Chapter 1 #2
When disaster had fallen upon them, and they had realized that one of them would need to win the affections of the Duke, there had never been any question that the role would fall to Chloe.
Maddie was not only a full decade older than Chloe—putting her a number of years older than the Duke himself—but she had recently begun receiving a most eligible gentleman caller in the form of Everard’s newest apothecary.
“And besides, you have Ammy.” Chloe tried not to sound jealous, managing wistful instead. “Everyone who comes in admires her, and it makes you memorable in a way no costume change could mend.”
Maddie smiled and stroked the fur of the vendrillon wrapped around her neck, half-hidden beneath her hair.
It was true that the rather grandly named Amaranth rarely allowed Maddie to go anywhere without her.
The small creature shadowed Maddie wherever she went, only occasionally letting Chloe hold her when Maddie was indisposed.
She seemed to be napping, the pink of her feathers flashing from Maddie’s hair when Maddie moved.
The sight of it made Chloe smile, as it always did.
In their first year of life, vendrillons chose a human to become their lifelong friend and companion, showing utter loyalty from that moment on.
They were famous for paying no regard to rank or wealth when making their choice, and Chloe wasn’t in the least surprised that one had recognized the sweetness beneath Maddie’s shy veneer.
It helped that Ammy was a particularly ornamental vendrillon, perfect for a seamstress.
Like all vendrillon, she would have been born much more drab—small, brown and furred, like an otter built for land.
But shortly after birth, she had begun incorporating certain aspects of another animal—one that had caught her interest in those first weeks.
Since there was no telling what animal would interest a young vendrillon, or what characteristic of that animal would subsequently develop, this unique trait ensured every vendrillon was different. But Ammy was more different than most.
They always chose a human to bond with during their first year of life, but Ammy had been almost a full year old before Maddie encountered her in one of Everard’s parks and was instantly claimed by the eye-catching creature.
She didn’t know where Ammy had started her life or how she had managed to encounter a flamingo.
But Chloe could think of no other animal that could have resulted in the dramatic pink feathers that covered Ammy’s back and haunches, blending with the fur on the rest of her.
The vendrillon was excellent for business.
Even the most noble-born ladies stooped to coo over her coloring, declaring Amaranth the perfect name.
In private, Chloe and Maddie always called her Ammy, since the small creature showed no grand tendencies beyond the eye-catching feathers.
Her greatest skill, beyond attracting attention, was finding the buttons that both girls were forever losing in corners of the store or under furniture.
Chloe didn’t actually envy Maddie the possession of a vendrillon specifically. But she had always dreamed that one day one of Wynkara’s more fantastical residents would claim her as a life companion. As a girl, she had even dreamed of being chosen by an oncaryx.
Even her beloved Papa had laughed at that one, telling her that oncaryxes almost always chose guards, given their inanimate forms ranged from daggers all the way up to great battle-axes.
But Chloe had thought a slim, elegant dagger would suit her just fine.
She could have worn it at her belt while in its weapon form and around her neck when in its animal form, as Maddie did with her vendrillon.
Surely an oncaryx that became a dagger would be one of the smaller animals—a sleek mink or polecat rather than a wolverine.
As she grew older, her dreams had shifted to a unicorn—a mount which could offer her a far smoother ride than she had ever experienced on her trusty old mare.
But now that she lived in town, a unicorn was out of the question.
There was barely room for Chloe herself in the store’s backroom, so she couldn’t possibly keep a unicorn in the middle of Everard.
And when she had idly suggested a phoenix to Maddie—appealing because it was one of the rarest and most mysterious of creatures—Maddie had shuddered in horror.
“Fire!” she had said. “In a store full of dresses, hats, and bolts of cloth?”
Chloe had been forced to concede the point.
“If you succeed in winning over the Duke,” Maddie said now, correctly reading Chloe’s wistful expression, “I’m sure you’ll have a chance to meet the griffins of the Duke’s squad, at least.”
Chloe perked up at that suggestion. Once she had the Duke’s attention, it was essential to their plan that she show great interest in the griffins, so she would surely get the chance to meet them.
“Riding on the back of a griffin,” she marveled. “Wouldn’t that be something!”
“You mustn’t ask for that!” Maddie said in sudden alarm. “It’s well known that the Duke’s griffins never take passengers. Only the members of the squad themselves ever ride them, so you mustn’t offend the Duke by suggesting it.”
“Don’t worry,” Chloe said. “I won’t forget my purpose.”
She and Maddie exchanged a weighted look.
Chloe didn’t like the idea of deception—she was much too straightforward a person for that.
But she had been forced to concede that the only source of griffin eggs was the Duke’s griffin squad, and the only way he would ever agree to give one to Chloe was if he fancied himself in love with her.
And if Chloe didn’t procure a griffin egg within a month’s time, she would lose her new store and everything she had worked for—and any chance of saving her sisters along with it.