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Subject: {ASSM} The Luck Bringers 3/3 Chryslin and Arleta ((Mhuman-Vixen, furry, sex, assorted codes) TBD
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Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2012 06:10:04 -0400
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The Luck Bringers 3/3 Chryslin and Arleta
---

note:  The titles for this series are references to the game of chess.
---

(Mhuman-Vixen furry sex)
Mate? Check!
The Luck-Bringers -- Chryslin and Arleta
---

Dad, mom and I were watching the latest group of Rabelaisian tourists
disembark. I wasn't paying much attention to my parent's running
commentary until mom inhaled sharply and dad grunted in surprise.
"What's *she* doing here?" He sounded more resigned than angry and I
briefly wondered about what he meant before I turned my attention back
to the group to see if I could figure out who they were watching.

A random movement of the crowd rewarded me with a glimpse of a golden
cloak. What? A Bardic master? But... I turned to my mother in
surprise. "A master?"

She nodded slightly.

I turned back and watched the crowd again. I still hoped I'd be able
to figure out which one of the passengers had caught my parent's
attention.

Dad touched my shoulder to get my attention. "A vixen, son. You're in
for an interesting time." He sounded amused about something.

Something made me look towards the customs exit. *She* was standing
there and looking directly at me. Her golden cloak swirled about her
as if she had just then stopped in mid stride. There was a surprised
look on her face that quickly smoothed into a wry smile as she held
her hands up in a gesture I'd seen my mother use when greeting my dad.

The 'offer of mates'? Me? It was my turn to freeze.

Mom nudged me. "Chryslin Merlinson, I raised you better than that. It
isn't wise to keep a vixen waiting when she makes the 'offer of
mates'."

I unfroze enough to work my way through the crowd. As I approached the
vixen I felt a mental warmth growing stronger with each step. Smiling
reluctantly as I admitted the absurdity of the situation, I raised my
hands and we intertwined our fingers. "Mom hoped I'd be Rabelaisian
enough to feel it when it happened. I'm Chryslin Merlinson. Welcome to
Earth, life-mate."

She laughed softly. "I'm Arleta. Quite a welcome. Not at all what the
tour guide led us to expect." She bent forward slightly and kissed me.
As she pulled away she whispered "life-mate."

I had to take several deep breaths to recenter myself. By then mom and
dad had joined us. Mom approached from one side and managed to hug
Arleta without forcing our hands apart. "Arleta. Things at home are
well?"

I refused to let go when Arleta tried to curtsy so she nodded instead.
"Lady Chrystal. Your family does quite well. They accept the choices
you made so many years ago--and asked me to wish you and Merlin well
should we meet."

Dad reached out and drew mom into his arms. "We thank you for those
words, Arleta."

The two of them touched our joined hands. Mom spoke some words that
surprised me. "So, from such simple beginnings, new pathways are
revealed. May you always be able to walk them together." She laughed
gently. "Chryslin. A mother never finds it easy to let go of her
children. Fare thee well on your new journey."

Dad chuckled as he hugged me and Arleta. "A vixen. A wise choice for
one such as you." He looked at Arleta. "I won't say we've immunized
him to all of a Bard's tricks but I will note that he seems to have
inherited a very low resistance when it comes to dealing with vixens."

Arleta smothered a laugh. "I'll try to remember that."

Mom and dad walked off to collect the rest of the tour group so they
could give them their orientation lecture.

Arleta and I studied each other. I don't know what she saw but she
released my hands and wrapped her arms around me in a hug as she
rested her head on my shoulder. "You smell good. I've always wondered
what my mate would smell like. Is Lady Chrystal *really* your mother?"

"Well, she says she is." I paused and added. "When I went through
puberty she kept mumbling, usually where I could overhear it, 'it
*has* to be from me, Merlin doesn't have that sort of stamina'."

Arleta giggled.

I made my hands caress her back seductively. "Love, my plans are your
plans. What are your desires?"

She tightened her arms. "I have only one desire. For privacy. Soon."
Fur brushed against the back of my legs. She was using her tail to
caress me suggestively.

I gulped. I wasn't a virgin but her forthrightness was rapidly
unnerving me. "Does Rabelaisia have trains?"

"Trains? No."

"Good! You're in for a treat. We used our private coach to come here."
I pulled away and bowed deeply before offering her my arm. "My Lady.
May I offer you the hospitality of the family coach? It's very
private."

She tilted her head to one side as she thought about my offer. She
grinned before curtsying. "My Lord. I shall accept your offer." She
linked her arm with mine.

Laughing like children about to get into trouble, we headed to where
our coach was waiting.

* * *

As we approached the coach one of the figures lounging near the main
door straightened and raised hir hand in greeting. " 'Brother Fox'. A
conquest already? Fast, even for you." Shi grinned.

I blushed and gathered what dignity I could while Arleta was giggling
quietly and tickling my ear with the tip of her tail. "No, Becky. She
conquered me--by doing the unexpected."

Shi blinked. "Our fox, conquered? An interesting tale, if true."

I squirmed. "Well, yes. I couldn't very well deny her 'offer of
mates', could I?"

Cathy stepped forward. "No, brother, not if you felt it too."

Arleta sobered and held out the hand I wasn't holding. "He did. I'm
Arleta." Something in her eyes laughed. "He *also* offered to share
the privacy of your coach. May we pass?"

Cathy touched her hand briefly. "With our blessings." Shi grinned at
us. "The orientation lecture usually takes about an hour but I suspect
Dad and Vel will take the time to give them a short tour of the city."
I felt Arleta's fingers curl slightly and then relax. "As for you,
'Brother Fox'... Will the usual warning be OK?"

"Ahhh..." I grinned ruefully. "No need since mom and dad know about
her." I moved to pass them and Arleta came with me.

We stepped through the doors and I turned to the left. "This way. My
rooms are on the other side of the lounge."

She released my hand and stopped to examine things. "It looks like
something out of my history books."

I settled on the couch. "Mom's doing." I sighed. "Dad has the castle.
Mom has her rooms there, and the coach. She doesn't say much about it
but exiling herself to Earth hasn't been easy on her." I made a
sweeping gesture that took in the coach in general. "Dad let her
redesign this a few months after became they became mates."

Arleta came over and looked down at me. She let her cloak slide to the
floor. "Stand up and get out of those clothes." Brown eyes glittered.
"I want to see just how much of a fox you are."

I stood and she helped me strip. My clothes joined her cloak.

I reached out to lightly touch her chest and then slid my hand down to
just above her pubic area. "I've never been with a vixen. You look a
lot like mom but your coloring is different."

She reached down and gently moved my hand to her vulva. "I'm not a
tender virgin." Her hand did that clenching again. "I've never been
with a human." She looked down at where her hand held mine and I felt
her hand tense. This time it didn't relax. "I've never been this much
in love, either."

I knew my penis was expanding when she inhaled sharply and jerked her
head up to stare into my eyes. "A knot? A human with a knot?"

I blushed and felt my penis go flaccid. I hugged her. "If this be
love, I hope I feel it forever. Yes, it's functional, too."

She giggled and pushed me so I fell on the couch with her on top of
me. "Now!"

We slid together as if we'd been fucking each other for years. A few
seconds later we were locked together. I felt her muscles begin to
clench and unclench as she began her own orgasmic spasms.

After a few minutes our orgasms ended and we began to think rationally
again.

She reached down and wrapped her fingers around the exposed part of my
penis. "You said something about stamina. How long?"

