“But why here?” Xlina pressed on, not satisfied with Lexxes answer. “Why downtown Portland? It just seems so... mundane.”
“Love,” Oxivius countered, tapping his cane on the walk loudly to accentuate his words. “Sometimes enlightenment is less about seeing new things and more about seeing old things with new eyes.”
“That clears it up,” Amber muttered again, drawing a snicker from Xlina, who failed to suppress her mirth at Amber’s color commentary.
“Come now; enough questions,” Lexxes chided, a slight tone of disapproval in her voice. “You are about to experience something few have the luxury of. Show a little respect please.”
“We’re honored?” Amber replied back, this time loudly enough for all to hear. The underlying annoyance in her voice was as plain as the cobblestone walk before them.
“You should be, Amber.” Oxivius jumped in quickly to diffuse the growing tension. “Few if any are granted audience with the Council, save for the Council of course.”
“So much for ‘by the people for the people,’” Amber quipped in return with a roll of her eyes. “The more I learn about this stuff, the more it feels like kings, emperors, and titans ruling over the huddled masses.”
“Matters of importance at this level,” Lexxes countered firmly, “should not be left to a simple popularity vote. The council decides all the comings and goings as it pertains to our business. Outside of that, our people are free to be people.”
“I’m sure,” Amber retorted. “Which is precisely why we find ourselves groveling for the Hearth, right?”
“You yourself have seen the dangers,” Lexxes scolded with authority. “Morticae and his ilk are not to be taken lightly. Without the Council to observe and regulate, we would be thrown into chaos, as those seeking power like Morticae rarely care about those they need to step on to acquire it.”
“Typical response from one of those in power,” Amber countered. “For all us little powerless serfs, it sounds like the same old adage. Those in power, Xlina, seek two things and two things only: to keep their own and to prevent others from acquiring theirs. That’s how the powerful and elite stay in charge.”
“That’s the type of limited prerogative that I would expect from a mundane,” Lexxes shot back fiercely. “The way of the powerless is that of envy; it’s mankind’s inability to accept those simple differences that drove our people, Xlina, from this place.”
“Please. Now is not the time for political discourse,” Oxivius interjected, trying to bring them back to the task at hand.
“No!” Amber said, halting mid-stride. “Now is exactly the time. Where was the Council? Huh? Where were they before? When we were just two college girls etching out our simple lives. Not a one of you cared about the peasants below you. Where was the Council when Xlina was tricked? Huh? Where was the Council when Puc was growing fat, allowing your kind to feed at Pandora’s? Not a peep when they could have prevented all of this. It wasn’t until Xlina showed her potential, until she tipped your precious scales of power, that any of you gave two shits about us.”
“Amber,” Xlina interrupted, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder to no effect; Amber just shrugged it off in her continued tirade.
“Now I am grateful for what you’re about to do,” Amber vented angrily. “But don’t expect me to bow and give deference in awe that your Council finally decided to get off its complacent ass and take notice to what’s been going on around here.”
“Amber, please,” Xlina begged, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder once more and finally drawing the girl’s eyes to her own. She saw the pain in Amber’s eyes, the frustration and torment, the sadness that lurked there screaming to be let out. She hadn’t considered the long-term effects of the encounter with the wraith until this very moment. Looking in Amber’s eyes, she could see the swelling emotion swirling below the surface.
“It had to be said,” Amber balked defiantly. “Better now than in the presence of the high and mighty Council.”
“You don’t understand,” Lexxes answered stoically. “You’re young, impulsive, and reckless... I can’t teach you this in the time we have, but know that your anger is misplaced. You speak from a place of hurt, but also a place of ignorance of the wider world. You would judge our kind based on your limited view of a handful of events. Mind your tongue in the Council, and let the adults talk. I warn you, this is no place for your unabashed arrogance or self-importance, you petulant little girl.”
