Chapter Four

Orla stood in the woods with her sweater and the dress back in place. During dinner, Hunter showed her how to cloak her appearance so she didn’t look any different than she had when she left. Her boots didn’t make it. They were trashed, so she wore a concealed set of leather boots from the arena.

Hunter was standing next to her, and she turned to go back toward her car. He huffed and slowly said, “Come with me. We can get you back to safety.”

“Oh, you can talk in that form. Nice.”

He murmured, “Hang onto me, and we will walk.”

She put her right hand on his fur, and he started walking.

“Hunter, where are we going?”

“My home. I need to keep you there until we are ready to sync you to the local time.”

“What?”

“I brought you here a week earlier.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You are going to sync to your body and merge.”

“If I do that, I won’t crash the car and won’t end up here.”

He nodded. “True. But you will be able to do some research and meet your genetic parent. I believe that will assist you when you meet yourself.”

He walked slowly with her, and soon, a very pleasant house appeared in the woods with wild meadows and trees bent in appealing shapes.

An elegant woodland sprite in formal butlery clothing opened the door for them. “Welcome home, Lord Winter. Is this your guest?”

Orla smiled. “No, I am a burr he snagged on a branch.”

The sprite blinked. “Ah. You are the one we have clothing for.”

“I don’t think you are my size.” She looked at him as she walked through the door while Hunter changed back to his bipedal form.

“What?”

“You said we have clothing. I doubt the clothing would fit Hunter, so it had to be for us.”

He looked at her as if she was insane. At this point, he may have been right. A hand pressed her back and eased her further into the house. “In you go, Orla.”

The voice sounded different, and a very handsome human man with white blonde hair and laughing blue eyes was standing wearing the leathers that Hunter had been wearing.

She did what any normal woman would do. She screamed and jumped past the butler, pulling her sword from somewhere. “Who are you?”

He looked at her in surprise. “Usually, they prefer the flesh over fur. It is just another face, Orla. Calm down, little star.”

She snarled at him.

“Uh, sir. Never tell a woman holding a sword to calm down.”

Hunter looked at her and grew fur with his muzzle covered in the snowy white fur. “Better, Orla?”

She blinked and lowered her sword then sheathed it, and it disappeared. “Yes. Sorry. I didn’t see it happen, so it surprised me.”

He nodded and said, “This time, watch.” He resumed his human appearance, but now, she could see the familiar under the skin.

“Okay. I like you better with the tail.”

He smiled. “Noted. Now, you need to get changed.”

“Oh. Right. Sweats and stuff.”

“Yes. This is Yesoff. He will help you find your room for while you are here.”

She swallowed and stared at him. “So, you believe in catch and release?”

He smiled. “Not in your case. You have things you need to achieve before Yule, and I am going to walk you through it.”

Yesoff stared at him. “You are, sir?”

“Yes, there are warlocks and councils we need to speak to. I have to make some appointments.”

“Well, they won’t refuse you.” Yesoff shrugged.

“True. Now, go and show Orla her room. I will make a snack.”

Yesoff blinked. “You will?”

Hunter smiled. “I will start a fire.”

“Better. I will be back in a minute.”

Orla nodded and followed Yesoff down a hall and up some stairs. The house smelled clean, and there was no dust anywhere.

“He had me get clothes for you and set up a room, but he wasn’t sure about your sizes. So, I got mediums and larges.”

“Thank you.” She saw the dark sweatsuits folded at the edge of the bed with a bag with utilitarian underwear that was stretchy enough to fit anything. She would be seriously comfortable.

“I am going downstairs before Lord Winter tries to cook something. I don’t know what has gotten into him.”

“Me neither.” She shrugged and slowly unwound the ugly sweater from her arm.

“Do you want me to dispose of that?”

“No. I am attached to it. It is comforting.”

“Very well. I will clean it and return it to your room.”

She nodded and finished unwrapping it, handing it over.

He stared at her hand. “Is that...”

“Hunter put it on me when he was a big wolf, and then, he booted me through the portal. Because of the sweater, they didn’t see the ring, and I signed a contract for the arena.”

“Wait, you were in the arena?”

“Yes. Eighteen rounds. It was Hunter that knocked me on my ass.” She paused. “Well, my back. It suddenly made breathing harder.”

There was a clatter from downstairs. Yesoff nodded. “I will clean this and bring it back to you. After I save my kitchen.”