I pulled her head closer and kissed her. "Long enough. Minimum ten
minutes, maximum, so far, nearly an hour--with some help from my
partner."

She squeezed gently. "I see. You'll get that help." She looked at me
quizically. "That was a pretty exact answer."

"You're not the first to wonder. I've had some women ask and then
bring a friend to run the stopwatch the next time. Over the years I've
made a chart."

"I think I'd like to see that chart. We're going to make one of our
own." She frowned thoughtfully. "Who can I ask to time us?"

Like I mentioned earlier. Forthright. I forced down another blush.
"Cathy or Becky would be willing to help."

"Oh? That's convenient."

"They're family and keep secrets. At least I think they do. Mom and
dad have never commented on some of the things the two of them have
seen me doing."

She leaned back and studied me. Finally her eyebrows lifted. "And your
mother made those comments about stamina?"

"I forgot you're a Bard. I was hoping you'd forget about that comment.
When we're at home, we're nudists unless we have guests that might be
offended. Mom and dad have caught me with a couple of lovers and
compared notes. They both know I have the knot and tie. What I hope
they haven't figured out is how long that tie can last." I grinned.
"Or how soon I recover and can tie again."

She blinked and seemed surprised. "Soon? Really?"

"I think it's because I'm half human and half Rabelaisian. If you let
me fully deflate and wait about a minute, then apply pressure in the
right area, I'll be good for another twenty minutes, average. I can do
that three or four times before I can't have an erection."

"Up to five ties? Sometimes lasting about two hours?"

I nodded.

She slumped against me and sighed happily. "Heaven."
====

(Mhuman-Vixen furry sex)
Pawn's Gambit
The Luck-Bringers - Chryslin and Arleta
---

I hugged Arleta. "Answer a question?"

Her response was muffled because she was nibbling on my ear. "Uh
hummm..."

"I thought I knew all of the gestures Rabelaisians use. Twice today
you started to clench your fingers in my hand and then stopped and
relaxed them." I sighed. "Was I supposed to respond?"

She snorted into my ear and leaned back to laugh deeply. "Oh!
That's..." She waved her hands helplessly and kept laughing. "Lady
Chrystal. Never!" She laughed even harder.

She leaned against me again and hugged me while she went back to
nibbling on my ear. Eventually she sobered enough to whisper an
explanation for her hilarity. "That slight twitch is how most vixens
react when they're embarrassed. You know your mother better than I do.
Ever seen her embarrassed?"

"No. I've seen her in lots of moods--but never that one."

Arleta wandered my chest with the fingers of one hand. "Exactly."

I reached and held her hand so it was almost touching my forehead. I
took a deep breath and let go. She held it there while I moved my hand
so it was almost touching her forehead. I took a another deep breath
and looked into her eyes while I asked the ritual question:

"My Lady.
I know your body
And the touch of your body
Against my own.

"My Lady.
As your chosen mate
I desire to give you
My soul.

"My Lady.
As you will it.
So be it.

"I, Chryslin Merlinson,
Have spoken."

Her head slowly tilted to one side and I could feel the surprise that
radiated from her. "What made you choose this form of the ritual?"

"It felt right. Did I say it correctly?"

"I see. Yes." She moved her head into my hand as she touched my
forehead.

"My Lord.
Two bodies.
One soul.

"I, Arleta,
Have spoken."

* * *

We were still touch-linked when mom and dad got back. We were also
tied again.

Arleta noticed them first. "We have company." She pulled her hand away
from my forehead and I removed mine from hers. I felt a tug when she
started to rise from my lap. "Oh!" She resettled in my lap and I felt
her loosen slightly. It wasn't enough to let us separate but it was
enough, barely, to let me forget about my penis and focus on my
surroundings.

Dad had his arm around Mom's waist and he was grinning at us. I
started to say something and he shook his head slightly before they
settled in his favorite chair for a cuddle of their own.

Arleta and I looked at each other. I pulled her into a hug and
whispered in her ear: "If you don't do something to distract me I'm
going to start laughing. If I do... The stimulation to my penis will
keep us tied for at least another hour!"

"Oh? Really?" She turned her head and grinned at mom and dad.
"Chryslin and I will be late for dinner." She started rocking in my
lap as she turned her head back and kissed me.

I heard mom's gentle laughter. "No, dear. Dinner will be late. The
cook is going to be busy for the next couple of hours--if he knows
what's good for his health." That announcement was followed by a quiet
'click' as the door to their rooms closed.

I had just enough time to ask myself two questions before my orgasm
took away all my rationality. 'A couple of *hours*? Mom and dad?'

* * *

Dad set the large wok on its holder. "Dig in, folks." He smiled as he
served himself a generous portion of the contents. "I assure you a
vixen can survive on this. " He grinned at us. "A light meal after
strenuous activities is better than eating a heavy one.
Nourishing--but not so heavy that it makes you want to go to sleep and
digest it before you do anything else."

Arleta glared at me. "Is he always like this?"

I chuckled. "Only with family."

"Oh? Well." Her posture shifted subtly and I hid a grin when I
realized I was seeing her version of
'a-Bardic-Vixen-getting-ready-to-verbally-flay-her-opponent'. I was
also glad I was not her chosen target.

"Merlin? I'm quite aware of the physical advantages of a primarily
vegetarian diet. When vixens aren't chasing foxes--our usual prey is
hares. Difficult to catch due to their vigor but once caught they are
quite satisfactory." She pointed at mom. "Hasn't Lady Chrystal taken
the time to describe how vigorous Rabelaisian hares are? You do know
she spent her journey-woman years with Stefan and Sabrina, don't you?
Stefan was quite typical of the breed if the stories I've heard are
true." She gestured at the wok. "Chrys. I'm sure you're just as
*hungry* as I am. Shall we eat?"

Dad was blushing a bright red by the time Arleta finished. Mom had her
head tilted almost to her shoulder and her expression was so neutral I
knew she was fighting to hold back her laughter.

I served each of us a portion and started naming individual items.
"Let's see... Broccoli, cauliflower, peas, julienned carrots, thin
sliced bell peppers, chopped onions, cut string beans, sliced garlic,
bamboo shoots, diced green chilies... That looks like all of them. Oh,
they're stir-fried in extra virgin olive oil. Sounds simple and dad
makes it look easy to do... But if I had cooked them--they'd be
scorched and almost inedible."

Mom laughed. "Chrys spent a lot of time burning water when he was
first learning to cook. He's improved since then. Now he only burns
the bottoms of the pans." She turned serious. "We saw the touch-link.
Search your shared memories, young vixen."

Arleta's eyes narrowed as she searched within. I knew what was coming
when she stiffened and slowly turned her head to face me. I
acknowledged her grin, shrugged and spoke before she could say
anything. "I like to eat good food. Then Kay told me that serving a
good meal is one of the best ways to seduce someone." I blushed. "I've
been cooking ever since I started puberty."

Arleta laughed at my embarrassment. "Fox." She glanced at her plate
and then handed me her fork. "Seduce me."

Mom giggled and dad chuckled.

I sighed and began feeding her. A few minutes later she was returning
the favor.

* * *

After dinner we gathered our clothing and went to our section of the
coach. After she glanced in each room she went back to the bedroom. I
followed her and tossed my clothes in the hamper that was next to the
closets. When I realized Arleta was looking for a place to put her
cloak I gestured at one of the closet doors. "That one's for the
formal stuff." I settled on the bed to watch her.

