Page 6 of Serpent and Shadow

Shrouded in dark storm clouds and snow, the lack of sunlight forced the roaring fireplace to my left to make up the difference. Even so, I struggled to adjust my eyes.

The room was empty of anyone but us, and felt strangely cold, even with the fire.

The two soldiers didn’t let go of me and didn’t slow down.

They dragged me along the carpet, forcing my feet to stumble and jerk as I attempted to keep up. I’d barely made sense of where they were taking me when a floor-length, silver-framed mirror with carved bears and bees appeared in front of me. It was taller than I was, and wide enough for two grown men to walk through walking side-by side.

The larger of the two Magicals with me yanked on my arm as the other male fell back without letting go of me, either.

I barely had time to take a breath before everything disappeared.

I stumbled across a heavy, thick, gold frame on the other side.

Panting, heart hammering in my chest, I struggled to keep my balance. Both gloved hands gripped me tightly on either side, and essentially held me on my feet. I stared at my new surroundings, blinking to adjust to the change in light, and the cavernous hall I didn’t recognize at all. Everything appeared to be gold and white, and hurt my eyes.

Two massive stone lions loomed over me, larger than elephants, white and decorated in more gold, along with what looked like precious stones. They stood on either side of a curved, half-moon table made of more white stone, which sparkled with iridescence under the torches.

A group of people sat behind the table.

All of them had grave expressions on their faces.

All of them stared at me.

Unable to make sense of those stares, I looked to my left, where columns of white marble ran down either side of a long aisle between rows of people.

There appeared to be over a hundred of them, most dressed in formal-looking robes of various jewel tones, wearing soft hats with insignias at the front in gold, green, red, silver, and black thread.

Less than a third wore what I’d consider the “normal” clothing styles of Magique, which were already odd compared to human fashions. Magique wizards and witches tended to dress in more colorful, flamboyant, varied fabrics, cut and shaped in styles that struck me as strangely dated, although the dates on the styles varied, too.

I saw women in suits that evoked the 1940s, corsets that evoked the early oughts of the Twentieth Century, men in top hats, fedoras, porkpie hats, and suits that stretched back even earlier, some evoking 17th and 18th Centuries. Many mages carried similarly dated accessories: pocket watches, cravats, insignia rings, stockings, snuff boxes, and elaborate canes.

But I’d grown accustomed to that particular oddness.

This was a different variety of oddness altogether.

The few here wearing Magical street clothes definitely wore the expensive variety, like that of the royals who went to Malcroix Bones Academy, including Bones. I pegged them as royals themselves, or at least the very rich. I even recognized several of their familial primals from the royals in Bones’s set at school.

By then, I’d formed a pretty solid deduction as to where I was.

I’d never seen paintings or magical images of the Palace of the Lions, and I’d certainly never been here before, but too many things hinted strongly of my location.

That suspicion grew closer to certainty when my eyes returned to the individuals seated around the moon-shaped table.

The male seated at the center wore a white robe, a heavy gold necklace, and thick gold rings in his ears. Even his hair was golden, and matched his adornments. A thick, golden beard fell halfway to his chest below short, flat, golden hair.

A white and gold lion primal sat on the table next to him, solemnly swishing its tail. Its flat, humorless face stared at me with pure boredom.

Something in mage’s stare reflected the same bored irritation.

No one in the cavernous hall spoke as the two soldiers dragged me deeper into the room. They stopped when I stood directly in front of the man with the golden hair.

That’s when I saw a face and body I did know, and had seen before, many times. His bear primal lifted a paw to wave at me, seemingly the instant I noticed his wizard standing to the left of the crescent-shaped table.

I waved back, but the bear continued to look worried.

Forsooth didn’t smile, but his dark eyes shone with warmth when they met mine. He stood perfectly still, hands clasped in front over a rather dingy-looking brown suit jacket made of some thick material that made me think of corduroy. He wore an orange scarf around his neck, and black pants of the same thick material as his jacket.

When I glanced back at the larger crowd, I noticed a group standing to one side, outside the jeweled robes and expensive street clothes. Those mages and witches wore the same black uniforms worn by the two men at my side, excepting one mage, who wore the uniform under a black and purple cloak.