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ZETTA & WESLEY PART 1

Techinically this is part of the Old Westen Universe I’m working on, but this isn’t the main story. This is more or less a backstory /side story for the side characters that I love.

Floren “Zetta” (F Teifling) & Wesley (M Human, Sheriff)

The sun was slow to rise on the blue plains of Ottilie, but already the town was coming to life with all the early risers.

Sipping his coffee from his desk in the sheriff’s office, Wesley just allowed the day to start on its own. He’d been here for a few months now and was questioning why he was here, though after all the trouble he started in Luneburg he could see why. Losenia was supposed to be a land of opportunity, but everywhere he went Wesley found himself questioning just who the law actually helped. The poor needed more help than the rich were willing to give outside their one-time lump sum to some charity to help lost souls in another country rather than helping those right in front of them. Wesley wasn’t foolish enough to think everyone in Ottilie needed help, some of them needed to learn from the consequences of their actions. It was the single mothers with all the children suffering because of the stupid New Poor Law which allowed men to walk away if they thought the kids weren’t their own. If the men believed the infants illegitimate, they were free from any and all financial, moral, and social impact of raising the kids and putting the entire responsibilities on the mothers. It was a law to benefit the men in higher status to get out of and cover up their mistakes and get out trouble with their wives. In an entire fit of outrage, he marched down the governor’s office and demanded an explanation for why they would pass such a thing.

The man’s eyes were darker than the pits of hell and the immorality of his self-fulfilled wish came off him in waves as the governor merely laughed in his face and had him removed from the property. His father beat him for embarrassing him and his mother scolded him for his outburst, but it did nothing to deter the fires of injustice burning within him. Even after the beating and the warnings he went around telling anyone who would listen about the injustices of this system. Of course, there was no getting out of much of anything by the time the station caught wind of what happened and had him sent out to Ottilie faster than a cricket played its fiddle on a hot summer night. His father pretended to be proud of his “promotion” while his mother sobbed as she waved him goodbye at the station. A sense of dread for all the women and children in the city muddied his mind and left him feeling bitter knowing he was in a place where the people needed help. All Wesley wanted to do was help, to set things right, to defend the people, that was the whole reason why he went into the whole business of law, and after a two-week train ride that left him with stiff joints and doubt, he feared all his efforts were in vain.

Ottilie was a rare town turning into a city in Losenia that managed to allow humans and nonhuman species to coexist without enslaving and killing one another, though there were a handful that liked to stay at each other’s throats. When Wesley was first assigned to transfer to Ottilie from Luneburg he didn’t really know what to expect. Nothing the academy taught would have prepared him for the corruption in Luneburg let alone what to expect anywhere else. When the train pulled into a train stop two green Orcs dressed like any other gentleman from Luneburg stood with an oxen pulled wagon waiting behind them. Wesley wasn’t sure what to expect for a welcome, but the two large Orcs that could throttle him if they so wanted wasn’t it.

“Mr. Wesley Sky, welcome!” The taller of the two dressed in grey had a wide grin on his face as he tipped his hat up to look Wesley up and down. “I’m Mayor Yargol and this here is my boy Zarod!”

“Pleasure to meet ya both.” He returned the smile and held his hand out to shake their hands, and they shook his hand with such undulation that his feet nearly left the ground.

“I really can’t thank ya enough, Mr. Wesley, it means a lot to me to have you come all the way out here willing to be our sheriff.” Yargol was jovial as he clapped him on the shoulder, and it took everything in him to keep the smile on Wesley’s face at the reminder of his hurt pride. He was certain that if the Orc knew the real reason he was sent here, just to get out of the hair of the corrupt politicians, then maybe he wouldn’t have received him so jovially.

“It’s an honor, sir.”

“For us.” Yargol nodded in agreement then turned his green blue eyes up at his son. “Zarod, get the man’s bags, we gotta make it back to town before your mother gets supper out.”

