"My dear it is so wonderful to see you again." My father chirped as he greeted the elderly lady with a light peck on the cheek. She giggled and returned the peck as they greeted one another.
The Divine Coven was far from what I had expected, as we travelled up to the large building to meet with The High Priestess I hadn't seen a single witch or wizard, were they nocturnal or something?
The house however was beautiful, it slightly resembled a cottage against a large mountain but if you looked close enough you could see the tiny windows planted within the mountain itself, leading me to believe the entire thing was one building that was being hidden discreetly.
"Who's the old lady?" I whispered to Mika, who was standing aside me with her hands clasped together pointed at the ground with a light smile on her face, but as my comment made its way to her ears the smile dropped and she sent a criticising glance in my direction. "Don't be stupid Madi, The High Priestess is not some old lady." she hissed. But before I could answer our father called to us and we departed from the side of the car and towards the small steps of the front entrance.
"Cressida, these are my two daughters," he gestured and the old lady, Cressida, who followed his hand and looked at us with eager eyes. "Mika is my eldest and the next Sol of Lightmane Pride, I felt it was important for her to come with me to experience this as she is the heir to my thrown." My father introduced, I stood awkwardly next to my sister and she bowed slightly in respect to the Witch Leader.
However the High Priestess responded with a simple "pleasure" as her gaze fell on me, perplexity dashed quickly through her eyes as her lips tipped up in a small grin. "I can feel the indifference rolling off you in waves young lioness, is this not an exciting moment for you to be here in front of my presence." She queried.
I glanced at my father who was already watching me with a threatening glare, hoping I wouldn't say anything to offend the High Priestess. Instead, I met her gaze and smiled politely at her. "It's an honour to be here and to experience this, as the youngest child of my father I don't often get to be included with his work."
"This is Madeline," my father interjected when the High Priestess remained silent, a watchful gaze stuck on me as if monitoring me for a break in my composure. "I assure you she will be on her best behaviour while visiting, as my daughter she knows her responsibilities and the importance of my role as a leader." He stammered.
"I like her, she's not intimidated by a High Priestess Witch standing before her, I don't think she will be as much of an issue while visiting as you're making her out to be."
My father chuckled half heartedly, my sister following suit as if there had been a joke made, there hadn't been. "Yes well she's only here because Helena decided on it." My father excused.
This pinched a nerve for me, my father's lack of sincerity towards me never failed to hurt my feelings. I was his daughter, not another pride member. Yes there was a contrasting difference between my sister and I but have a little faith in me, I understand how important this trip is.
It was no secret to me that my father picked favourites, Mika was top tier on his list, he was indifferent about my brothers Michael and Mitchell because they neither got on his nerves or disappointed him as a parent. But I was the black sheep, the outspoken Falkov who always stirred trouble, the one who stood up to the injustices of the sibling hierarchy.
The only person who respected me was my mother, her gentle soul who always supported me. She loved all her children, without favouritism or criticism, in her eyes we were all perfect.
"There was a change of plans as some leaders have had delays in their travelling schedules so the dinner has been postponed until tomorrow evening if that's okay with you Darren?" She announced, my father nodded respectfully and she smiled tightly. "Instead there will be an informal ball of sorts being held instead, an opportunity to introduce your two wonderful daughters to the other leaders and socialise." She clapped her hands as she ended her sentence, clearly the woman was excited about these change in plans.
Who knew how old this woman was, her bones could break if she danced she looked that frail.
My father grimaced. "Madeline is a bit young for that so sh-"
"How old is she?" The High Priestess interrupted. "Well she's eighteen now but she's ne-"
"Darren if you are so embarrassed about having your youngest daughter around the other leaders then you shouldn't have brought her in the first place." She interrupted again, she glanced in my direction and the sheer irritation in her eyes was enough for me to look at my feet. "I don't mean to be a Negative-Nancy but the poor girl must feel so unwanted by you as a father, she has just as much of a right to attend the ball as your heir does."
It felt as though a mother was scolding her child the way my father remained silent at the command of the High Priestess in front of him. I wanted to squeal as the satisfaction of someone standing up to my father about his intolerance for me lifted my mood ten fold. This woman didn't even know I existed until five minutes ago and she's already advocated for fair treatment from my father, I giggled quietly to myself in the foyer.
"Don't laugh, this is your fault." Mika hissed quietly by my side, her irritation towards the situation was evident but it only made me more joyful, even my sister didn't like my mistreatment being brought to light.
But in order to lighten the mood I dropped my smile and cleared my throat. "I really appreciate it thank you Cressida, but my father is right. The ball sounds like something that's more suited for just my father and Mika to attend, I'm not a leader it wouldn't be right."
"Don't be ridiculous." Came an unfamiliar voice, it was a man who's accent sounded old English, and I looked up at the staircase to a pair of fluorescent purple ones. The lanky man with white hair down to his hips descended the staircase and joined us in the foyer. "Many of the other leaders have brought their family and will be bringing them to ball, it's an exciting night it's not often we get to have this kind of informality." He explained. He was right, when meetings are called only the leaders would travel here to attend it while their families stayed home.
The man joined the four of us and placed a gentle arm about Cressida, who responded to the touch with a gracious smile enveloping her entire mouth. This must be the High Priest, Cressida's partner.
