Madame Sinis

I drummed my fingers on the finely carved surface of my table, the ancient, massive oak top a perfect instrument to play the song of my displeasure. To my chagrin, Pete didn’t give a single fuck about my apparent unease, nor my withering stare. He simply sat there, smiling, between two beautiful humans and two fox kin, while a silvery animal pranced around, in front of me. The creature was no common beast, everyone could tell as much with a single look, but the utter disregard for my presence, while it seemingly inspected the quill, papers and other gizmos on my table was unsettling, almost as if it didn’t consider me worthy of notice.

“So what’s this whole twaddle about a family in need? I’m not running a fucking charity, as you well know,” I finally broke the silence. He had convinced me to take them upstairs, sprouting a fantastic tale about fallen kingdoms and beautiful princesses. At first, I had thought he had found a wench somewhere, he wanted me to hire and I still thought it possible, but the girl they had with them was too young and the other two didn’t seem the type. Also, their whole presence screamed influence and power, even though they didn’t show it directly. I just couldn’t imagine they’d be looking for work in a place like mine.

“Oh, well, maybe it’d be for the best, if we waited a few more minutes. I told you, we’re still missing two of our…” he was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

“And there they are,” he mumbled, while I barked: “come in.”

The door opened partially and Liz, one of mine, pushed head through the crack. “I’ve got them. They’re not quite what I expected. Do you want…”

“Yes, send them in.” My temper was already rising. Somehow I knew, I wasn’t going to like where this was going, but I owed it to the little creep to at least hear him out. Why, by all the gods, had I ever promised him a favour? Just because he had inadvertently saved one of my girls? Should have let the bitch die, she had caused more trouble than she had ever been worth, anyways.

I eyed the door, half curiously, half exasperatedly. When it swung open completely and two more women made their way inside, I immediately knew I was up shit creek, without a paddle or a canoe. Fucking hells, I should have know when I had seen the tails on his companions.

The newcomers were stunning, no doubt about it, even more so then the two ladies already seated at my table, but it wasn’t their looks that made my toes curl up in anticipation, nor was it the fluffy wave of silver and white behind their backs. Oh no, those things I could deal with. I was much too old to fall for a pretty smile or exotic allure, but their eyes… orbs of molten silver and iridescent fire, which seemed to tear right through me, shone with their own, inner light and I knew without a doubt, whom I was staring at.

Rumours of the Mask’s demise had made their rounds for days now, but I had never put much stock in them. Shadows of his past, incarnations of magic and the ambitions of vampires were just one fairytale too much for me to swallow, but now… I had about as much magical talent as a toad, but even I could feel the invisible currents circling around them, as if the very fabric of the world was waiting for their commands, ready to do their bidding. What had the little shit stain dragged me into, now?

“By the abyss, Pete,” I vented, “what the hells have you done?”

“Me,” he replied innocently, with an infuriating smile on his face. “Nothing. I simply meant to introduce you to my friends. Now, that we’re all here, allow me the honours. The kitsune, or fox kin, as you may know them, are the last living royals of their fallen kingdom, the charming blonde, you’ve been ogling, is a dragoness and the red head at her side is her vampiric servant.” I feared my heart might stutter to a stop but he continued on, mercilessly.

“They’ve caused quite the ruckus since they’ve arrived here, I’m sure some of their exploits have reached your ears, considering how many people you know. Now, I’m telling you this much to make one thing abundantly clear: they’ll get what they want and there isn’t much between heaven and earth that can stop them. Unfortunately, what they want now, is a private chat with one of your esteemed customers. It’s up to you to decide, how they’re going to go about it.” By now, I was sweating profusely, my intuition, which had served me well for all the decades I had spent wallowing in the mud of our so called society, buzzing in my ears to take him seriously. There was nothing I wanted to do more, than call for Bert and his men and have them throw the whole circus out the front door. Unfortunately, I was convinced, it wouldn’t end quite that way. A dragoness? Was he fucking kidding me? And who the hells were those two newcomers? If the blonde was a dragon in disguise, I didn’t even want to hazard a guess. Maybe an incarnation of a deity? Unfortunately I didn’t believe in that whole mumbo jumbo.

“Proof,” I finally pressed out, regaining a modicum of composure.

“I beg your pardon,” he replied politely, while the two ladies slowly came closer, refusing to take the vacant seats. I didn’t know why, but them towering over us somehow felt… appropriate.

“Proof,” I croaked. “Before we continue, I want proof of your claims.” He sighed.

