"Written By: Gabriel Shara"

The scratch of the ancient gold quill pin stopped and lifted off the paper. Looking up from the new page of the first book I had written in a year, I stared across my desk at Elizabeth. She was reclining at her ease in an old high backed chair as she watched me work. Today she wore a spartan styled peplos with a fleece lined leather belt studded with silver ornamentation girding her ribs just below the magnificent swell of her breasts. The white linen of the fabric offset her honey brown skin perfectly which made her bright blue eyes shine as she smiled back at me. Her full plump mouth always elicited a smile from me in return before I considered her long, thick mane of curly honey blonde hair that was so pale it was nearly a honey-platinum.

The first time I met her it had been a dark curly brown, but over the last year it had lightened considerably, and then sticking out the sides of her hair were long pointed ears that twitched and twisted to track the hum of Ailsa flitting about the room. They were so long that when she was sad the tips would droop down and touch her shoulders but when she was excited they perked up and laid back so that from the tips of her ears to the point of her sharp elfen chin, one could almost trace the outline of a "V" from ear to ear.

Returning to her smile I pondered the two small white tusks that protruded from the corners of her mouth. She had informed me that they weren't teeth and they didn't affect her ability to eat at all. That like elephant tusks hers were ivory but for her they served no real purpose other than aesthetic appeal.

Scanning further down I alighted on her decolletage and the magnificent swells of her breasts. They were full and gravid, and the shear material did much to accentuate the upside down heart-shape of their curves before her dress was gathered and cinched tight with her belt. From the right side of the belt her peplos was open revealing her waist, the sensual curve of her hip, and led to a thick muscular thigh. When I reached her knee, she crossed her bare leg over the other and slowly kicked the air. Her legs looked completely human from her thighs to her knees, and down her lower legs. She had the tibia and fibula, her calf muscles and all the rest, and then her legs reached her ankles. From there everything changed. Her ankles led to short cannons, then to fetlocks that then led to honey-platinum animal-like split hooves.

"Hey," She called as she kicked the air with her hooves aggressively, "Eyes up here! Don't get distracted!"

Wagging just to the side of her hooves, curling back like a finger drawing my gaze upward, the tip of a long honey brown tail covered in long soft honey blonde hair slowly drew my gaze back up to Elizabeth's eyes. I smiled weakly and confessed, "I was just thinking of how to describe you, and wondering where I should start."

"You should start at the beginning," She answered, "When and where all of this started. Of course that is where every book starts, isn't it? At the beginning?"

"Yes of course," I answered as I shook my head, "but then again, I think this time, it would be interesting to start at the end, and then tell the story of how we got here."

It was hard to pull my eyes from Elizabeth's gaze, she was so beautiful and fearsome, but tearing my eyes from her and looking around the room I saw Lachlan playing some new game on his phone. He had his mothers pale skin but his fathers dark brown eyes and hair. He was eleven now and seemed to change almost every day in some new way that let me see Elsbeth and Craig, or sometimes my mother and father, in him before he changed again. Today Lachlan had a paladin's halo hovering over his head and golden wings that had sprouted from his back a year ago. They changed as often as he did, but that is because he was still figuring out who he is and how he sees himself and what he will one day become.

In the far corner of the study sitting on a chair with her legs pulled up beneath her as she read, one long, triangular, black fox ear twitched as Blair subconsciously tracked Ailsa around the room. Where Elizabeth wore an ancient spartan peplos, and Lachlan wore just everyday run of the mill t-shirt and jeans with sneakers, Blair was very rarely-to-never seen anymore unless she was in a kimono or a yukata. She wore her hair long and loose with decorative combs just above her fox ears, or with her hair up and pinned with chopsticks or the like. The way she wore her kimonos, one would never have suspected she had a long fluffy black fox tail unless it was seen wagging below the hem of her outfit.

Ailsa buzzed by Blair's ear causing the younger sister to jump and give her older sister a glare and she cried, "For crying out loud, Ailsa! Find a book and settle down!"

Ailsa wasn't listening as she flitted about the room searching for a romance novel. She was roughly the size of a hummingbird and her hands and arms were just that, hummingbird wings that produced a soft 'vroomed' as she flitted from bookcase to shelves, hovering in place as she read the titles off the spines of books before moving on. She was only three inches tall in her current form and the only one that was completely naked.

It couldn't be helped and she had gotten used to it over the last year. Everyone made up for it by actively avoiding staring at her when she was so small. We had tried making her clothes, and even tried ordering doll clothes, but she had complained that they were too heavy and stiff. Instead, she had stash bags around the property so that she would have clothes if there was any reason for her to grow to her full size. Otherwise her hair was thicker now like long soft feathers that shimmered red and purple while her body gave off a gentle green glow that obscured the details of her nudity.

