Heir of Beasts

Ch. 3.5- Black Magic

Content warning: Both this chapter and the next have some graphic *ahem* content, so if you're young and innocent or it's too spicy for you, don't read! If, like me, you are thoroughly depraved and have accepted the fact, then go right ahead.

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Before I know what's happening, Irei is at my side, whispering in my ear that I'm clever and brilliant and fierce and he's so, so proud of me. His dark eyes shine as he presses a drink into my hand, lifting his own in a victory toast that's only a little goading given Keth's proximity, a problem quickly rectified as he leaves the cards table and stalks off. He whispers something about having to get the ashes, but before I have time to wonder what that might mean, Yinmari Taashi turns to me and loudly exclaims "you kicked his ass!"

"Tzika!" Kemvir chides, reaching over and swatting her daughter. "Watch your tongue, Yini!"
"So I'm old enough to bless and welcome our clan and help oversee the Blood Tithe, but not old enough to say the word 'ass' or drink y'chora? Explain to me the logic there!"
"Easy," Kemvir says lightly. "The only explanation you need is 'because I said so.'"

"Iriis!" Yinmari entreats, dark eyes darting over to her mentor, who's unruffled despite the slightly frenetic energy now buzzing around the beach. Some of it is Keth's defeat at the hands of a mysterious stranger, but I can tell there's something else going on as well. I just don't know what.

"Hmm?" Iriis asks, barely looking up as she spreads fermented yeast paste on bread. The Kionaxi all seem to love it, though I think it tastes like death.

"Don't you think, as the Matriarchessa and a wielder of powerful and ancient magic, I should be allowed to say the word ass if I so choose?"

"I think you should listen to your mother," Iriis replies sagely, taking a bite of her disgusting toast.

"Why?" Yinmari mutters. "It's not like she ever listens to anyone herself."

Iriis chokes on her bread, sputtering out a laugh. "Well, Kemi, she's got you there. You've never really cared what you set fire to so long as you could profit by the light."

"But I've got you standing by with buckets of water and common sense to minimize the damage, so there's no real danger!" Kemvir replies brightly. "And if that fails, I have both Aryuul and Ishalai to talk sense into me. Or at least try. Now," she tells us, standing up, "it's time for our esteemed Matriarchessa to get to bed, and I do believe you're needed to bless the ash, Riis."

"Told you not to call me that, at least in public," Iriis rolls her eyes.

"You've told me a lot of things. Sometimes I even listen. Now excuse me, I have to get my daughter out of here. I don't care how mature she thinks she is, she is not staying for the fioníxia."

"You'd best take your foreigner home, too, Irei," a bearded man advises, but the word foreigner is said without any bite. Fondly, even. "It's liable to stop his pure Shikkan heart, and that would make us terrible hosts."

"I'm all for letting him stay," a doe-eyed woman laughs. "Think of what we might see!"

"Oh, I am," a man about my age says with a tipsy leer in my direction. "I'm thinking about it real hard."

Irei glares at him, stern as stone. "Keep thinking about him and all you'll see is my fist approaching your face at an alarming velocity."

"Oh, calm your tits, Ambassador," the inebriated man chuckles as he refills his mug of y'chora. "It was only a joke."

"Tits?" I exclaim with mock horror. "What else have you been hiding from me, Rei?"

"Wings and a tail," another man jokes.