Orla chuckled and closed the door behind him. The velvet dress she was wearing was barely surviving. This was something that could be trashed. The pile of the dress was pushed into a corner, and she hand-washed her underwear. It was a way to make sure she would have something to wear. The bags had a nice selection of panties and stretchy sports bras in grey. She put them on and then put on a set of bulky navy blue sweats and shirt. The huge, fluffy socks made her feel that all was right in the world.

She thought about it and decided to leave her room and go downstairs to get a glass of water.

She opened the door and slowly walked down the stairs. Yesoff was making coffee, and she smiled. “Smells good.”

He turned and nodded. “Thank you. We have pie, cake, and cookies. Lord Winter eats a lot of sugar.”

“Oh. Nice. Um... cake and cookies?”

He chuckled. “I like it. The pie is chocolate cream, by the way.”

“With pie for dessert.”

“Nice. Have a seat and tell me what your time in the arena was like.”

“It was fine in the lower levels, but I was just hitting a higher tier, and the guys of that ranking are scary. They got really intense and started making me offers. I did not care for those offers. Even the one who trained me got creepy when there was the chance at sex.”

“Were you willing?”

“No. I haven’t understood the attraction to doing that .” She waved her hand in the air.

“ That is how nearly every creature on this world arrived here.”

“Not via me. I require a passport and inoculations. Possibly a visa if they wish to explore areas to stake a claim.”

“That is very formal.” He slid a cup of coffee, cream, and sugar over to her.

“I think it is the sort of thing to be hashed out before impulse takes over. Plus, I like paperwork. It doesn’t let me down.”

Yesoff nodded. “Fair enough.”

She prepped her coffee with cream and smiled as the dessert pile was delivered. “Thank you very much.”

“My pleasure. Lord Winter just grunts his way through food.”

Orla smiled and picked up the elegant fork. “I can’t promise not to do the same. This looks really good.”

“Let me know if it tastes as good as it looks.”

The fork went into the cake, and as Orla took the first bite, she smiled. She covered her mouth. “It’s very good.”

“Thank you.” He smiled and returned to whatever he had been doing.

The slice of cake was reasonable, and there were three cookies on the plate. The portions were good but not huge.

When she had moved on to the cookies, he took the cake plate and replaced it with the chocolate pie. She kicked her feet happily and kept eating. She normally didn’t eat a lot of sugar, but today was an exception.

“What is Hunter doing?”

“He is making calls. I don’t know to whom, but he looked serious. I do not interrupt him when he is serious.”

“Oh.” She finished the cookies and went on to the pie. “So, can he eat all the chocolate? Because of the canine thing?”

“The canine thing is a projection, like your hair.”

She mumbled, “You can see that?”

“Of course. Working for Winter has its perks.”

“Winter?”

“Yes. The avatar of winter. He is at his most powerful this time of year.”

“Oh. Well, that explains the giant wolf.”

“It becomes a puppy in high summer.”

Orla looked at him with an excited smile. “Really?”

Yesoff blinked. “That idea makes you happy?”

She bit her lip. “I always wanted a really sturdy pet that my brother couldn’t kill. Hunter looks sturdy.”

He paused. “You are thinking of keeping the avatar of winter as a pet?”

“Not keeping him. I just like the idea that he is out there. Fluffy with a wagging tail.” She prodded her pie and started pushing it around her plate.

“Wagging tail?”

“Yeah, I like watching it swoop from side to side, but I guess when he is bipedal, it amounts to staring at his ass.”

Yesoff laughed. “I have no idea how to comment on that.”

She shrugged. “It came as a surprise to me, too, but that white fluff is in my mind when I close my eyes.”

“Wow.”

A door opened and closed somewhere in the house. Steady footfalls approached, and she closed her eyes, remembering him as a person and not a giant talking puppy.

The footfalls stopped next to her. “Orla? Is something wrong?”

She squinted her eyes open and nodded when she had guessed the right face. “Nope. I guessed the right face.”

He blinked slowly. “Right... oh.”

She shrugged. “Sorry. You are always the wolf first.”

He nodded. “Is there still cake?”

Yesoff nodded. “Of course, sir.” He cut a slab of cake off and set it on the counter, filling a cup with coffee and handing it over.

