Edward

by Marcus LaGrone

  Gillian smiled broadly, “Yes, yes. I think you will do nicely! But how about the rest of your team? Day to day activity I get the impression you all can handle quite well. It is the concerts themselves that I have worries. There are a whole lot of people and it does become a bit of a madhouse once the crowd was been whipped into a frenzy.”

  “Trevor, who is also the police liaison, used to work for the Altshea government’s DSS. He was...”

  “Pardon me,” interrupted Gillian, “the DSS?”

  “Pardon me for the jargon. DSS—Diplomatic Security Service. His last job was coordinating the security for large diplomatic functions. Hundreds of people at a reception or ball and half of them hating the other half. All nice and smiles while they uttered veiled threats at each other.”

  “Indeed. You do seem to have quite a group. And the Shukurae that apprehended the heckler? I was impressed that he managed to not stick out of the crowd very much. Especially considering how tall he was.”

  Heckler, Edward would have used a stronger word. “That is Kadu, she is my partner. The lady has amazing situational awareness and intuition.”

  “My apologies to the lady; I do find it hard to tell their gender apart. Your partner you said? I figure you would have been teamed with another Taik.”

  “No, ma'am. The unit is first and foremost a Shukurae unit. We support them.”

  “You did it again,” Gillian scolded with a smile.

  Edward's mind raced. Oh! “Sorry, Gillian.”

  Gillian smiled back at him approvingly, “So, Tatiana, what do you think of the new security team.”

  She giggled a bit, “Much cuter than the last.”

  Edward smiled back and fought to keep his fur from rippling in color. This was going to be a long day.

  The first interview led to a second, and then a third. It was a whirlwind morning, fortunately all of it was happening within one block. One studio to the next, one set of giant smiles for the camera and hosts; it seemed like it should be exhausting for Tatiana, but instead she seemed more alive and awake after each one. The girl seemed to eat up the limelight like it was going out of style. Always in the distance was Kadu, at the very least. Others from the unit came and went as well. Finally things started to wind down and lunch was the new pressing topic. Edward made his way over to Kadu as Gillian ran through Tatiana's schedule again.

  “Is Gigi going to be available at lunch? They are talking about a restaurant that is a little more open than I care for.” Gigi, or Gigirena more correctly, was a Lowland Taik from the Kulpgurie Republic. She was short, even for Taik standards, but was perfection in motion at unarmed hand-to-hand combat.

  “Trevor anticipated your concerns and she had already been deployed in an undercover mode,” replied Kadu.

  “On the ball as always.”

  “Yes, Trevor is quite efficient. Interesting that both you and he opted for Gigi not Alex.”

  “Alex is a Highlander like me, we stick out in a crowd, not very good for undercover or casual. If I understood Trevor's plan from before, Alex was going to be my alternate or late night replacement.”

  “I still find it amusing that you say you appear to the locals so different in style, dress and language than the others. Honestly, my ear cannot differentiate your accent at all. You all sound the same to the first approximation.”

  “Well, to the first approximation, most Taik have a heck of a time determining gender on Shukurae.”

  “That is a fair, if not amusing, counterpoint. Ah… Client is on the move.”

  Edward nodded and quickly rejoined the party as they headed out of the studio and to the waiting elevator. Once again, Edward was first on and first off of the elevator, all the while Gillian and Tatiana gabbed back and forth. Gillian also seemed to serve as Tatiana's confidant as well as manager and secretary. Complaints and comments about the interviews, her media outlook, the view she presented for her fans, concerns that she was over the hill... Good night! She was only eighteen and her music was still selling well, what was she worried about? Was she fishing for complements, or actually worried? Tatiana was a complicated girl.

  Their ride was waiting for them in the parking garage, far easier to dodge the fans. Tatiana was a little grumpy, she really enjoyed working the crowds, but they were late for lunch and Gillian had a schedule. Soon they were zipping across town to the commercial district. Lots of banks and high power businesses. More importantly, very nice restaurants for the workers of said businesses.

