Mai Legacy
1.11 - The Le Chien Family
The morning after the baby shower for their second baby, which they named Leah, Susan and James woke up to a knock on the door. Susan opened it blearily, and was met with a strange woman.
“Who are you?” she asked, squinting in the bright morning light.
“Hajar,” the woman said, pushing past Susan and entering the house.
“Um, excuse me?” Susan asked.
Hajar turned to look at Susan. “So, where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“Your legacy armor,” Hajar sighed dramatically.
“James!” Susan shouted as she moved to block Hajar from going further into the house.
James emerged from the bedroom, and Hajar turned around. “Ah! There he is. The man of the hour. Allow me to formally introduce myself. Hajar Le Chien.”
“So you’re?”
“Yes, I’m Joaquin’s wife. Hello.”
“Get out of our house, Hajar, we didn’t invite you in,” James told her firmly.
“But you see, Susan here opened the door for me. That’s practically an invitation. I heard recently that you two had your second child. Leah, right? Going entirely public with the going ons within your legacy, I see. Bold move.”
“That’s none of your business,” Susan frowned.
“That’s where your wrong. It is my business when those children are jeopardizing my marriage to Joaquin. You don’t marry into a legacy family for love, you marry into one for the wealth and fame,” Hajar went on. “Susan knows what I’m talking about.”
“Not at all!”
“Huh. It doesn’t matter. I just need to see the legacy armor so I can prove theres a writ to take the two of you to court for infringing on my right to have married into the sole legacy family of Windenburg. It's how it's been for centuries, and you two have no right to come in and try to change things."
Hajar shoved past James and Susan and walked further into the house. “This is a lovely kitchen you have here,” she said as she walked into the living room. “And these most be your children! Seth and Leah, how quaint.”
Spotting the armor, Hajar walked over confidently, opened up the front, and pulled out a piece of paper. “And there it is.” She took a picture with her phone then put the writ back inside.
“See you two in court,” Hajar promised, shoving past James and Susan again to exit the house.
Susan and James shared a look, then hurried after her. Hajar walked quickly to the Le Chien house, probably aware she was being followed. The building was rather intimidating looking, a house James had never really wanted to visit. She quickly ran inside, practically slamming the door in James and Susan’s face. James raised his fist and knocked angrily.
An older woman opened the door. “Bronson, honey, the Mais are here,” she called into the house.
An older man joined her. “Ah, hello, James, Susan. I’ve heard so much about the two of you from my son. By all means, come in.”
A little weirded out by the kindness of the two, James and Susan cautiously entered the house and followed them through a front entrance into a dining room.
“Allow me to introduce us,” the woman said. “I’m Rosaline, and this is my husband, Bronson. We’re Joaquin’s parents, and I’m the current heir of the Le Chien legacy.”
“As soon as we heard from Joaquin that you're thinking of starting a competing legacy, well we knew that couldn’t happen. We can’t let a legacy started by Rosaline’s great great grandparents suddenly die,” Bronson went on.
Rosaline stepped into the kitchen and began to brew some tea for James and Susan. “Bronson and I will do anything to make sure we’re the family that Windenburg is known for. You know the Shallot family, correct? Probably not, I'm assuming. The last two owners tragically perished in a fire… a fire set by my Le Chien ancestors when the two legacy families grew too big for tiny Windenburg. Their legacy was so thoroughly scorched from the earth that they're now referred to as the Von Haunts."
She placed the tea in front of James and Susan. “Don’t even think for a moment that we won’t do the same to you.”
Bronson leaned in close. “Rosaline and I are both aware of why Hajar married Joaquin. Wealth, fame, both typical reasons for people who try to marry into legacy families. But that also means she’ll be motivated to keep it. While we may both be getting on in years, I know that both Hajar and Joaquin won’t hesitate.”
The next day, James and Susan stood in front of the courthouse, terrified. They’d had to go the hassle of booking a last minute plane flight and traveling several hours by plane to reach the faraway town of Newcrest. Rosaline, apparently, refused to go to any other courthouse but the Goth-Brooks Courthouse, a building constructed by old friends of hers.
“I’ve never been to court,” Susan whimpered. “What do we even do? How do we act?”
James shrugged. “I guess we should at least both be grateful the Le Chiens didn’t hire a lawyer. We couldn’t afford one of our own.”
James and Susan entered the courthouse and were soon seated in a courtroom. James was directed to sit up front, as was Joaquin. Susan, Rosaline, Bronson, and Hajar were all instructed to sit in the spectator seats. Susan didn’t like that James’s side only had one person on his side as opposed to the three on Joaquin’s side, but that couldn’t be helped.
The judge, Judge Marshal entered the room, and everyone stood.
Soon enough, the trial started.
Judge Marshal cleared his throat. “We’re here today on the matter of two competing legacies. Joaquin, if you could make your statement please.”
Joaquin stood up and cleared his throat. “The Mai family is infringing on my ability to run a legacy family in Windenburg,”
“James?”
“Coming here from Oasis Springs, I had no idea the Le Chiens already had a legacy. And even if I had, is there any rule against two legacies existing in the same area?”
Joaquin glared furiously at James but James ignored it.
Judge Marshal was quiet for a few minutes. “To my knowledge, no, there is not. I’ll have to call on a legacy historian. Until then, let’s take a recess.”
James took a deep breath and let it out. His family was safe for now.