A Queen Among Tempests

Autumnal Ball Part One - Orenda

It’s been centuries since I got this dressed up, yet here I am dressing for the same reason I did then.

Today is the autumnal equinox, one of the two times of the year when the sun is exactly above the equator making day and night equal in length. The other time this occurs is called the vernal equinox. To celebrate, supernaturals gather among their kind in hopes of finding their soulmate. However, for thousands of years during the autumnal equinox, the delegation has hosted the Autumnal Ball, allowing supernaturals from all corners of the globe to come together at the Kartheca to try to find their animai among other species. The last time I attended was in the 1500s and that was only for the novelty of it. This time is different.

While everyone will be attending hoping to find their animais, I’ve already found mine; he just doesn’t want anything to do with me. This would have been another year I avoided this event but for some unknown reason, me and my brother were personally requested by the delegation to make an appearance. We’re used to them reaching out regarding eyti matters and we receive the ball invitations every year out of courtesy, but we’ve never had a face-to-face request before. I wanted to say no, but Ayawamat insisted we attend. I don’t know why he’s eager all of a sudden. He thinks being restricted to one soulmate for the rest of your life is cruel and unusual torture. I try not to overanalyse the bizarre inner workings of my brother’s mind; it’ll only give me a headache.

I walk over to the dresser, pick up a pair of gold, hollow, leaf earrings with turquoise and rhinestone tassels, and hook them in my ears as I walk back to the mirror and examine myself. I’ve paired the earrings with a beautiful squash blossom necklace in gold vermeil with turquoise cabochons that meet at a Naja – or inverted moon. It’s an absolutely beautiful piece made by a Navajo artist named Leon F. Kirlie. Seeing as how Jartre created my brother and me in the image of the native people of this land and many of their stories were inspired by us, I feel very connected to the native people in a spiritual way and love to honour them whenever I can.

For tonight’s festivities, I’m wearing a gorgeous turquoise, cream and gold, strapless mermaid dress with a sweetheart neckline featuring an eye-catching tribal pattern on the fabric. The shoes are six-inch turquoise stilettoes with gold pointed tips and a delicate glittering gold metal woven around the leather. I’ve pulled my hair back into a high pony that splits into two braids that hang down over my shoulders. The final piece of the ensemble is my bracelet. I’ve had this bracelet for thousands of years and never take it off. It’s a large teardrop opal encased in silver metalwork that wraps around and up my wrist to resemble a feather. While I’m immune to the eyti, I don’t like to use my abilities on them unless I absolutely have to. This allows me to incapacitate them without killing them, which eases my conscience.

Overall, this is the most effort I have put into my appearance in a long time, but I think I’ve managed to pull it off. No make up though. I’ve personally never enjoyed it. It makes me feel like I’m wearing a mask, and my skin feels as though it’s suffocating.

As I continue to examine myself in the mirror, I hear a light tap at my door.

“Come in,” I call out, grasping the bust of my dress and tugging it up a fraction.

From the mirror I watch Ayawamat enter my room, his eyes widening as he spots me.

“Wow…Orenda…you look stunning,” he breathes out.

I smile at his reflection, “You look quite dashing yourself.”

Ever the standout, my brother is dressed in a matching suit jacket and pants with a green, pink, white and blue gradient over a green turtleneck that perfectly matches his rainbow leather pointed-toe dress shoes. Sometimes I think my brother should have been made into a peacock instead of a raitruum.

“Did you match your attire to your eyes?” I inquire.

“That I did,” he grins, “And I look good, don’t I?”

“Handsome from head to toe,” I admit as I turn to face him, “Are you ready to go?”

“Not just yet, I was hoping you could do my hair.”

I smile softly, “Would be my pleasure.”

I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed, patting the spot in front of me. Ayawamat walks over and happily sits beside me, turning his back to me and handing me his brush.

“How would you like it?”

“I think I’d like two simple braids, nothing as elaborate as what you’ve got going on.”

“Like you could even pull it off,” I scoff as I gently brush through his hair, then begin working on his braids. “Aya?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you so eager to go to this thing? You’re not hoping to meet your animai are you?” I tease.

“For that, you can wash your mouth out with soap,” he says appalled.

I chuckle, “Okay, if it’s not that, then what?”

“I’ve been thinking about that battle the other month.”

“Not to be confused with all those other battles,” I tease further.

He throws me a dirty look. I bite my lips together to keep from laughing and let him continue.

“We’ve been alive a very long time and in all that time I’ve never seen supernaturals from all walks of life gather together and fight as one like that. The fact that we were kept out for the worst of it made me feel like we were…being excluded.”

