**Story titled in honor of Bliss and Minako, who have done
remarkable work on their Silver Memories site, which sprang
up when GL went done. Please visit the archives and submit!
The address is: http://silvermemories0.tripod.com/

Chapter 1
	Reiliana Bliss, the oldest out of four sisters, had
been considered one of the most beautiful girls in their
bustling town. The other girl famed for her looks was her
youngest sister, Minalia. While Amiliana and Litalia were
remarkably pretty in their own right, their oldest and
youngest sisters' had the more flashier attraction. Because
Minalia was younger than her by four years, Reiliana had
been the Bliss girl to catch the eye of almost every single
young man in town. She had scorned all of their attentions
except one-and that one was her best friend.
	When she had finally decided to accept a rich young
bachelor's suit, Janus Aureole had begged her to reconsider.
The very morning of her wedding day, he had told her loved
her and even dared to kiss her. No one else knew the exact
words that had passed between them, but her sisters-especially
perceptive and very inquisitive Minalia-had guessed when
Janus, who had grown up almost as one of them as the son
their parents had never had, left abruptly before the
ceremony. He would have stood as Chad's best man and friend.
	Recently widowed, when Chad had been crushed under the
wheels of a carriage in a terrible accident, Reiliana had
taken up her maiden name returned to the tavern her father
had opened. Two of her sisters, Litalia and Minalia, were
both unmarried and still worked there. Amiliana, whom
Reiliana had been closest to in age and friendship, was
oftener away from home, apprenticed to the town's doctor. He
was an old man, a longtime friend of their father's, and
willing to take on a female student when others would have
scorned her. Things were difficult for the once-prosperous
Bliss family: Master Bliss and lost his love for everything
in life after his wife died. The tavern had quickly become
ill-reputed when all sorts of people traveling through chose
the place as a handy location to do business of all kinds.
	Reiliana herself had a son around three years old to
think of. He had a sunny disposition, slightly-curling blond
hair, and her own purple-blue eyes. She had been surprised
when Alexander had been born with blond hair. Neither she
nor Chad were light-haired, but Minalia was, which might
also account for his even temper-Reiliana had long admitted
to herself that she was a spitfire when her temper lashed
out, and Alexander was amazingly even-tempered.
	Hopefully, she thought to herself, hopefully things
would get better soon. While neither Litalia nor Minalia
were planning to marry soon, Amiliana had a beau by the
name of Gregory. She had only met him once and thought him
rather shifty but attributed it to his nervousness at
meeting the family. Whenever Amiliana was home, at least, she
spouted all sorts of nonsense about how sweet he was. While
the other two sisters teased her mercilessly, Reiliana had
smiled sadly and looked away. She had never felt this
enamored of Chad, and it made her feel slightly guilty. In a
way, she _had_ married him for his money, but she had truly
thought herself to be fond of him. She was old enough and
honest enough to admit that she had deluded herself into
feeling that way and could not help but be grateful she was no
longer trapped in marriage, despite the sad end Chad had met.
He had been a good husband to her and a nice enough man, and
he hadn't deserved the death he had. What Reiliana had left
was their son, her family, and very little of his money-his
family had looked down upon her from the start and stolen
everything away the minute he had died. She was frightened
that they would reclaim Alexander from her, but she had
to remain at the inn with her father and her sisters, for
there was no place else she could go.
	Making her way over to Litalia, she smiled wryly when
she noticed her man-hating sister chatting pleasantly with
a brown-haired stranger. Upon seeing her, he smiled
charmingly but fled as she approached. Setting down her tray,
the raven-haired woman brushed her hands briskly and said,
"Well." Giving her a sharp glance with her exquisite purple
eyes, she asked, "What was that all about?"
	"I...nothing." The brunette blushed becomingly as she
turned back to cooking.
	"I don't call you actually carrying on a conversation
with a man that didn't end with your first in his face or
his behind in the dirt-or both," Reiliana commented, smirking
slightly as she tied back her long, nearly hip-length tresses.
	Litalia's curling hair was already in a high ponytail
to keep out of the way of the grease from the frying pan, and
she ignored her sister with practiced ease. "Xander just nodded
off around ten minutes ago."
	"Good. I had such a hard time getting him to take a nap
in the afternoon." Brushing off her hands as she opened a keg
of liquor and wrinkled her nose at the sour odor, she asked,
"Who was that, anyway? You seemed very familiar with him."
	"Do you mean Lita's beau? His name is Nestor Siriale."
	"Mina!"
