DELANCY: Secrets in the Shadows

CHAPTER 56

Lady Brackvark had sent her manservant to the constables to complain about her neighbor, Lady Razia, and her raucous party. This was nothing new: Lady Razia was always throwing parties of some kind in her salon, and Lady Brackvark was a jealous, acrimonious old badger who longed for the days when she would be invited to such parties.

This party was unusual, though, as it had been snowing heavily: Enough to deaden most noise. The constables - mostly collies and a few bloodhounds - assumed that Lady Brackvark was simply complaining again and gave it little mind, but went to see anyway: she was an important donor.

Three of their junior members seated their horses and rode up the long road to Lady Razia’s charming, small mansion. Even before the constables arrived at the front door, the screams and moans and yelps were disturbing.

“Everythin’ aw righ’ in there?” The lead called, banging on the large iron door. He was a rottweiler, accustomed to the habits of the upper class. There were still screams and moans, and the poor dog could only guess what kind of party was occurring inside. After a few moments, a small weasel - ferret? - answered the door. She was dressed in traditional maid garb.

“Hello there officer,” she said softly. “If you’re wondering about the party, I’ll calm them down for you. Tell Lady Brackvark that we’ll invite her to the next one.”

“O-oh, aw righ’ then,” he said.

It was still snowing, but at least the sun hadn’t set completely yet - that’s when it got really cold. The dogs threw blankets over their horses as they trotted in place to warm up their hooves. Officer Mothscrap waved down his attendants as he trudged up the wet snow to the other mansion. It was larger and more stately, with tall, marble columns. He knocked a few times on the front door until an old, bent beagle answered the door.

“‘Scuse me, ol’ chap.”

“Yyyeeesss?”

“Lady ‘o the ‘ouse. Tell ‘er the problem’s solved.”

He merely nodded and closed the door.

Farah, still in her maid’s outfit, watched as the dogs left on their horses. She turned the corner into the salon and saw ‘Razia’ and her guests, writhing on the floor in fits after hearing the dread words of the Crimson Diary read aloud: tales of love and loss so profound that any creature would be overcome merely by a paragraph.

Farah removed her ear plugs and stepped over the writhing figures - foxes, dogs, a rat and a weasel - and leaned down to the uncanny chef.

“Di-did I read it all to them? Was Lady Razia pleased?” The mouse had a cunning smile on his lips as Farah gently rested her hand on the tome.

“Most pleased, sir Chef,” she said. He sighed relief and relented his grip. That’s when she heard another knock. Farah gulped and grasped the diary with both of her tiny arms. She stepped gingerly over the bodies - who were cuddling and kissing each other with empty bottles of Veilwinter wine drizzling onto expensive carpets - careful to miss Razia in the front row, to reach the door out of the salon. Razia trusted her: there would be other opportunities to steal the Crimson Diary... so long as she did not sell it - or lose it to another thief.

With the Crimson Diary, Farah could evade that archmage who had followed her from Vulane... possibly any adversary.

At that moment, she was grabbed by the ankle as other guests started to stretch and coo.

“How marvelous!” Stretched a weasel.

“Another success, Lady Razia!” Called out a male fox.

“What time is it, even?” Said a husky that she recognized as a magnate of some kind.

“So heavenly and so profane!” Cried out a young, beautiful vixen in a sparkling blue dress - surrounded by two bottles of Veilwinter merlot. Farah looked down and smiled at her.

Farah patted the heads of the patrons and rubbed the long velvet ears of others, urging them back to sleep. Slowly, she made her way down the spiral staircase, kicking the diary under a small table and responded to the urgent knocking while snow patted and melted on the tall glass windows.

Slowly she opened the heavy iron door to see a plump badgeress and her emaciated manservant. She bowed, but Brackvark merely sneered at the sight of Farah and pushed her way in.

“What is going on here?” She intoned, looking up the staircase toward the sounds of reverie.

“Merely a party, lady Brackvark,” Farah said, still bowing and avoiding eye contact.

“Where is that vixen?” The brash badger asked, stepping onto the checkered marble floor. Farah assumed she meant Lady Razia.

“She is... currently engaged upstairs.”

The badger harrumphed and clomped her way across the floor while Farah snatched up the diary and fled out the door, only to run into the badger’s beagle attendant. They both collapsed into the snow. Farah spat out snow onto the old dog’s face.

“Out of my way, old timer!” she said, clawing herself to her feet on his chest and running out into the snow of the front yard. The Crimson Diary was much larger than she had thought at first, and the snow was falling heavier than she anticipated. She adjusted her maid’s skirt and stockings as the snow began to soak into her fur.

The gate itself was closed. And icy. She looked back at the manor and heard the irate voices of confused upper-crust guests. She forced the Crimson Diary through the bars... but it was too thick.

She huffed. She had to carry it over.

She looked up the iron-wrought gate and climbed it as fast as she could. Even though she was skilled at climbing, her paws were already freezing with wet ice as she reached the spired pinnacle and dove down, book in tow. Using it as a fall break, the snow FLUFFED as she collided with it, sending a plume in all directions.

She quickly hefted the book out of the snow. It was enchanted, of course, but not every part: she didn’t want any part of its devastating narrative to be obliterated by the elements. That’s when she heard more commotion from the upper story of her former ‘master’s’ abode. Farah gulped and followed the horse hooves down the muddy road back down to the glittering city of New Nottingham, eager to outrun the party guests.