I was as surprised as she was when she opened the door. Somebody had
put the rest of her formal clothing next to mine. She settled for
carefully hanging her robe next to her other stuff and then brought my
ceremonial robe out so she could study it.

"Chrys?"

"What?"

She touched a symbol. "What's a Rabelaisian clan mark doing on your
robe?"

"Is that what it is? Kay has always refused to tell me what it meant.
Every time I ask she smiles that damn 'I-know-what-you-don't-know'
smile and tells me that when it's time for me to know--the knowledge
will be provided."

Arleta started shivering. "Chryslin?"

"Arleta?"

Her voice was barely audible. "Hug me? Please?"

I held open my arms, she settled on my lap and I held her against my
body until she stopped shivering.

She still had my robe in her hands and by the way she was moving it I
could tell she was trying to figure something out. "When you're
wearing your robe... What part of your body does the clan symbol
touch?"

I thought about it and sighed. "I don't know for sure. Somewhere on my
chest, I think."

"Chrys? Will you put your robe on? Now? It's important."

"Sure. If you'll let me get up."

She slid sideways.

I stood, took my robe out of her hands, put it on and then carefully
settled it so it hung properly. When I looked at her she nodded, stood
up, touched my robe and used a finger to gently push the cloth against
my body. "Your chest, right?"

"Right."

"What part?"

I didn't have to think about it. Somehow I 'knew' what she was really
asking. "Over my heart."

Her eyes widened--then she laughed and hugged me. "Oh, Chryslin!
That's the clan symbol of the Meadow Runners fox clan...

"My clan!"
====

(Mhuman-Vixen furry sex)
Knight's Move
Chryslin and Arleta
---

I hugged Arleta while I thought about her news.

'Her clan mark.' Kay must have been in on it. Mom, too. I wasn't sure
about dad. Nooo... When he'd given me the robe he'd simply mentioned
that each symbol would come to have meaning to me. I thought back to
his comments when Arleta had greeted me. No. He hadn't known.

It had to be Mom and Kay.

I sighed. "Bards!"

"Hmmm?"

I pulled back slightly and studied Arleta. "My robe. The design had to
be mom's and Kay's. Dad's tricky but he doesn't play games with love.
"Kay's obscure, of course. Being a seer, she doesn't have a choice." I
sighed bitterly. "Mom... Well, she's a Bard, AND a vixen. I won't say
I've been a model child. I've overheard her tell dad that I've been
harder to raise than all of her Rabelaisian kids combined. Your clan
mark, not telling me about it... That nonsense has 'Lady Chrystal'
written all over it."

She widened her eyes in shock at my tone and I could see the effort it
took her to stop from commenting. Instead she sighed and pulled me
towards the door. "Let's take a walk." Irritated, but willing to
follow her lead, I let her take me away from my memories.

* * *

I'll give her this much: As irritated with me as she was, she relented
and let me grab something to wear. I settled for my cloak since people
were used to seeing them worn by both humans and Rabelaisians.
Besides, I knew people were used to seeing *me* wearing it when I
conducted tours.

We finally settled on a park bench. Arleta held my hands and studied
me. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

She turned away and spoke so softly I could barely make out her words.
"I wonder why she never told you that she's a living legend. Next to
Nikki she's considered the greatest Bard of all time. What the two of
them did to change themselves, and our world..." She shook herself and
faced me again. "Lady Chrystal cares about people, about you. After
what happened to her as a result of stopping some slavers, can you
*begin* to imagine what it has cost her to stand aside so you can make
your own mistakes and learn from them?"

I studied her thoughtfully. I couldn't stop myself from recognizing
her mood. I'd seen it too often, first in my mom and then later in one
of the twins, Becky. Dad has his own version of the mood but I'd
privately taken to calling it 'Bard's Pain'. Suddenly I was seeing it
in Arleta. I sighed. "No, I can't imagine that. Do I get a 'Bard's
Lesson' or 'Bard's Pain'?"

Her head tilted slightly. "Bard's Pain?"

"I'm my mother's and father's son. How long do you think even a Bard
could hide her pain from her child, no matter how young?" I sighed and
looked down at our joined hands. "I was raised by a Bard, lived with
her most of my life. 'Bard's Pain' is the main reason I didn't follow
either of my parents when I choose my life's work." I looked up and
lightly brushed her face. "And now I see it in every gesture you've
made since I let you see my frustration with my mother. No, love, I
cannot imagine her pain and I never wanted to experience it first
hand. So, do I get the lesson you obviously had planned--or do I get
your trust and a sharing of the pain I inadvertently caused you?"

Arleta tilted her head and studied me. "It sounds like you have some
pain and frustration of your own to share, love." She traced my lips
with a claw tip and the feelings she evoked roared through me. "We
shared memories. But it's too soon for me to *feel* yours the way you
do."

I winced, then sighed and searched within, sorting through her
memories before I let my exasperation with my mother and Kay show
again. "Appropriate of nothing said so far, I forgot to mention Becky
is a Master, too. She's the only terran who wears a copy of 'Runner's
Cloak'."

She tensed and stared at me. "Runner's?!... But..."

I traced her muzzle, stopping more. "Yeah, love. The coyotes gave it
to her before mom moved here permanently. Mom and Nikki may have
changed the Bards and themselves but to the Coyotes, Becky is *more*
of a Bard than any Master since Ash. Which gets back to my point. I've
done something you haven't. I'm the son of a Bard and Terra's greatest
Sorcerer. I have one half-sister who is a Sorceress and the other is a
Bardic Master. My 'co-mother' is a seer, along with other skills.
Because of that, I grew up thinking that 'power handling' is nothing
special, something I can do almost as unconsciously as I breathe. "

I took a deep breath. "I know mom's history, *all* of it, including
the depth of the love that let her fake her own death so she could
finally be here, with dad. You're family, love. Hidden in my memories
is a 'gift' my mother gave me for whoever became my life-mate. *Her*
memories, and the knowledge of who she *really* is: The living avatar
of Rabelaisia."

Eyes wide, Arleta's jaw slowly opened to hang slackly. I knew that
look, even though this was the first time I'd seen Arleta wearing it.
It was absolute focus, intent enough that she'd forgotten her body.

Eventually her mouth snapped shut. "I couldn't find a trace."

I smiled whimsically. "I never did do more than tell you what I'm not,
did I? Did you find that in my memories?"

"A 'Minstral-Mage'... Wait... An entertainer... OK... And..." Suddenly
her head snapped up and I knew she was seeing only me. "Guildmaster!"

I blushed. That hadn't taken her long, but I'd never locked that
knowledge from her.

I chose instead to share everything, something I was planning on doing
anyway, once we'd returned from this walk. "Final Slave."

She groaned and sagged against me.

I pulled her close and waited.

My arm was the first to notice her returning awareness. I felt the
currents shift and knew she was rapidly recovering and finding her
balance again.

I kissed her gently, a lover's gentle kiss that said much more than I
could with words. "I don't have a choice, since I'm the only one."

"She's a legend. More, to many of us. A lot of the things in Bard's
Hall have felt her touch. They found some of the wreckage of her
private sloop, the one she was lost in." She turned in my arms to look
away... "How does she live with the pain?"

I shrugged. "She shares it with the people she loves, on Terra."

She nodded slowly. "I apologise."

I pulled her back, helping her snuggle against my chest. "No need.
There was no way you could have known."