	While Litalia glared accusingly at her younger sister,
Reiliana smiled. It was just like Mina the gossip monger to
know everything.
	"And he's been coming around for months! Well, maybe
only about six or seven times, but it took forever for Lita to
talk to him. Poor man, he used to sit here for hours watching
her hopefully, but she ignored him!" Minalia added cheerfully,
tying on an apron and brushing back her wind-tossed hair.
	"Mina..."
	At her warning tone, the blonde jumped up and went to
wait on the customers, giving an indignant sniff as she went.
However, her posture and freely-bouncing hair suggested that
she wasn't the least bit offended.
	Watching her, Reiliana said, "To stick around for so
long, he's extremely patient. Why didn't you tell me you had
an admirer?"
	The brown-haired woman flushed darkly and began slamming
around pots darkly. "I don't. He's merely an annoyance. Besides,
I think he's a little scared of you. He's managed to come
every time you have a day to yourself."
	She blushed scarlet. "I'm not really that intimidating,
am I?"
	"You are when you're trying to protect us," Litalia
drawled, eyes sparkling with mischief.
	"Well, then, should I go exercise some big-sister restraint
and leave him alone, or should I be the one to introduce him
to how a man treats the Bliss girls?"
	"Nah. He's only a temporary suitor anyway," she replied
jokingly. "Besides, as Mina so kindly told you, he stops by here
maybe once or twice a month, if he's lucky. He comes from a
merchant family."
	"You seem to know a lot about him."
	Litalia blushed again, and the rose color in her cheeks was
very becoming-as Nestor Siriale seemed to notice, for he was
watching her wistfully from the corner. "I felt bad for him
after he kept coming back and looking at me like some scolded
puppy. Now go tell Mina it's time for her 'appointment.' "
	She made a face at that. The tax collector was making a
nuisance of himself, and Minalia was the only one in the family
with enough patience to talk for more than ten seconds with the
man. "All right. But I'll be asking about that Nestor person
again, though, so don't think the subject's closed." As she
threaded her way through the thickening cloud, for the sky was
just growing dark, her sister banged her pans around again and
muttered darkly to herself.
*****************************************************************
	A few hours later, shoulders drooping, golden hair spilled
over their milky whiteness in a river of pure gold, Minalia
Bliss made her way through the darkening streets unhappily. Her
normally cheerful expression was missing-the meeting with the
tax collector had not gone to either of their likings. Trying to
keep her chin up resolutely, she thought, 'We'll be able to raise
the money, somehow. Papa will figure something out; he always
does. Except...he hasn't done anything at all since Mama died.'
	Her delicate, rosy mouth trembled as she thought about the
seeing-off she'd been given from the tavern directly before dusk.
They had all believed in her: her father, Litalia, Reiliana,
Amiliana, and even herself. They had never doubted that she could
fail at something so important, because she had never failed
them before. Even the townspeople thought so-she had always been
known as Minalia Bliss, the youngest but most beautiful of the
Bliss sisters who had everyone and everything wrapped around her
pretty little finger. Litalia had promised a big triumphal dinner
when she got back, Reiliana had given her a rare smile, amethyst
eyes shining with confidence, and Amiliana had said she would
meet her on her way back from the doctor's office. Where _was_
the quite, shy sister that had promised to meet her afterwards?
Frowning, Minalia changed her course and promptly bumped into
something very solid and hard. Looking up into smoky gray eyes,
she caught her breath as he caught her in mid-stumble.
	"Your pardon, miss." When she continued staring at him,
unnerved, Kunshan Bayonne shifted nervously. The beautiful if
not slightly clumsy girl was still in his arms, gaping at him
as if he were a monster. Freeing a hand, he touched his face
carefully-nothing out of the ordinary there. "Miss? Are you
alright?"
	She blushed hotly. "Y-yes. I'm so sorry." Suddenly,
Minalia realized that she was still in his arms and pulled away
nervously. They stood looking at each other with mild discomfort
until she held out her hand directly and declared, "You must be
new here; I don't think I've ever seen you around. My name is
Minalia, Minalia Bliss."
	It was a few seconds before the silver-haired man regained
his ability to talk. "I-I'm Kunshan Bayonne, Miss Bliss. And
you're right, I am a newcomer here. Today is my last day." Glancing
down at the outstretched hand, he did something completely
unexpected to both of them-he bent down and kissed it instead of
shaking it as expected.
	The feeling of his lips upon her skin lingered long after
she had snatched her hand back, face flushing even more darkly.
