Shade of Deception (Two)

Eleven - SoD

Eleven:

This “high tea” was more like the Mad Hatter’s tea party. It was located at the very center of a thorny and flowery maze at the heart of the common gardens shared by the spires. It appeared that the court here included lengthy flower viewing sessions over idol gossip and intrigue.

Everything was perfectly arranged, yet also appeared almost wild and random with the colors of greens, browns, yellows, and gold making the linens and the arrangements appear as if they were apart of nature itself.

There were little cakes and sandwiches, apparently that was not too human for this lot. I was pondering if this was merely just a common placeholder on earth, period. Thoughts were swirling with conflicting emotions, wonder, curiosity, and no shortage of danger. I felt hundreds of eyes on me all around. The court was much larger than I could have guessed. If you had asked me what I believed the City of Hidden’s ruling class to look like, I would have told you maybe a dozen random arrogant overdressed immortals, max.

However, there were over four-hundred bodies from what a quick count could ascertain. This was not counting the nearly seventy royal guards all wearing rusty colored mail and carrying the spear-like weapons I had seen before. I noticed they all wore a bright yellow cloak with their mail now, and I was beginning to see a common color theme, sunny, and earthy tones. The bloody-looking mail was almost an eyesore against the light contrast of the decorum. Something inside me spoke to me, saying this was no accident. It was as if the hosts always wished to keep the help conspicuous to the guest, as a means of obvious differentiation.

Humans wore dull and plain clothes, and many wore black or grey mainly. Some servants of what might be a slightly higher elevation wore yellows or earth tones that matched to whatever master I spotted them attending.

The nobility wore loud colors, I spotted an orange fur-clad feline lord in turquoise, that was eye-drawing to say the least. I was still learning to accept the visual input associated with fur and claws as a new normal. My danger sense kept spiking randomly, because of how many high-level immortals I was now surrounded.

As for the venue itself, it was a bit cliché, yet it also held a timeless air. They were the originals, the folks who made popular such events and themes. These were the peoples who humans did not even have proper mythos to cover. Here they hid themselves in the openness of their bright but fictitious sun. They lived bellow a starless, lightless sky, yet their world was technicolor. My limited experiences amongst humans had not prepared me for how rich culture could be, when it was displayed buy the richest of the undying.

If you believed rumors and idle chatter, some claimed to wear this or that form the Lost City. Others claimed to have this or that item made in Babylon. They treasured their trappings, and they seemed to fondly remember the departed history of the mortals whose lives they brushed across thousands of years prior.

Whimsical was a word suited to label these beings, regardless of species. Most appeared largely to behave in similar fashion. The Tren of course, were the only real exception. Their delegation seemed to be standing vigil from the rear merely observing me. While they did not have eyes in the sense that fleshlings did, they did have sensory perception like my own. I could feel them probing my shell, as if poking the gates of an extraordinarily strong fortress with a stick. I resisted to push back with an expression of psychic power. I may not be a master, but I could handle a simple mind blast if I focused back on the one prodding my thoughts.

The Tren seemed unfettered by my mental strength or their lack of success penetrating my defenses, yet I felt them consistently probing, almost like they were far too curious to stop and this was some type of game to them.

“This is a first for us, my Lords, and Ladies, today we welcome a Shade to our fair town.”

Siegfried said, his usual boorish tone was replaced with one of faux enthusiasm, almost as if he had been swapped with a perky doppelganger. Sky seemed in mild shock, not that anyone besides me or Clarke could penetrate this deep into her mind. She did not allow people in, yet she did make space to communicate with her friends as needed. We had been learning how to expand our senses to use them to communicate once we were grown-ups and out doing whatever missions needed to be done. There was no doubt in our minds after the leviathan attack that we would be sent back into the heart of some new darkness again.

Sky is like the hub of out communications grid because my shade powers are so vastly unmapped and such a wild card. She had a lifetime of control and a mother to teach her how to expand her generous capabilities. Right now, we could not seem to transmit more than vague impressions, and some diffused feelings on whatever we were experiencing at that moment. Sky was surprised, which meant that she had not anticipated this change in behavior form Siegfried. That led each of us to the conclusion that he had been boorish to Senna for as long as Sky had known about him. I witnessed how dismissive he was of the Nix queen. He was like a small child playing with matches, only in this case dragon’s fire.

Everyone began to clap cheerfully, and men and women raked lustful gazes over us with a renewed level of fervor and daring. I now knew what old people meant when they claimed to have been “eye-f****d” by someone. It was no more enjoyable than any other form of violation I can assure you!