“Well…” the crackling of electricity, accompanied by a blinding flash of light and the piercing smell of ozone brought him up short. Behind the black haired beauty, tendrils of molten light had suddenly materialised, wings of silver, slithering through the room like living snakes. I felt my hair rise in the charged air and I couldn’t keep my mouth from dropping, my eyes twitching nervously. I had heard the descriptions, the fabulous stories, of the living star, that had returned the Mask to oblivion, but seeing it in the flesh was something else entirely. And I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“Oh, fuck me,” I grumbled, while a depressing sense of finality clamped down on my heart. There was no way in all hells, I’d get out of here unscathed, was there? But then, my brain kicked back in, despite the rising wave of panic. They wanted something from me, didn’t they? And apparently, they were prepared to bargain for it. Maybe this wasn’t so bad, after all.

“I see,” I began. “Are you threatening me, then?”

“No,” the winged… creature stated, her voice a tantalising cadence, that barely masked the thrum of power behind her words. “Believe me, you’d know, if we were.” Her icy smile put the lie to her words. “We are here for John, nothing else. If you deem it necessary to protect him, though,” her words trailed off while she spread her hands, but the implied meaning was obvious. No threats, my wrinkly, old ass.

Still, despite the ungodly beings Pete had led into my home, I felt reassured. We were back on familiar ground. Negotiating, with my life and livelihood on the line, was something of a speciality of mine. I didn’t enjoy it, but I wouldn’t have been where I was, if I had shied away from it.

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“I do,” I said firmly. “He’s an esteemed customer and I’m not going to betray his trust and risk my reputation. You might just as well slit my throat now, for if I did, my life wouldn’t be worth a single copper. Doesn’t mean we can’t come to an understanding, though. You’ll have to simply sweeten the deal with something that’ll make it worth my while...”

To my surprise, it was the feline creature on my desk, who answered me. An eerie, female voice suddenly sounded in my mind, while the beast leisurely strolled towards me. “Is that so? And why should we bother? If we kill you now, we get John, either way. I’m quite sure, dear Liz, who is incidentally listening at the door, would be delighted to show us, where he hides.” Damn it… I had to deal with the whore, before she could run her bloody mouth and I had to keep my head above water. Luckily, I had expected something along those lines, even though the talking fox had been a surprise, well, a small one, considering… I pulled on a hidden rope under my desk and said:

“Cuz that’s not all you want, now, is it? I know John. He’s an idiot and definitely not the one you’re after. He’s not bright enough to cause the kind of trouble, that would attract people like you. I don’t exactly know what you want, nor do I care, but I’m sure you could get there much faster with my assistance. For me, it makes little to no difference. If word gets out, that I betrayed one of the Wheel’s servants, I’m a dead hag, walking. Since that’s what you’re asking, I’d rather go the full distance and reap some benefits along the way. So, what do you say, kitten?”

The fox hissed and seemed on the verge of launching at me, but laughter, as clear as bell, held her back. From one second to the next, the tendrils of power and their unearthly light vanished. The silver tailed woman shared a look with the fox, who sat peacefully back on her haunches. The tall kitsune offered me her hand, still chuckling quietly.

“You’re just what I imagined,” she elaborated, while I carefully took her fingers in my own. Her skin was cool to the touch and up close, it seemed to exude a silvery light, similar to the one of her wings. “I’m Cassandra, Cassandra Pendragon. The fox, you so rudely called a kitten, is my mother, Helena, that’s Ahri, Viyara and Aurelia. The two others are my siblings, Mordred and Reia. So tell me, Madame, what do you have in mind? If it’s not completely unreasonable, I’m sure we can reach an arrangement, we can all live with.” Her word choice made me suspicious. Was she implying that I wouldn’t live, if we didn’t? Probably. Oh, what the hell. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

“A few things come to mind,” I explained, hesitating just long enough to make it seem like I was making things up as I went along. “Youth and health, wealth, power. Either one seems worth risking my life for. Unfortunately, I’ve already accumulated quite a bit of the latter two, so you’d have to offer me even more. As for the former… look at me. Assuming you’re as powerful as I suspect, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to return a few decades to me, should it?”

There it was. The reason why I had been so successful over the last few years. I was already dying from a slow acting disease, which had made risking my life quite a bit easier. I had taken chances, no sane person would have and they had paid off. One last gamble and maybe I’d finally find the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow. The elusive little bugger had evaded me for long enough. Maybe I’d finally be able to use the bloody wealth I had been toiling for.