“I can grab my own things – ” Before Wesley could reach for his things, Zarod already had them loaded in his arms and was walking towards the wagon. Yargol clapped him on the shoulder again with enough force to leave him winded as he turned him around and guided him towards the wagon.

“Let the boy help ya since he’s gonna be your deputy.”

“My deputy?” He couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice or his face as his head whipped around to look up at the mayor.

“‘Course. Under normal circumstances you’d have your own pick of the lot but seeing as we don’t have many volunteers to be the lawmen around, except for Zarod, figured it best he be your deputy.”

“Except Duma.” Zarod chimed in as he climbed up in the driver’s seat and took up the reins. Mayor Yargol encouraged Wesley to step in the back first, and he followed him. When the two were settled, Zarod whipped the reins and the wagon jerked into motion.

“Except for Duma, but he’s so up in years now his wife’ll kill us if we let him run the law for much longer.” Yargol nodded forlornly with a sigh as he leaned back against the wooden wagon. “The spitfire is still around and will more than likely tell you how to do your job, but just nod your head and pretend to listen. It’ll get ya farther along in your work than you know, trust me. Zarod was his deputy, so he’ll be yours for the time being. He’ll show ya around, help ya get used to things and how we run things around here, but you, Mr. Wesley, will in charge of the law around these parts.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for Zarod to be sheriff then?” Wesley did his best to remain polite, but his brow furrowed as he tried to comprehend the need for his presence here.

“It would if we weren’t getting’ complaints from the human residents.” Zarod scoffed over his shoulder. Wesley’s eyes went wide as he cocked a brow at Yargol.

“Got discord in paradise mister mayor?”

Yargol’s smile tensed and he rubbed at his jaw to coax it into a more relaxed smile. “Ottilie is known for having the blended community of all species, however, it’s far from a perfect place, though we’re trying to get it that way.”

“I know better than to anticipate anywhere being perfect, mayor, but what sorts of trouble am I to expect coming in?”

Yargol tensed and opened his mouth to speak, but Zarod spoke faster and louder. “Prejudice from both sides, and most of the men, both human and nonhuman, not knowing how to keep their hands to themselves then getting upset when particular women don’t want to be manhandled.”

He could already feel his blood boil as all the injustices he’d been unable to rectify flooded him. His hand resting on his knee tightened over his kneecap and he had to take a deep breath to calm his nerves. “And has anything been done, or are we just letting these men pay a fine and have a timeout in jail for a night?”

He hadn’t meant for the question to sound so heated, but after everything that happened in Luneburg, he refused to sit by the sidelines. If people needed help here, he was going to help them, whether they wanted his help or not. He could handle prejudice; it was a stupid stigma that stuck with adults but could be cut away from the children with the right guiding hand. However, he would not put up with the manhandling nor the disrespecting of women while he was around. After everything that happened in Luneburg, he refused to allow this place to fall into the same cesspool of corruption.

“We handle our own with a good thrashin’ if it comes down to it, Mr. Wesley, but I assure you we punish accordingly to fit the crimes.” Zaron called over his shoulder. “We’ve only ever had to hand three men, one human and two shifters that couldn’t get their act together.”

It eased some of his anger, but not enough of it for him to relax. His jaw tightened and he couldn’t bring himself to look Yargol in the eye without asking what sort of crimes these men committed to get hung. “Whatever you’re thinking about, Mr. Wesley, I assure you that we do things very differently here in Ottilie in comparison to the grand city Luneburg.”

Wesley dared a glance and Yargol pinned him with a knowing look. “I know why you were sent here, Mr. Sky, I’m no fool. I know about the new law that was passed in the city and your efforts to wisen up the people to the immoral law, which is the entire reason I paid a nice sum to have you come to Ottilie.”

“What?” His blue eyes widened and Yargol merely nodded at him.