Her hands touched mine and then firmly held them. "Chryslin 'Not a
Bard' Merlinson. You are, without a doubt, the most infuriating,
frustrating and *sexy* person I have met."

I chuckled with relief. "So. You find me a suitable life-mate, do you?
I used to fantasize about sex with a vixen." I ran a hand along her
side... "It pleases me that you find me..."

I nibbled at an ear. "Satisfactory."

I was rewarded with a giggle and some suggestive squirming. "Chryslin,
if you want to discover how *unsatisfying* I find you right now,
you'll stay here and not do anything about this!"

I chuckled in her ear and moved us back to the coach, then moved my
hand to caress her vulva. "Better?"

She started pummeling my chest as soon as she had a clear shot at it.
Still giggling, she paused long enough to reach down and insert my
penis. Then, as the waves of our orgasms washed over us she murmured:
"I forgot exasperating!"
====

Well, neighbors, this one is unfinished, and probably abandoned.

I'm posting it here, because it is, after all, part of the canon.

note:� this and the previous three stories take place long after the
events in 'Marie's Solstice'.
---

Chryslin and Arleta
Arleta - Queen's Gambit
---

My hands reached, and shaped the gathering power while my mind sought
for the one I loved.

"Chryslin?"

"Arleta, My Love."� I felt a gentle puff as the air next to me was
moved by his arriving body.� "I am here."

I twitched my tail to the side and gently caressed his body with the
tip.� "Watch.� For you.� A gift."

I stepped away, turned, then slid my hands over my body.� I let the
gathered power flow and smiled when he gasped.� "A rainbow, to reflect
what I feel, and to mirror what I see within your eyes."� The ribbons
of color flowed from my fingertips to wrap my body in a cloak made of
interwoven light.

I touched every part of my body, teasing him with the changing
colors.� Finally, my fur glittering with multihued sparkles of power,
I straightened and stretched my hands towards the sky.� The power I
released fountained upward and spread to cover us both with
multicolored sparkles.� I lowered my hands and made the gesture of
mates.� The lines of power that joined us became another rainbow, with
every other color missing.

"Chryslin?� Do you know what day it is?"

"Day?� What possible significance?...� Oh."

He raised his hands and grinned.� "Vixen.� Happy aniversary."

I savored his laughter while he returned the gesture of mates.� I felt
him shift the currents and lines of color streamed from his fingertips
to complete the rainbow between us while we stepped towards each
other, then intertwined our fingers.

We collapsed our arms, and my nose touched his before I let myself
grin and lave his face with my tongue.

He laughed, of course, and put up with my antics.

After I pulled back so we could look into each other's eyes again, we
grinned at each other and he chortled.� "Maybe we should include that
in our stage show."

I couldn't stop my giggles.� "Chryslin, you're crazy!"

"For you, my Bardic Vixen.� Now I understand my father's silly
infatuation with mom."

That assesment made my ears go vertical.� "Silly?�� They are always
so...�� Sober and understated.� It makes me wonder where your vibrancy
came from."

His head tilted so suddenly it reminded me of my own reaction when
something startled me.� "How long have you been doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"That head tilt when you're surprised into thinking about somthing."

�"I do?"

"Well,"� I temporized slightly,� "This is the first time I noticed
it."

"Huh.� Maybe I picked it up from you.� Nobody else has ever said
anything."

He shrugged.� "Then again, maybe not.� I grew up in a house full of
canids and shape shifters who prefer canid forms.� Then there's Tom,
Mahika and Wolf..."

That distracted me.� "Who?� I don't remember meeting them."

For the first time in the year we've known each other, I see him at a
loss for words.� Finally he sighed.� "They don't spend much time in
our present.� I think they were last here about...� Oh, maybe it was
back when Kay was able to stop messing around with Excalibur and get
rid of it finally.� Mom or Kay would know if they've ever gone linear
and visited the castle since then."

I couldn't stop my own head tilt.� I had to speak very carefully,
because I wasn't certain of what he was trying to tell me.� "Are you
saying there's more than one type of time, and these people live in
one of them?� And what...� Is this 'gone linear' you mentioned?"

He hesitated.� "You sure want to hear all this?� It gets pretty
complicated, sorta."

I sneezed violently.� "More complicated than what your family
considers 'normal', already?� And it involves Lady Chrystal directly?"

"Yes."

"Now I have to hear it."

He groaned.� "I keep forgetting about Vixens and their love of
trickery.� Mom's mellowed quite a bit since she decided to live on
Earth."

My jaw sagged before I could recover.� "She's *mellowed*?"

"Yeah.� Trust me on that one.� You'd know it too, if you searched her
memories like I have."� He must have recognized the signs because he
squeezed my arm.� "You can do your trance stuff later.� Let's go
someplace private.� Any preference?"

I didn't have to think about it.� "Stonehenge."

For some reason he chortled before he shifted us.� When reality
stabilized we were standing near the altar stone, but something was
subtly different.� "Why am I uneasy?"

He sobered.� "I took us back in time, too.� Stonehenge is a lot closer
to the junction of all the ley lines.� You're probably feeling the
increase in power available."

I shivered.� "Increase?� I feel like all my fur is sticking straight
out and I'm about to get hit by lightning."

He raised a hand and a sphere of power expanded before he spoke the
words of a shielding spell I'd never heard.� "Better?"

I shuddered again and was able to relax.� "Much.� Thanks.� Now.� About
those explanations you owe me..."

He blushed.� "All of them?"

"Definitely!"

"Right."

* * *

He didn't answer right away.� Instead he walked over and ran a hand
over one of the pillars.� "I brought us back several thousand years,
to a time when I don't expect to meet them, even though Stonehenge is
their primary anchor point for their travels.� They usually return to
a more recent past when they want to relax."

I looked around, and was still a little bemused.� "Are you telling me
these three people are time travelers?� I didn't know humans could
travel in time."

He sighed.� "I don't know if they can be considered people any more.�
Tom started life as a human born about fifty years before Terra and
Rabelaisia started their exchange programs.� Mahika was an elemental,
and Wolf started life as a Golden Retriver bitch.� It was here, just
before they spent several hundred years teaching Kay the ways of
power, that the Zeitgeist made them Avatars and True Immortals.

I sighed.� "Interesting, but what does that have to do with your
mother and her mellowing?"

"Based on what you've seen so far, would you agree that dad and Kay
are pretty sober types, and their usual humor is pretty sober and
understated?"

I giggled.� "Oh, yes.� I don't think I'll ever forget dinner the night
we met.� It wasn't malicious, and it wasn't outrageous, but it was
effective.� It's the kind of humor I'd expect from someone as old as
they are."

He laughed.� "Right.� And you and mom are Bardic Masters, so you don't
act like kids any more, either."

"Point."

"Anyway, a lot of dad's and Kay's 'soberness' rubbed off on mom.�
That's the only way I can describe it.� But, Kay's normal personality
isn't the one we usually see.� When she relaxes...� Then if she
manages to convince mom to go along..."

He sighed.� "You'll see.� I understand mom is considered one of the
best Bards to ever live, so far.� In a class by herself, except for
Nikkolai and his family.� Take that sort of control, add Kay's love of
childish absurdity AND her power control..."

He broke off and gestured in a circle.� "Kay doesn't make an issue of
it, but she's far more skilled than she lets on.� Dad's good, of
course, but he wouldn't dream of trying to leave himself wide open to
all that power you felt.� Kay would never hesitate to use it if she
thought she had to.� Tom, Mahika and Wolf are the ones who taught her
that skill."