"Calla." My father bowed in respect for the man. "You are absolutely right, I have changed my opinion on the matter. Both my daughters will be joining me for the ball tonight."
****
On a whim I had packed something other than pants and a jumper on the off occasion I would be outside while the weather was nice, even though it was the middle of winter and I hadn't seen a single break in the thick clouds since we arrived. But my white sundress made for a decent gown to wear for the ball with the help of some borrowed heels and my cosmetics. I looked presentable to say the least.
My sister however had packed more prepared as she wore an expensive blue dress I'd never seen her wear before, obviously having packed it to make a statement to the other leaders that she would be an admirable step in for my father when his time was up.
Speaking of my father, he had also packed for the occasion, a fitted black suit my mother had made for him by tailors many years ago still fit like a glove on him. I didn't feel out of place however, the invitees outfits ranged from formal to dressy, the Leader of the elves having attended the ball in an outfit that more closely resembled picnic lunch rather than a formal ball.
All the leaders had arrived except for three from what I calculated with my eyesight; The Ogre Leader, the Reptilian Leader and The Werewolf Leader.
I grimaced at the thought of sharing a room with the beastly leader. The werewolf kind had been our enemies for centuries, stories say that our species feud was so dangerous that The Divine Coven had to step in and force a treaty. We tolerate them, but they are not our allies.
The treaty stated only three conditions both my kind and theirs had to follow; Don't ever trespass, don't claim the life of a clan member, and don't mate with a member of the opposite clan.
The mating rule wasn't necessarily important, no one had ever had interspecies mated before and the thought of doing so made bile rise in my throat.
Werewolves mating system differed greatly from ours. The moon goddess forces werewolves to be together through a psychological connection that makes it impossible for them to stray from one another, it was sick to think their entire community relied on the forced mating of one another to prosper. Our goddess was kinder in that aspect, she allowed us to choose our own partners and mate with them for life. That's what my mother and father did, it was a mutual decision that wasn't caused by the willing of the goddess but pure luck that they found each other.
Our mating process was beautiful and dreamy, it gave soul mates a deeper meaning, I couldn't help but sympathise for our canine enemies in that aspect, they'll never get to know what it feels like to find love on their own. They were the only species in our society who experienced love in this way, how backwards.
I was snapped out of my daze when my sister nudged my shoulder harshly. "Earth to Madi," she teased, waving her hand in front of my face, I swatted it away. "You're standing there like a zombie, you better not make a fool out of me and your father, socialise." She bit. The slight tinge of wine on her breath was enough of an indication that my sister's attitude towards me would be harder to diffuse tonight.
"I need to go to the bathroom." I excused, pushing past her and out through the entrance doors that were left open for people to wander in and out of.
I got to the bathroom and shut the door lightly behind me, sighing as the chatter of our society leaders grew muffled in this tiny room. "Just speak to the vampires," I spoke to myself. "You've met a vampire before, they're actually really nice people despite the diet."
I glanced at the mirror briefly to check my appearance, everything seemed to be in order. I smiled. "If I chat up a conversation with the Vampire Leader for a little while I'm sure my father would appreciate it, he seems more than preoccupied with the leader of the Dragons, whatever his name was.
Because I wasn't the next Sol of my pride, I wasn't taught the names of my father's fellow leaders because the information would be useless to me, as much as it disappointed me I accepted the fact a long time ago that I would never be as intertwined in the complex leadership system of our society.
Leaders were just a nice of saying royalty, my father was king of the Lions, my mother his queen. And it was like that for all supernatural beings. There was a king of dragons, king of elves, king of ogres even, the list goes on.
Personally I think the title was a little far fetched, leader suited the position a lot better, in my Pride my family weren't treated like royalty, our people held equal standing to us, but my parents called the shots and our people respected that. And I wondered briefly if it was the same system across all supernatural species.
I exited the bathroom and walked back down the corridor towards the ballroom, determined not to stand there like a statue in my own thoughts this time.
As I entered I noticed the atmosphere felt different, it was thinner than it had been moments before despite the number of heads in the single room, I could breathe easier and the breathing made all the scents smashed together a lot stronger than it had been before, but one stood out. It smelt oddly of firewood and a spicy cologne, not an unusual smell but it was one I hadn't noticed beforehand. It was new.
I scrunched up my nose, could this mean another leader had arrived? I shook away the scent from my memory but it stuck so prominently I found myself searching the room for the perpetrator, whoever it belonged to needed to be told they were wearing too much cologne and to take it down a notch, my acute sense of smell was finding it hard to focus on anything else.
I noticed a head that stood much taller than the others in the crowd as he stood by Cressida and Calla, greeting them individually. This man stood out as he was dressed in all black, almost as if he had just departed from a funeral, but there were no defining characteristics about this man other than his height to assume he was the Ogre leader. I thought Ogres were hideous beings. And he was much too tall to be the Reptilian Leader.
I watched as Cressida pointed a little to discreetly in the direction of my sister, who stood by the bar with another glass of wine in her hand, then towards the small group of men who were chatting away, my father amongst the group. Before she panned the room is search for someone else, her eyes landed on me across the room and I looked away, embarrassed to have been caught watching the encounter.
I found it odd that she had pointed to me and my family of all people and I waited a few seconds to look back up in Cressida's direction, my curiosity peaking, instead I found her speaking to the man as the man, stared at me.
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