  They arrived at the chosen fare with little interruption. Edward exited first, followed by Gillian; he then helped Tatiana out the door to the dismay of the chauffeur. He didn't know if it was a union thing or if the chauffeur was hunting for tips. Edward could care less either way as he became Tatiana's shadow. As they entered, he let his fur darken a bit to more easily blend in the dimly lit room. Tatiana was here to meet Charta, some local ridiculously overpaid sports figure and he was already waiting at their assigned seat. Edward held to the back as Gillian said her polite hellos and goodbyes before seating herself a few tables away. Tatiana and Charta started gabbing almost immediately, Edward took that as a good sign and started casing the room.

  Less than four meters from the table was a large gruff looking Taik. He was easily the largest customer in the room, and while not Shukurae large, he was big enough. It wasn't his pure size that bothered Edward, the man was wearing a sidearm under his jacket. That would not do. Edward started to close when he suddenly recognized the girl hanging off of the brute, it was Gigi. Good girl, already in place! Gigi looked spectacular, and young too. Edward knew she was five, maybe six years older than himself, but as things were, Gigi looked barely sixteen. That made sense, appear as harmless as possible. Edward noticed Charta firing a glance at the man every so often. Bodyguard or stalker? Edward decided to press the point with Gillian.

  “Oh, the big guy, yeah, that is Charta's body guard. Well some of us have other guesses too, but that is a bit gauche I do confess,” offered Gillian with a stifled laugh.

  The man, bodyguard or otherwise, bothered Edward, but he couldn't place why exactly. If he was to be a regular feature in Tatiana's life, they were going to check him out more carefully.

  Edwards ears burnt as he caught part of Tatiana's conversation, she was waxing eloquently about Edward to Charta. Charta started off taking it in stride, but soon it was obvious he was getting more than a little upset. Edward watched with curiosity, was Tatiana oblivious to her lunch date's feelings, or was she just trying to force a response? Suddenly the tempo of the conversation took a turn for the worse as Charta started sniping back and offered a variety of socially inappropriate terms in her direction. Suddenly he grabbed her wrist and Tatiana recoiled in fear. Show time!

  Edward swooped in grabbing Charta's opposite arm and twisted it behind him sending the unsuspecting Taik's head crashing to the table. Edward caught Gigi in motion out of the corner of his eye; the big guy was on the floor, probably unconscious, and Gigi had already plucked his sidearm from its holster and tossed it to Kadu who had been lurking far in the back. Charta let go of Tatiana's wrist almost immediately as Edward increased the torque on his arm and shoulder joint. Edward pushed him clear of the table and quickly circled behind to Tatiana, “Shall we go now, miss?”

  She nodded quickly and got up from the table. Gillian quickly aborted her lunch and joined her charge, “Are you okay dear?”

  “Yes, just kind of frightened.”

  Charta glared at Edward. Edward smiled back, “When your friend wakes up, you might wish to point out that he was floored by a girl half his weight and easily three heads shorter. He can reclaim his sidearm at the police station tonight, providing he had a license for it in the first place. A 15mm Warwickshire Automatic, a little overkill don't you think?”

  “He was probably overcompensating for something,” murmured Gillian. “Come on, let's go.”

  Edward turned his back on Charta as the three headed for the door. Three steps in
to the egress, his senses went wild and he deftly dodged a roundhouse kick from the still furious Charta. Edward turned and faced his would-be attacker, “Please try that again!”

  Charta instead fired a left hand jab square at Edward's face. Edward held his ground and rather than blocking or dodging the shot, waited until the last minute and the summoned his Live Steel armor in a flash of blue sparks. Charta's shot hit square on the steel helmet. A shocked look on his face was quickly replaced by one of pain. Edward winked out the armor in another blue flourish and rejoined his charges.

  “So the little girl by the bar was one of yours. Excellent,” complimented Gillian. “Tatiana, girl, what set Charta off this time?”

  “Pardon me, ma’... Gillian, ‘this time’? There has been a history of problems with the man?” asked a confused Edward.