I sighed.� "You're rambling."

He laughed.� "Of course I am.� I warmed you it was complicated.� It
involves non linear and linear time interacting and that can't be
talked about logically."

My ears went vertical.and he noticed, then nodded.

"In linear terms, mom was about 110 years old, dad was about 2,000,
Kay was about 4,500, Tom was about 60, Wolf was about 10 and Mahika
was around 50,000 when Tom, Mahika and Wolf went back to when Kay was
about 15, to settle at Stonehenge and spend several hundred years
teaching her how to use power.� That was also when they were made True
Immortals, and learned their purpose, before Tom 'created' Excalibur
and they eventually told Kay part of why she was going to be immortal,
too."

Then he shocked me.� "Mom and Tom already had a special link, one that
was different than the link of mind mates.� When he went back in time,
the link changed, and he and mom are able to use that link to
communicate with each other in real time, no matter what time they are
in, as well as share memories and feelings in linear time, just like
mind mates do.

"The way I understand it, mom can feel what he's doing all the time,
or she can talk to him and he can answer thousands of years after she
asks, but to her it feels like he's answering right after she asked,
or, she can search their shared memories to find out what he's doing,
and learn what his answers were."

Then he capped it.� "Oh, one more thing.� It was when their link first
formed that they discovered they are 'Two-who-are-one'.

My brain, already overloaded, quit functioning for a few seconds.�
"They are WHAT?"

He turned to watch me and laughed.� "Yeah.� That's about how I felt
when she first used the term.� She and Tom are a single personality,
expressed on two different worlds.� When she came here, and as I
understand it, first saw Tom on television, the mind mate link started
to form, then stopped because the show switched away from him and she
was distracted, anyway.� Then she was watching a video of them, and
the link took over and went to the next stage.� It wasn't until they
actually met that same night that the link finalized itself once they
both dropped their shields."

To give myself time to recover, I turned in place slowly and studied
our surroundings.� I was near the end of that scan when I hesitated.�
"Chryslin?� Something in the currents.� Do you feel it?"

He froze, then shook his head a little.� "Maybe.� Subtle, whatever it
is� Never felt anything like it."

"I haven't, either.� Gone now, anyway."

He nodded.� "Can't feel it either..."� He broke off when I stiffened.�
"What is it?"

I shivered.� "Behind you.� On the hilltop.� Wolves.� Big ones.� They
weren't there, then they were.� I saw them appear."

He turned, gasped and started to raise his hand in a warding gesture.

Then his body froze, and a male voice gentlly spoke in our minds.�
>>"No need, son of our pack.� You and your mate have questions.� We
have answers, if you wish to hear them."<<

Chryslin shivered a little, then lowered his hand and spoke aloud.�
"If we don't?"

>>"When you're ready, leave a memory in the stones beside you.� Until then, live well and walk in wisdom."<<

There was gentle feminine laughter.� >>"Stonehenge is a good place for
it, when there is need.� You'll see."<<

They vanished, and as far as I could tell, there was never the
faintest hint of a shift in the currents of power.

I hugged him.� "Was that?..."

"Uh huh.� I was warded before I started to cast the usual protection
and interrogation spells.� One of them froze the power around me.�
Suddenly, there was nothing there to call on.� I haven't felt that
ordinary since I was a kid."

I knew my jaw dropped.� "Froze the power?� I've never heard of such a
thing."

"I haven't, either."

Then I remembered the final words the male had spoken.� "Chryslin?� He
said 'Walk in wisdom.'� I don't think I've heard a more definite
'Bardic Command' in my life."

He shuddered and turned his head to look at the stones.� "Yeah.� I
should have realized they'd know when power handlers were at
Stonehenge, and then check them out."

I couldn't stop my hysterical giggles.� "Do you think they can feel
the shifts in the currents even when they are in a different time?"

"Maybe, but I bet there's a way to find out that's a lot easier, it's
one *we* already know how to do--and *they* commanded us to use it."

I had to shift my thinking before I realized what he meant.� "Read the
memories in the stones."

"Exactly, young Vixen."

I screamed when a paw that wasn't Chryslin's landed on my shoulder and
kept me from moving.� "Gently, Arleta.� We mean you no harm, unless
you count the damage we can do to your ignorance."

His voice was deep, and it surprised me by coming from somewhere above
my head.� I calmed myself, and spoke mildly.� "Release me."

"Of course."

The paw's light pressure vanished, and I turned to lift my head so I
could study what I knew I'd find, some sort of anthrowolfhound.

He was taller than what I was used to on my homeworld, and his
patterns reminded me of a wolf.� He was also a lot sleeker and I
didn't recognize the breed that he based his form on.

I settled for a tart comment.� "Wolfhounds are noted for their speed,
but you, Sir, make the ones I know look lethargic!"

He laughed.� "I try.� I'm Tom.� The white wolfess and Golden Retriever
bitch who kept your mate from doing something imprudent are Mahika and
Wolf.� We're pleased to meet you two, of course, and our knowledge, as
much of it as we may share, is yours for the asking."

I shifted my ears to let him know something he'd said intrigued me.�
"As much as you may share?"

He nodded.� "You are young, even as we are, and already in your short
life, you have seen things you know people on your homeworld would
never understand, no matter how much effort you expend in an attempt
to explain them.� It is thus with much of the knowledge we carry.� We
have the words, but you do not have the experience to give them
meaning, yet."

I pounced.� "Yet?"

"Of course.� Our pack serves the Zeitgeist, and you are members of our
pack, even if you haven't yet been welcomed by the Alpha, because you
are both cubs who are barely adolescent and you needed to prove you
were capable of surviving on your own before she could welcome you."

He laughed at our shocked expressions.� "Did you think I was the
Alpha?� I am not.� Wolf is, and has been for more millions of years
than we care to count.� I am our scout, the one who seeks and
confronts danger so we may begin to understand it--and lessen it if
that is what we must do, or increase it, if that is what is needed."

The Golden laughed at him.� "Enough, Tom.� They have been prepared
sufficiently.

"Return to a more mundane form, and we will settle with these two for
a time, if they are willing to accept our presence."

He smiled and shifted without fanfare, until I was facing a young
human male with flowing red hair.

Then he bowed at each of us.� "At your service, Arleta and Chryslin
Merlinson.� May your journey on the path before you be...

"Filled with memories you wish to remember."

Chryslin frowned, and I knew I did, too.� This man, with a few simple
words, had made much of my Bardic skill look...

Childish and transparent.

It was not a pleasant experience.

To vent some of my frustration I spoke more tartly than I would when
greeting typical strangers.� "We have not yet left any memories in the
stones."

His eyebrows rose, then he shrugged and gestured, obviously turning me
over to 'Wolf, who was a dog'.

She smiled.� "Did we say you had?� You will, eventually, of course,
but the reason we chose now to greet you was a simple one.� The first
time we met you, you told us where, and when, our second meeting would
be."

I swatted at Chryslin, who had a huge grin on his face.� "Something
amuses you?"

He tried to sober, and failed, so he opted to hug me.� "Of course it
does.� The confusion is why I don't time travel very often, but this
was a special occassion, and you needed to experience things first
hand, to understand the way it all works."

He grimaced.� "Trust me!� I was a far worse case of 'This is
impossible!', when it was shown to me!"