“You wanted to fight?”

“I wanted to feel like we were needed; like it wasn’t just us looking in as always. We’re called on when needed, but even that is rare. So many people still don’t even know we exist,” he says in frustration. "We're older than the Delegation, yet they are respected, and we are myths."

I sigh, understanding how he feels. I can’t count how many times I’ve swooped in to save someone’s life only to hear the deflating words that they have no idea what a raitruum is. Being the only two of our kind has its many downfalls and that is one of them.

“I just thought maybe attending the Autumnal Ball would give us a chance to be seen by the supernatural community.”

“I understand where you’re coming from and am completely behind this. But just for the record, if you had wanted to find your animai, I’d have supported that too,” I say sweetly.

“Never going to happen. Besides, why are you so sure Zarseti would even give me one? You don’t see all her daughters paired up.”

“Because I believe if there was someone for me, there’s someone for you.” I place his braids over his shoulders and line them up on his chest. “All done.”

He gets up and examines my handiwork in the mirror, gracing me with a bright smile, “Perfect as always. Now we can go.” He holds out his hand to help me up which I eagerly take.

As we proceed down the stairs, I notice my brother eyeing my dress.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing. Just admiring how stunning the dress is. Where did you get it?”

“Tituba made it for me,” I say proudly.

He blinks in surprise, “You didn’t wish for it, did you?”

“Gods no!” I gasp, “I would never do something so cruel. Just because she has chosen to use her abilities as a visum to help others as penance for her past indiscretions, does not mean I would ever take advantage of her. When I say she made the dress, I mean she made it with her own two hands. She’s quite the designer.”

“How am I only just finding out about this? And how does a visum who lives in the mountains manage to manufacture a gown like that anyway?” he asks suspiciously.

I roll my eyes, “We turn into birds and fly, yet a visum in the mountains sewing dresses is the thing you find impossible to believe.”

“What can I say, I’m a unique character. Now, speaking of flying…”

We exit the house and make our way onto the grass, my heels sinking into the dirt with each step I take. I focus on feeling the power within me take hold, and as a burst of electricity shoots through my body my human form is quickly replaced with my raitruum form along with my brother. I stretch out my thirty-foot-long wings, feeling the breeze between my feathers as I bring myself to my full fifteen-foot height. I feel my power and strength coursing through me like a livewire. In this form, everything is heightened. I hear beyond what I could in human form, smell scents I was completely unaware of and see up to five miles away.

I look over at my brother as he flaps his wings, the bright gold of his feathers that fade into electric blue glowing majestically like they were being lit from within. In bird form, we are identical in every way but scent, so only certain beings can tell us apart. But since we tend to handle our duties solo to keep us spread out, that issue doesn’t come up much.

Before I have a chance to blink, Ayawamat is taking off into the sky, shooting up like a rocket and quickly darting out of sight.

“Wait for me!” I shout through our mind link, taking off into the sky, rising high above the clouds and jetting off after him in an attempt to catch up.

'You snooze, you lose,' he teases.

'Just for that, I hope you inhale several bugs.'

'Ew, Orenda! Don’t even joke, you know I hate when that happens,' he grumbles.

Unfortunately coping a bug to the mouth or face when you’re flying around the world is a nasty casualty of the job, but you learn to live with it – or at least I do.

When flying, we are faster than any jet could ever hope to be, so flying from Montana to Turkey, won’t take us long at all and honestly, I love any chance I get to fly. To be up in the sky, looking down at the wonder of the world below and getting to see how vast the ocean truly is, is an experience like no other. To fly among the clouds as the wind blows through my feathers making me feel weightless; to feel utterly and blissfully free; it’s beyond words.

In no time at all, we can see Iç Ada fast approaching. During the Autumnal Ball, the barrier that normally shields the Kartheca from outsiders is altered to allow all invited guests inside while still maintaining its cloak of invisibility. We know we’ve passed the barrier when suddenly the uninhabited islet is no longer uninhabited, but the home of a grand and majestic castle. It takes my breath away whenever I see it. Zarseti truly outdid herself regarding the architecture. The monolithic castle blends Turkish, Persian and even Romanian architectural styles, which is fascinating because this place was created thousands of years before any kind of architecture existed, let alone those specific styles. Really goes to show the level of influence the Gods have had over humankind.

Ayawamat and I slow down, circling overhead and observing the masses of people arriving and entering the castle all dressed to the nines. As we look for a place to land, I feel this familiar energy emanating from the castle, bringing with it an intense feeling of peace and warmth.

'Do you feel that?' Ayawamat asks curiously.

