Unexpected Guest

Content warning: Contains sexual undertones and suggestive imagery

Part One. Observer

As I made my slow progress around the fringes of the dance and revelry, trying to ignore the more passionate embraces of the masked dancers because they stirred feelings in me that made me want to join them, I focused on my father.

Though nobody else would have noticed, I could see that he leaned more on his ceremonial staff than ever before. Eyes alert under the ever-unruly white hair, watching for any unwanted intrusion, he was the one unmoving point at the annual gathering of mages. The masks and elaborate clothing everyone wore could not fool him. Or me, for that matter.

His stern expression gentled as I approached, both of us clad in capacious grey robes which made sure that nobody would mistake our roles or fail to notice our presence among the chaotic throng. Simultaneously, we were a protective influence and a warning to anyone who dared try to invade when they did not belong.

“Daughter,” he said warmly as I offered my cheek to accept a fatherly kiss before he murmured, “So far, so good.”

“And glad I am of that,” I replied, completing the paired quote from my favourite childhood story.

With due solemnity, I grasped the staff just below where he gripped it, aligning myself to our shared goal with the entirety of my being.

He acknowledged my gesture with a nod and turned his attention back to the mingling dancers. 

I stood beside him, wondering if any one of them felt the weight of an extra pair of eyes. Probably not. Some of them had obviously already formed a liaison during the banquet, passion roused and, like courting birds in their best plumage, entertained one another with fascinated enthusiasm fuelled, no doubt, by the feast of foods known to encourage amorous feelings and mulled wine spiced with herbs that unhinged any inhibitions.

A nearly naked youth wearing only a shimmering green snakeskin loin cloth and matching mask, limbs painted in similar shades, cavorted around a rotund pale-furred bear who rotated in place with her paws raised akimbo as if permanently surprised. I admired her costume, but hoped it was fabricated rather than made from an actual bear skin. 

They both passed inspection. I was no half-baked witch, after all, trained by my father and having passed the most rigorous trials to earn the right to work alongside him. I could usually tell within seconds whether someone had magic in their blood or not.

Unmasked, wearing sombre black trimmed with silver, two shapeshifters occupied a quiet corner. I swallowed, feeling a strong attraction to the younger one, curious what it would be like to lay with someone who might at any moment turn into a wolf or a peacock. Not that I had allowed anyone to bed me yet. Mother had advised to wait until I was more established in my role and, here and now, I was meant to be a watcher not a participant. 

Yet, my gaze lingered on him regardless. Magic pulsed much more strongly in his blood than the more shadowy tracery I could sense in his brother. I felt drawn, not so much as a moth toward a flame but more like I was a night moth flying about to plunge into an all-consuming bonfire. I wanted him to look at me, to admire that beauty which my cousins envied, and would not have minded coupling with him under the banquet table except for the fact that my father was here.

That thought brought heat to my cheeks. I could not help but glance at him beside me, but he continued to observe the constantly moving crowd, so would not wonder why I was blushing. Hopefully, I could conceal this embarrassing interlude when my mother quizzed me tomorrow morning about how it had all gone.

I returned to my work, concentrating on one couple after another, making sure each person belonged here. Servants and all other staff had been banished from the building after the banquet was served because, years ago before my father was born, some of them had taken advantage of their position to mingle and, in some cases, to provide either the seed or the womb for a baby whose blood was diluted with a mortal taint.

I glanced at the shapeshifter again, wondering if his baby could potentially shapeshift in the womb and what would be the consequences of that. I had not dared to ask my mother such a question when I reached the age for her to instruct me about all that womanhood entailed. Her strictures pushed any such liaison outside the limit of possibility for me unless father had a different opinion. Perhaps I should ask, but not tonight.

I bit my lip and concentrated on a woman whose assets were barely concealed by silver fox fur, her full mask shaped like a fox head. Her companion, costumed as a night moth with large gauzy wings, was nuzzling her exposed neck. 

The very first time I had attended the annual gathering, I distrusted much more anyone with a full mask, but my father soon pointed out that the less masked might equally be attempting to conceal their mortality.

It took me longer than usual with this pair due to being distracted by the shifter, so I resolved not to look at him again, though secretly pleased that he was not yet dancing with anyone. This did not, however, mean that he was destined to mate with me.

I took myself in hand.

Look. Check. Double check. Next. 

As the evening wore on, laughter increased and voices got louder. 

Even though my work overlapped with my father’s, this was no excuse to be careless. How awful it would be if an inappropriate liaison happened with both of us here, potentially right in front of our eyes.