The four allies stood aghast in silence for a moment as Amber and Lexxes traded glares, both seemingly daring the other to continue the escalation. Oxivius looked at Xlina with wide eyes and rolled his shoulders, tapping his cane nervously on the walk as if to urge her to interject. Xlina looked at the two women, dumbfounded. They had survived assassins, mythical beasts, and warlocks, but something far more insidious lurked below the surface. A tension was growing in Amber, a frustration or resentment that was building with every step. She could feel it hanging on the woman like a palpable cloud. She wished for the time to take Amber aside, to have a long conversation about everything, like the night they had shared in her room at the Hearth, but time wasn’t on their side. She promised herself she would find the time later, that when all was said and done, the two would sit over a pint of ice cream and have a good laugh and cry at the traumas and successes they had found.
“We must focus on Puc,” Xlina declared, breaking the awkward silence. “Remember who the bad guys are here.”
“Indeed,” Oxivius agreed with a thankful nod to Xlina. “The fae and his cohorts are the bad guys. You three are the good guys, and I’m the dubious but fun guy.”
His levity was just the tension breaker that was needed as Amber and Lexxes looked at him, an odd sight in downtown Portland, like a performer who had lost his circus. He managed to look sophisticated yet out of place, and his smile was infectious as the two slowly came around with grins of their own at the absolute absurdity of the man before them. Xlina mouthed a silent “thank you” to Oxivius, which he returned with a smirk and a tip of his hat before tapping his cane thrice on the walk and pointing to an open courtyard.
“I believe we have arrived, no?” He said, indicating a large open yard before the massive courthouse structure. From a distance, the courthouse loomed like a giant, but up close, it was truly a mammoth of a building. It stood like an obelisk, a stalwart guard watching the centuries pass in a silent vigil. It was old and powerful. Xlina could feel it in her very bones as her heart skipped a beat.
“It’s magnificent,” Xlina gasped, catching the sudden sense of exhilaration in her chest. Energy bounded inside her as if she were standing on an intersecting ley line, leaving her with the floating feeling inside. At the center of the courtyard stood a tall monument of shaped metal that looked like a lamp post, but it had a massive four-sided clock at its top. As they approached, she could hear the mechanical click of the clock’s interworking keeping time.
“So what? Do we just stroll in and ask for the council?” Amber asked in a softer tone than before.
“Not hardly,” Lexxes answered. Looking at her allies, she placed a hand on the clock monument, and the world began to turn. Xlina felt the world shift, rotating on its axis, until down was up and up was down. In perhaps the fastest transition she had ever experienced, she found herself disoriented under a red sky. Most of the city had been replaced with strange structures with spiral roofs that looked like rows and rows of drills pointing at the sky. The courthouse stood before them the same as before, but instead of weathered gray stone, it was made of a shiny white alabaster that seemed to glow under the red sky.
“This is...” Amber stammered in disbelief.
“The Otherworld,” Xlina finished, catching her breath as her senses reoriented.
“Magical business,” Lexxes stated formally, “is best conducted in the realm of magic, my naïve girls.”
Xlina and Amber were too taken aback in awe of the city before them to take note
of the slight in Lexxes’ words. Oxivius merely straightened his vest and top hat, fussing idly over the prim and proper appearance of his clothes. People and creatures of all kinds roamed and milled about the city streets, completely ignoring them, as if a group appearing out of thin air were commonplace. Xlina couldn’t help but marvel as she saw a gentleman with the torso of a man and the legs of a deer bound by. With a satchel filled with papers, he called to the passersby, selling his wares.
“Get the latest edition,” he called in a sweet voice that sounded boyish despite his size. “Don’t miss out on tomorrow’s news today.”
“Tomorrow’s news?” Xlina asked as he approached.
“Indeed, my lady. The Edge brings you all of tomorrow’s breaking news today,” he answered, skipping up to her on his hoofs. He had sandy-brown hair, freckles, and blue eyes that made him seem innocent and trustworthy. He sported a green felt jacket and pawed at the ground excitedly with one leg as he reached into his satchel.
“This is what will happen,” Xlina marveled, looking at the newspaper.