“I always do a bit of digging into one’s character before letting them just roll up into Ottilie. We were looking for some sort of man to come in as new law enforcement, however none of them proved worthy enough until I saw you causing a ruckus down at the governor’s mansion.” A crooked smile slid on his face as a dark look passed over the Orc’s face. “That sort of law will not exist in Ottilie so long as I or any who upholds the Orcian values of a community stand to fight against it. You can be sure of that, Mr. Wesley. Men leaving their families because they claim their kids ain’t theirs just ‘cause they’re tired of being a father isn’t something that particularly flies well in Ottilie. You’ll come to find out that most of the community, save for a few prejudice folk, try to play off the Orcian roots where we take care of our community. We have plenty of whelps that come from broken homes, dead parents, or even rescued from the Orion Hunters but we don’t simply hand the women and children off to someone else just ‘cause we get a little tired of our responsibilities. No, the community does their share to help all the kids grow up knowing what a true family is.”

Whatever tension was held in his shoulders that day relaxed, and a strange sense of peace washed over him as they rolled under the curling sign that read Ottilie.

The humans were all ready to accept him the day he rolled in, all expecting him to simply take their side whenever things went wrong just because he was one of their kind; boy were they surprised after that first arrest. Many a trial and case were held to prove a man and woman’s innocence and Wesley refused to back down from his moral code and keep things as black and white as he could in the mixed community. If this was to be his city to protect, he wasn’t going to let anyone get away with anything. People threatened him within the first week they were going to run him out of town and yet, here he was some three and a half months later.

Shopkeepers unlocked their doors for the public, the blacksmith blazed his fires, the baker laid out his bread, the washer women carried their buckets, and the doors to The Hidden Wisp flung open. Ms. Zetta, a Tiefling lady that captivated his heart like no other before, stepped out wearing a faded ochre calico dress that clung to her body and complimented her lilac skin held the door open for the stumbling drunks. Her white eyes were as bright and billowy as clouds, and her dark hair was pulled into buns on either side of her lilac horns which he noticed she adorned with red cactus flowers on either side of her horn. The airy soprano with a touch of prickly cactus rang through the air and wrapped around his heart as she pointed in the general direction away from her dining establishment. “Go on, git on out, your wives’ll be ready to throttle you all for staying late again.”

“Not so loud Ms. Zetta.” A human patron complained as he pressed a hand to his ear and winced.

“Keep it up Brunson and I’ll get louder.” Her long tail flicked irritably like a cat making all the golden charms and bangles at the end jingle like a rattlesnake behind her. “Ms. Amy isn’t going to like knowin’ you stayed at my B&B again without her because you drank too much again.”

The sentence that slurred out of his mouth was intelligible and in his native tongue that he didn’t bother translating as he stumbled off. Ms. Zetta merely rolled her eyes and shook her head as she sent all the other drunks out packing so she could sweep off her porch and put the breakfast tables out to bring in customers. Hiding a smile behind his coffee, he downed it quickly and set the mug down on his desk so he could go over and help her. The woman owned entire dining and staying in establishment by herself and acted like she had to do everything else on her own when she had plenty of capable workers. She had two cooks, seven servers, and ten maids to help keep up her establishment and she would not settle less for anything else than perfection.

Tucking his badge in his pocket he heard the front door open as Zarod walked into the station. Wesley greeted with a nod as he pulled on his belt and holster. “Mornin’ Zarod.”

“Mornin’ Wes.” Zarod smirked and cocked a knowing look his way as he took his place at his own desk. “Off to go help Zetta this mornin’?”

He felt his ears burn as he kept his back to him and slid his feet into his boots. “Just helpin’ her set up for the day and getting’ the other drunks out so she can open for the day.”

“Whatever you say, Wes.” He chuckled and his chair creaked as he sat down onto it. “Just make sure to bring me somethin’ on your way back.”

“I’ll think about it.” He grumbled as he slid on his brown cowboy hat and walked out the door. It was no secret between the two friends, and probably the whole town if everyone paid enough attention, that the feelings Wesley held for Ms. Zetta were something stronger than anything else he’d ever felt before and if it weren’t for his job and the fact, she had so many suitors, he might have tried his hand at courting by now. As it were he had enough work with the new renovations being done to the place that occupied his time that didn’t leave him with enough time show a good lady like Ms. Zetta the time she deserved. He took every spare chance he had to see her to at least bask in her presence with pleasant conversation to satisfy his longing for another day.