  Gillian nodded, “Charta has been a little over zealous about several things in the past. The tabloids love him for it. This is the first time he has done anything toward my client.”

  Edward nodded, oh the joy of celebrities.

  “I just started talking about how cool and polite Edward was,” offered a still confused Tatiana.

  “And you didn't think that might set off a little jealousy on his end?”

  “As opposed to listening to him recount his exploits in front of me? No, I thought I had done nothing wrong in comparison.”

  Ouch! Edward was curious why the pair had even met in the first place. He snickered to himself as Gillian echoed his thoughts.

  “I'm not sure why you agreed to lunch with him in the first place! He is a horrible man with a checkered past. Moth to the flame is it?” lectured Gillian.

  “No, I just figured that all that was a façade. I thought all that stuff in the news was him just living up to fan's expectations. I didn't consider he was going to be that tactless to me in person.”

  Edward held the door while Gillian quickly shepherded Tatiana into their waiting car. As Edward closed the door, the vehicle launched forward at a speed normally reserved for emergency vehicles.

  “Back to the flat, please. We'll just eat lunch there.” Gillian looked at Tatiana with a motherly frown, “Girl, please stop trying to pick characters out of the limelight. Try to find people a bit more grounded.”

  “But most guys think I'm too exotic and won't even ask me to lunch, much less anything else.”

  “You are shopping in the wrong place. Oh my sweet girl, there are so many good men out there, please try choosing a bit more carefully. You just need a man who isn't intimidated by your success, and not a complete jerk. Any well standing, self-confident man would do well for you.”

  “Last time I let you try and set me up, I ended up eating lunch with a banker.”

  “I did apologize for that too. He was a real estate broker, not a banker.” Gillian sighed, “How about this: as a first round, bounce your lunch dates off of the new security team first. At least we can rule out the complete idiots and sociopaths that way.”

  “Was that a stab at Constantine? He wasn't a sociopath, just heavy in to goth.”

  “Actually I was thinking of Evan, but Constantine was more than a little creepy...”

  The conversation went back and forth all the way back to the hotel. It sounded more like a mother-daughter conversation than an agent-client one, but they both had a lot to vent. And both parties had their salient points. Yet even as they radically disagreed with each other neither raised their voice nor become abusive. It was a good relationship and it served them both well. How did they ever become a team? Edward laughed to himself, not unlike himself and Kadu. Each very different, but polite and professional and, well, much like family at times...

  7

  A late lunch back at the penthouse spilled into late afternoon as the pair of women snacked and discussed practical points of the music business for hours. Finally, around four in the afternoon, Tatiana retired to her room for an afternoon nap. The plan was, a quiet dinner at nine and then out club hopping until midnight. All in a day's work. Edward took the opportunity to take a break for food himself as well as a quick nap when Alex came in to relieve him. Alex was a good man. He wasn't a Silver, but he was a fellow Highlander and quite impressive with Live Steel himself. They were in good hands.

  “So how is the client in person?” asked Kadu as she watched Edward wolf down his food.

  “She seems quite nice, a bit naïve, but it is very interesting to watch her turn her charm and presence on and off. Like flipping a switch! Curious which personality is the real one. I imagine the answer is quite complicated.”

  “Indeed, and her agent?”

  Edward cleared his throat and downed half of his glass before replying, “She is sharp, professional, very well organized and a good foil for Tatiana. They have a very frank relationship and openly talk with each other. I'm curious how those two met since they are so different in so many ways.”

  “Do you think it is important enough that we should use our resources to check into it?”

  Edward thought for a moment, “Yes, actually. She also mentioned her sister's life had been saved by David and his team. Curious about that. Speaking of curious, what became of Charta and his goon at lunch?”

  “Charta visited the hospital for a series for broken digits in his paw. Do you prefer paw or hand? I am unclear on the optimum translations at times.”

  “Paw, hand, whatever,” laughed Edward. “And his goon?”

