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Scales & Shadows Ch37: Festival pt. 1
🕑 Added 2023-07-07 01:49:11 +0000 UTCOnce I finished dressing myself, I looked down and checked that my sleeves were even and everything was in place. I paused. For a moment, what I was seeing seemed unreal.
Just as I was no longer a skinny orphan, I was also no longer a child. In only a little over two years, I’d changed so much that I doubted my younger self would even recognize me. She’d see someone unapproachable: a gorgeous kelaniel wearing clothing of the finest silk. As I was Phaeliisthia’s student today, so too did I wear her colors of white and gold.
I liked what I saw. Backed by the power I’d taken for my own from my curse, I felt strong and capable.
Until now, I’d been hidden away in Phaeliisthia’s estate. Today was Tuo’Antzin, the start of the dry season, and while I wouldn’t be attending as hssen, “Phaeliisthia’s student” was an almost equally respectable title in Uzh.
I left my room holding my head and body high, and closed the door with my tail. Moments later, Kyrae stepped into the hallway. Before she noticed me, she closed the door, exhaling deeply.
When she turned, and I saw the anxiety on her face, I almost rushed forward to hug her. I didn’t only because what she wore put my regal-but-simple outfit to shame.
Jewelry and frills. The white robe she wore flared out at the sides and ended just below her knees. Ruffled, and fringed with gold threaded bands, the garment almost made me wish that I had legs so I could wear one and twirl in it. Kyrae wore earrings, a necklace, and bangles all of gold, with fire-red gems set into them. Even her shoes had single gems set in by the ankles.
All of it made the simple amulet I wore look dull, and even though I’d never seen any value in jewelry besides selling it to someone else, my sister wearing what she was made a good argument for covering myself in shiny valuables.
“How do I look?” she asked, and all her anxiety melted away into a big, toothy smile. Her ears, I noticed, had small studs shining from the pointed tips that poked out of her well-kept, long black hair.
“You look really pretty!” I answered honestly. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you’re making me a little jealous.”
Kyrae twirled in response, robe flaring and jewelry jangling. “Thanks, Issa. I feel great. Even though I doubt today’s going to be all fun, I’m still looking forward to the festival.” She stepped up to me and took my hand in hers. “And I’m glad you’re happy too! I can tell you are even if you don’t say it.”
To that, I returned my sister’s warm smile. Together, we waited for Ssiina in the hall. Zinniz coiled by the window, ready to lead us to the city. I didn’t know how the small red lamia would be able to move us all in one aazh, but I figured he had a way to.
“Be careful today, you two,” Phaeliisthia’s servant said with a sad smile. “You will draw attention from more than those with grander motives.”
I glanced at Ssiina’s still-closed door. “Why just us two?”
“Ssiina has experience among her own kind, and the ussen. For all you and Kyrae have been taught, experience teaches more.”
“I guess,” I admitted.
“He’s right, Issa,” Kyrae said.
I ignored her, which was difficult. “What kind of attention and from who, Zinniz? Could you be less cryptic?”
Phaeliisthia’s servant rolled his eyes, a slight against a hssen that could see them scooped out. “You three are pretty young ladies. Your size and status won’t protect you from those too stupid to care. I know you’ve been stuck on this estate, but Ssiina’s dealt with it and surely you know what I’m talking about from the standpoint of an observer.”
I blinked. “Oh. Well I’ll tell them to get lost and kill them if they don’t.”
To that, Zinniz smiled thinly, but said nothing.
Moments later, Ssiina’s door opened, and our eldest sister slithered out into the hallway and into the light. She was gorgeous, and from the way she carried herself, she knew it. Like Kyrae, she wore jewelry in abundance, although her outfit matched mine.
Ssiina’s golden eyes warmed when she saw me, and she pulled me into a careful embrace. “You look radiant, Sister. Both of you do.”
My hearts fluttered at Ssiina’s words. It was one thing to feel pretty, but another for someone to say as much. Ssiina’s standards were high.
I took almost too long to reply before mumbling, “Thanks.”
As Ssiina slithered past to gush at Kyrae, Zinniz clapped his hands. “Follow me—we’re already going to be a little late, but if you’re very lucky you might be able to slip into the crowd unnoticed.”
He turned and slithered quickly down the hallway. I followed first behind him, as Ssiina still gushed about Kyrae’s appearance behind me.
“Do you really think we can get into the festival unnoticed?” I asked.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Zinniz replied, “but Mistress’s entrance should distract a fair few people.”
“Is that why we’ve not seen her this morning?” I asked, and my sisters behind me stopped their whispering to listen.
“Oh yes, very much so. Mistress rarely attends.”
“Why is that?” The question slipped out before I could think to stop it.