The Hidden Wisp was only a few blocks away from the Sheriff’s station and acted as the only bed and breakfast, lunch, and dinner in all Ottilie. With the gold rush passing over all of Losenia they had more unseemly characters ride through and stay out their welcome in Ottilie before they eventually set off to continue their journey farther West. They were having to be a lot more careful with so many humans passing through and carrying diseases that they needed a separate building for those that needed to rest and heal in isolation to keep from taking up all the sickbeds. One way or another they managed to keep most of the diseases away and none of the human folk caught it, but it still made him anxious when he heard a stranger cough and Ms. Ruby Rose wasn’t in town. The strawberry witch was a kind stranger to him and the beloved friend and sister to Ms. Zetta who he always made sure to keep a special eye out for ever since he caught news of the Order of Lemnos tiptoeing this way.

As he crossed the crackled blue indigo dirt, Ms. Zetta huffed and puffed as she dragged another table out to set it out on her porch. He waited for her to catch her breath before calling out to her. “Good morning, Ms. Zetta.”

She stood upright with a gasp, tail going ridid, and shot him a smile more radiant than the sun. “Good morning, to you Sheriff. To what do I owe the pleasure this morning?”

“I see you’re setting up shop for the day.” He gestured to the table she struggled to get out the front door as he climbed a step closer to her. “I’d like to offer some assistance if you would allow it.”

She was as tall as she was beautiful and was at least a whole head taller than him. He was tall for human standards at seven three, but her Tiefling limbs and horns certainly gave her a vertical advantage that he didn’t mind. Her plump violet limps curled into a smile wide enough to reveal her pointed fangs and he had to hope she couldn’t hear his rapid heart. “That’s mighty kind of you, sheriff, but are you leaving Zarod with your paperwork again?”

When he first started off in Ottilie he hated working up the papers and all the details that went into them. It was a thing that required patience, which he’d not had much in the beginning, and needed Zarod’s help getting most of it accomplished. With all the construction going on in Ottilie, he especially had to be careful with all the paperwork floating around the sheriff’s station.

“No ma’am I got up early this morning to finish it before he even got there this morning.” He felt a sense of pride dwelling within him at succeeding in keeping the workload lighter for his coworker, even at the expense of his sleep, but it was worth it to see the smile bloom on her face.

“Well, if you’re offering, I won’t refuse.” She gave him a wink over her shoulder that shot him through the heart and sent a fire churning in his gut as he followed her inside to grab tables.

For an establishment that stayed open well into the witching hours, it was always surprising how well Ms. Zetta managed to keep it so clean; especially with the number of drunks that stumbled out this morning. He knew most of it came from her consternation about cleanliness while the other part had to be magic. There wasn’t a rat to be seen nor bug to worry about falling into your food or drink while you dined in her establishment and if Wesley didn’t have to worry about his pockets getting empty, he’d dine in more often. While Ms. Zetta had two cooks that handled her lunches and dinners, she was the one that handled all her breakfasts. Wesley could live off her breakfasts alone and never get tired of it for years to come, everything from flat cakes with sausages to muffins overflowing with the berries of the seasons. Her dishes were known to accommodate both the human and non-human species of all their diet types and were a popular stop in spot for many along their travels.

While he put out the tables and chairs out on the porch, she pulled out white table clothes and decorated the table according to her tastes. Tiny vases with her own grown flowers soon decorated the tables along with the clean white linen napkins folded at the left of the seats and she gave her nod of approval and dusting her hands off with pride. Ms. Zetta turned and smiled at him.

“Thank you, Sheriff, that certainly helped save me a little bit of time. What can I get you this morning?”