	"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Bliss," Kunshan said, smiling
at her. When she nodded slowly, still half-stunned, he continued,
"I'm afraid I'll have to be on my way now. Weren't you going
somewhere in a big rush, as well?"
	Amiliana and the affairs of the tavern rushed back to Minalia
in an instant, and she exclaimed, "Oh no, I'll be so late! It was
nice to meet you too, Master Bayonne. If you have time, have a
quick meal or a drink at Bliss's Tavern, my father owns it. Good
bye!"
	He watched in amusement as she dashed off once more. Shaking
his head, he continued along the street, thinking, 'What an
enchanting girl...too bad she's way too young for you, Kunshan.
But I'm not old enough yet to be Master Bayonne! Imagine what
Janus and Nestor would say about me being called that-they'd
laugh themselves silly.' Casting another glance at her
retreating back and bouncing blond hair, he murmured, "Still,
she is rather attractive. And young. Bliss's Tavern, eh? Little
girls do grow up sometime. Perhaps I'll pay her a visit then."
*****************************************************************
	Amiliana stared at him in total incomprehension, sapphire
blue eyes large and frightened. "Greg, I don't understand. Why are
you-why are you leaving?"
	Scowling darkly, the brunet man ran a hand through his hair
in impatience as he put another crate on the half-loaded wagon.
"I told you, Ami, that I never liked this town. I hated it. My
luck's run out, and I'm leaving."
	Feeling as if he had punched her in the stomach, she
whispered, "I thought...I thought..."
	Gregory smiled sardonically. "You thought I was going to
marry you, didn't you, Amiliana? Let me tell you something, Ami.
You're a sweet kid, but that's just what you were to me-a kid.
I'm too old for you, and I should never have gotten mixed up
with you. I knew I was going to leave and break your heart sooner
or later, and it wasn't even serious. I made some mistakes, okay?"
	She gasped, tears pricking her eyes. "But you can't leave!"
	"Why not?" he snapped, out of patience.
	Amiliana looked down at her scuffed shoes, covered with
dust from the street. In a small voice, wishing she could sink
into the dirt and die, she said, "I'm pregnant."
	"What?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "With..._my_ child?"
	She drew herself up, eyes shining dangerously with unshed
tears. "Yes, Greg, _your_ child. I don't play around with people
like you do. I thought you were honorable."
	Staring down at her, he remarked, "You're just a whore,
aren't you? You and your three sisters, no wonder you work that
tavern. Kid, I'm sorry, but I'm going, and nothing's going to
stop me. There's no one that will say that child is mine except
you, and you can't prove it, can you? Can you?"
	He taunted her cruelly, and Amiliana let the unquenchable
tears flow down. Her voice choked, she hissed, "You bastard."
	Gregory shrugged dispassionately and climbed onto the seat
of the wagon. Looking down at her, he replied caustically, "I
guess that's one thing I did right, then. Unless you find some
other man who'll stay with a slut like you, that child _will_ be
a bastard."
	"You..."
	"Watch your mouth, Amiliana." Still alternating between
his themes of scorn and pity, he sighed and shook his head. "Why
don't you just get rid of the child? If things are really that
desperate with your family, I'll pay for it. Come with me now,
and we can catch the doctor before he leaves. No one else will
have to know."
	The dark-haired girl stared up at him in shock, delicate
mouth forming an "o." Turning away, she declared forcefully,
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
	 "It's your choice. So long then, Amiliana. I really am
sorry this happened. I didn't mean for it to happen, but I guess
it did anyway. So long."
	As the wagon trundled off, its wheels creaking, she looked
after him with blurred vision until she sighed softly to herself
and sagged against the hard wall. Lowering herself to the ground,
she hugged her knees and let the tears fall as she wondered how
this could have happened. Gregory had always seemed to be the
perfect gentleman, treating her like a lady and being courteous
to her sisters...until that horrible night two months ago when
he had been drunk. Amiliana covered her face when the terrible
memory of that night resurfaced.
	A gentle hand on her shoulder shook herself out of the
memory. "Ami. Ami! Ami, what's wrong?"
	She looked up dully into the concerned blue eyes of her
sister. "Mina...he...left." 'I can't tell her,' she remembered
dimly, blinking into the surrounding night, a mesh of people,
horses, and carts, 'there's enough to worry about. I'll just
have to do as he suggested after all...'
	"He? He who...oh no...Ami...I'm so sorry." Flinging
herself down on the ground beside her, the golden-haired girl
took her in her arms and held her. "Why?" The story spilled out
of her lips, excepting the fact that she was carrying his child,
and Minalia's eyes darkened several shades until they were
nearly the same color as Amiliana's darker eyes. "That...
