Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Using a Teen Romance to Bust a Kidnapper

Two days later, Tomas Willems sets off with the following letter, taking his lunch hour to meet a friend in the local pub. Apparently, Tomas likes the meat pies, which are a must-try at the pub. I’ve never had a meat pie from the pub, and I wish Tomas would bring back some. Demos has never even had one, and he swears it’s his short-term aim to taste the famous dish. But given that Tomas is doing us a favor already, asking him for takeout would be gauche.

Although Tomas didn’t mind going to see his friend. In fact, he even put on cologne, and Lamant teased him about it. From what I can gather, there might be more than friendship between Tomas and this so-called chum. So it’s a win-win.

The friend happens to be a fellow manservant who works at the Lammermoor Mansion. Sympathetic to my Kaline’s crush on a certain young lord of that house, Tomas has assured her that he will swear his friend to secrecy. His friend, from all accounts, thinks that Lady Lammermoor is a stuck-up entitled aristocrat who is dead wrong about almost everything. However, this servant needs the job. But he’s not above a bit of rebellion.

So, thanks to Tomas and his friend and good old-fashioned servant scheming, this letter is sure to reach Hans Lammermoor. And I doubt he’ll be able to resist the words from Kaline’s pen!

______________________

Dear Lord Lammermoor,

My heart is fluttering, because I have never written what might be considered a secret love letter, unlike many girls my age. My focus has been more on finding the perfect beast for taming rather than swooning over this or that boy.

By the way, thank you for your sweet words and gallantry at the Beast Ball. I was very much diverted from thinking about my Blaze. In hindsight, I guess I should have paid more attention.

I want you to know that I don’t in any way blame you for what happened with Lobo or what Blaze suffered later on at the hands of Viscount Rossa, or as he’s known in our house, Viscount Rotten. You were embarrassed! You were mortified by what Lobo did, and also what happened to Blaze. I could see it. And now our families are not even on speaking terms, which is why I have to send you this letter in secret.

I am taking a risk, but our manservant Tomas Willems is very friendly with one of your servants, a Mr. Byron Wylde, who has been fond of you ever since he started working for your family a few years ago. Both our servants understand that families’ petty feuds and even competing over being the best beast tamer pales in comparison to friendship between young people.

As your friend, I care about you, and I don’t want your life ruined, which it will be if certain goings-on at your house are allowed to continue. You’ll get the blame. Why? Because your mother cannot admit when she’s wrong. Lobo wasn’t punished for breaking the rules and starting a fight. He was made to apologize, and that still didn’t stop him from behaving badly during the Beast Dance. Or being mean to Blaze.

Happily, Lobo has more sense than your mother. Blaze and Demos apparently got to him over dinner, and it took him a while, but he was very brave in a pinch.

After what happened with Lobo, I would not have let the beasts in the Beast Wing alone, but the servants all vanished right when Viscount Rotten tried to steal my Blaze. Viscount Rotten even hinted that he had help from someone in your house. And he escaped, despite the guard’s best efforts to stop him.

I am not blaming the guard. He saved Blaze. I’m blaming the servants. They somehow got the idea that it was just fine to help Viscount Rotten steal a beast. As competitive as my parents, my sister, and I get, we know that some things are more important than winning. Honor. Loyalty. Friendship. Being a good person.

As I write this, I’m reminded of the stroll we took in the mansion, and how you pointed out your father’s study. My friends all say he is a good man. A kind person. He is what they think of when they think of elves. They wish that he would come back from wherever he is.

There’s a lot more that I want to say, but it might be best said in person, because I’m not very, what’s the word, good at writing. I’m better at talking. Maybe we should meet.

Have you ever been to the village market on Market Day? It’s so crowded, no one knows or cares who you are. I sometimes go with a big straw hat on and a day dress, and I look like any other girl. It’s fun to blend in. You should join me this Wednesday. Or if you’re busy, we can find another Wednesday where we’re both free. I love the hot mulled cider stand at noontime.

Write back promptly and let me know so I can plan to get away. Blaze and I are throwing ourselves into training for the tournament, but I can make time for hot mulled cider and meeting a friend.