Hunter sat down and lifted his fork. He glanced at the pie and cookie plates. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Yesoff snorted and kept tidying things.

Hunter ate his cake and mumbled, “Do you want to know who I was calling?”

“I am curious.”

“The families whose icons came up when we tested your blood. They are both surprised but will be here this evening.”

Orla asked, “Why?”

“Because neither family knew that you existed.”

“Oh.”

“It isn’t that they weren’t wanting to; it was part of the curse that concealed you. I have learned the reason for it, but that is best discussed with all parties present.”

“Oh. Right. So, when is that?”

“Five hours from now.”

Orla looked around. “Do you have a library here?”

Hunter nodded. “I do.”

“May I spend time in there?”

“Of course. I will see about getting you some more appropriate clothing for the meeting.”

“I can do that, sir,” Yesoff volunteered.

Orla said, “I would like to try myself. That is why I want the library.”

Hunter finished his cake and slugged down his coffee. “Of course. Come with me.”

She got up, and he led the way to his library.

“You are welcome to any tome you can find, but I don’t know what you are looking for.”

“I do.” She looked around with her eyes narrowed and raised her hand. It thwacked into her palm.

“Ah. I see. Well, I will leave you to it.”

“Thank you. Is it safe to work on this in here?”

“Certainly. This is the safest place in the world for you.” He stroked her hair.

She blinked at the touch. He smiled slightly and left her to her book.

Reading a book on clothing alterations wasn’t what many would do when they had just found out that they were a cuckoo in the nest, but she read all of the options and looked down at the sweatsuit. There was plenty of fabric to use. Now, she needed to find a fashion book, and Orla walked around, holding her hand up to try and find a book with usable designs, but nothing.

She wasn’t familiar with fashion, but she guessed that the dress and robe she had worn at the other palace would be appropriate. They were certainly comfortable and warm. Orla took a deep breath and focused on the memory of the dress and robe in navy blue with sparkly stars.

Orla felt the fabric come apart and swirl around her before it settled back against her skin. She opened her left eye and then her right as she looked down. “Phew. It worked.”

She twirled around, the clothing wasn’t stuck to her in any weird way, and even her boots were midnight blue with stars. There was a knock on the door, and she turned. “Yeah?”

Yesoff came in and stared. “Oh. Well, they will be arriving soon, and Lord Winter wishes you to make an entrance. Will you return to your room for a few minutes?”

“Can I bring some books?”

“If he said you can, you can.”

“Why don’t I just stay in the library?”

Yesoff nodded. “I will let him know.”

She smiled and thought of something else she wanted to study, putting her hand up, and a book smacked into it.

Orla began to read about the history of seasons taking people as avatars. When she finished with that, she delved into Yule orgies and their purpose.

She frowned when she determined that there was some kind of summoning in all of those events. They were rarely successful, but the participants had a good time. Treatises were signed, and clans settled grievances at the events. That sort of thing happened when bloodlines crossed.

Orla was looking at a variety of summonings that had occurred in recent years and blinked when a few descriptions reminded her of people she knew. They sounded like customers at the shop.

She stood and read, and the light in the room dimmed and then got brighter. She kept reading until she understood the intricacies of the event and why she had been declared a member of her family. That was the agreement. Still her father’s daughter, despite the different male getting her mother pregnant. Warlocks were weird.

“Orla, please come with me.”

She looked up, and it was Hunter. “Oh. Okay.”

“You could have turned the light on.”

“The light went on.”

He chuckled. “The light was you.”

“Oh, shit.” She put the book down and stared at her hands. “I am going to stop that as soon as I figure out how I did that.”

He smiled. “Leave it. It will prove the point. Come, let’s meet the relatives I don’t want to kill on sight.” He paused. “Yet.”

Orla smiled. “Do I look okay?”

He stroked her hair and pulled a swath of the stuff forward over one shoulder. “Lovely. The contrast is delightful.”

She looked down and saw the white gold. “Oh, my glamour’s gone.”

“I think you are trying to do too much, and the glow is burning out your glamour, little star.”

“Dang. Lead the way.”

“Take my hand.” His voice was soft.

Orla looked at his serious expression and put her fingers against his palm. His fingers closed around her hand, and he led her out of the library and through the hall to a greenhouse filled with warlocks and mages seated on wide couches.

Orla smiled and looked around. “So, which one of you is my father?”