15| A New Friendship

They sat in silence, the gentle breeze splaying across their skin and toying with Mel's hair. Lori's beaded braids were too heavy to be lifted by the soft wind, and so they tinkled instead, guided by the slight motions of Lori's head as she gazed upon the scenery before them, a relaxed smile on her face.

Mel stared in awe. The smile had been different from the numerous ones Lori had directed at her earlier that day. The woman beside her now seemed to be at peace, and now that Mel paid more attention to her escort, Lori appeared to have a certain beauty Mel hadn't seen on any other woman in Grime.

She had flawless skin with light freckles on the bridge of her pointed nose. Coupled with caramel eyes that matched her brown hair, it produced such a pleasant combination that Mel couldn't take her eyes away. From Lori's dressing, the woman seemed to be well endowed too.

Mel glanced at her chest, nearly flat in comparison to Lori's. She had never bothered about her features since she had what she considered "enough". But that might not matter now that she was in a different land, with a smaller frame compared to these people. It hadn't occurred to her before that the beast people's connection to their spirit animal would influence their physical frame.

'Some oversight on my part, I guess.'

Her mind went to Bjorn and her heart skipped a beat. She had been so enamored with him that she hadn't considered his own feelings in the matter. She blushed, embarrassed as she recalled the moment he had greeted her. She had remained quiet and had stared so rudely that Eustace had to whisk her away.

"Is something the matter?" Lori questioned.

Mel snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Lori. She folded her lips inward and averted her eyes before looking back at the woman.

"Nothing much…" Mel rubbed her thigh. "Well… I want to ask. What is your relationship with the clan head?"

Lori stared at Mel for a while when suddenly her brows shot up as if she was just beginning to register Mel’s question. “Bjorn?”

Mel paused, confused by Lori’s reaction. For her to refer to the clan head on a first name basis… Eustace hadn't mentioned having another child. But it wouldn't hurt to ask even though she doubted Lori was in any way related to Bjorn. “Are you his sister?”

“Oh. No, no, no.” Lori shook her head with a laugh. Not at all. Please do not mind me. I am just not used to…” A soft smile appeared on her lips. “I do not know how to put it. Bjorn is a childhood friend of my husband and I.” She paused and looked at the sky. “Now that you’ve brought it to mind, I can’t really say I’ve seen him as a clan leader. All I think of is the stubborn animal Dov and I grew up with.” She chuckled.

A wave of relief washed over Mel at Lori’s mention of a husband. The woman was taken. She didn’t have to worry about anything. Mel silently berated herself for thinking this way.

“Dov. Your husband?” Mel asked.

Lori glanced back down at Mel, beaming. “Yes! He isn’t as outgoing as I am—well, neither of them are, but it pleases me to know how much Dov cherishes my behaviour. Bjorn has called me a leach on occasion… Oh! I am sure you would be interested in knowing about Bjorn, have you gotten to talk to him?”

An embarrassed blush crept up Mel’s cheeks and she looked away with a feeble smile. “No. Not really.”

“Awww. Don’t be too down about it.” Her voice softened. “And here I was thinking he would at least be gentle with you.”

“Gentle?” Mel didn’t think her improper behaviour would allow for that. But she had one thought. “He didn’t seem like a gentle person,” she whispered.

How could she have forgotten? Right on the stairs, he wore some sort of frown. He had just been polite in his greeting and Mel had fallen for his good looks like an idiot.

Lori’s smile widened. “Oh, he is. You should see him around his men and the other helpers.”

Mel straightened. “I noticed the serv—helpers… I noticed there aren’t many.” Mel ran a hand along her thigh again. It was something that had worried her. Back in her father’s manor, even though they weren’t the richest clan, they still had over a hundred servants working under her father. Bjorn’s home had only a few who had left shortly after taking in her things.

Lori rubbed the back of her head, her lips forming a sheepish smile. “Some clans in Orion… Here, we don’t have servants. We’re all one big family in reality. This happens across several beast nations. Not yours, I’m guessing?”