  “He is currently in some small amount of procedural trouble with the local authorities over his sidearm. He was licensed to carry a sidearm, but not that particular one. There is a one thousand joule limit on sidearms carried by civilians in public.”

  “Anything on him being floored by Gigi?”

  Kadu flashed a toothy grin, “I'm am not entirely clear on all the particulars of the exchange but I do believe he solicited meeting her again in a social manner later this week.”

  Edward laughed, “Well good for him! Heck, good for both of them.”

  “So you are heading out again this evening?”

  “Yes indeed. What's bothering you?”

  “Trevor has requested, and I concur with the asking, that you start carrying a comlink with you.”

  Edward nodded as he poked at the remains on his plate, no frills but filling food, “Yeah, as much as I hate those things, I agree: that sounds like a good idea.”

  Kadu smiled in what Edward could have sworn was a motherly smile at Edward, “Fantastic. I had a prepared speech I was going to use on you to convince you of the utility of a comlink in spite of your historical objections. One of the few times I am glad that my preparatory efforts are going to be wasted.”

  Edward laughed as he got up from the table, “You're welcome, Kadu!” He looked around for a couch.

  “There is a crash bed in the back room. Have you ready to roll at 9:30?”

  “Oh, good. Um, probably need to be there at 9:30.”

  “We will be in motion at 9:10 for an arrival at 9:20.”

  “Sounds perfect. As always, Kadu.”

  Edward meet Alex at Tatiana's penthouse with dinner already starting to wind down. Tatiana and the trio of vultures retreated to change her clothes and makeup, while Gillian engaged in small talk and sipped on her drink.

  “Welcome back Edward. If you don't mind I have some questions for you. I confess I did a bit of checking up on you.”

  Alex flashed a grin at Edward and playfully thumped the comlink he was wearing. “I'll be your shadow tonight,” he offered as he excused himself from the room.

  Edward shook Alex's hand as he left and returned his attention to Gillian.

  “By all means, ma'am, Gillian. You are going to see a lot of me; it is only appropriate you are comfortable with me and my history.”

  Gillian smiled broadly, “Do I understand that Helen Winteroak was your biological sister? My understanding was Highland names were matriarchal, yet I thought you were a Silverglade.”

  Edward nodded and smiled, “
That is mostly correct. In Highland culture there are two names, the family name, which traces through the First Mother, and the clan name which traces through the father. Winteroak is a family name while Silverglade is a clan name. A young male uses his family name until he is about fifteen or so, then he usually starts using his clan name. When he is married he uses both his clan name and the First Mother's family name of the new house. My oldest brother, for example, is married and thus is properly referred to as Llewellyn Stratford of Clan Silverglade or as Llewellyn Silverglade of House Stratford. Either way.”

  “First Mother?” came the voice of Tatiana from the room next door. “How many wives does a guy go through up there in the Highlands?”

  Edward afforded himself a polite laugh, it was very different from what was she was used to. “First thing to consider is the male to female ratio in the Highlands is one to four. And thus there are usually anywhere between three and five Mothers in a family.” Edward racked his brain as he fought to make things clear, “From a cultural point of view, it isn't that a husband has four wives. It just isn't viewed that way. The First Mother is the head of the house, and she has a husband and several other Mothers supporting her.”

  Tatiana poked her head out the door, her dress was very flattering. Edward wasn't entirely certain what was keeping it on her. “That... That is very different.” She seemed both confused and impressed.

  Gillian laughed a bit, “A very different culture indeed. Your explanation covers my second question: that about Ivy Stratford. That is Llewellyn's wife, or she is First Mother of their family, as it were.”

  Edward nodded, “Yes, that is correct. So you've heard of her?”

  “Ivy Stratford? Of course I've heard of her! You kind of have to in the music business.”

  Tatiana looked even more confused, “Okay, I've not heard of her, and I'm in music.”

  Gillian laughed, “From an agent side, girl. Ivy Stratford is a very accomplished concert piano player. She toured and taught for two years before she returned to the Highlands. If she ever wanted to tour again, people would be tripping over themselves to hear her play.”