned yesterday at Mr. Penna’s. We’ve more in common than you think.”

Max rolled over to face Eve as she started her story.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Eve watched Max and Sgt. Kallis leave Melody at the gate and head north before Neysa pulled her into the house. Mr. Penna followed them in, closing the door behind him.

“Well, that was certainly interesting.”

Eve and Neysa turned.

“Why do you have papers for me, Mr. Penna?”

“Chiros, why didn’t you warn me you were coming home?”

Mr. Penna held up his hands. “Ladies, please, there is plenty of evening left for explanations. It has been a long trip and I would like to sit down to a nice meal first.”

Neysa shrugged her shoulders. “You haven’t changed much Chiros, but you’re out of luck for a good meal. There isn’t much to eat.”

Eve looked around the house and saw only a single rickety chair next to a small wooden crate that sat in the middle of the floor. “Or places to sit.”

Mr. Penna surveyed the room himself. “Hmm, I know I am getting forgetful, but I do recall having more furniture than this.”

Neysa bowed her head. “I’m sorry, Chiros. I had to make do while you were away. I didn’t always get the money you sent, nor could I get any legitimate work without you here to vouch for me.”

Mr. Penna embraced Neysa’s hand. “That is fine, my dear. I am to blame for leaving you the way I did. In any event, if you have kept the vault safe, none of the other trappings matter.”

“It’s safe, or else we would not have found Evangeline’s papers.”

Eve bounced up and down, annoyed that Mr. Penna hadn’t answered her question yet. “Why do you have papers for me?”

“All will be answered tonight.”

Eve stomped her foot in frustration. “Oh, come on!”

Mr. Penna smiled. “I am going back down to the market. I need to give the mare to the stablehand. I will buy some food for us while I am there. In the meantime, you two get washed for the evening and relax a little. I have the feeling that our adventures are only starting.”

Neysa joined Eve in her frustration. “What do you mean by that?”

Mr. Penna opened the door. “Tonight,” he smiled and slipped outside.

“Uhgg, gone eleven years, and he hasn’t changed at all. Come on, Evangeline, the bath is one thing I made sure to keep.”

Eve followed Neysa, laughing. “You can call me Eve.”

Two hours later, the three sat on the floor around the lone crate, food stacked between them. While they ate, Mr. Penna told Neysa all that had taken place since he and Peter had left Moenia so many years ago. Eve lost interest in the conversation. She let Spook out to run around the empty room, occasionally coming back to Eve to snag a piece of food out of her hand.

“Eve!”

Eve jumped, not realizing Mr. Penna had finished telling his story. Both he and Neysa looked at Eve with bemused expressions on their faces.

Neysa shook her head. “Even for our kind, Eve, having a pet mouse is a little strange.”

Eve smiled mischievously. “Why, thank you.”

“You’re right, Chiros. She is definitely an odd one.” Neysa’s smile faded. “I hope it’s enough for what is to come.”

Eve grew concerned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mr. Penna sighed. “I suppose now it is time to answer some of your questions, Evangeline.”

Eve bubbled over with excitement. “It’s about time! Why do you have ownership papers for me? Do you really work for the Protectors? Why is…?”

Mr. Penna motioned for Eve to settle down. “Whoa, whoa. You are getting ahead of things Evangeline. The story starts long before you come into the picture.”

Eve let out a deep sigh. “Fine.”

She shifted herself into a more comfortable position, preparing for one of Mr. Penna’s long stories.

Mr. Penna chuckled. “I will try and make it as short as possible. I promise.” Taking a sip of tea, he began.

“Years ago I worked as an inspector. Things were different then. Most of the lacarna that came into the cities, having found a human partner, wanted to live in Moenia. Others simply found the city life more interesting, though not many.”

“Any lacarnian that chose to live in the city had to have their claws removed. It is an old law meant to bring peace in the villages. Now it only gives the Protectors more power. In any event, the inspectors were tasked with verifying, and if necessary, removing the lacarna’s claws along with keeping a written record of all whom they admitted.”

Eve starred at Mr. Penna in shock. “That’s what you did?”

Neysa put her finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”

Eve huffed, but shut her mouth, allowing Mr. Penna to continue.

“Unlike your claws, Evangeline, the claws of those that came to the city were brittle and of little use. Few even had them. The collars are what they hated, and rightfully so.”

“We placed the collars around their neck to show they were certified by us. A strange stone mined from the southern mountains was then split in two with half placed in the collar and half given to the lacarna’s partner, or kept with us. This stone had the odd property of pulling itself together when its pieces came near each other. This gave us a way to validate who the lacarna belonged to.”

Eve, about to burst, raised her hand.

“Yes, Evangeline?”

“I can’t believe anyone would want to live in the city bad enough to give up their claws, even if they weren’t that effective. And when did the collars change?”

Mr. Penna sighed. “You are as impatient as Maxwell. The collars I will get to. As for the lacarna, I often wondered what they left behind when they entered the city. I eventually got the chance to find out.”