Zinniz faltered, and I ran up onto the tip of his tail, causing the servant to tense. He replied after resuming his pace and pulling out from under me. “I shouldn’t guess at Mistress’s intentions, but I think you might know.”
“I really don’t.”
Zinniz only sighed, and the rest of our slither out of the estate was in relative silence. Conversation only picked up again once we approached the aazh and Zinniz settled into the back. It was crowded with all of us in the small boat, but Phaeliisthia’s servant made the trip out and down her river effortlessly—somehow.
Soon we were in the canals of Uzh. Around some of the black stone buildings ahead, I could hear faint shouting, and only a few people were out when we landed and disembarked onto a slitherway.
“I will return here at dusk. If you need to enter the estate in an emergency, Phaeliisthia has granted you an exception to her wards.”
I looked back at the river and the imposing wall of mangroves that rose into other types of trees with the distant island. “How do we get in?”
“However you please,” Zinniz answered simply, though his eyes darted to the shadow of a nearby building. “Now go, you’re already drawing eyes.”
Turning back, I could already see the few people out staring at us. I couldn’t quite figure out what their emotions were, but the way a few had stopped moving to gawp gave me an idea that it was probably something serious.
“Thank you, Zinniz,” Ssiina said in a formal tone before addressing us. “Come. We will visit the market first. I know at least one of you wishes to eat far more street food than is wise.”
To that, I nodded sharply. Kyrae stifled a giggle and the two of us followed Ssiina off toward the market, skirting the shouting crowd. For now, our hssen-raised sister was in charge. She would argue that to always be the case as she was the eldest, but for now I’d play along.
Student of Phaeliisthia. Among the first since the dawn of the Empire.
When my thoughts put it like that, my current position didn’t seem like much of a demotion from hssen.
I kept my head held high and did my best to look haughty as we slithered along, drawing stares from most everyone. When we crossed a bridge across a canal, I got a look toward the open square where the commotion was. Over the trees, I saw the feathered tip of a massive wing. Then, in a bust of golden light it was gone.
Oh.
That would distract just about anyone.
“It appears we do not have much quiet time left,” Ssiina said. “Prepare yourselves.”
“Bring it on,” Kyrae answered, although one of her fingers nervously curled a few strands of her hair.
I smiled, showing fangs. “I’m ready.”
Together, we slithered and walked around the last corner and into the still-crowded market. To some, good food or the chance of a good deal was clearly more enticing than the city’s draconic guardian descending into the main square in a blast of radiant magic.
Uzh’s market on the day of Tuo’Antzin looked like a river whose banks had burst into it. Stalls and carpets packed with goods and trinkets tumbled into the formerly-wide street two or three rows deep in a display of vibrant color that lit up the shining black stone of the surrounding buildings. From kss’kaa to ssen’iir, people of all sorts plied their wares and the air was filled with a dull roar of shouts and excited conversation. Somewhere ahead, someone was even singing.
The shadows still quivered from Phaeliisthia’s approach, hiding even further from the mid-morning sun. The power they offered comforted me with its chill embrace. Unless our lives were in danger, I wasn’t to use my shadow powers—my curse staying secret was the most important thing today. Kyrae’s pending adoption and my reintroduction with a new name were really just an excuse for us to be secretive. People won’t find a secret they’re not looking for unless you let something slip.
Holding my hands together to keep them still, I followed alongside and a little behind Ssiina, my lower body trailing out behind hers. Kyrae took our sister’s other flank, her physical presence smaller.
But she was no less noticed.
Murmurs rolled through the crowd like a slow wave, and the few people in the street made way for us—Ssiina, probably—pulling tails to the sides.
“Where should we go first?” my hssen-raised sister asked without a shred of uncertainty.
“Food, please,” I replied, bowing my head.
Ssiina rolled her eyes. “Of course you would. How about you?” she addressed Kyrae.
“There are some ritual supplies I would like to see if I could find.” My elf sister bowed similarly.
The display was deferential, but only just. Something for an elder more than hssen. Ssiina wasn’t likely to be recognized as anything other than Phaeliisthia’s student by many people. Those few who did, however, was what this whole show was for.
As for the ritual supplies, I knew very little about that. Beyond chalk and basic inks for practicing sigils, I hadn’t had much experience regarding what my sisters did with the ritual side of sigilcraft. Magic coming from some extraplanar monstrosity didn’t exactly lend itself to carefully prepared rituals and semi-permanent enchantments.
Having my shadow magic lingering around would be a bad idea. It sure had been when I’d tried it some months back. Rarely had I ever seen Phaeliisthia truly angry at me.
All I knew was that rituals used fancy inks with gemstone dust and other things in them, chalks too, and a variety of symbolic odds and ends that sometimes—often, even—included blood. It made sense then that Ssiina beelined us toward an overstuffed stall that smelled of so many dried herbs it made my nose and tongue hurt.