Sky seemed almost unshakeable beside me. To the outside, she was the image of a frosty princess with little tolerance for nonsense. By comparison, I was far more casual, wearing black jeans, and a purple crop top and skateboarding shoes. I did not mean to project circa 2010 skater chick, but sometimes it just happened, besides, I very much did enjoy going to skate parks to blow off steam. It was one of the only “normal” activities remaining in my life right now.

We were directed to seats, and I noticed very quickly that Sky was given a position that was directly between every other leader, as if to submerge her into their ranks. She did not seem to miss this at all, and she had a bit of a vague broody feeling passing to me via the private communication connection.

Clarke felt a lot more excited than either of us. He was taking in the world around him with wide eyes and rampant curiosity. It was the same look he had been known to possess when Hawker or Roger lent him a new alchemy or expression text. He was like a e-book fiend for them. I recall making a few off-the-cuff remarks about them being his dealers and such, he never seemed to find this amusing.

While I did study some alchemy, I was more interested in learning how my natural abilities worked and controlling them. The biggest difference between me and Clarke, he could not accidentally vaporize someone if a surge of emotion and expression rushed to the surface without control. My expressions were powerful, primal, and vastly deeper. I noticed that all expression seems to have a metaphysical “weave” like a tapestry of power laced together. Mine was like the highest thread count weave I had yet to experience with any of my senses—to put it the only way I think might make any sense.

I counted forty-eight chairs at the head table, which told me these were the creme de la crème of Hidden. These people were the ones I had to impress if I wanted to stay off the extinct species list soon.

The lords and ladies of the table eyed us with obvious curiosity. They appeared unrepentant in their openness, which hardly bothered me—minus the eye f*****g incidents.

“Welcome to the real world our friends.”

One of the older Nix men, one of the very few to look almost thirty, raised a glass of orange colored alcohol of some exotic sort in toast. All around me others mirrored his gesture and for the moment false or not, we were welcomed to their table, and their court.

The older man felt ancient, the way Senna felt, but much older. He was a lot like Grendel, almost like he had lived since the dawn of time. He appeared remarkably similar to human, but his long leathery grey tail twitched beside him. He also had some darker grey scales along his cheeks. His tail was pure white like a fresh snowfall, but not from sone type of age.

“Lord Moran, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

He bent his head at Skylar’s genuine statement.

“My young lady, Apex of mine, I am humbled to be in your presence.”

Moran may have sounded a bit over-the-top to some, but I felt it in his very essence, he meant what he said. He was no pulper, and he was not weak, yet he felt an unquantifiable deep level of joy and reverence towards Skylar. Sky allowed a sweet almost girlish smile to touch her lips and dimple her cheek. Her ocean eyes were like radiantly warm solar rays bathing down on a beach bum in a pleasant manner.

His eyes were like silver reptilian twin pools of glowing happiness. I noted that Sky too had let her eyes slit to the Nix manner. It was like dropping an illusion for her or unclenching a muscle.

“Yes, it has been much too long since the Nix have designed to send their apex to visit us.”

The speaker was snide, and she was a Volupine with a slightly raspy tone. Her jade eyes assessed us, as she purred and stroked a hand through her hair, and her ears tucked back in the open sign of being agitated. Her fur was grey and white mixed, and her build was slender, but she was still extremely long.

“Lady Rena, my mother told me to express her regret at being so very busy with the clans. She has indeed been fortifying our parameters for the new human technologies surrounding us all. This same effort also extends to fringe Hidden settlements outside the major city.”

Skylar told her, her tone was full of dignity and devoid of any malice or bitterness. The older cat-woman seemed to keenly watch the youthful apex female with all the interest of a feline with a canary.

“I shall remember to call her on my private holo line later. Most holo services are risky outside the City proper, but I do manage to send out encrypted communications. The perks of leadership, as the humans might say.”

Her sniff told me she did not much care for humans, yet she had still chosen a popular enough phrase from mortals, nonetheless. To me, that said she could hate something, yet still find use for it. I was not sure what that meant for me, or anyone else, but part of me felt unhinged by the way she looked at us.

“Now, now, let us get down to the matters which will help these young people on their ventures here. As you are all aware, Lord Roger of the Apex Clan has gone missing. These young people have placed aside their studies to come search for him. I believe we should offer them our utmost help and our support.”

Siegfried said, and I eyed Sky, as if to say, “What the actual f**k!"