Jeanne G'Fellers - No Sister of Mine

morning.”
“Yes, sir.” LaRenna watched Cance force Starnes up the stairs and into the upper level. Being alone was easier, but the quiet proved lulling. To stay alert, she proceeded to scrub every inch of the bar, paying close attention to the table and chair bottoms Starnes seemed so concerned about. She was drying the last of the glassware when traces of morning began trickling through the bar’s high windows. Energies renewed by dawn’s radiance, she tossed the towel onto the bar and grabbed her wrap. Krell was waiting.
“There she goes.” The twins stood in the dark of an upstairs window, Cance cleaning under her nails with her blade. “Follow her, Brannie.” She waved the knife toward the street below. “Make sure she goes directly to the Stores and back. There’s something about her I don’t trust.”
“Anything to get out of here a while.” Brandoff slid down the banister, scurried out the rear entrance, and trailed LaRenna through the narrow streets leading to the Commons, becoming suspicious only when LaRenna failed to turn down the lane leading to the Wine Stores. LaRenna, looking back only once or twice, took a back alley to the perimeter of the Commons then trotted straight down a pathway leading to the beach.
“You scheming little tramp. Cance was right about you.” From a crevice in the path’s rock outcropping, Brandoff could see everything that took place on the sand below.
Krell was waiting where she’d promised. “Everything going as planned?” LaRenna nodded but said nothing. “Third Kimshee Belsas?” asked Krell as gently as she dared. “Have you slept since we parted?”
“No, First Kimshee,” she mumbled. “I’ve worked straight through.”
Krell looked above her apprentice’s head toward the water. LaRenna looked exhausted, but the sight of her caused Krell’s very being to ache. “Starnes was supposed to aid in your cover, not drive you. Was it worth your while?”
“Yeah, it was.” LaRenna smiled and stretched. “The tips were nice.”
“You know I don’t mean the money, Belsas.” Krell resisted the urge to ruffle her companion’s chestnut curls. “I meant—”
“I know.” LaRenna yawned. “They’re planning something concerning the Center’s Assembly.”
“Success so soon?” Krell seemed truly impressed. Most posts of this nature took several days, if not cycles, to gather any useful information. “Any idea what?”
“Not yet.” LaRenna stifled another yawn into her cloak. “I’ll try again tonight.”
“Slide your lenses back so your eyes can rest.” Krell’s breath steamed in the morning air. “It’ll keep you alert.”
LaRenna slapped away the phase that waited for her. I’m not too tired for a fight if that is what you’re wanting, First Kimshee.
Just a test. Krell dropped the phase after another rejected probe. “If that is all there is to report then return to your post, Third Officer.”
“Yes, First Kimshee.”
“Return here tomorrow for another report.”
“Yes First Kimshee.”
“Til tomorrow then.”
“Tomorrow, First Kimshee.”
Brandoff shoved her chilled hands in her pockets. She could kill LaRenna before she returned to the Waterlead, but there’d be no sport in it. Besides, Cance would want to question the girl. Brandoff sighed. Questions, questions, and more questions. Cance would want to know anything and everything about the infernal girl. But after that—the sigh turned into a chuckle. After that, the fun began. Brandoff retreated from the crevice and to the Commons, anxious to update her sibling.
When LaRenna turned to depart, Krell suddenly grasped her around the waist, spinning her around and pulling her close. She peered at the pathway, uneasy, inexplicably tense as she scanned the length of the trail above them.
“Someone up there?” LaRenna looked over her shoulder to the path. Krell, now intent on the dark cliffs behind them, squinted and listened, the only sound the slow break of waves.
“First Officer?” LaRenna chirped anxiously. “Krell?”
“Shhh.” The noise came out sterner than Krell intended. “I thought I saw something.” She pulled LaRenna within the depths of her cloak then continued to scan the path, her racing heartbeat causing LaRenna’s neck hairs to stiffen.
Krell, stop. You’re smothering me.
After a moment, Krell relaxed her grip. She searched the path a final time then stepped back, not entirely convinced the danger had passed but unable to put a finger on the reason. “I must be seeing grass shadows. There’s nothing up there.”
LaRenna turned for her own search. “It could have been a rock goat. They’re up and grazing this time of morning. But, whatever it was, I think it’s gone. Besides, it’s almost second dawn. I’d better get to the wine stores.”
Krell pulled LaRenna’s wrap snug then dropped her hand, embarrassed by such an affectionate display. “Be careful.”
“I will.” LaRenna began to turn away but halted when Krell touched her shoulder.
“Pull out if there are any problems.” Krell released her touch one finger at a time, as if each would be the last. “I’ll be ready should you need me.”
“I know you will.” LaRenna scrambled up the rocky bank to the pathway, stopping at the crest to look back. Krell cut an alluring figure in the morning light. She stood on a boulder, one hand resting on her narrow hip. The ocean breeze caught the tail of her cloak, slapping it about. Krell snapped it back and looked up, reaching out and up with her hand. LaRenna, tingling with the relevance of the moment, held out her hand as if to accept Krell’s, pulled it to her chest, and offered her palm back to Krell, who completed the exchange by pulling back her arm and placing her hand on her chest. Drawing two into one, the exchange was a symbol long used by the Taelach to signal the pain of separation.
After a final glance, LaRenna turned back to her assignment. She replaced the Autlach lenses and climbed the hill to the Commons, ready to complete her post so she could return to this curious life she was beginning.
Brandoff was well ahead of her, blowing in the back door of the Waterlead, blaring the news, but not before downing half a crystal. Cance was waiting in the main dining room, also well into