My gaze had drifted back to the big pale bear and the smooth-limbed green snake, which were both memorable enough that I did not need to test them again, when I saw someone without a mask wearing black circulating among the crowd.

Shifter? No because his dark clothing was slashed artistically in an antique style to reveal blood red silk underneath. Not trimmed with silver.

And, somehow, I could not fasten on him strongly enough to tell whether he had magic running through his veins or mere mortal blood.

He seized a woman wearing a feathered mask who had no partner yet. Her beautiful cloak of feathers swirled around her as she danced with him.

I focused on her and felt the pulse of magic almost immediately, but when I returned to her partner in the dance, I could not come to grips with him.

One more fast whirl and he abandoned her.

He dragged the green snake away from the round pale bear and initiated a wild dance which, after a brief hesitation, the snake indulged in as if this was a competition he wanted to win.

“Father?” I said, still unable to know for sure if this intruder was mortal or mage.

“Hmmm?” he replied.

“That one dancing with the green snake,” I suggested as I watched their more and more extravagant posturing and movements.

“Oh, the bear?” Surprise coloured his words. “She is fine. Can be harder to perceive when the whole body is covered. Just concentrate.”

“No, not her,” I said, feeling frustrated, “the man in black and red, not wearing a mask.” 

“Black and red?” he asked. “Where?”

“Dancing with the green snake,” I repeated.

The stranger in black and red twisted and swept the ground with outstretched hands, fingers spread wide, then saluted the green snake as if yielding the victory to him and turned away.

Part Two. Unexpected Guest

Mingling with the great and the good or spending time with the honest and humble, I do enjoy the variety of people that I meet. I always have.

But here among the magic makers, I feel charged with much more energy than usual.

Slightly breathless from my exertions dancing with the youth disguised as a snake, whose lineaments I found especially appealing, I paused to watch him return to the embraces of the pale bear whose heart had faltered when I borrowed him from her.

I understood that their coupling would bear fruit now that I had influenced them. All part and parcel of my work. I allowed myself a smile because he had no idea what she looked like under the covering of fabricated fur, but soon would find delight between her breasts and then her thighs. I envied him but my role forbade such congress.

Instinctive, of course, for all of them to continue to breed and bring forth another generation, but I admired their perseverance. Well, not only theirs, but mortals too who generally struggled more with living their lives. 

Although some of the dancers would be wishing they were mortal soon. I knew this for a fact, though the whys and wherefores remained misty. Predicting the future was not my gift except, of course, for particular individuals.

I evaded the eager grasp of a tipsy witch dressed as a colourful butterfly, taking hold of her shoulders to aim her in the direction of a crow-headed man who had been watching her.

“Much better target,” I murmured as she ambled toward him. “Your time with me is not for many years hence.”

Laughing with a new exuberance flooding through me, I thrust my head between a tawny lion and an otter whose mask had dropped down to her neck. Drowning in desire, they at first did not notice they were kissing me rather than one another. I kissed and nibbled the otter’s lips and licked at the lion’s ear, then pulled them both toward me with my long, strong arms holding tightly before I released them. My closeness most likely made them feel chilled as by the first breath of winter.

I could already hear the cry of the infant—no, twins, that they would bear. Shame that their world would be more challenging than that which their parents enjoyed, but life must go on.

I brought my fingers to my lips, sobering as I remembered my duty here tonight.

Not merely to add spice to the proceedings. Occasionally, that was all I did, but I had a task on my agenda here. Just the one, but still, I needed to decide how best to carry it out—and when.

It was then, while not responding to my immediate environment, that I felt the delicate tingle that meant I was being observed.

Not seen as the drunken butterfly had probably perceived me as a blurred, intensely attractive figure for that was always my curse, but in complete possession of that authority that I could never fully disguise.

She stood next to her white-haired father whose ceremonial staff I recognised.

Time blurred, revealing him much younger standing beside his own father.

I felt her heart drop as a confused fear took hold of her because she understood what my presence here might mean.

“Let me be as kind as I can be,” I whispered under my breath, talking to myself for the lack of anyone else to confide in. “Let them have one last night. I have no pressing engagements until after dawn.”

I opened both hands, palms up and blew across them in her direction.

The perspicacious witch blinked and squinted as though against an icy blast of wind, closed her eyes tight then opened them again.

I smiled when I could see that not only was I invisible to her as by rights should be the case, but she had forgotten catching sight of me entirely.

Then I joined the dance again, inspiring everyone I touched to taste life more fully and embrace desire more completely.

I might walk in shadows most of the time, but even so, I could inspire some kindling of light and sometimes was welcomed by those I visited, not perpetually the unexpected guest.