Mel shook her head slowly, averting her gaze.

“Our helpers just assist with taking care of the clan head’s residence. Though, there are periods where the house will be left to you and Bjorn alone.” Lori cast a mischievous glance Mel’s way and a sudden heat rose to Mel’s cheeks at the message behind Lori’s words.

“I didn’t know about that. I’ve grown up with servants…” Mel lowered her gaze, trying to shift the discussion from the unfamiliar territory when another thought occurred to her. “If the ‘helpers’ won’t be available at times, who will take care of maintaining—”

“Oh. Sorry, I forgot to mention. They will come in and take care of the cleaning but within a fixed time. You’ll barely see them. And of course, you will have to oversee their schedule and the work they do.”

Mel swallowed. In other words, she would be the new lady of the clan. Her palms began to sweat. This was something she dreaded. She didn’t do well back home with this particular task. The last time her mother had left the manor in Mel’s hands, one of the wings had burst into flames, leading to Anton taking care of whatever mess she had made.

Despite being criticised by Harriett about that incident, her mother had still left her in charge of the manor a few years later. Nothing much happened then, but it felt as if the servants were more in control than she was. They had been the ones to teach her and organise things without her help. While it left her with a bitter feeling inside, she wondered if it would be the same here.

Mel then shook her head, abandoning the thought. She was lacking in information about the Grime clan, she couldn’t show herself incompetent in managing Bjorn’s household.

“Sorry. I made the conversation awkward, didn’t I?” Lori whispered, a far-off look on her face as she faced Mel.

“No! Not at all.” Mel jerked her head up. “I was just lost in thought… Being the clan leader’s wife must be a daunting task,” she confessed.

“I keep telling you, Mel. You will be part of our family soon, and we will help you.” Lori shifted, drawing close to Mel. She took hold of her hands within her warm hold, hands slightly larger than Mel’s. “I would really like to be friends with you. I hope you don’t mind?”

Mel blinked, surprised at Lori’s question. “Y—yes!” she piped, then with a lowered voice, she continued, “I don’t mind. I—” Mel’s eyes watered and she paused in a state of shock. “I—” she stammered, unable to get the words out of her throat as the bottled feelings escaped her.

Most of her friends had left for their husband's houses and had been too busy to visit her. When she had made trips to their houses, they had been too focused on whatever child they had, and so she had resigned herself to the confines of her family home. Not only had she been distressed about leaving so suddenly, but her family also couldn’t even come to the wedding. Now here she was, a stranger in another land, anxious and afraid of what her future had in store for her. But Lori had extended a hand towards her.

She wouldn’t be alone.

Mel crumbled and softly sobbed, dragging her hand to cover her mouth. Her shoulders trembled and an incomprehensible stream of words escaped her muffled lips. Mel was simply voicing out what she felt. She repeatedly asked for Lori to forgive her shameless demeanour. If Harriett were to see her now, she might have gotten a scolding. She was in public, but lucky enough, they were at the edge of the clan settlement, with the owners of the shop behind them the only possible witnesses.

Without another word, as if knowing when to keep silent and when to speak, Lori pulled Mel into her arms and comforted the young girl. They remained like that for a considerable amount of time. Mel had stopped weeping, but she remained nestled in Lori’s warm hold, her chest aching from the offload of her emotions.

“I’m sorry for behaving like this,” Mel whispered, gently tearing herself away from Lori. She flinched and shifted, frantic eyes wandering about for something to wipe her face. She would have used the sleeves of her dress to at least wipe her tears, but the snot running down her nose was another distressing issue.

‘No… What will I do now?’

Mel turned back to Lori, about to ask if she could help her request some wipes from the store when Lori shrugged off the sleeveless jacket of her dress, leaned forward, and wiped Mel’s face with it.

Mel stiffened at Lori’s action, stunned.

As much as she wanted to stop Lori’s act of kindness, she couldn’t utter a word. The situation was embarrassing, but there was a hint of gratitude in Mel’s eyes.