Wolf took pity on me, I think.� "Arleta.� Acceptance of the illogic is
best hastened by understanding that point of view determines the logic
chain, and the way the interactions are expressed."

She grinned at me.� "Time travel is uniquely suited to promoting
understanding between seemingly conflicting points of view.� The
skills learned are transferable to linear time, too."

To give myself some time to think, I hoped, I asked the obvious--and
expected the obscure as an answer.� "Wolf?� Who are the three of you?"

Her ears perked, then she nodded solemnly,� "Very good!� A lack of
focus on the past.�� Instead, a concern for the now.� The choice of
the Zeitgeist is slowly becoming clear."

She stood and stretched in a formal bow.� "We are the Zeitgeist's
deliberately chosen Avatars in non linear time.� Observers, is a good
way to think of us.� We are the separated bits of awareness of itself
that gather the information it cannot, so it may understand itself and
plan for a present and future it would not otherwise be aware of."

I turned to Chryslin and used my posture to query him.� He shrugged.�
"Individually the words make sense.� Together..."

I sighed.� "I, too.� Is it your understanding that these three, by
being individuals, are essentially acting as the Zeitgeist's
consciousness?"

He hesitated before he shook his head.� "No.� The Zeitgeist has an
awareness of its own, even though I don't think it's one we can fully
understand."

He turned back and studied the three who stood before us.� "Tom said
it most clearly.� I think the triparate being we see before us is the
Zeitgeist's most trusted scout and advisor, a mentality who observes
and reports what it sees, in terms the Zeitgeist can comprehend, so it
may do the one thing it is supposed to do, survive."

It was the wolfess who nodded slightly and spoke.� "We do not report,
as you are probably thinking of the term.� We observe, and even act
when there is need.� But the Zeitgeist uses our senses itself, because
just as we are all part of it, it is part of us, and if it chooses to,
it will use us as it will, instead of subtly guiding, as it does for
most people it makes contact with."

I caught something in her words that indicated agreement with some of
Chrylin's words, maybe.� "You are a triparate being?"

She nodded.� "Yes.� We are three individuals, but we are also one, and
capable of coordinating the actions of these forms as if they are part
of a single body, just as easily as you delegate different tasks when
you are acting as a Bard."

I stiffened in outrage but before I could speak Chryslin touched my
arm, then held on firmly until I turned to face him.� "Careful, Love.�
Think before you speak in anger.� My mother's memories tell me we are
in the middle of a Bard's Lesson, the likes of which has not been seen
since the day Nikki and Ash redefined what it meant to be a Bard."

I couldn't stop myself from jerking my head around to stare at the
three of them.� I managed to hold my anger at bay, but I knew the
remnants of it colored the tones of my next words.

"I *am* a Bard!� It is no act!� It defines who I am."

Incredibly, my words were greeted with laughter, before Tom sobered
slightly--and took away my most cherished illusion, an illusion I had
never admitted I held.

"Are you the Bard you could be, or have you always been the Bard
everyone expects you to be?"

Then he walked over and hugged me before he gently tipped my head up
so he could� gaze into my eyes.� It seemed a long time before he
whispered gently:� "Have you never thought that perhaps Arleta
shouldn't be a Bard at all, because when all's said, she knows she has
limited herself and tried to be what she is not, and can never be?"

I ducked my head, embarrassed that he'd openly spoken of my deepest
fears.� When I looked at Chryslin, I found no pity, only an acceptance
that did nothing to lessen his love for me.� To emphasize that love,
he held his hands up in the greeting of mates.

I nodded, then settled my head on Tom's shoulder and cried as I had
not cried since I was a kit.

Eventually I recovered enough to give voice to my...� Pain?�
Confusion?� No.� it was something I thought I'd never feel again, once
I had become a journeywoman.� I was feeling inadequate.

"Master?� Please help me."

He reached and gently petted my head with a tenderness I hadn't felt
since my father died.� "Of course we will help you."

"What must I do?"

He smiled.� "Be yourself, at last, just as your mate was encouraged to
find his own way.� If you need a tale closer to your own experiences,
recall the adventures of Nikki's son, Blade."

I giggled.� Blade's search for stability was an oft repeated tale most
often used when dealing with a kit who was more impatient than usual.�
I understood Tom's point quite well.

Chryslin had been patient, but now he interrupted us.� "It is obvious
we are being called to serve.� I confess I see nothing we could do,
that you and my family do not do already."

Wolf laughed.� "You have much in common with your father.� He too,
cannot see the obvious, at times."

He blushed, and I giggled again.� Kay's tales of how Merlin routinely
failed to see the pitfall in front of his feet until he stepped over
the edge, had often amused me for hours.� To hear the label applied to
his son was refreshing, because Chryslin was always doing things to
make me think about how wise he was in most things.

Wolf spared me a grin, then she spoke gently.� "We ask questions.�
Your family remembers solutions.� Your shared purpose is to link the
two actions, and discover the answers the rest of us have no knowledge
of, because they do not yet exist.� Succinctly, we are the eternal
present, your family is the past, and you and Arleta will be the
future of both of our worlds, and any other worlds we learn of."

I pounced.� "You said 'we learn of'.� Define 'we'."

She contrived an indifferent seeming shrug but the currents told me
she was pleased by my attack, and question.

"All of us.� You, Chryslin, the people living on both our worlds, now
and in the future.� Those new races that are waiting for us, whether
we meet them in person or by proxy."

I shivered violently when I looked at the visions her words
triggered.� Tom held me firmly, and waited silently, until I could
speak again.

"Does this mean Chryslin and I are True Immortals?"

Wolf nodded.� "Of course.� And if what we suspect is true, the last
ones that will ever be created by Terra's Zeitgeist.� We do know that
the answer to that question is one the Zeitgeist is interested in, for
reasons we accept we cannot comprehend, even if we are given the words
to express them in our terms."
---

End, unfinished 'Queen's Gambit'
====


Chryslin and Arleta - The Alternate versions (furry M-Vixen)
What follows are some of the original stories I wrote while developing
this series. For various reasons, they didn't quite fit into the
existing work about Rabelaisia and Merlin's Earth or, for that matter,
the personalities of the involved characters.

Still, they were fun to write, and they did lead to the 'official'
stories about these two characters.
---

Formal name: Chryslin Merlinson, Born of Two Worlds
---

Magic Man
The Tales of Chryslin and Arleta (alternate reality)
---

Science and Power. Centuries ago, two worlds met and the resulting
mixture had been volatile.

Rabelaisia. Until the Mage Wars, humans had been the only race on the
planet. Then, in a bid to take power for herself, the most powerful
mage of her era had changed the animals that served her. She lost the
war and ultimately her life - but her legacy lived on. The changlings
bred true. Creatures of magic and other powers, they and the humans
who survived created the ethos that guides Rabelaisia along the paths
of power.

The Bardic Way. Power though passiveness. Personal responsibility as a
way of life.

Impossible you say? You are of Terra. You have yet to walk the world
that resulted.

It works. Oh yes, it works. Terran fantasies given life. Animals who
are upright or four-footed, as they choose. Shape-shifters. Mages.
Bards. Many others walk their forests and sail their seas.

Terra. Contentious. Power without wisdom. Personal advancement at the
cost of all others. A people with a driven need to *know* and
ultimately control the basic forces of *their* universe.

A species that dared to wonder it there were others 'out there'. So
they mastered the power that gives birth to the very stars - and went
looking.

