Bane Four - Guest

It was a big important day.

I knew this because mom had literally told me that it was going to be a big and important day that morning.

Well, no, Luciana didn’t exactly use those words, but she did tell us that there would be no training that day and that we should all bathe and make ourselves presentable because there would be (more) guests at the castle for a week or two.

I took that to mean that it was a big important day.

“I hate this,” Felix said.

“No, you look cute,” Esme said.

I nodded. “Really cute,” I said.

Felix glared at the two of us, but it wasn't very powerful, and it certainly didn’t intimidate either of us.

The dress she wore had frills on its frills, and lacey material covering its skirts and waist. Its poofed sleeves meant that Felix had to keep her arms partially raised, and its bust was ballooned out and looked like an empty wineskin slapped onto Felix’s front.

“What did you do to my hair?” Felix asked.

She usually kept her hair in a long braid at the back and cut short at the front. When her bangs grew too long she took a knife to them and chopped off the bits that annoyed her. It had horrified me when I first saw her doing it. Now her hair was festooned in bows and ribbons.

“I look stupid,” Felix said.

“No,” I said. I coughed to stop myself from giggling, but it was still obvious in my tone that I was holding back laughter. “No, of course you don’t.”

Felix glared harder.

Esme and I were dressed up too. Esme in a nice evening gown done up in purples and with a few light blue accents, and me in a flowing dress that imitated mom’s own style of dress. That was, it hugged my features all the way down my legs, with a slit along the side for walking and a lacey poof around the hips.

I could barely walk in the dress, and it looked embarrassingly wrong in a few spots. Mom was a lot more... more than me. Still, I was determined to look like mom, at least a little. It wasn’t every day that I got to play dress-up.

Felix crossed her arms. “Why can’t I just wear pants?”

“Because pants aren’t pretty,” I said.

“Yeah,” Esme agreed. “Now you look like a noble lady.”

“I look like an idiot,” Felix said. “And I’d think a lot more about those noble ladies if they were wearing pants.”

I laughed and wrapped an arm around Felix’s shoulder to pull her into a side-long hug. “We’ll make it up to you later,” I said. I glanced around the room, taking in the bit of a mess we’d made in the large dressing area. The monster that had made our dresses was sitting in the corner, its many limbs held up, primed to assault another dress into shape, and the rest of the room was filled with bolts of cloth in little cubbies and long racks filled with dresses, some of which looked positively ancient.

The level of intelligence and ability of the monster in the corner had impressed me a bunch. It was one thing to make a monster that could attack someone, or spit fire, but it was another entirely to create a monster that could create things.

“We should get going,” I admitted reluctantly. It had been fun to goof off with outfits and such, but it would annoy mom if we were late to their meeting thing.

My friends and I rushed out of the room, then through the entire castle. Felix was usually the fastest of us, but she kept tripping over the hem of her skirts and using the kind of language that brought a blush to Esme’s cheeks whenever she heard it.

We met mom at the bottom of the stairs. She looked at the three of us, staring for a particularly long time at Felix who shifted huffily under the goddesses gaze. “I had a particular image in mind when I asked you to clean up nicely and wear something appropriate,” Luciana said. “This was not it. But I suppose it’s too late now.”

“You mean I could have worn pants?” Felix hissed to me.

I shrugged. “Maybe. I guess we’ll never know.”

“Next time, I’m wearing pants.”

Esme glanced at me, then we had to work hard to hold back giggles. Soon, Felix was laughing along with us as we followed the Goddess of Darkness through the halls of the castle.

“So, Mom, who’s coming here?” I asked.

“An old friend,” Luciana replied.

“Oh! Is it an old monster?”

The goddess shook her head. “It’s not. In fact, saying as much might very well insult them. Though, I don’t think they’re the sort to lash out without considering things first.”

I wondered what mom meant, even as we stepped outside and into a dreary afternoon.

The air smelled of mud, and fresh puddles botted the craggy landscape. The rain had stopped already, but the skies were still overcast, and a glance out towards the ocean showed fat black clouds hanging low around the horizon.

My friends and I grouped up to one side, not too far from the steps leading down into the courtyard while Luciana stood with her back straight and her arms folded over her stomach as she overlooked her lands.

Her head tilted to the side, and she turned to face the eastern skies.

I squinted off into the distance, a hand over my brow to help me spot what mom was looking for. Even so, it took a moment to see the distant black speck flitting over the clouds.

“Are those pegasi?” Esme asked.

“What’s that?” Felix asked right back.

“They’re like horses, but with wings. They’re very rare, magical creatures,” Esme said. “Some of the gods are said to use them to pull their carriages across the nations.”

“Wouldn’t the wings get caught in like, trees and stuff?” Felix asked.

“Through the air, obviously,” Esme said.

“I bet they don’t spend their whole day up there. Birds don’t,” Felix said.

Luciana sighed. “Girls, if you could bicker a little less, I would very much appreciate it.”

Both girls shut their mouths with twin clicks.

I held back a laugh. I didn’t want my friends to be afraid of mom, of course, but it was still funny to see them snap-to whenever mom said anything near them. They didn’t know that mom was actually a terribly big softy under all the sass and the evil dark goddess-ness.

As the distant pegasi grew less distant, the form of a carriage became obvious behind it. It was a sleek black thing, shaped like a tear-drop with large wheels sticking out beneath it. At the front were four winged horses. Not the pure-white ones like I had seen in a few coloured manuscripts, but more ordinary, horse-like pegasi, dabbled in browns and blacks.

They came down gently some distance away from the castle and landed with a slight lurch, then the horses pulled their wings in and trotted along at a decent pace.

I found myself standing on tippy toes as the carriage stopped before the castle.

The pegasi stomped and shifted at the base of the castle, obviously impatient, at least until a few monsters moved out from around the corner and started heading towards them. The monsters were quick to undo harnesses and start brushing the horses down. They were surprisingly okay with the treatment.

Luciana took a step closer to the edge of the steps as a door opened on the side of the carriage.

A woman stepped out. Not as tall as Luciana, but much taller than me, with frizzy brown hair and a simple dress. She had large glasses hanging around her neck from a silvery chain, and a large satchel by her hip.

She looked around, then zeroed in on Luciana at the top of the steps, only sparing a glance for us.

I glanced at my friends. Felix shrugged, and Esme didn’t stop looking away from the woman.

The woman climbed the steps, stopping right before Luciana. “How’s the tea?” she asked.

“Still warm,” Luciana replied. “Did you bring anything worth the hospitality?”

“Hmph, I haven’t been here in near-on half a decade and that’s how you treat me? Disgusting indeed, Luci.”

“Please don’t call me that,” Luciana said.

“I think it’s cute,” I said. I slapped a hand over my mouth when mom gave me a look.

“Oh! Well, no guessing which one’s that vaunted daughter of yours,” the woman said. She walked closer and inspected us again, more carefully this time. “Pleased to meet you, girls. I’m Semper.”

“Oh,” Esme said, a moment before she collapsed to the ground at a dead faint.

***