Returning to Elizabeth, I asked, "Are you sure you want me to do this? You know that once I write the story, the magic, the changes to you and the kids, they will all be permanent?"

"Yes," She answered as she beamed another reassuring smile, "I am absolutely sure."

"Okay," I laughed before taking a breath and looked back down to the page in front of me.

Dipping the quill of my pin in the ink jar, its magic was activated. A golden glow surrounded the quill and moved up the gold shaft and lit up the small runes and sanskrit etchings down and around its entire surface before marching up the long red feather said to be that of a phoenix. Once the entire pin was glowing then the magic crawled up my hand as I started to write. I was only vaguely aware of Elizabeth hissing while Ailsa, Blair, and Lachlan gasped...

——(!)——

November 23, 2015

Elizabeth Wright sat on an elegant couch with Ailsa and Blair on each side while Lachlan sat in a chair opposite of them. They looked pale and uncertain, and honestly she felt the same. It was a feeling she knew well and shared. Besides acting as their guardian for the last couple of weeks, she had no idea why she was here. When the estate lawyers called they had only told her that she specifically was to come as she was in the Will. But, why would that be? She wasn't family, and with Craig and Elsbeth dead, what was she going to do for work now? They hired her straight out of school! She was eighteen then while Ailsa had been eight, Blair was six, and the adorable little Lachlan had been four. Now, six years later, she has only ever worked for the Thorburns, and only raised their children. She had no other work experience at all!

Her selfish worries made her blush and look at her charges out of concern. They were all putting on brave faces. However, she knew it was all a facade. She had heard them crying in their rooms. She knew they were still shocked, even in denial despite the funeral a few days ago. They would turn at her approach thinking their parents were home and when they saw her, the pain welled up and she would sit with them and hug them as they cried.

Her heart broke for their loss, and her heart broke for her own. First losing Craig and Elsbeth, but then she would also lose Ailsa, Blair, and Lachlan. With their parents dead it was unlikely she would ever see the children again once they were sent off to live with their relatives. Looking from Ailsa to Blair then Lachlan she was so proud of the stalwart faces they were putting on.

Returning to Ailsa, she counted the years remaining until she was an adult. There weren't very many left. Even if she was somehow able to stay with them, they wouldn't need her for much longer, but then, they've never needed her more than they do now.

"Miss Wright," The secretary called from her desk, drawing Elizabeth out of her thoughts and back to the present. Looking from Ailsa to the mousy blonde secretary who hadn't stopped typing, or so much as looked up before continuing, "You and the Thorburn children may go in now."

"Thank you," Elizabeth acknowledged with a nod and stood up. Ailsa and Blair followed and each took one of her hands despite being the oldest and the second oldest. Lachlan stood a little more slowly and watched his sisters. He gazed pointedly at their hands in hers, and when he finally looked back up and met her eyes, he took a deep cleansing breath and grinned lopsidedly before gesturing for them to proceed first.

The secretary finally paused in her typing and got up only to open the large mahogany doors as Elizabeth walked past. Leading the way into a large wood paneled office that looked like it came straight out of some old turn of the century British movie, her gaze alighted on a grizzled old lawyer sitting behind a very large desk.

"Miss Wright, it is good to see you and your charges, even under these unpleasant circumstances. My name is Henry Whittaker," He introduced himself, then looked to the children and continued somberly, "You have my sincerest condolences for your loss."

"Thank you," They mumbled.

Mister Whittaker looked over his half-rim glasses that were perched on the tip of his nose and gave them a warm smile before gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk, "Please have a seat."

There were only three chairs, so Elizabeth directed the children to take them while she sat on a small couch a few feet away. Once everyone was settled, Mister Whitticker continued, "Children, as tragic as it was to lose your wonderful parents, especially the way you lost them, the one good thing is that they left a very clear and direct Will. As you may know, Mister Thorburn was an only child. His parents are alive but very old, and as for Missus Thorburn, her only living relative is her younger brother, Gabriel. So, there are very few options for you children as to whom you are able to stay with until you reach your majority. The aged grandparents, or the uncle."

"Do we get a say in the matter," Ailsa asked.

"Actually, no," Mister Whittaker answered directly, then looked down at the documents in front of him, "However, I will say that your parents thought long and hard before coming to their decision. It was not easy for them, but they had your best interests in their hearts and minds when they made the decision. So, let us begin. First, they put everything, their entire estate, in a trust that will be managed by me, and will be paid out to each of you once you reach your twenty-fourth birthdays."

