Royal Pride

by Zelda Knight

  The atmosphere shifted, passing through the in-between, separating those who could and couldn’t give—those who could arrive at the large bookshop with the solid stone floor. The ghostly figure of Gideon flickered in and out, meaning he wasn’t as tangible today. His eerie, deathly purple eyes glared through me before he just walked through me.

  "Damnit, Gideon,” I hissed at him. The bitter cold that shot through my body would take time to leave, given his unnatural death. His head floated only a few inches above his shoulders where one of the loups-garous had severed it centuries ago and cursed him to this ghostly form. Now he stuck around to be creepy and occasionally helpful, if he felt so inclined. “A little warning would be friendly.

  “You have tread upon my terrain Naga. I wonder where the unholy tendrils of the winds of the beyond….” Gideon began to speak in his heavily French-accented English.

  “Hush you,” Juniper stated. About my height, we both had a love of heels to bring us up to almost 5’3’’. Her natural deep green hair matched her eyes. Some believe it is how she picked her name or how her parents named her. I voted that she was something partially Fae, and she named herself. “Ms. Basu, how might we be of service today?”

  As she spoke, the flashing pain warned me of the need for items within this space came forward. I felt them close, pushing against my frontal lobe. “I need the bronze serpent dagger that you aren’t supposed to have,” I stated. Her dark, nearly black eyebrow rose in the question she didn’t ask. “Price?”

  “Price is relative. This dagger is dangerous to your species. This does include you,” Juniper warned.

  "I am aware,” the calmness I didn’t completely believe. One nick of this Gods forsaken dagger; I would die. The poison would kill me just as easily as it would kill the others. I needed it to defend myself or use as a bargaining chip if the situation became dire.

  “I’m not at liberty to sell this dagger, only allow you to borrow it for a time,” Juniper spoke. Not a comforting deal to start with. Owning the dagger would be better. Borrowing meant I couldn’t barter with it, only threaten to use it or fake that I own it. Not exactly the plan I had been shooting for, but I would have to adapt on the fly.

  “Yes, I would like to negotiate the ability to borrow the dagger,” I replied. I couldn’t continue my quest without it. Or at least I didn’t believe I could.

  “Money is not what I want to borrow,” she commented. Crap, money was something I usually throw at my problems. It was something I was good with. Stock markets, bartering my way through them, I could manage on whims, and it proved to be my calling in the human world. It kept me in a lifestyle I adored without putting me in the position of not fully adapting to the mundane world.

  “What do you wish to bargain in?” Fae, I knew she was Fae. Crap, it was going to be something weird, a favor, or Gods forbid hair, spit, or something even stranger.

  "You are going to war with your old nest.” She did not ask, she stated bluntly. Damn Juniper’s power. She knew things before they happened. Rolling my shoulders back, I rolled my neck from side to side and wait for the giant shoe to land on me.

  “Correct,” I replied, no sense not stating the obvious.

  "I want a fang,” she said.

  "A fang,” I replied. Gods, don’t be one of mine.

  "Yes, from one of the Naga of your Nest. I prefer a High Priest, leader, or someone on your hit list.”

  I blinked at her for a moment. “You know far too much about something that hasn’t even happened yet.”

  “It’s a gift, mon serpent,” the sly smile crept over her face. I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

  "I will get a fang from the highest-ranked Naga that arrives and is not me or one of the slaves,” I replied. I would never defang one of the females that had been used as slaves.

  “I agree. I would prefer one from a male since those are guaranteed not to have been a slave from your Nest.”

  "Agreed, I would prefer to use one of those sons of bitches,” I replied. The swelling remembrance of my earlier life memories came forward that I had tried so hard to repress began to come forward. The scents of all the girls crowded together, herded, and brutalized by the elders. Only the magically powerful were chosen to be peeled away from the safe pile of us to be trained to see if we could survive becoming the trained priestess for the gods. With a shake, I had not to be swamped by memories and focused back on the present.

  “We have come to an accord. You may borrow the dagger for your mission,” Juniper left the room. The ghostly form of Gideon just glared at me. I waited patiently for several minutes for her to return with the teak box with ancient runes and Hindi warnings carved across the chest. Juniper spoke the spell to unlock the ward binding it to the store. “You may take it but must return it in its present condition along with a Naga fang.”

  "I understand and accept those conditions to borrow the dagger,” I spoke. I felt the magic of the agreement bind Juniper and me together. The weight of the box landed in my open hands, heavy with the charm and importance with what it could do to myself, my kind held within its confines.

  "Anything else?” Juniper asked.

  "That was all from this stop. I appreciate everything Juniper,” I gave a bow that she returned. “Have a pleasant day.”

  “I guess what scares me the most now is the thought that I won’t be able to protect you.”

  By Julia Hoban

  * * *

  I could breathe easier with the case stored safely in the sedan's trunk, knowing it was not waiting to escape and attack. I knew logically it wasn’t going to burst out of the box like the Kool-Aid Man, but the other part of me wanted it as far away as I could get from the damned blade. Driving away from the disguised occult shop, I made my way towards the next stop.

