"Never trust the story teller, only the story"
~Neil Gaiman, Fables and reflections
Cloves for domination
Lemon for revealing truth
Grave dirt for the summoning of spirits
The index cuticle from a three day old corpse
A drop of my blood
"Guardians of time, pull back the curtain.
Let mysteries of the past be certain.
Past from present to no longer divide.
Send a spirit to lead me inside.
The actors are gone, yet let me see.
As I will it so it must be."
I step back as cool breeze whooshes into the room and puts out all the candles except for the one in front of the mirror,wild and chaotic smoke covers the atmosphere and the vase containing the potion shatters.
I try to meditate and focus only on her name
"Sunniva"
I mentally chant it thrice and just when the smoke begins to take form....
"PACK HALL NOW!!!!!!"Meade's voice all but booms in my head
I hate this place and mostly at times when I'm asked to join the alpha's family for dinner.
The smoke vanishes as well as the shadows,the candles are back on and I just sit in the middle of the room staring at another feeble attempt at summoning and communicating with a spirit .
I get up to go shower and no I'm not ignoring the alpha's call, I'm not just ready now.
It's winter already but I put on a red mid thigh long sleeved gown and a black corset to highlight my slim waist and since it's cold a black shoulder fur,with boots and a pair of gloves seem to do the trick,then I style my hair adding a braid on the high side.
And I step out heading to the pack hall.
****************
I step into the pack after reciting my mantra and I wished I had stayed back.
It's full and we had guests.
Worst part? They aren't subtle about their staring,I take a deep breathe and make it towards the royal table,on getting there I take a bow to acknowledge Meade who is sitting at the head of the table with Lyssa on his right and Lysand on the left,I take my seat on Lysand's left and across me a guy who has refused to cut the staring is seated.
And suddenly my senses are under the ambush of a scent
Like the mixture of nature and spice
The forest and smoke
Green and black
Woodsmoke
Under other circumstances I'd have appreciated it,a nice scenting groomed guy in a three piece suit,tanned skin,a close set of blue eyes and platinum blonde,if only he was polite about his stare,he looked at me like he knew me or we've met and at the same time he didn't, like I was a puzzle he was trying to put in place and with a final hard stare,he excuses himself.
He's gone before I notice there's a gentleman sitting beside me and tell me why he looks amused by the other guys action.
Nevermind,I take back what I said about him being a gentleman
"You took your time" I hear Meade's tight voice,is it just me or everywhere seems tense.
"Forgive me, your grace I was here earlier but due to a wardrobe malfunction had to turn back"I lie through my teeth which Lysand seems to notice and tries to hide his amusement with that stony expression on his face thinking he can fool me.
"And you come looking like this"Lyssa's accusatory voice comes in
"I wasn't aware there was a dress code for the event, pardon me if my attire offends you"I say seemingly more interested in the meal in front of me than the conversation.
And we all busy ourselves with our meals,I try to buy everything just tastes pale on my tongue
How long is this dinner going to take?
"There's no need to put on a act just for show,if you want blood just go straight for it" I hear the guy beside me say
"Here I was thinking I was subtle...the blood you say, where do you think I can get it"
He smiles,a charming one "The room is filled with choices don't you think?"
"You won't mind if use yours, would you?"
"And do I get to live after that?"
"I can't guarantee that"
"Me neither" he says turning to look at the guy across me as he takes his seat,who doesn't even spare me a glance now, not that I care.
Meade clears his throat and addresses the table, "Since we're all here I'd like to first and foremost to our guests from the Northern pack...."
SAY SHIT!!
On instinct I take a quick glance at our guests and turn to look at Lysand only to find him looking at me with an expression that mirrors mine.
Meade continues "....if we were aware that your visit would be sooner than scheduled we would have thrown a fist and party befitting an alpha...."
Uh oh
".... regardless we hope you don't change your mind concerning the alliance as it would benefit both parties "
"Of course not, but first thing first....."the one across me says "our visit is as much as a surprise to us as it is to you since we were just settling in nearby towns, something urgent came up"
"I hope it's for good"Meade says definitely meaning the opposite
"On the contrary, No"
"And does this have anything to do with us?"
"Unfortunately yes..." and now he's looking at me, ".... since you seem to have custody of my cousin".