Mister Whittaker paused and looked over at Elizabeth, at which she returned his gaze with an air of confusion. He seemed to be lost in thought, but as his staring lingered the awkwardness caused her to break eye contact and look at the children. With a cough he cleared his throat and stabbed his finger on the next line of the Will before continuing, "Miss Wright, the late Mister and Missus Thorburn were both very adamant that you are to be hired by the Trust to continue as the children's nanny until Lachlan's eighteenth birthday. You will also continue to act as their guardian until they are handed over into the care of their uncle, Gabriel Shara. You will of course be paid handsomely, and at the end of your term receive a bonus of three million dollars. One million for each child. You may refuse of course, but then a new nanny that the children do not know will need to be hired."

Elizabeth looked from Ailsa, to Blair, and then Lachlan. Their fearful gazes told her everything she needed to know about how they felt. It hadn't occurred to them that with their parents dead her employment might also come to an end, and they could lose her as well. It was more than they could take. Blair began openly sobbing while silent tears ran down Ailsa's cheeks, and Lachlan's eyes teared up and he started sniffling before turning away from her in embarrassment.

Her gaze lingered on him the longest. He was trying so hard to be the man he thought his sister's needed him to be. The man he thought his mother and father would want him to be, but when he turned back to her she could see the slight tremble in his chin that bespoke the turmoil he was in since getting the news that their parents had died. Shaking her head, she wrenched her gaze from Lachlan and looked Mister Whittaker straight in the eyes, "I will continue as their nanny," She answered with a nod of her head, "I can't possibly leave them now, they need me more than ever."

Mister Whittaker's expression seemed relieved, and he visibly brightened as the edges of his mouth turned up in a broad smile, "Good! With that settled, there is only the matter of your fare to the United States."

"Excuse me!" She gasped in shock, "The U.S.?"

"Yes," He answered, "That is where Gabriel Shara lives, in New York, several miles from a small town called Norway. It's not a problem for the children, with their mother being an American citizen they automatically have dual citizenship."

"What about me," Elizabeth asked, her tone reflecting her surprise and concern.

"Mister and Missus Thorburn applied for your passport so that you would be able to travel with them. Now, we will handle procuring and maintaining a work visa for you," He answered.

"Where is uncle Gabriel," Ailsa asked, "I didn't see him at the funeral. Why isn't he here?"

"Yes," Elizabeth agreed with a nod, "What does it say about this man's character that you are sending us to, that he couldn't be bothered to even attend his own sister and brother-in-law's funeral? Additionally, he isn't here to console his nephew and nieces?"

"I," Mister Whittaker started then paused. He looked nervous and embarrassed, "Honestly, we were not able to get in touch with Mister Shara directly. As far as we know, he still has no idea what has happened. However, we were able to reach his editor, Missus Wenticot, and she informed us that he was in the middle of writing a book and was unable to be contacted by them as well."

"And this is the man you're sending us to," Lachlan asked, his body taut and uncomfortable and his voice anxious, "To live with a man that is so caught up in his stories that he couldn't even come here? Now? When we need him!"

Mister Whittaker nodded his head though he looked grieved, "As I said before, there wasn't an over abundance of options. So, yes, these are your father and mother's wishes and I must abide by them to the letter."

"Pff," Lachlan hissed angrily as he shook his head. Blair started crying, and Ailsa leaned over and hugged her.

Mister Whittaker sighed, he could understand but there was nothing he could do. He looked over to Elizabeth for aid but he found no help in her sapphire eyes. With another sigh he looked down and began reading the rest of the Will.

——(!)——

A couple hours later they sat on a park bench and waited for a taxi while staring out across the park. Lachlan was on his phone again. Mindlessly tapping away at the edges of the screen. Playing some game Elizabeth didn't understand. Ailsa sat next to her and stared out across the garden blankly. Blair sat on her other side and was turned in towards her and hugging her while staring down into Elizabeth's lap.

"Well, what do we do now," Blair asked, her demeanor and tone demure. Of the three she was the most soft spoken, shy, and sensitive.

"For now," Elizabeth answered as she gave Blair's hand a squeeze, "We go home. We cry, we grieve, and then we pack…"

"Man this sucks," Lachlan sighed as he leaned back from his game and looked up at the sky.

"I wonder what uncle Gabriel's home is like," Ailsa said out of nowhere. She looked at the nearby trees before continuing, "We've never been to America, and uncle Gabriel only came to visit a few times, but what I remember is that his visits were always fun. I wonder what it's like at his home. Mister Whittaker said he lives out in the country…"

"Do you think it's anything like granddad and granny's place up in the Highlands?" Blair asked as she sat up and gave a little sigh at the memory, then laid her head on Elizabeth's shoulder, "I would love to see foxes somewhere on the property. I love foxes!"