All around us, I felt the gazes of others. For a fleeting moment, I wanted to shrink away, but a single glance down at my gilded sleeve and I straightened my posture.
“W-welcome,” the stall’s owner stuttered. An older lania’el man, he wore his long, graying hair in a straight tail behind him. He also looked between us three with a sort of nervousness mixed with something I couldn’t tell.
Ssiina merely glanced at him before she began to look through his wares. I at least gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile before staring at the only thing I had any idea the use of: ink. Several bottles and clay pots were stacked neatly amongst a chaos of other reagents.
With us two parted, Kyrae stepped forward, and I listened in. She spoke evenly, asking about this herb and that powder. The shopkeeper’s voice grew smoother as my sister spoke, and the attention I’d felt drifted away from us. Today, after all, was Tuo’Antzin. A wondrous festival day where we were only one attraction. Some still whispered about “students of Phaeliisthia” and I had to tune out mutterings that my shadows picked up.
As I picked through inks for one that would simply be cheap and consistently dark, the market resumed a semblance of normalcy—still without all the shady undercurrents of what I’d consider to be a real market. Few cities were as nice for their residents as Uzh. That it was an isolated, walled garden for the elite probably helped a lot. Now that I was one of those elite, I rather liked the place… mostly.
I didn’t tune everyone out, and I picked up on a complaint about an ea just as someone decided to approach our group. That someone was a well-dressed ke’lania—ussen probably—and she paired the rich blue of her attire with a petty glare. I looked closer, and realized that they were probably a he, so ussent instead of ussen.
I followed his eyes and found him looking at Kyrae. The moment Ssiina noticed where I was glancing and turned, however, his expression softened and became conciliatory.
He’s one of those, then.
I tried to recall my lessons in the brief moments we had before someone spoke. Blue was probably an important color to his family. The color usually meant a coastal tie, and if he didn’t like elves, he wasn’t going to be from the Coral Coast or Highwater provinces.
Unfortunately, I ran out of time.
“Greetings, Hssen Ssiina.” The ussent bowed low as was proper.
“Greetings,” my sister replied without deference. Behind her, where he couldn’t see, my sister’s tail tip flicked anxiously.
He’s here for something then. For now, Kyrae continued talking with the stall owner—something about a particular kind of bone powder.
I glanced the ussent’s way and he smiled widely at me. “And greetings to you as well, student of Phaeliisthia. I am Tanyn Kanajiir.”
I finally got a good look at him: a slightly broad face paired with a well-angled jawline and shapely nose gave him an endearing sort of look. With his well-kept, short black hair, and blue-green scales that complimented his outfit, he looked affable. Immediately, I thought of con artists. His smile faltered, and I quickly replied.
“Greetings, Ussent Tanyn,” I said with a guess at his class. From how he beamed at me, I probably got it right. “I am Issa.” I didn’t bow, and Tanyn’s lips twitched.
“What is it like being students of Phaeliisthia? I wasn’t aware that she took students at all, so I imagine you two have done something extraordinary to gain her attention.”
“Perhaps.” I shrugged.
Between Ssiina and me, Kyrae thanked the stall owner and slipped a tiny cloth pouch into a small satchel.
Tanyn continued, slithering a little closer, “Especially you, Issa. Such talent coming from someone below ussen birth is astounding. Are your family kss’kaa, perhaps?”
He’s probing for information, right? More importantly, he was clearly ignoring Kyrae.
“Issa’s family are not kss’kaa,” Kyrae answered, turning around. “I am Kyrae, also a student of Phaeliisthia. The third student.” She almost kept straight, but dipped in a slight bow at the end.
By now, many of the eyes that had turned away were on us again, and the market was starting to fill with people coming in or returning from Phaeliisthia’s distraction.
Tanyn was silent for a moment, but he eventually responded. “Of course.” He offered no apology to Kyrae, and instead fixed his gaze on me. I watched his eyes travel down and then back up. “An even more impressive feat then, Issa. Will you be staying a student for a long time, or might you be interested in returning to the Empire outside of Phaeliisthia’s estate? You will need allies if you do, and it would be a shame to hide away.”
“I’ll decide later,” I answered. I know you just want to use me. Please leave.
“Care to take a midday meal together then? While I know you and Hssen Ssiina are at no loss for wealth, it will be my treat.”
I glanced at Ssiina who nodded at me. I didn’t know exactly what she meant by the gesture, but I took it as tacit permission to speak my mind. “None of the three of us are lacking in wealth, Tanyn.” I dropped his title and the smile wiped off his face. “We will take our midday meal without you. Leave.”
The ussent hissed, pulling up to loom over me. “As a student of Phaeliisthia you should know better than to treat me so crassly! Even the ea knows as much.”