“The law provided a way for the Protectors to know how many lacarna lived in the city and the larger outlying villages, but not how many lived out in the woodlands. Lord Avram, the leader of the Protectors, feared the lacarna would one day start another war with the humans. In order to properly defend the city against such an event, he wanted a better idea of their numbers. To that extent, they decided to survey the surrounding woods.”

“I was chosen to administer the survey. I believed their concerns unwarranted, but I could not pass on the chance to see the lacarna in their natural environment. To top it off, they assigned Lieutenant Laskaris, a friend of mine for several years, as my escort. I began to have dreams of a grand adventure.”

Mr. Penna sighed as Eve raised her hand. “Yes.”

“Why’d they pick you and Mr. Laskaris?”

“They picked me for my meticulous record-keeping. They chose Peter for his reputation. He had spent the last few years patrolling the outlying towns, settling any dispute between the lacarna and humans fairly. The lacarna grew to trust him despite their dislike for the Protectors. They knew that trust would take us to places few humans could go.”

“We spent a couple of months traveling from village to village before we met a lacarnian messenger from a village on the edge of the Urania forest. Peter told her of the Protectors’ concerns. She assured us that, as long as the humans left them alone, the lacarna had no intention of starting any conflict. To confirm this, she agreed to take us to her village, Xylia, where we could talk to her chief.”

“I must admit, I was rather disappointed when we arrived at Xylia. I had expected the exotic, only to find a mostly normal village. A few homes were constructed out of limbs, vines, and such, but they had made several out of logs as well. Apparently, several humans lived in the village with the lacarna.”

“The messenger brought us to the chief who also assured us that the lacarna had no intention of any violence against the humans. The fact that they had allowed several humans to join their village backed their claims in our eyes. At that point, Peter decided we had surveyed enough.”

With Mr. Penna starring tiredly at her, Eve raised her hand. “Weren’t you supposed to survey all the villages?”

Mr. Penna chuckled. “Peter played a little loose with the rules sometimes. Not in a criminal way, mind you, but he believed the Protectors had a tendency to go overboard at times. That is one of the reasons he got along so well with the lacarna. He found the very idea of them mounting an attack ridiculous.”

Eve laughed. “That kinda sounds like Max.”

Mr. Penna shook his head. “More than you know. I felt the same mind you, but I wanted to continue in hopes of learning more about the lacarnian culture. When I spoke of this to the Chief, he kindly invited us to spend as long as we wanted in the village. In fact, she pointed us to a rather excitable girl that had a great capacity for talking.”

Neysa crossed her arms. “Hey now, you don’t need to go adding the extra commentary. I had just moved out of the forest and never met outsiders.”

Eve, in surprise, skipped raising her hand this time. “You mean you first met Neysa in that village?”

“Indeed. She was the first lacarnian either Peter or I had really sat down to spend time with. We spent an entire day with her as she told us, in detail, of her village deeper in the forest. Xylia had little in common with it.”

Having never heard about the lacarnian villages, Eve’s excitement got the better of her.

“What was different, Neysa? How did they live in the forest? Why did you leave?”

Neysa uncrossed her arms, smiling. “I left for the adventure. You see, the lacarna built the outer villages to give them a chance to interact with humans and learn more about them. In order to attract the humans to the villages they tried to adapt their lifestyle by building a small log inn and opening a trading shop containing plants and animals only found in the forest,” Neysa giggled. “We even wore clothing.”

Eve’s eyes grew wide. “You mean you didn’t in forest villages?”

Neysa rocked back in her chair, laughing. “Not a thing. lacarnian’s are almost all female and humans weren’t allowed in. We didn’t see the point. After all, clothing is too restrictive, don’t you think?”

Eve pulled at her shirt. “Well, yeah. It itches too, but I’ve never had the option to go without them.”

Mr. Penna shook his head. “Neysa is distracting you with silly little details.”

Neysa crossed her arms. “Fine, you continue then.”

“You see, Evangeline, the bodies of the lacarna living in the forest were different from the others.”

Eve tilted her head. “Different? How?”

“The lacarna that lived in the forest had tougher skin, hair that was thicker, closer to fur, and their arms and legs were more evenly proportioned to their body. Tell me, Evangeline, did you notice any differences between you and the lacarna in the city?”

Eve thought for a moment then looked directly into Mr. Penna’s eyes. “Y…yes, most looked more like humans that had grown ears and a tail and not as much like a cat that had become more human.” She paused for several seconds. “Mr. Penna, are you saying I’m from the forest?” Eve shook her head. “You don’t know that for sure, do you?”

Mr. Penna smiled. “The information Neysa provided fascinated me. I wanted to go see one of the forest villages for myself and record how they lived. Neysa; however, said few humans were ever allowed to enter them. At the end of the day, I headed off to the hut the Chief had provided us, thrilled with all the information, but disappointed that I could not go deeper into the forest.”

Eve planted her hands on her hips. “Hey! You didn’t answer my question.”