  Several blocks later, I turned into the local farmer’s market. Parking, avoiding the early afternoon crowd, I made my way to odds and ends. Even if searching through the fresh meats, delicious fish, and savory fresh loaves of bread all smelled better than heading to the back. Henri Porcher finished draining another piglet into a mason jar. His thick hands could squeeze each one individually. Several jars were lined up from several different types of fresh blood of different animal types. I waited for him to finish up before daring to interrupt his work.

  “Good afternoon. What are you in the market for?” he asked, point-blank. He glanced up, blinking through his thick clear goggles, splattered with droplets of blood.

  “Five pints of ewe blood, and two pints of chicken blood, gender is unimportant. I can’t have any of these tainted with cow blood,” I replied.

  "Got plenty of chicken blood,” he replied. “Let me check on the ewe blood, not a big demand on sheep’s blood in these parts.”

  He unfolded himself from his sitting position, the second set of arms he held to the table to stroll to the back on his four legs. The remains of the cut-off legs were encased in a leather apron with multiple pockets. Henri crawled up to grab several bottles of fresh blood bottles. Not the best part of what I needed to shop for, but it would be helpful. Here I could make sure the blood wouldn’t be tainted with cow’s blood which would ruin everything.

  He placed several bottles before me, “Here’s the chicken blood and nearly five pints of sheep’s blood. It’s all I gots,” Henri spoke. I replied with a shrug, leaving a bag of silver coins as payment for the fresh blood. I watched Henri count every one of the pieces as I waited for him to be satisfied it was all there before packing the bottles into the cooler, I had dragged over to keep them safe.

  With my transaction completed, he returned to ignoring my existence. Exiting the market, I stored the cooler in the backseat to buckle it secure. I saw the text message from Lou. She had arranged a meeting before the Naughty Pussycat opened with the local Voodoo Priestess. Meaning we could avoid the screaming music, scantily clad dancers, and general chaos of Lou’s workplace. I just needed to drop off the blood and dagger at home.

  Getting home
to store the dagger into the safe took the elephant off my chest. It was one of the few things I knew that would do painful harm and death to be around. Being a Naga made me pretty resilient, but there were still things around that could kill me, soon things like another Naga and now the dagger were all here to potentially kill me all in one weekend. Lucky me. I picked up the bloodstones in the house to magically prepare them with the blood I had acquired.

  Enchanting a dozen of them with the ewe blood and the other dozen with chicken blood. They would help stabilize any wounded by venom or Naga weapons in case there was a fight. I didn’t want anyone hurt. I would protect anyone that would help me. Setting out the bowls, I began to enchant each stone and drizzled the blood over them. They would soak for the next several hours to fully absorb the spell.

  “There are no ordinary people. You never talked to a mere mortal.”

  By C.S. Lewis

  * * *

  Lou and I took my car to meet up with her work friend at a local diner, close to the Naughty Pussycat that they both frequented after hours. I hadn’t ever been here before, but Lou said that it was decent and clean. There had been enough dirty places we had gone to that I had wanted to clean or call hazmat teams on that Lou made sure the places she dragged me to were clean enough that I didn’t feel like running out of.

  It was cozy in the best way possible, with tables tucked in the weird corners, given space was limited. The waitress recognized Lou right off and started with some pleasant chit-chat about the specials and gave us a booth near the back, away from any foot traffic and nowhere near the kitchen. It was private matter best not overheard by nosy people. I glanced over the eclectic menu that ran the gamut—they even had some vegetarian menu options. I hadn’t even thought to return to that mindset fully; I still didn’t eat beef, but I didn’t eat much in the way of animal products given a choice anyway. The fish I certainly ate might be in the Hindu mythology, but we were Naga.

  "How’s the fish here?” I asked Lou.

  "Love the catfish, the whitefish you will probably like more,” she peeked over the menu. “But they did say they have salmon, which you do so love.”

  "True, I might try that,” I muttered, reading even though I had kept reading the same options over and over. Nerves were not my standard setting; I was the calm one in basically everything. I wouldn't say I liked the feeling. I pretended I cared about the menu for another few minutes until the waitress returned, ordered drinks and an appetizer. Lou held our conversation to a nice, airy surface-level stuff that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. Things I wouldn’t remember in an hour as the drinks arrive. I sipped the tea that had been sweetened to the point of basic liquid candy that this part of the world thrived on, and I had learned to adapt to it.

  Lou waved someone over. I turned to see the woman coming over. I had met her a few times, not enough to pick her out of a line-up. She was tall. If she weren’t six feet in height, I would eat this menu. I probably hadn’t seen her walking around much, normally she was just sitting, sewing, or something but now walking towards us, I knew I would remember her more. She looked like an Amazon, lots of curves hidden in ill-fitting jeans, a loose t-shirt, and a long jacket. I wasn't sure why one of those women is hiding, but I particularly didn’t want people looking at her. Her midnight black curly hair tied back seemed to be fighting back to escape. The curls that I would pay hundreds to have someone do to my hair. She was probably mixed race, paler than Lou by several shades. Lou stood to greet her with a gentle hug before she sat, tucking into the seat.