The tailless redhead, Aurelia, grinned widely. “Oh, that should be manageable. If my friends decide to help you out, I’ll be happy to provide. Only… it might be slightly painful.”

“Painful,” I echoed incredulously. “Girlie, you’ve no idea what getting up in the morning means, for someone my age. Pain doesn’t scare me. Incontinence and dementia does.”

“That’s good to know,” she purred, her canines suddenly elongating before my eyes. I swallowed dryly, remembering Pete’s words. “Her vampiric servant”. For fuck’s sake!

“Hold on a minute,” I complained. “I said youth, not… whatever this is…” I was interrupted, again, when we heard a faint thud from behind the door and a quiet knock, a second later.

“Bring her in,” I ordered. One of Bert’s men had made his way upstairs, when I had pulled on my hidden alarm and true to his task, he had taken out everyone he had found outside my study. Poor Liz had never even seen it coming, but the stupid girl shouldn’t have listened at the door in the first place. I had always warned her, her curiosity would one day be her downfall. Now, she was being carried inside by an ape in human skin and unceremoniously dumped onto the floor, like a bag of dirty sheets. “Thanks, Rafique. You can go back down and pour yourself a glass of whatever you want. You’ve done well. Now, leave us and close the door, on your way out.” He smiled distractedly, already going through the contents of the top shelf in his mind, and lumbered away.

“That’s one problem taken care of,” I spoke into the silence. My guests were eyeing Liz, but it wasn’t pity or outrage, I saw in their gazes. It was something closer to… regret, maybe, and the one who had introduced them, Cassandra, seemed pensive, calculating, even. I rapped my knuckles against the cold wood to regain their attention. “If we can also settle on my payment, I’d be delighted to show you to John’s accommodations and, if you want me to, help you unravel whatever knot you’re dealing with.” Maybe I was acting a bit too needy, but I wasn’t willing to let this go. It might very well be my one and only chance.

“None of us are capable of the magic you seek,” Ahri explained, after an awkward silence. “What you ask is no mean feat, it’s hardly possible to change the age of a creature with normal spells. There are ways, of course, but we don’t have the knowledge, nor the power, yet, to make it happen. Your price is, by no stretch of the imagination, even remotely corresponding to what we want. Truth be told, I’m surprised we’re still having this conversation.” Her eyes had traveled to Cassandra during her last words, but the kitsune didn’t seem bothered and merely shrugged.

“She reminds me of Greta,” Cassandra explained, obviously for her friends’ benefit, since I didn’t understand a single word. “But it doesn’t matter, either way. As you said, we can’t do it, whether we wanted to, or not.”

“I could,” Aurelia quietly interrupted. “No magic necessary.” She focused on me and added: “but it’d be a double edged sword. Forget the myths you might have heard. I can return your youth and your health, even grant you strength, the likes of which you haven’t even dreamed of, but it’ll cost you much more than the price of a back door bargain.”

“Could you be more specific,” I demanded. “It sounds ominous enough, but I’d appreciate facts.”

“There’s a good chance you won’t survive the transformation, in the first place. If you do, you’ll be… different, but I can’t say in what way. My blood is powerful and it’s impossible to predict, what it’s going to do to you. It’d be a leap of faith. Quite fitting, don’t you think?” What the hells was she getting at? Did she know I was sick? I had heard many a story about the heightened senses of the demi races, and with my study filled to the brim with creatures, I normally would have placed in a box, labeled fairy tales and other bullshit, I couldn’t shake the feeling, they all knew more, than they let on. Maybe even, that I was already dying.

My thoughts were cut short, when Cassandra clicked her tongue and asked: “When was the last time you’ve turned someone? Ages ago, I bet. This is getting out of hand. I’m willing to indulge her to a degree, but I’m not going to create another problem for us. Madame Sinis, it’s been a pleasure, but it seems like we’ve reached an impasse. What you want and what you have… there’s too much of a difference and I’d prefer to incur your wrath, while you’re still human. Let’s cut to the chase, then. The girl on the floor can just as easily tell us what we need to know and I’m willing to bet, she’s going to be much easier to persuade. Still, I’m quite interested in what you have to say, considering you’ve already called John a servant of the Wheel. You mentioned wealth and power, before. I assume, you’re not overly interested in gold, but what about an army? Actual influence and a chance to stay close to those who might grant your true desire, one day?”

I licked my lips and said: “pretty words, indeed. But again, what do you mean, exactly?”

Through a chillingly cold smile, she replied: “I wonder, do you know which Captain has the most influence on the slave trade?”