I folded my wings and dove into the hallway. The phoenix towers were designed for both forms; wide and high-ceilinged enough for me to fly down.

I didn’t have to go far. On the second landing Mari sat on the ground while Kenna and one of her stooges towered over the human girl.

“Who are you? What are you? How do you not speak the common tongue?” Kenna yelled.

Kenna was one of my rivals, a golden phoenix, her blonde hair lay in perfect waves with golden strands sparkling throughout. Taller than me by half a head she stood with regal composure except for the angry sneer on her pretty features.

“I don’t know what you’re saying,” Mari plastered herself against the wall, barely keeping the fear off her face.

Too much pride; showing a little fear would have put Kenna at ease.

“That’s enough,” I said in Phoenix before transforming back to human form, “She’s my guest.”

“Blaise, thank God,” Mari half ran, half scooted to my side.

“What is she?” Kenna didn’t back down.

“A human,” I replied keeping my expression blank.

Kenna’s face twisted in a snarl, “I see she’s in human form, I asked what she was.”

I let my own rank settle on my shoulders like a mantle, “She is, as I said a human and my guest. The rest will be explained to the Council, now buzz off.”

Kenna did snarl this time before walking away and taking her stooge with her.

I waited until they were out of earshot before turning to Mari, “Are you okay?”

“How could you leave me like that? What is wrong with you?” She yelled in my face.

“I’m sorry, I was happy to be home and didn’t think—“

“No shit you didn’t think, do you ever?”

I sighed, if I waited for her to stop being angry I would probably be here all day, “Let’s go to my room.”

Mari

Still seething with anger I followed Blaise down steep, winding stairs until my head was spinning. “How many floors are there?”

“Two hundred give or take,” Blaise replied nonchalantly.

I almost fell down, “Two hun-hundred?”

Blaise stopped, tilting her head, “I guess nothing in your world is that high—that makes sense since you can’t fly.”

“Elevators?” I stammered.

“For phoenixes?” Blaise chuckled, “That would be silly and all the official business is on the first five floors so other clans don’t need it.”

I stared at the bird-woman in disbelief, “What about me?”

“Oh,” Blaise grinned sheepishly, “My room is only a few more floors down so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Huh? Not a problem? Did that mean my whole stay would be in this tower? But Blaise had already walked on, oblivious to me as usual.

When we reached the intended floor Blaise said thoughtfully, “It’s much easier to fly down.”

I stared, wondering how someone so stupid found a way to cross worlds. Also if I got some magic powers and could make her head explode by staring hard enough.

Blaise’s head remained intact as she opened the door.

“Welcome, make yourself comfortable.”

“Wow,” compared to my room, this was a luxury suite. The ceiling so high, Blaise could easily fit in her phoenix form. The living area had ginormous pillows and a bird swing hung low to the ground. Past the living area were a set of French doors leading to a balcony without a railing—so more of a launch pad?

“My room is on this side,” Blaise pointed to the right, “The other is supposed to be servant’s quarters but I don’t have any so it’s all yours tonight.”

So generous, but I kept my sarcasm to myself.

“Come, let’s take a bath before heading to see the Council.”

I had just opened the door to the servant’s room but didn’t register anything I saw. Bath? See the Council?

I turned around, “What did you say?”

“We should bathe,” Blaise’s voice was coming from the room beside her bedroom, “I don’t want to meet the Council with the stink of the road on us.”

I heard water gushing now. “First, a bath is all nice and good but I prefer—“ the rest of the sentence died in my throat as I walked into the largest bath I have ever seen.

“What is this?” It looked more like a pool.

“Bath,” Blaise was in the process of taking off her dress, I quickly turned away. Blaise laughed, “Don’t be shy, we won’t see much of each other anyway once we’re in the water.” I heard the splash as Blaise entered the water. I turned back to see that she was right, with the heavy steam I could barely see in front of me.