"I do love granddad and granny's house," Ailsa agreed.

"There's no way," Lachlan grumbled discontentedly, "There's no way uncle Gabe's house is like granddad and granny's."

"You're such a sour grape today," Ailsa chided.

"Of course I am," He growled as he gave her a slide long glare, "Why aren't you?"

"Of course I'm sad," She answered in a whisper, "I am so sad I feel like I might cry at any moment, and I feel so tired I could sleep for a hundred years. It doesn't change the fact that I can't do anything about our circumstances. I can't stop Mister Whittaker from doing as mother and father wanted him to do, and sending us all the way to America. A country we've never seen, and to an uncle we've only met once or twice. I am sad Lachlan, and I'm sour, and I am grasping desperately at any tiny little thing that I can think of that will make this a little...better!"

"Okay Ailsa, you've made your point," Elizabeth reproved softly as she put her arm around the girl and hugged her before changing the subject, "So Lachlan, Ailsa, can you think of one thing, anything, that you like about the country and look forward to?"

"Trees," Ailsa answered with a smile, "I can't wait to smell the trees."

They waited for Lachlan to answer until they all turned to look at him. He sat there with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed sullenly until Elizabeth finally asked, "Well?"

"I hate the country," He answered sourly, "There's no Wi-fi, no television, and no cell service! It sucks okay! So, if uncle Gabe is in the country then it is going to suck!"

"So there is nothing you like about the country at all," Elizabeth pressed as she got up and moved to sit by Lachlan. She put her arms around him and hugged him tight, squishing him into her plump breasts.

She had erred, she had done him a disservice by letting him try to cope with his parents' loss on his own. He needed her. He needed her hugs, and reassurances that it was okay to be sad and upset. He needed her to help him see that he was ten years old and didn't need to grow up and be a man. Not yet. Holding him tight to her bosom, she felt him take a deep cleansing breath and finally start relaxing. He turned his head into her and buried his face in her cleavage and cried.

It took some time before he was able to regain his composer, but when he did he mumbled, "Flowers. I like seeing and smelling the flowers…"

He looked at her and she smiled down at him, and tousled his hair, "See I knew you liked something!"

"I guess," He answered with a sly grin before hugging her tight and laying his head on her chest once again.

"What about you Elle," Blair asked, her blue eyes sharp and interested, "Since we are going to the countryside to live, what do you like about it? What are you looking forward to?"

"Oh, I don't know," She answered as she quit focusing on Lachlan and looked out at the park and up at the sky above them, "I really hadn't even spent much time thinking about it. The only times I ever visited the countryside was once I went to work for...your parents."

She paused for a minute as it sank in, "I grew up right here in London. My mum died when I was young. In a car accident, and my father was wonderful when he was around…"

She fell silent as she tried to remember something, anything about her mum, and then she smiled at the memory of her father. Hard working, but also loving. He would bring her presents from wherever he had traveled too for his work, and then dote on her until he had to leave again.

She shook herself as if she were waking herself up from a dream, "I was your age Blair when my father used to say "Elle, what kind of person do you want to be when you grow up? Are you going to be a good person, or a bad person? What do you want out of life? What do you want to do with your life?" and, "Who will remember you when you die?""

"Really," Ailsa gasped softly while shaking her head, "That seems deep, too deep for me."

"It was for me too," She agreed with a nod, "For a time at least. You see, my father just wanted me to think about who I was, and who I wanted to be. I still hadn't figured it out by the time I graduated so I went to work for your parents until I did figure it out."

"Well," Blair asked, "Did you? Figure it out I mean."

"No," She answered with a shake of her head, "Tending to you three. Chasing you around. Playing with you. Helping you with school work. Helping your mum and dad raise you. You all took up so much of my attention I never really thought about it again until right now. So, I guess, after thinking about it, I think what I liked best about the country at your grandparents' place was the peace and quiet. Being with you three and playing in the garden. Feeling the wind in my hair, the sunlight on my skin, and the earth between my toes. The smell of the flowers in the garden and the scent of the trees. Running around with you three, pretending to be a monster while you were the superheroes, knights, and princesses. That's what I look forward to, time spent with you three. Playing and pretending, watching you grow up until you don't need me anymore."

"I can't imagine that ever happening," Ailsa said as Blair nodded in agreement.