Forget him, Ami. He obviously was just a horrible person who
didn't deserve you. I'm glad you didn't marry him."
	Nodding slowly as they stood up and brushed off their
skirts, Amiliana murmured, "Let's go home. I almost forgot...
how was it?"
	"Not good," the blonde replied grimly, "I guess both of
us had run-ins with absolute morons tonight. Are there no decent
men in this part of the country?" Kunshan Bayonne, who had
saved her face from meeting the street, conveniently slipped
her mind. She had yet to find out that his face was an
important one, one that she would see again, and one that was
forever imprinted in her memory.
****************************************************************
	The aspiring town law enforcer sat hunched over a mug of
whiskey. Once, during his long wait in the tavern, he had swirled
his finger inside it meditatively, then removed the finger and
licked it cautiously. Wincing, he had shaken his head and pushed
it to the center of the empty table, never taking his eyes off the
suspected criminals. No, he thought to himself, they weren't
_suspected_, he definitely knew they were up to no good. It was a
pity, the sheriff mused to himself, that the well-known Bliss
girls of the town would not be spared of witnessing their father's
demise. He pitied the man. Business was by no means bad, but as
taxes rose and the interest on loans and mortgage followed suit,
Master Bliss was in danger of losing everything he had-not that
it was much. Zoite cast a surreptitious look at his disgusting
alcohol, proof of the bar's suffering status. It wasn't like him to
drink on the job, but he had needed a cover when Reiliana had asked
him for his order. It was a small town, and almost everyone knew
each other. Of course, there was always the large number of
strangers passing through on the way to a nearby port, but no one
who didn't belong there lingered long without good reason.
Realizing suddenly that he was staring at the three men and
Master Bliss, he quickly averted his gaze.
	Unknown to him, two others were watching him. "Who is he
looking at?"
	"What? Who?"
	"Sheriff Skylab."
	Litalia smiled. "Really, Rei, you can call him Zoite. He
said we could."
	As a burly man caught her eye, the raven-haired girl sighed
and walked off to see what he wanted. When she returned, she
asked, "What is he doing here? He's spent the entire night staring
at Papa."
	Shrugging, she replied, "Maybe he wants to talk to him, you
know, men business." Her eyes lit up suddenly, like candles. "Or
maybe he's looking for Ami!"
	She gave her a skeptical look and shook her head. "Too many
romance novels," Reiliana muttered under her breath.
	"No, I'm serious! He _blushes_ whenever she looks at him
or talks to him. Don't you notice?"
	"No," she retorted impatiently, wiping her floury hands off,
"I don't. You're just making a big deal out of nothing, Lita. He
blushes whenever any of us speak to him. He's just shy."
	"But he's always eager to talk to Ami."
	Giving her another exasperated look, Reiliana snapped, "Stop
jumping to conclusions. The entire _town_ is expecting Gregory to
propose to her any day now. Zoite doesn't have a chance. Besides,
Greg has a prosperous job, and no sensible woman wants to marry
a sheriff, of all the occupations a man could be. He could get his
head shot off any day, at any given minute."
	Litalia shuddered. "That's terrible, Reiliana Bliss. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself! The town _loves_ Zoite."
	"Yeah, well, the town loved Mama, and she died anyway!" With
that parting shot, the amethyst-eyed beauty stormed off to wait on
yet another table. A small voice in her doubting mind added, 'The
town loved Chad...and it also loved Janus. Both of them left me,
like Mama.'
	About to call after her, the brunette sighed and shook her
head, changing her mind. Just then, she felt a gentle hand on her
elbow. Whirling around, she met the familiar eyes of... "Nestor!
I mean, Mr. Siriale," she corrected, lowering her own green eyes
modestly.
	He smiled, a handsome grin that sent her heart and mind
spinning. "Please, won't you call me Nestor?"
	"O-okay," she whispered shyly. Then she frowned. She was
_never_ shy around men, but she felt as though she was acting
like some skittish colt. Litalia loved horses, and she remembered
a conversation she had had with him about them. It seemed that
he shared her admiration for the beautiful animals, and he got
to see them much more often than she did. When she had been a
child, the family had been rich enough to afford wonderful
thoroughbred horses, and she remembered her riding lessons well
enough. Unfortunately, she had neither the time nor money now.
"Would you like something to drink? Or eat?" she inquired,
recalling that she was supposed to serve her customers instead
of reminiscing.