  "Titania, Devi,” Lou allowed introduced us. I smiled and leaned over to shake her hand. She had a proper handshake and needed a manicure. Heck so did Lou. I might just be one of those too picky about my appearance type women. Lou wasn’t as much.

  “Thank you for joining us this evening,” I smile brightly. Titania gave a nod with a brief smile back.

  “Lou said you needed someone to speak to the Gods,” Titania spoke. She didn’t quite have the accent I associated with the New Orleans, instead it was something tropical, the islands perhaps. I didn’t quite know where all the accents were yet.

  “I do. I used to speak to my Gods in India. I,” I paused. I needed to find the right words to where to start.

  "Are you having problems speaking with them now?” Titania asked politely.

  “I haven’t spoken or even attempted to since I was banished from my Nest years ago,” I explained as I paused. The waitress returned with an appetizer, took another drink order before leaving. I waited a few seconds and continued. “I was Chosen by the Gods to be the Speaker, but the Priest I was to be wed to didn’t want me. He selected another to be the Speaker, which meant I was banished, given something was wrong with me, defective. So, they sent me into the world, in a sense to die. But I survived.”

  Lou snorted, “I don’t believe they stripped her abilities. She can do all sort of magic.”

  Titania seemed to ponder what had been said, sipping her water. “Might I be allowed to view your aura?”

  “Of course.” It was always lovely to be asked before someone stared intensely at you and began peering into aspects of one’s being. I felt the magic shift, watching Titania’s dark eyes transform from dark pools to swirl magically awake. The deep indigo shades of blues and purples began swimming. Her skin took on the magic hue that all of us took when using magic—no being able to fake magic users when we were using magic. The eyes always gave us away. Mine were serpent and golden, with the glow of magic flowing through us.

  “Your aura doesn’t appear to have been ripped or damaged in any sort of meaningful way. No aural scarring from healing, so I don’t see where they could have taken anything from you magically to have stopped you from communing with your deities.” She tilted her head several times, searching over my aura, giving a thorough search over me. No half-heartedness here, she scoured for any sign. “I can help you reach out, but your Gods and my Gods aren’t the same.”

  "I understand, but I need help. At least that I what I was told,” I paused, rotating my water glass around. “By the Song.”

  "Ah, she does work in such interesting ways. In that case, I will see what I can do to help,” Titania gave a shake of her head, curls bounced with her chuff. “When do we start?”

  "Tonight, if you can, I have company arriving too,” I began.

  “They want to kidnap her, steal her,” Lou butted right in over her beer bottle. “Some bullshit if you ask me. They run some misogynistic cult shit, T.”

  That startled us both. I jerked my head over to Lou, giving a snarl. Titania just paled. “Lou,” I took her hand. “We won’t let them win.”

  "Hell no, I will call in everyone I know, hell we know enough shifters and magic users to start a fucking war,” Lou growled, slamming her beer on the table.

  “War?” Titania piped in. “If they are coming for your mate, there are rules about stealing a mate, even with the Naga.”

  “But my clan will not respect females with a female as mates. They are old school,” I said. I wouldn't say I liked it. I didn’t even know until I left that woman could be with women, or men with men.

  “I might see if there are any laws about that,” Titania mused. “I know a guy who knows all sorts of strange laws or at least knows where to look. It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

  “True, but somehow I doubt they care about the laws. They have always been a bit outside of the rules and regulations of the normal society,” I replied. It would be lovely if they would just be dissuaded by law, code of conduct from the world. “I have things to bargain with, threaten, and the plan from the Song. The pieces I gathered today, I am speaking with you now to see if you can help me, and it seems they arrive tomorrow.”

  "I guess dinner is needed before we try to take a stab at this tonight,” Titania spoke, as the plates were being brought out, she was right…dinner was needed before we got down to business.

  “Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bew
ilderment, and things left unsaid.”

  By Fyodor Dostoevsky

  * * *

  Returning to the house, we used the backyard to set up the seance of sorts. Lou shifted out all the solar lights and added torches to light up with glee with gas and a lighter. Titania walked around using chalk to outline a circle. I followed in her footsteps, using the pattern to awaken the aura watching. I didn’t make it a habit to seek out observing auras, which she had been reminding me how to do since we arrived at the house. It was a natural, a simple skill that, at the moment, I was barely able to see a flicker of anyone’s aura. Damn, I was out of practice.

  Once the circle had been set, the shimmery golden glow began to come to life. The magic cycled, lighting up the area. I followed Titania out. She started to place candles and different stones around the site. With a different set of rules, I let her set up, watching intently, this had to work… it just had to. Lou wrapped her arms around me. I could lean against her, with my head against her shoulder. I watched the magic flare on and off, searching for the aura, the magic behind the physical, and practicing any way to see. Titania lit up a fat Cuban cigar, poured the rum in a shot glass, drank some from the bottle, and gave some to the circle. The circle consumed the rum. If I hadn’t seen it, I would have never believed it. Voodoo magic was undoubtedly nothing like mine