“As my teacher does, so too do I show deference to those who deserve it,” I shot back, posturing myself to rise above him with my larger size. I did not hiss—I didn’t need to.
“You do not have an ounce of her power,” Tanyn retorted, all pretense of nicety gone from his voice.
Probably wiser than I was, Kyrae stayed quiet, although her sharp glare spoke volumes, and I saw her hands make ready.
“Zhussent Tanyn,” Ssiina said in a tone of voice that, for an instant, sounded almost like our sire. “My fellow students are uncomfortable with your advances. Leave now, and I will forgive this sleight and ensure Phaeliisthia understands we hold you no ill will.”
Speak for yourself, Ssiina. Every passing moment, I like this guy less.
“Zhussent!” Tanyn spat, then lowered himself as he remembered he was speaking to royalty. He muttered “how dare you” under his breath just low enough that I doubted either of my sisters caught it.
Zhussen? The word made sense—sorta. Like a noble under other nobles, but “zh” had so many contextual meanings that I didn’t really know. And I thought in lamian! Uzh was a reverent sort of word, but “zhu” in the context was not honorable, and I knew that much at least.
Ssiina’s golden eyes glinted dangerously. “I dare because it is what you are. Ussent by the barest of margin. A title and nothing more.”
Oh, okay. Ouch. My eyes darted between the pair as I lowered myself down to my normal resting height. This was no longer my or Kyrae’s battle. The red-faced Tanyn didn’t take long to plant his tail in his mouth, however.
“And youall have no power of your own: merely that of your sire and tutor!”
The moment the words left the ussent’s mouth, he went from flushed to pale. I didn’t pay all that much attention to exactly what an insult to a hssen like that could be grounds for, but it didn’t take much to know it was bad.
“Would Phaeliisthia truly take me on as a student if that were true?” My sister’s fingers flashed into several sigils, and Tanyn jerked.
As if lifted by invisible strings, he was picked up, then forcibly coiled. The ussent grunted in pained surprise, but didn’t shout. The bustle of the marketplace stilled as people stopped to watch. Still tracing, Ssiina pointed with one finger, its sharp nail immaculately polished, and tossed Tanyn down the marketplace above the heads of all the onlookers.
He started to try to cast back, and Ssiina’s brow twitched, her concentration straining to keep him immobile and moving. I saw Kyrae’s hands flash, hidden behind Ssiina and the partial cover of the stall’s display.
Tanyn’s arms jerked hard—hit by a hastier spell— and he cried out in real pain this time. Kyrae’s spell was enough to let Ssiina guide him over the canal at the end of the street and drop him into the water. A small plume of droplets glittered in the sun above where he went in.
After a shocked moment, the marketplace erupted into murmurs and glances in our direction. Some people moved quickly away, but others unfortunately approached. A practically-dressed ke’lania woman slithered off toward where Tanyn had fallen in.
She spared Ssiina a bow and worried glance. My sister nodded in reply, and I had to assume that meant she’d pursue no other action.
No one said a word or moved against us despite what Ssiina and Kyrae had done. I’d known this would happen—Ssiina had every right to do more than what she’d done—but it was weird not diving for the nearest alley.
More importantly… “That was amazing, Ss-Hssen Ssiina!” I barely resisted the urge to latch onto her like a limpet.
“It was a fine display,” Ssiina agreed, though her eyes were on Kyrae.
Our elf sister blushed, but didn’t say anything, as the crowd descended upon us. Ssiina fielded the majority of questions, and to be fair, most were aimed at her.
Kyrae got an unfortunate amount of questions about what amazing things she had done to become an student of Phaeliisthia as an elf, which we all took turns deflecting. Ssiina and Kyrae cut me off several times, even though my threats weren’t that severe. Teeth grow back.
As we talked, I kept watch on where Ssiina had tossed Tanyn into the canal. Sure enough, the woman, who was probably his bodyguard and servant, helped him out of the canal. The ussent cradled an arm that was bent sharply the wrong way. I didn’t notice him meeting with anyone else immediately, however, and the pair slinked off out of my range of shadow perception.
Was he really acting alone? Also, I’d have put even more force into that spell, Kyrae.
At that point, my stomach growled audibly, and I spoke up. “Might we get our midday meal, Hssen Ssiina?”
My sister latched into my idea like a tree in a flood. “Certainly, Issa.”
She moved, and the crowd parted. Kyrae and I quickly followed. My elf sister gave a wave to the stall owner, who returned her gesture with a smile moments before his stall was overwhelmed by potential customers.
As we slithered through a maze of people and goods toward the wonderful smell of frying fish, the eyes on us didn’t leave. Ssiina had made known what she could do as a student of Phaeliisthia. Others would soon want to know about Kyrae and me: me who was a beginner sigilist at best, and had shadow powers she needed to hide at all costs.
Crap.
Well, at least there’s good food!
