Chapter Six
Turned out, dinner was going to be served in a manner house which had been recently reclaimed from the ghosts of the noble family that had died there during the madness. This also explained where Roland had gotten his hands on such a fancy carriage: it had come with the house. As was common for recently reclaimed buildings it was covered in magical lights that prevented any shadows from being formed. The theory ran that without any shadows no energy from the Shadow Reich could build up: no shadow energy no ghosts. Along with the light spells every surface had either been scrubbed down to the raw stone or covered with several coats of fresh paint. All of these things were designed to show that new owners were in the house and that the ghosts were no longer welcome. Personally, I thought that was all a crock of shit but then I was a wild mage not a book mage; so, what did I know.
On the other hand, all the new surfaces and light really help to show off my dress and I glowed as I made my way to the buildings.
The front doors were open and only a liveried servant barred our entrance. That the servant was a battle-scarred dwarf with arms as thick as my waist meant the entrance was better guarded now than if the doors had been closed locked and barred.
“Fraulein Storm Crow?” he asked politely but with a firmness that indicated that there was only one answer that would gain us entry.
“Yes, and this is Miri and Sariel,” I replied.
“Dressed for airs are we? Not what I’d expect from someone raised in a Berg orphanage,” he said in Low Dwarf; his disapproval obvious.
I sighed, I loved my adopted people but their obsession with what was proper drove me nuts sometimes, but I long ago learned how to get around the old curmudgeons.
“Only old grey beards can get away with plate and leather for every occasion, even a proper lady dresses in lace sometimes,” I replied in Low Dwarf as well. I then gave the Dwarf a chase kiss on the cheek. “But thank you for your concern elder.”
The Dwarf turned a bright shade of red and grumbled something about young people before saying in Reich, “Drinks being served in the foyer; dinner will be called soon.”
“What was that all about?” asked Sariel as we moved through the cloakroom and into the foyer. Inside there were at least thirty dinner guests and half as many servants. Of the guests, maybe twenty were sellswords of both sexes, and several races. All were mingling and most had vessels for holding alcoholic drinks of some sort.
“Oh, just an old Dwarf expressing his disappointment in the improper actions of a young Dwarf,” said Miri.
“But Sasha’s a human,” Sariel said in puzzlement, as she grabbed three glasses of white wine from a passing tray and handed one each to Miri and myself.
“During the Plague, many of the Dwarf holds faced the very real concern that their race might become extinct like the Orcs. At the same time, they were horrified by the number of children of all races that were trying to survive on their own. So, they setup orphanages to house and feed all these children. The children grew up in a safe and loving environment; and the Dwarves hoped that while their race may die off the traits of hard work, community spirit and proper values, what made Dwarves, Dwarves in other words, would live on in their adopted children,” explained Riley as the three of us tried the wine.
“So, they wanted to create a bunch of humans who wouldn’t know what to do with something fun if it came up and slapped them? That’s horrible,” said Sariel.
“It was far better than hiding behind locked gates, or what many Elves continue to do,” said Miri with a bitter tone.
Sariel was about to reply, when a familiar squealing voice warned us that Keira was incoming.
As I was enfolded by a pair of spindly arms I was surprised to see that Miri and I were not the only ones who had cleaned up for tonight’s meal. Keira was in a clean dress whose boxy Dwarven cut, in the same shade of green that she all of her clothes were; did little to show off her features.
“Sasha, I hardly recognized either of you,” she said as she turned and gave Miri an equally furious hug, which my lover carefully returned for fear of crushing the book mage.
“Where did you get the dresses? I’ve never seen their like before. They appear to be normal fabric but their infused with a type of magic that I don’t…”
Her voice trailed off as her eyes dilated as she opened her senses to see fully into the spectrum of magic.
“Sasha you’re wearing gossamer: your entire dress is gossamer! How did you afford? I’m not sure the Empress. There hasn’t been since the Fey closed the portals,” Keira’s talking deteriorated into meaningless mumbling as she processed what she saw.
Then her eyes snapped up and for the first time she turned and looked over towards Sariel her magical senses still open.
“Sasha catch her,” warned Riley.