Yours in friendship,

Kaline Riddlehoeven

P.S. Blaze will be with me, and he’d love to see Lightning again, unless you think that would attract too much attention. Let me know.

___________________

Chatting with Gussie and Demos, I shake my head, still recalling the letter that Tomas just left to deliver. [Kaline says she’s not good at writing, but she sounds so much older.]

[Mistress Vedette and Tomas probably helped.] Demos puffs out his fur. [They dislike Lady Lammermoor and hate that she is blocking a budding romance. Actually, two, if you count Tomas and his friend. And it looks like it’s three, from that last line.]

[Oooh yes.] Gussie is all atwitter. [I love matchmaking! It’s so much fun.]

I ignore the teasing and the gushing. Honestly, why did Kaline have to mention Lightning? I suppose my embarrassment is a small price to pay.

[It’s a good letter.] I can’t help boasting. [My Kaline is so grown-up.]

[Beast taming does that to MOST people.] Demos sounds wise. [Once you care for a being and help it grow, you are never again quite the same. You think about someone other than yourself. And the two of you act as one, even without telepathy.]

[I’m working as fast as I can on being telepathic.] I grin, baring my teeth. [I can’t wait.]

Gussie angles her head, eager to share her latest thought. [But you and Kaline are such a good team already. You know her.]

I thoughtlessly say, [I should. I’ve been working with her for years.]

[YEARS?} Demos rolls over laughing. [Maybe it seems like that to you, young whelp.]

[Of course it does!] I cover up my slip. [A week seems like a long time to me. It’ll be an eon until Market Day.]

[Patience, young one, patience!] Demos rights himself and cuffs me on the nose. [First we have to hear back from Young Master Lammermoor.]

[In the meantime, how about some sparring? You could use the practice, old timer!]

We throw ourselves into wrestling while we wait for the next letter between the star-crossed lovers. I only hope that I’m not beginning a Romeo and Juliet scenario.

Later that afternoon, I’m roused from a nap by Kaline, who kneels down and scratches behind my ears. “Tomas delivered the letter,” she says with a note of optimism in her voice. “He said that his friend was only too happy to oblige.”

A delicious smell rouses me further, as does the dreamlike vision of two golden-brown meat pies, dripping with yumminess. Demos drools, and he begs Kaline with his big eyes.

“This is for both of you for being so good,” Kaline declares. “And there’s a seed cake for Gussie.”

Ah, the fruits of a good deed. The meat pies send both Demos and me into a food coma. Hearty, delicious, full of meat and veggies. To die for!

[Great idea, Blaze.] Demos burps when the three of us are alone again, with Kaline having gone to her music lessons. [Even if we don’t get any further in stopping more kidnappings, we at least have some enjoyment. I wish we had more meat pies!]

I burp too. [Well, maybe Tomas can meet his friend Byron at the pub again to receive the Young Master’s reply. And he might bring back more meat pies!]

Gussie preens her feathers. [And a seed cake!]

The System weighs in.

[Name: [Blaze]

[Class: [Novice]

[Race: [Common Tiger]

[Level: 2/10 [XP 54/100 STATUS: Full

[HP: 6/6 [MP: 0/0 [Stamina 60/100

[Strength: 14

[Defense: 16

[Magic

: 17

[Resistance: 10

[Speed: 17

[Charisma: 31

[Luck: 18

[Skills: [Bite (Attack Skill] [Pounce (Attack Skill)] [Sprint (Skill)] [Camouflage (Skilll) [Escape Power (Skill) [Telepathy(Skill Not Yet Acquired)]

Improved stats, full stomach, and mission accomplished. Now all we have to do is wait for the next phase of our plan!

Two days later, two days that drag on despite training and fighting and eating, Tomas rushes in with a letter clutched in his fist. Kaline intercepts him before her parents can.

“For you,” Tomas says, pressing the letter into her hand with his callused fingers. “Lord Lammermoor wanted it delivered into your hands directly.”

Kaline rushes off to the solarium and locks the door, cornering Vedette. “The letter came!”

Gussie squawks. “Read it! READ IT!”

“You heard the bird,” Vedette wails.

Kaline opens the letter and begins to read…

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