“No guarantees,” he corrected with an unnatural, boyish charm.
“Get along,” Oxivius interrupted, shooing the creature away with his cane. “Go on and pedal your divinations elsewhere.”
Xlina looked at the man-deer hybrid with sympathy as he scurried away from Oxivius’ gruff behavior. Xlina turned a disappointed eye on Oxivius. He caught her disapproving look and returned it with an awkward smile. He resumed straightening his jacket, paying special attention to the cuffs of his coat before looking up again with a shrug.
“Tabloids, love,” he explained sheepishly. “Not worth the trouble, I assure you.”
“Stop looking like tourists,” Lexxes chimed again, rousing the two women into attention. “It’s time to go to court.”
She led the way up the steps and through the heavy oak doors into an open foyer, which doubled as a lobby. A throng of people milled about, waiting for who knows what. Lexxes strode through the mass of people with purpose, stopping here and there as she was greeted by what Xlina could only assume were her constituents. She led them away from the main hall through a series of doors and hallways that all looked the same. Turning and twisting, Xlina soon became lost in the maze of lefts and rights.
“No security?” Xlina asked as she struggled to find her sense of direction.
“A similar enchantment as the Hearth,” Oxivius explained casually. “One can only find the chambers if they have been there before. The building is a maze unto itself, ensuring visitors don’t venture into any place they are not wanted.”
“Handy trick,” Amber chimed in. “Could you rig something like that up for my ex-boyfriends?”
“Magic is not some solve-all solution,” Oxivius explained with a grin. “It allows us to shape the world around us by drawing on the primal forces of the universe, but it seldom solves anything.”
“Sure seems to help against witches and warlocks,” Amber cooed quietly.
“I suppose so,” Oxivius relented, following Lexxes carefully.
She led them down a corridor where two elaborate oak doors hung on gold hinges. They were carved with arcane sigils and runes from top to bottom. Xlina basked in the beauty of their design, figuring that if she spent an entire day studying the elaborate design, she still would only be able to account for nearly half of the patterns and symbols intricately woven together. Lexxes pulled on the golden hand, and the door swung open as if it were weightless, leading to a large open court room beyond. She ushered them in with a finger held over her lips.
The room was massive and dome shaped, with a circle of some kind etched into the floor that seemed to shimmer in blue and green hues. The circle followed the curved wall of the room, and Xlina could only guess at its purpose. A semi-circle podium sat higher than the rest of the furniture in the center of the room, which reminded Xlina of the dais the supreme court sat behind. A collection of people sat bantering and discussing freely as Lexxes approached. She motioned to a set of chairs, and Oxivius ushered the pair of girls into their seats before sitting himself and removing his top hat. Satisfied, Lexxes approached the raised dais, circling to the side and ascending an unseen set of stairs. She passed behind three squabbling men to take a seat in the fourth chair. There were thirteen chairs in all, with only the last two now empty.
“Lexxes Stillwater,” an aged man in the center with a billowy white beard stated in a formal voice. “Matriarch of the Watchers. So good of you to join us on this auspicious day.”
“Likewise, Cornellius of the House of Cards,” Lexxes answered with a prim and proper formality. Amber shifted next to Xlina like she wanted to make a comment, but she thought better of it and remained silent, only exchanging a sideways glance with Xlina.
“A surprise to see the dreamer out and about,” a bald man replied from further down. He had an orange handlebar mustache and beady black eyes. Xlina decided immediately she didn’t like something about the odd man. He wore a loosely ruffled purple button-up shirt with a white ascot, which had a pattern of ivy-like vines stitched into its silk folds.
“I received the summons from the Burnished Rose,” Lexxes politely replied. “I assumed there must be pressing business to call for a Council meeting outside of the moon cycle, as it were.”
“Pressing indeed,” the bald man agreed hastily. “But not pressing enough for you to come straight here? I see you have guests.”
“Hardly guests,” Lexxes continued, her polite tone growing firm. “Rather character witnesses from Portland as to the dubious claims of the Rose.”