“Magnificent, Razia, magnificent!” a jackal ambassador said, resting his arm on Selthia’s shoulder as she arose. Selthia, an old, dusk-colored vixen, saw her troublesome neighbor busying herself with asking the guests questions. Of course, they were all too clever to answer as she continued berating them. Selthia smirked and looked at her old friend - the only prey animal to have been invited.

“My dear chef,” she said softly, helping the old white mouse to his feet. “Thank you so much for your reading.”

The mouse yawned, smiled, and dusted himself off. “Thank you, madam. Do you have my book anywhere?”

Selthia c****d her head to the side, her smile disappearing from her muzzle.

**

I have been meaning to see ‘The Batman’ for a while now, and today I finally got the chance. And to my luck, all the seats were already booked so I got the last one. The wait time left for the movie was 30 minutes, so I decided to look around the theater. I walked into a mini arcade and saw children playing. I remember wanting to play in arcades when I was younger, but my mother wouldn't let me because she claimed it was for boys only. There was one other adult in the arcade. A man. He appeared tall, with dark hair, and a mysterious look. So, I approached him out of curiosity. “Hey, are you going to see a movie here, or have you already?”, I asked. He looked up at me, his eyes darting straight into mine giving me a stern look. “Yeah, I’m going to see ‘The Batman’,'' he grinned. “Oh! Me too.”, my eyes lit up. “The new movies are always packed so I waited a while but to my surprise, it was still packed. “Well, perhaps it isn't.”, he chuckled and walked away.

“Well, that was kind of rude”, I thought to myself. But then again I am a stranger, and he probably didn't want to talk to me in the first place. I checked the time, and it was time for the movie to start. I guess he could’ve known that and just had a good sense of time. As I walked into the theater, it was pretty silent… like really silent. And when I looked into the room, there was only one person present. Did he buy all of the seats?

“Hey, you!”, I yelled in a whisper-like tone. “I didn't catch your name.”, I said with a curious look. “It’s James. And I’m guessing you’re some random woman who likes bothering strangers.”, he chuckled. “And I see you’re a man, who has no manners.”, I scoffed. “Shh. The movie is beginning. Be a quiet woman.” The lights began to dim, and his face faded into the darkness of the room.

“Who does that guy think he is?! Does he think he can just be openly rude as if I did something to offend him?”I rolled my eyes in annoyance. 10 minutes into the movie, the screen went blank and the audio was no longer working. The lights were off, and I scoffed in shock. “Are you kidding me? I waited a long time to see this movie and now this happens.” Suddenly I felt as if I could feel someone staring in my direction. “Are you always this feisty?”James asked me. “Oh, now you want to talk to me? I don’t want to engage in a conversation with someone who is full of themselves”.

A man then walked into the movie room, and the lights came back up. “Hey, are you all alright?”, he asked. “Yes.”, me and James answered at the same time. I rolled my eyes, annoyed that we said yes at the time. “We seem to be having a problem in the back. But the problem should be fixed soon. You are welcome to stay and we will refund the both of you.”, the man smiled, looking like he was waiting for some kind of approval. “That’s ok.”, I said, smiling back at the man. Relieved, the man walked out and the lights turned off again. “Are you kidding me?!” “Like I asked. Are you always this feisty?”, he asked, proceeding to try and have a conservation with me. “No, only when I'm stuck in a dark room with a man by the name of James”. He laughed and I could hear him making his way over to me. I could finally catch a glimpse of his face this time. “Hi, I’m James. Can we start over”, he said with what appeared to be a smile. “I’m River. I guess if we’re going to wait for the movie to come back on, we may as well talk.” “Good.”, he said, showcasing the satisfaction with my answer in his tone. “So… are you the one who bought out all of these seats?”, I asked. “No, I actually didn't. When I bought my ticket. I saw that all the other seats were bought except for two. I was surprised like you, that so many people were still trying to see the movie, and the lady at the register informed me that someone had previously bought all the other seats. Weird huh?” “Yeah, I guess. Why would someone do that?” “Maybe, they just get annoyed being around too many people.” “Hmm. I guess but that doesn't make too much sense either.” He shrugged, unsure of another explanation to give me. “Not to snoop, but is there a reason you're here alone?” “I’m a pretty closed off person. I'm sure you've noticed that already. I enjoy my own company, so I prefer to be by myself.” “That makes sense.”, I gestured. “And why are you here alone, River?”, putting emphasis on my name. “I just really wanted to see The Batman.” “Good point. You know… you are one stunning woman.”

I immediately became flustered. Who was this man, and why the sudden interest in me now? And if someone else really did purchase all the other tickets, then where are they? James saw the emotions running through me all at once, so he placed his hand on my thigh, in an attempt to calm me down. “Is it ok, if I touch you there?”, he asked. “Yes.” “Are you ok?”, he looked at me with a concerned look. “Yes” “May I kiss you?” Making me even more nervous and flustered than before. “Y-yes ' He leaned in and I met him halfway, and we emerged into a passionate kiss. Why was I kissing this stranger? Let alone someone who was rude to me about an hour and a half ago. I have no idea, but this is the most rushed I have ever felt. We looked into each other's eyes. And I was stunned. If I told anybody about the events that happened today I doubt they would believe me. The lights began to dim a bit, and the movie came back on. “Are we going to-” “Shhh”, he interrupted me before I could speak again.

“The movie is back on.”