	"No, thank you. I was wondering, could you spare a
minute?" Nestor inquired nervously, fighting the urge to shift
from one booted foot to the other. His heart leapt as she
flushed prettily again and nodded.
	"Since mostly everyone's gone, I guess it's okay." Indeed,
about the only people left that late night were her father,
the trio of men he was talking with, and Zoite Skylab. She
took the offered elbow after removing her apron, rather
mortified at her disheveled appearance. He didn't seem to
notice, however. After a few minutes of silence, Litalia fidgeted
nervously. He was the one who had asked for her time, and he was
keeping silent about whatever he wanted to ask her. To make
conversation, she asked abruptly, "What are you doing here?"
	He grinned at her, teeth flashing white in the dusky
light. "My, you're very curious tonight, Miss Litalia." When
she looked down and stammered a denial, he said, "I'm sorry;
I didn't mean to poke fun. Actually, I've been given a break
from business, and a few of my old friends should be in town.
I'm hoping that they'll be here tomorrow morning." Nestor
hoped she would forgive him for lying if she ever found out.
He had seen and nodded to Zoite from across the room, but
the blond-haired man had barely acknowledged him. He was
pretty sure the sheriff was there on dangerous business and
hoped he would be all right alone. Perhaps he should have
stayed...after all, he _had_ helped him out in a pinch a
few times.
	Sudden gunshots shattered the peaceful night, and it
came from the direction of the tavern. A loud, shrill shriek
pierced the air, seeming to go on and on, a note of fright
and discord that ended shortly. Nestor and Litalia ran back,
and when she would have entered first, he held her back.
"No. Stay here, Litalia."
	"But-my father, and Rei..."
	"If they were hurt, I don't want you to be next."
	She looked up at him, her emerald eyes alarmingly
wide, and he felt his heart nearly skip a beat until he
recovered his senses and stepped in cautiously.
******************************************************************************
	Zoite Skylab cursed his ill luck furiously, straining
to keep the unconscious girl in his arms. His green eyes
widened impossibly when he realized blood was running over his
hands...but from whom? His heart nearly stopped when he saw
that it was Amiliana's. He frowned: she hadn't been hit by the
gunman's bullets...but he had other things to concentrate on.
	One of the three men had acted unpredictably and caught
him totally off his guard. Raising the pistol with a flamboyant
air, he had shot Master Bliss without a second shot after they
had argued furiously with much venom in all of the parties'
expressions. Reiliana, who had been outside (surreptitiously
looking after Litalia and Nestor), had rushed in before he
could stop her and nearly been killed as well. The only thing
that had prevented her death was the sudden arrival of Amiliana
and Minalia. The former had screamed and fainted, and it had
been another misfortune of his when trained reflexes made him
catch her before she hit the ground instead of going after the
men. Placing her on a nearby table, Zoite glanced at the
barkeeper's body and shook his head: at such close range, his
death had been an easy shot and very quick. Retrieving his own
gun, he blinked as he ran into Nestor on his way out.
	"Zoite! What happened?"
	"Master Bliss was killed by those thugs. I'm told they
had some bad business deals going on, and I think he may have
tried to get out of them. Come with me-we have to catch them-"
	"But...Litalia, and her sisters, and..."
	"Damn it, Nestor. We need to catch them, _now_. The girls
are in no danger, at least not if we can catch up and put them
in jail. Are you coming or not?"
	He looked back and met Litalia's tear-filled green eyes.
"Yes."
****************************************************************


AN: Um...okay, so that was pretty...weird? This takes place
around the time of Westward Expansion in U.S. history, when
everyone was all excited over the idea of Manifest Destiny and,
of course, moving west.
	The gals are Litalia, Reiliana, Amiliana, and Minalia. I
hope we figured out who everyone was. ^^;; The guys are Nestor
Siriale, Janus Aureole, Zoite Skylab, and Kunshan Bayonne.
I pulled Siriale out of my head, Zoite was originally Zoete in
the thesaurus of my word processor, but I changed it to suit SM,
and Aureole, Skylab, Kunshan, and Bayonne are all from the
wonderfully helpful thesaurus as well. Hope you enjoyed the
frightful first chapter.
	From the old reviews...we all want Greg to die. ^^;; I can't
promise anything, but if you want him to return in the future,
tell me and I'll see what I can do about it.
	Sere and Dare, unfortunately, are _not_ in this fic. I
banished them. This decision is non-negotiable. I'm truly sorry
to A. Lee, whom I told I would try to work them in, but I'd like
to write at least one story where they aren't in it. It makes
things too easy....
      		~Ice