“By what right?” a woman on the near end with long black hair and wearing a red suit interjected. “What right does the Watchers have to call on the most esteemed Burnished Rose.”
“Alice Mayweather,” Lexxes answered with a cutting sweetness. “Long has your coven allied with the Rose, has it not?”
“The Jade Lily is an ally to all the covens of Portland,” Alice answered with a sticky sweetness that reminded Xlina of the façade Amber used in public. “Even the Watchers, who so brazenly put an outsider in charge.”
“Enough, enough,” Cornellius interjected, slamming his aged fist on the dais. “We are gathered today to hear the grievances brought forth by a member of our Council against the Heart’s Hearth.”
“Is a representative of the Burnished Rose present?” Lexxes asked, indicating the two vacant seats at the end of the dais.
“Merely waiting to make an entrance,” a male voice called from the side. He was dressed in a tailored black suit that looked expensive. His brown hair was neatly cropped and styled with just the right amount of flair. Xlina could tell by looking at the man, with his perfectly pedicured nails and lavish suit, that he was one who took everything about his image and station seriously. The wretch of a man who followed behind him was the polar opposite. “Unclean” would have been an understatement; he skulked rather than strode to the podium with a massive hunched back. He sported thin black scraggly hair that hung in wisps about his pock-marked face. His sunken eyes seemed to dart about the room, making contact with Xlina twice before he reached his seat. His clothes were plain and brown, resembling a loosely stitched potato sack more than actual clothes. The odd man looked completely out of place among the other well-dressed members of the Council.
“Alex,” Lexxes greeted uncomfortably as he took his seat. “It’s been a season; how fares the Burnished Rose?”
“‘Tis troubling times,” Alex replied, his voice like velvet. “The coven is diminished, many of our members slain by your entourage.”
His statements caused all thirteen of the Council members to begin clamoring at once as utter chaos descended. Cornellius banged his fist one more, trying to call to order as Alex sat silently, a devilish grin on his face as he locked eyes with Lexxes. As the murmurs of the collective chatter started to die down, the voice of Cornellius could be heard once more, calling everyone to order.
“This will not turn into a c
ircus,” Cornellius lamented, his voice cracking from shouting. “State your grievance, Alex, and then you’ll have your turn, Lexxes.”
The Council members quieted, waiting for Alex to begin, but he just rocked in his chair, looking down on Xlina, Amber, and Oxivius. The air of superiority about the man was sickening, and Xlina refused to back down under his condescending stare. She finally had a face to put to all the pain and suffering the Burnished Rose had caused. She stared coldly at Alex, burning his likeness into her mind.
“Simple really,” Alex began, his velvet-like voice commanding. “This outsider was brought to Portland by a demon. She has a mark as evidenced by the Brothers Three. When we became aware of the danger, we attempted first contact and were met with brutal force. She travels with the death eater, Oxivius Soulstealer, who himself has been sanctioned and censured by this very Council. Is it of any surprise that as soon as Oxivius returns to the Earth Realm, the bodies of witches start piling up? I think not.”
His words drew audible gasps from the other members, and whispers of affirmation seemed to follow as many of the Council members looked down on Oxivius. Xlina turned to see his plaintive look as he simply titled his head to the side and shrugged. She smirked back in response, sensing his non-verbal apology, and returned her glare on Alex, whom she found staring intently at her.
“In addition, they have been seeking refuge in Heart’s Hearth,” Alex declared in an accusatory tone. “The Burglecuts have granted them safe haven, from which they strike at the covens, sending ripples of chaos through our delicately maintained ecosystem.”
Once again, hushed whispers filled the chamber as Alex spouted his twisted version of events. Xlina fought the urge to call the man a liar right on the spot and could feel Amber’s rage simmering next to her. Oxivius seemed amused by the whole spectacle, waiting patiently for the end like he was watching a daytime soap opera.
“Do you have any proof of any of this?” Lexxes countered from her position further down the table.
The Infernal Games Page 38