One culture mastered the inner being. They knew themselves.

One culture mastered the world around them. They knew everything
*except* themselves.

Both cultures thought they knew all there was to know.

Both cultures were wrong.

Inevitably, as male and female will find their mates, they met.

I was one of their firstborn.

Call me Chryslin. It's as good a name as any and less of a mouthful
than my formal one. Besides, it's the one my parents gifted me with
when I was born.
---

Years ago, I swore an oath to my First Master. "Not until I have inner
serenity... Will I go forth and choose a mate."

Merlin, my father-- and current Master, had shared an amused look with
Lady Chrystal, my mother, before he chuckled softly. "So you think
that will aid you? As always, it is your choice."

My mother, at that time in her natural form, had held up her delicate
paws in the Rabelaisian gesture of good will and smiled. "May your
Journey be filled with the joys you earn. My son."

I had blushed at her gentle affection as I reached out and touched her
paws with my hands. "Thank you, mother. I hope I do not betray my
heritage."

Before either of us could say anything a new voice entered the
conversation. "You won't."

I spun and faced the newcomer. Her eyes held an inner certainty I had
never seen before. I had heard tales of Lady Kay. 'Lady of the Lake'.
Keeper of the Castle. Merlin's first teacher. One of his co-wives. She
was as much my mother as the vixen who gave me birth.

Our eyes locked and as I watched, she made a gesture I didn't
recognize. A sword appeared in her hands and I stepped backwards in
fear. Power battered me before she held it point up and commanded the
power to return to its home. "Centuries from now, 'The Keeper of the
Sword' will receive 'The Sword of Power' from my hands. It will be an
earned gift..." Her lips quirked into a smile. "On your wedding day."

The sword vanished. "I have seen it." She finished simply.

"A seer?" I was stunned. "I never... You..."

My dad had chuckled softly. "She seldom uses it but the power *is*
hers to command as she desires."

* * *

"You ramble. Again." A delicate paw, covered in red fur, brushes my
cheek as Arleta admonishes me.

I chuckle as I reach up and enfold her paw in my hands. "I know. That
includes an unwholesome taste for vixens."

They say vixens can't blush. I know they do. Arleta's fingertips
flexed outwards and then curled inwards slightly. I counted the slight
movement as a victory.

Her delicate muzzle buried itself in my hair before she nibbled at my
ear. Her natural scent flowed around me and I inhaled deeply. I barely
heard her as she whispered "I never thought it would be a human."

I chuckled and pulled her into my lap. "Vixen. Wait until you meet my
parents. My father and mother are human and vixen. I guess I'm
continuing a family tradition."

I should have known I couldn't sneak much past a Bard. "They still
live?" She pulled back slightly and studied me.

When she lightly touched my forehead in the ancient gesture, I opened
myself to her.

Arleta gasped and then pulled away. I caught her paw and rubbed it
against my cheek. "Does it really matter who they are? They chose one
path, I'm choosing a different one. My future is here. With you and
your people. My people, now."

She sighed and settled. "You don't see it do you?"

"See what?"

Instead of answering she leaned back against my chest. "Hold me. Just
hold me and let me know you love me." She started shaking and I felt
teardrops fall on my arms.

"Arleta. What's wrong?"

"Have you forgotten? On our wedding day, you will become 'The Keeper
of the Sword of Power'."

"Oh." I *had* forgotten Kay's long ago promise. "So? Kay is retiring.
That's all."

"No. That's not all of it."

I stiffened. Arleta and I seldom contradicted each other. What was she
driving at?

She sighed. "Something you learned as a child and then forgot. Merlin
and Kay are the physical avatars of power on Terra. Lady Chrystal is
Rabelaisia's avatar on Terra. Kay will be transfering a talisman to
you. With it, you will become Terra's representative on Rabelaisia."
====

Chryslin and Arleta - Promoted Pawns (alternate reality)
---

I watched the passengers disembark. Arleta was at my side.

"There are a lot of Bards and Mages aren't there?"

I nodded absentmindedly. "My parents said most of the Masters living
on Terra would be arriving with them, for our wedding."

"For *our* wedding?"

"I'm afraid so."

"You didn't tell me..." She trailed off into silence.

The crowd had shifted to reveal two figures. One was a human male.
Average looking, the only thing unusual about him was the blue cloak
he wore. With him was a vixen. She wore a cloak that looked like spun
gold. Over one breast was a symbol I knew well. The symbol of a Bardic
Master. Two large Irish Wolfhounds flanked them.

Arleta regained her voice. "Who are they? The only place I've seen a
Bard's symbol like hers is in the museums. And that Mage's cloak. I've
never seen that pattern before." I heard rather than saw her slight
frown. "How did they get them to let the dogs through quarantine?"

"My parents." I chuckled as a guard tried to admonish my parents and
get them to let go of the dogs' leashes. "They're playing games.
Watch."

"Let's go meet them." I chuckled at her stunned look. "I didn't think
they'd wear their official robes."

The small group was slowly moving in our direction. Just before they
stepped through the arch in front of us, a woman in a plain dress
walked up behind them.

"Enough is enough. Be nice." Her voice was firm and filled with her
own amusement.

The dogs stood up, placed their front feet on the guard's shoulders,
and started to lick the startled woman's face. There was a slight
shimmer and when it cleared, two striking women stood where the dogs
had been moments before. One of them was wearing a traditional cloak I
was sure Arleta would recognize.

As the guard gaped in astonishment, they took their leashes from my
parents' hands, curtsied, and then flanked the woman who had ended the
confrontation. "We aren't dogs. We're paying passengers." I recognized
Cathy's tones. "May we pass?"

Arleta started giggling. "Shape-shifters." Then she grabbed me and
turned me to face her. "One of those two is wearing a copy of
'Runner's Cloak'. Chryslin? Just *who* are your parents?

"Merlin and Lady Chrystal. Perhaps you've heard of them?" I couldn't
help my grin at her shock. It hadn't been easy to hide my secret from
her. "The shape-shifters are my half sisters, Becky and Cathy."

"Becky comes by hir cloak honestly. It was given to hir when the
coyotes made hir a Master. Cathy is hir twin and an old style Terran
Mage."

Arleta caught the subtle pronounciation difference. "Hir?"

"They're true hermaphrodites."

"The other woman? Who's she?" She grimaced slightly. "She ordered them
around as if they were errant children."

I was lost in my own thoughts and didn't hear Arleta's question. "I
didn't think she'd come. She seldom travels off Terra."

"Chryslin. You didn't answer my question."

"What? Oh. I was just wondering about her being here, is all."

Arleta reached up and forced my head to face her. "Who is that woman?"

"Oh. I thought you would have figured that out by now." I smiled
wryly. "She's part of my history though, not yours."

"Chryslin..." Her voice got low and dangerous.

I relented. "She's Lady Kay - 'The Lady of The Lake', and 'Keeper of
Merlin's Castle'."

Before she could react I stepped through the arch. "Come on."

"Excuse us. These folks are our guests."

The guard slowly turned and when she recognized us as Bards, she
nodded slowly. "Unusual guests you folks are meeting."

"My family. Allow me to introduce my mother and father, Lady Chrystal
and Merlin, my half sisters Becky and Cathy, and my co-mother, Lady
Kay."

The guard curtsied slightly. "An unusual family. Enjoy your stay here
folks. Now, I'll return to doing something useful rather than playing
games with a couple of shape-shifters. Someone is going to hear about
not informing me of your presense and alternate forms."