I nod in reply, 'Zarseti never attends these.'

'Exactly, so what the hell is she doing here?'

We spot one of the large balconies of the ballroom and descend towards it. I land first and pull on that power within me once again, feeling a surge of electricity spread through me as I return to my human form, quickly followed by my brother. Another difference between us and other beings who can shift into an animal is that when we shift between the two, we don't lose our clothes. I'll forever be grateful to Jartre for that.

With a smile, Ayawamat offers me his arm and I happily take it as we enter the ballroom. Our jaws practically detach when we take in the breathtaking décor surrounding guests from all around the globe. The ballroom is always decorated for this occasion, but this is next level.

“Now this is something else,” Ayawamat praises.

Electric blue lights beam down amidst exquisite icicles made of crystals, cascading down from the ceiling like thousands upon thousands of rows of dripping icicle-like garlands. Long rows of glass tables are spread across the room, lined with white chairs, each table laid out with the most expensive-looking white China and glassware. Vases filled with white calla lilies, white roses, white tulips, white camellias and wisteria, adorn every table, along with much larger versions scattered around the room. The once marble floor has been made to look like ice, perfectly reflecting the room around it and bouncing the light making everything twinkle like an otherworldly glacier ice cave.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my whole life, and that’s saying something,” I utter in complete awe.

“I’m thrilled you both approve of the décor,” I hear a serene voice say.

We look over as Zarseti approaches us, her magenta hair in a beautiful half updo that forms two Dutch braids that join into a fishtail braid. Her silver eyes are complimented by soft shimmering pink eyeshadow that perfectly matches her glittering pink lips with a soft blue sheen to them. Her dress is something not of this world and as a Goddess, I would expect nothing less. A gorgeous gold, embroidered bodice clings to her hips and frame, coming in at the chest and going around the neck as a pink chiffon-like material that looks like water, flows from under the bodice and floats across the ground behind her. With every step she takes towards us the gaps within the bodice seem to glitter and glow as if she has found a way to capture a moving galaxy within it. I find myself mesmerised by the Goddess before us, thought I can’t help feeling a bit puzzled when I notice the high heels that peek out from beneath the dress as she walks. Six-inch, pointed-toe, glass-like slippers with twinkling pink gemstones scattered around them and pink flowers adorned over the toes. While they are beautiful, they seem unnecessary. Zarseti is 7’1” she really doesn’t need extra height, but I admire her going all out on a head-to-toe outfit.

“You’ve outdone yourself, Zarseti,” Ayawamat praises with a respectful nod of his head. “Have to admit we’re both surprised to find you here.”

“After recent events, I decided I wanted to truly experience being part of a night I began. I love getting to see the animais I make find each other,” she says sighing happily, “I so rarely get to witness the very moment a bond clicks into place. One can’t blame me for wanting to be a part of this,” she explains with a radiant smile.

'Are you buying this?' I silently ask my brother.

'Not even a little bit.'

I’m sure there’s a lot of truth to what she’s saying, but I have a hard time believing this is why she’s here.

“I’m so glad the two of you could attend,” she says graciously, as if we’re the ones doing her the favour.

“Well, Lunara and Fatma were quite insistent, but it was Aya who ultimately talked me into attending.”

“Whatever swayed you, I’m glad you did,” she says warmly. “I won’t take up much more of your time, but I’m sure we will speak more later.” With those final words, she wanders off, mingling with the crowd and conversing with her daughters.

I look to Ayawamat to see if he has any thoughts on Zarseti’s appearance only to notice his eyes keenly following a beautiful Chinese woman walking by while indulging in some hors d'oeuvres with her companions.

“If you will excuse me, dear sister, I have some mingling to do.”

Barely acknowledging my existence, Ayawamat tugs at his lapels and begins walking in the direction of the young woman, but I’m quick to grab him by the elbow. He looks down at my hand, then back up at me with a perplexed expression.

“Don’t you dare use this as an occasion to hook up. These people are here to find their soulmates, not be a notch on your bedpost. You might not care about having or finding your animai, but these people do. That’s why they came here. Please, don’t disgrace this event with your philandering,” I beseech him.

“That stung, Orenda. Do you really think so little of me?” he says looking hurt and offended.

“I don’t think little of you, I love you. I accept you as you are and have never stopped you from expressing yourself sexually, I just beg you not to do it here. Please,” I urge.

He sighs and looks at me carefully, “For you, I’ll be on my best behaviour.” He leans in and kisses my cheek, instantly flooding me with relief. “No funny business, just friendly chit-chat.”

I smile appreciatively, “Thank you, that’s all I ask.”