Without thinking I moved forward and steadied the book mage as she let out a little cry, and swayed on her feet. With horror, I looked over the Fey wondering what she had just done, but Sariel was equally horrified by what had happened.
“She saw Sariel through her arcane sight. Seeing a Fey like that can be overwhelming to someone for the first time: especially a book mage,” explained Riley.
I encouraged Keira to take a large sip of my wine as I kept the young woman on her feet.
“Is she alright?” asked Sariel her voice full of concern.
“Oh! That tastes offal!” sputtered Keira as the taste of the wine hit her brain. I smiled in relief, while something of a beer snob Keira can’t stand the taste of wine.
“She’s fine,” Miri and I said together as Keira regained her feet, her magical senses closed by her eyes still wide with wonder. Turning towards Sariel she did a very reasonable curtsy to Fey saying something in what I believed was Imperial Elfish.
The Fey cocked an eyebrow in surprise and answered in what I think was the same language. Switching to Reich the Fey said to Keira “Your diction is very good, but you roll the ‘R’ a bit too long.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the future Altus,” replied Keira; still excited her voice growing louder with each passing word.
“Oh, I’m no noble, mage, please just call me Sariel, and you are?” replied the Fey extending her hand in greeting.
“Keira, my name is Keira, personal aide and chief magical support to Captain Roland,” she said as she shook the Fey’s hand.
Looking around I was horrified to realize that yet again (you think that I’d be getting used to this) everyone in the room was looking our way. Fifty or so sets of eyes were now focused on us. Even the dozen or so servants in the room had stopped and were looking. Then I realized that they weren’t annoyed with Keira’s drill sergeant’s voice carrying through the room, everyone was looking at me and my two companions. Miri and I because of our appearance and Sariel because she was the first Fey many had ever seen in their lives. For several seconds, no one moved: even Keira fell silent. Then everyone who was staring realized that I had caught them in the act and now no one knew what to actually do next. Finally, the moment passed as a young sellsword dressed in a clean though wrinkled tunic and hose came forward and introduced himself. “Good evening Fraulein, I’m Heinrich, I apologise for staring, it just that you stand out so much in that dress, I’ve never seen it’s like. Is Fraulein Keira correct and your dress is made from gossamer?”
He was one of those men who knew he was handsome and was used to using it as an advantage in most social situations. He was also experienced enough to switch to a plan B when he didn’t get the gushing reaction that he was expecting.
“I’m not sure: you’ll have to ask Sariel: she’s the one who made it,” I replied in a neutral tone as I pointed towards the Fey.
Looking over towards my friend he said, “Ah so Keira was also correct in that as well: your companion is from the Fey Reich?”
That comment caught me a bit unawares and then I thought about it for a second. Sariel was the first Fey I’d met. Why had th
at never occurred to me before this moment? As I thought about it I couldn’t remember any conversation between Miri, myself and Sariel about where she was from. For that matter, I don’t think we’d ever had a talk as to how and why she’d ended up in the Mid Reich in the first place. All that we knew about her past was that she had ended up chained to the gallows because she rejected the advances of the head of a Demon Cult, and that was it. Strange, spend several days let alone over two weeks riding with someone you normally ended knowing their entire life story, and then some. It simply helped pass the time. Yet I couldn’t recall a single conversation about Sariel’s past. Oh, I could recall several long conversations where both, Miri and I talked about growing up, our adventures and the history and state of the Imperium. Hells even Riley had gotten into the story telling. Yet it had always been Sariel asking the questions. I guess she just didn’t have that interesting of a life. Putting that thought out of my head, I returned my attention back to Heinrich.
I was about to say something when a major gong rang out and another uniformed servant cried out “Ladies and Gentleman dinner is served.”
“Ah, a question for another time: Fraulein Storm Crow, may I escort you to your chair,” said Heinrich extending out his arm.
Without really thinking about it, I took his arm and walked into the dining room.
Behind me I heard Sariel say her voice full of mirth “Fraulein Miri could I escort you to your chair.”
“You’d better or I might not get to eat at all,” said my lover in a rather neutral tone.