“The water feels great, come in.” Blaise’s voice came from somewhere in the fog. The steamy air was making my clothes cling to my skin; the idea of getting in didn’t seem so bad now. There are plenty of places where people take public baths, I told myself, this isn’t so bad. I took off my clothes and tiptoed to the edge of the pool. Are there supped to be stairs? How deep was it? I put a toe in the water—the blissful warmth made me shiver. I sat on the edge letting my legs dangle in before carefully dunking the rest of the way.

The water reached my shoulders but I could still walk.

“Come a bit closer, there’s a place to sit and soap and washcloth,” Blaise’s voice sounded far away.

I found the soap mostly by feel. As I finished washing the door to the bathroom opened with a bang.

“The Council wants to see you both,” I recognized the voice of the woman yelling at me earlier.

Water splashed in the direction of where Blaise was, “Calm down, we’re coming.” Then to me she said, “I’ll get out first, I’ll put fresh clothes out for you though they may be a bit big, come out when you’re ready.”

As soon as the door closed behind them I sprang out of the water. A towel sat where I left my clothes, I dried off and peeked out of the room.

The two women were nowhere to be seen. Neither were the promised clothes. I ran to the room meant for me. Again, instead of a bed there was a bird perch and pillows, in hues of orange, bronze and dark pinks, though here the pillows were big enough to be a mattress. On one lay a black dress, the same silky material that Blaise wore, in the same billowy style.

Just as Blaise said, the dress hung on me like a tent but hooks on the inside allowed the garment to be wrapped around the body. After a moment I was able to adjust the neckline and wrap it in a semi-flattering manner. Not sure who the dress was meant for but it wasn’t nearly long enough to be Blaise’s, reaching just past my knees.

By the time I finished dressing and left “my room”, Blaise was back, in an emerald gown this time, lying on a giant pillow. “Alright, the fastest way for us to get down is to fly down outside, I can carry you.”

My gaze went to the launching pad outside, my mind shuddering with fear.

“That’s what I thought,” Blaise seemed to read my mind, “t he second option is magic, I found a spell I can adjust to simulate escalators in your world but it will take time. I already told Kenna to tell the Council we are on our way.”

I sighed in relief but as Blaise sat cross-legged, seemingly doing nothing I started to wonder why things turned out so differently for me than for Blaise. Why couldn’t I stay here unanimously for a day and go back without meeting the local government?

Blaise finally opened her eyes, they blazed gold. From her eyes her whole body emanated a soft golden glow. She reached out her hand, where she touched my hand the glow transferred to me. Once my body was engulfed too, the whole thing flashed once and disappeared.

Blaise smiled, “Time to go.”

We stepped on the stairway. “Stop on the first step,” Blaise instructed.

The staircase shifted under our feet, almost dumping us on the step below it but we didn’t fall, in fact it felt like we were lightly bouncing on our tiptoes. Once I got used to the off feeling I could focus back on my thoughts from earlier.

“Why do I have to meet this Council anyway? You didn’t have to register with anyone when you came to my world.”

“Your world is so populated, and there is no magic for anyone to notice an anomaly.”

“But who told your Council that I was here anyway? I mean you mentioned them even before you knew if that Kenna woman was going to tell them.”

“They would know without anyone telling them, they know everything that happens in this country, sorry Mari but this is required, I probably should have told you sooner,” Blaise smiled but it failed to reassure me.

My trust in Blaise plummeted; she did this on purpose.

“So what happens now?”

“Oh nothing,” Blaise reassured me, “The Council sees you and gives their consent to you being here for a day.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Ha, ha, you’re too cynical.”

I wasn’t. Blaise was definitely nervous.

The stairway finally dropped us off on the ground floor. Blaise led us through a hallway that was beautifully decorated with mosaics and statues but seemed small compared to the overlarge ceilings from the rest of the building.

We walked into a large, round room, with windows that rose from the floor to peak at the ceiling in a semi-dome. The ceiling was painted like a sunrise sky adding to the brightness of the room.

A bird perch circled the room far above our heads. How did I know it was a bird perch? Because seven giant Phoenixes perched on it, in a wild array of colors but the same menacing glares.