He made sure to keep his eyes on her face and didn’t dare let them stray down to the hollow of her exposed throat that he’d love nothing more than to leave a few kisses up and down that beautiful lilac column. “What’s on the menu this morning?”

“I can fry up an egg and get enough biscuits goin’ for you to take some back to Zoran if ya got the time.” There was a knowing twinkle in her eye as she tucked a stray strand of her midnight hair behind her pointed ear. “I’ll have coffee on in a minute, so sit out front and pretend like you’re a customer to draw in a few more.”

“Yes ma’am.”

He tipped his hat off to her and went to the first table on the left and laced his fingers together and rested his cheek on his knuckles as watched all the people pass by. Little children squealed as they ran off together in the direction of the school as the bell rang. Their mothers called after them reminding them to take their lunches while their fathers laughed at their antics before stooping down to give his wife a kiss goodbye before setting off to work over yonder at the construction site. Wesley wasn’t disillusioned to think every home was happy or without issues, but the things he saw here were so far apart from his own upbringing that he found himself craving more lately now than ever.

A piping hot plate of yellow eggs and golden biscuits was set down in front of him before his mind could wander down the dangerous path of hopeful futures. Inhaling the food, Ms. Vetta poured a fresh cup of coffee and set it down beside his hand.

“Somethin’ on your mind?”

His eyes flicked to her sweet white ones, and he almost admitted that he was thinking about her. Clearing his throat, he managed to smile before sitting upright and reaching for the fork. “Nah, it’s nothin’ to worry about Ms. Zetta.”

Her brow pinched and her lips pulled down into a pout as she pulled the chair out across from him and joined her. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“I always enjoy your company Ms. Zetta.” The words rang with so much truth they were louder than the school bell. Her mouth curled into a soft smile, and she poured herself a cup of coffee. He was careful to enjoy the breakfast a little slower than normal as she seemed to pass some sort of spell and slowed time down. She took a long slow drag on her coffee before she exhaled a breath and turned those white eyes on him. His mouth was full of biscuits, and he suddenly felt like a fool and wanted to cover himself. Her lips curled into a smile as he frantically took a sip of the coffee melted away the biscuit in his mouth.

“Tell me something, sheriff.” She set her cup down on the table and curled her fingers around the edges. “Why do you make so much time to see me?”

Her face was smooth of any wrinkles with her inquiry, but his heart was ablaze and terrified. This woman wasn’t short of any suitors from either gender or species, yet she hadn’t seemed to take a liking to any of them. It gave him more hope than he dared to feel and made him very wary of what to say next. Setting his fork down he forced his hands to lay limp on either side of the table even though he felt the tremors vibrating throughout his body all the way from his fingers down to his toes.

“Quite a number of things, Ms. Zetta.” He admitted and ran a nervous hand through his hair. “But if I am to properly address your question, it is because I enjoy your company above everyone else’s including my own deputy; and I spend a lot of time with him down at the station.”

She cracked a smile that put a dimple in her cheek that he wanted to take and stick in his pocket. “Surely you don’t mean that, not with everyone who you talk with in town.”

“Tis the truth, Ms. Zetta, and I will swear it to the high heavens.”

“No need for that now.” Her cheeks darkened a deeper shade of purple and he swore he felt her tail creeping around his ankle. “I know you’re an honest man, sheriff. Perhaps the most honest man in Ottilie.”

He smiled then and forced a laugh to get his nerves off. “I don’t know about that, Ms. Zetta, but I do always try to be that good and honest if I can be.”

She merely hummed as she took another sip of her coffee and Wesley’s heart hammered in his chest as his own question stood at the tip of his tongue. “Ms. Zetta, may I ask you a question?”

Her smile grew as she raised a dark brow at him then nodded her approval.

“Why. . .” It felt rather taboo to ask, but it sat in his mind for so long now that if he didn’t ask, he wasn’t sure if he ever would. “Why won’t you allow anyone to court you?”

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you’re enjoying the story so far, please remember to leave a like, comment or review, but most importantly reblog!

PART TWO

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