"Ah, that's sweet of you to say," Elizabeth returned with a warm smile for all of them just as their taxi pulled up.

Standing up she pulled Lachlan along with her, then offered a hand to Blair who was the closest. She took it with a smile and offered her free hand to Ailsa and they all walked to the taxi and got in.

——(!)——

Later that evening, once the children went to bed Elizabeth's phone chimed. Unlocking it, she read the text.

"Hey love, I know a lot is happening right now with your job, and I know I can't come in or sleep over, but do you think you could come out and sit on the stoop with me for a bit?" -Charles

Smiling, she pranced her way downstairs and went out to meet Charles on the stoop.

"Hey," He greeted as he wrapped her in a sorely needed hug. Once he had squeezed the air out of her, he relaxed and she was able to lift up onto her toes for a kiss. It was long and drawn out, and by the end she could feel her heart fluttering and her body warming up. Holding her away so that he could look her up and down he asked, "How are you holding up?"

"Okay I guess," She answered as she hugged him back and laid her head on his chest, "Everything is so nuts right now. We went to see the lawyers today and hear the reading of the Will."

"Yeah, and," Charles asked eagerly while tightening his hug, "Are the kids going to be leaving soon? Are you going to finally be done with this job and come move in with me?"

"Charles, I," She began in a tone that said she was about to give him bad news. Relaxing his grip around her waist he moved his hands up to her shoulders and pushed her back so she had to look up at him as she continued, "Yes the children are leaving to go live with their relative, but the Trust has also offered me a permanent job as the children's nanny until Lachlan is eighteen."

"The way you're saying it," Charles said, his voice full of resignation, "You wouldn't be telling me this, like you were telling me my cat just died unless you had already accepted the offer…"

"I have," She admitted with a nod.

"Why," He asked as he let go of her and leaned back against the old iron handrail, "We were planning on moving in together next year, and maybe in a couple more years get married. What's going on? You're throwing all our plans into the fire! For kids that aren't even yours!"

Elizabeth gasped as her face scrunched up with hurt and anger. She could feel every muscle in her body tightening, she was so angry, "How dare you! I know what our plans were, and my heart aches at the delay, but that is what it is. A delay! I love you Charles, but those kids, I have been watching them, changing them, raising them since Lachlan was four! I love those kids like they were my own! And now, they need me! They need me Charles, more than they ever have before. They have no one! No one! I am all they have right now…"

"So you love them more than you love me," Charles hissed in his own selfish hurt that she was prioritizing the kids over him.

"Charles, please, don't make me have to choose between you or them," She asked in a soft whisper.

"That's the thing love," Charles retorted bitterly, "You already have. So, tell me, where is this relative that you and the kids are being shipped off to?"

"Their uncle lives in Norway," She answered in a mumble as she looked down at the toes of her shoes.

"Norway," Charles mumbled his inflection surprised before he asked, "Where in Norway?"

Shaking her head she corrected him, "Not the country. Norway, New York."

"New York," He gasped from shock, "America? You're moving to America?"

She nodded.

"I think this is more than just a delay then, isn't it," Charles said as he pushed himself off from the handrail and turned to leave.

"Charles," She called after him.

"Look, Elle, I love you," He answered from the bottom of the steps, "but it's me or them. It's as simple as that. Are you going to choose them, or me?"

She knew her answer, but didn't want to say it out loud. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest. No. It was being torn in two, and she was having a hard time breathing as she stood there, tears welling up in her eyes as he glared at her. Nodding, he turned and walked down the stairs, "So, that's my answer. Goodbye Elle. I would say that I hope life in America treats you well, but that would simply be a lie. I hope it treats you like shit, I really do."

She watched him walk away and disappear behind the bushes down the street. She pursed her lips and wiped her tears from her cheeks, and then she turned and went back inside. When she opened the interior door Ailsa and Blair were standing there in the foyer in their nightgowns clutching each other.

"We came down for a glass of milk," Ailsa explained as she looked from her to the front door and back, "Then we saw you on the stoop with Charles..."

"Are you really choosing us over him," Blair asked.

Tears budded at her eyes and rolled down her cheeks despite her determination not to cry once she went back inside. She tried to smile reassuringly, but it was shaky as she walked up to Blair and wrapped her in a hug before squeezing her tight, "I will always choose you first. From now on you are my family, and you can always count on me to be here for you!"

Blair returned her hug as hard as she gave and sniffled as her little body trembled as the stress dissipated with the reassurance that Elizabeth wasn't going to abandon them. Ailsa smiled weakly and when Elizabeth held out her arm inviting the girl in for a hug that she eagerly accepted before they sank down to their knees and cried together.