Cathy spoke up. "Nobody knew. Don't blame them. We're also the family
bodyguards and we traveled as humans."

The woman nodded slowly. "Effective. Still, I think I'll see if there
isn't some way to counteract that particular skill of yours."

Becky chuckled slightly. "If you discover it, let the coyotes know.
They haven't been able to - yet. If it makes you feel any better, so
far as we know..." Shi was looking at me and I shook my head slightly.
"We're the only Terran shape-shifters." Shi finished.

"I'll keep that in mind." The guard curtsied again and walked away.

"Bodyguards?" I asked my sisters. "You aren't usually that open about
those duties."

Cathy never stopped hir restless scanning of the area. "It prevents
problems before they start."

Vel's voice was firm. "Not here. Let's get to someplace more secure."

I looked at my dad and he shook his head. I shrugged. "This way then.
It isn't far to the local Hall and our quarters."

He looked at Kay. "Good enough?"

What was going on? I'd never seen them so nervous.

Kay stood perfectly still and closed her eyes. Finally she reopened
them and looked at me and Arleta. "Check the currents."

I shrugged. "If you say so." She had to know that a Bard is always
aware of the currents. She must have realized what I was thinking
because she smiled slightly.

Arleta and I both made careful checks of the area. Nothing unusual.
"Nothing."

To my surprise, Kay sagged slightly in relief. "Good. Let's go. I
can't keep this up much longer."

When I started to open my mouth to ask what was going on, Cathy
stepped up and placed hir hand over it. "Later." Shi let go and then
shi and Becky shifted. They flanked Kay and waited.

With my mom and dad next to her... Kay felt she needed the extra
protection of my sisters? I decided I didn't really want to know what
was going on until they forced it on me.

"Would you rather place-shift?" Kay shook her head from side to side
emphatically. No.

"Ok. Let's go. It's only a few kilometers. We'll walk."

We made it to our quarters and I welcomed them in. "Plenty of room and
we have security spells set. Make yourselves at home."

My dad smiled slightly. "Not yet." He and my mother faced each other.
To my surprise, He started chanting in ancient Rabelaisian and my
mother started a Celtic chant in counterpoint. They built to a climax
and at their final words, touched palms in the greeting of mates. I
felt a surge in power that knocked everyone except the twins to their
knees. The twins only staggered slightly before they steadied
themselves again.

As we stood up, Arleta made the first comment. "What was *that* all
about?"

Mom and dad unlaced their fingers and turned to face Arleta. Mom
smiled. "A security spell we've been working on." She turned slightly.
"Kay?"

Kay nodded and then sagged. The twins braced themselves as her hands
sought their backs. Finally she took a deep breath and straightened.

When she held out her hands and the air shimmered slightly, I backed
away. I *knew* what was going to happen.

'The Sword of Power' appeared across her upturned palms and raw power
filled the room before she commanded it to return to the sword.

"Here? You summoned it here??" I couldn't help my outburst.

Kay's face was pale and her smile was wan. "No. I didn't summon it. I
shape-shifted it and carried it. I also hid its power." Mom walked
over to hold Kay up while she continued. "It wasn't easy." She slumped
and the sword fell to the floor.

"KAY!" My dad's shout was filled with horror.

I was frozen in shock.

As mom held Kay, the twins shifted to human form so they could help
her. Once they held Kay between them, mom relaxed a bit. "She fainted.
She's weak but otherwise ok."

Dad fell to his knees and sobbed with his relief. "I thought I'd lost
her." I'd never seen his eyes so haunted.

I was so focussed on my dad that I barely noticed mom's slight gesture
in Arleta's direction. Things just didn't make sense. Kay *never*
needed any support. Mom is one of the most powerful Bards I've met.
Dad is well... Dad.

As for the the twins... From what I knew this was the first time in
centuries that they had actually acted as the family bodyguards.
Usually they only assumed the role during ceremonial occassions.

While Arleta transfered some of her strength to Kay, I went over to my
dad.

"You ok?" Yes, I know it was a stupid question. He was pale, shaking,
and on his knees. What else could I have asked him?

"I will be. Help me up. I have no right to ask but..." He trailed off.

I nodded and held out my hand. He took it and I channeled some energy
through our contact. I couldn't believe how weak he was.

He looked up and smiled wryly. "Thanks. Your mother and I have been
helping Kay as best we could. That's why neither of us could help her
when she collapsed." He held on to my hand and pulled himself upright.
He was obviously still weak.

I jerked in surprise as an 'Elder's Chair' appeared behind him. He
sagged into it and smiled tiredly. "I asked the Hall for some help."

"I've never been able to work with it as smoothly as you and mom." My
own smile was one of relief.

I frowned. "Wait. If you and mom set a security spell, how did you
communicate with the Hall?"

"As usual. As far as the Hall or anyone else is concerned, nothing has
changed. The 'spell' is one of misdirection. We can speak freely but
all the Hall or anyone else will 'know' is that things are normal."

"Normal?" I couldn't accept his calm confidence. I gestured at the
'Sword of Power'. "That's a talisman. The most powerful taliman in
Earth's history. Kay brings it to Rabelaisia and you tell me that
nobody even knows it's here?"

Something else occured to me. "With Kay passed out, are we going to
just leave it on the floor?"

My dad looked away from me and at my mother. I felt something pass
between them before she reached out and hugged Arleta. "People will
see a talisman and it will be the one they expect to see. 'Runner's
Cloak.' "

I nodded slowly. "Ok. I'm not going to ask how you managed to disguise
the power contained in the Sword." I took a deap breath. "You didn't
answer my question."

Mom's lips quirked into a small smile but her eyes were sad. "There
has been an 'agreement' that was not of our choosing."

"Kay is no longer the 'Guardian of the Sword'. Once the Sword touched
Rabelaisia, she is no longer allowed to handle or summon it. Only the
new Guardian may do that."

She straightened and looked at Arleta. "Since Kay cannot say the
words, as Rabelaisia's living embodiment it falls to me to say them."

"As Kay *saw*, her long task is finally over. Earth will never need
the Sword of Power. Power, once embodied, cannot be left for anyone to
find. We have brought the Sword so its new Guardian may take up her
duties."

Mom made a strange gesture as she faced Arleta. I shivered as she,
Kay, and Arleta were surrounded by lines of power. "Arleta. Hold out
your hands and summon the Sword to you. May you fare well in your new
duties."

Arleta nodded slowly and then held out her hands. "Come to me." Her
voice was shaky but the tone of command was unmistakable. The Sword
rose from the floor and drifted over to settle in her hands. As it
settled, the lines of power left my mother and Kay. They swirled
around Arleta and then slowly vanished into the Sword.

She looked at my mother. "Now what?"

My mother shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask the sword."

Arleta sighed and stared at the sword. Finally she shook her head
slightly and smiled wryly. The sword vanished. "I had to work to get
its attention. It and the Hall were gossiping with each other." She
shook her head at something she remembered. "The Hall wasn't happy
about your lack of trust but it now understands and, more importantly,
accepts that only we and it may know of the Sword. At the same time,
the Sword was... 'both surprised and amused' that something that
embodies so much power could be, in its terms, so 'naive and
innocent'."

She chuckled softly. "I don't think my duties will be as anything more
than an 'interpreter'. The two of them have agreed to guard and teach
each other."
====

Emd: The Luck Bringers 3/3 Chryslin and Arleta

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