Sooner or later we all knew we would have to enter court politics. As much as we wanted to avoid it, we were too weak, too isolated and too uncertain of what transpired in the wider courts to survive otherwise. By this stage we had grown of course. From the beginning where it had been just me and Carliah we now numbered over a dozen.
Most were outcasts and exiles like us, alone and adrift looking for a place to find themselves again. We were what we were. We had magic and we had a degree of power even then. If people did know of our existence, then likely Carliah's presence kept them at bay. That or they considered us beneath their presence still. That would change in time. It had already begun to.
Someone somewhere had already begun to spread our word. It was whispered in the air by someone, picked up and taken away from us cast out into the void beyond. Valric and Halatia were proof of that fact. They wondered into the camp one morning and settled in close by discovering themselves what exactly the truth was in those words.
They spoke to all of us in turn or together. It was late at night when they met with me and Carliah. We talked the four of us. Long into the darkness so that by the time it ended light was beginning to show again rising across the far side of valley we had made our home. Whatever they heard it had worked well enough. They stayed and brought their own unique talents to our growing band.
At that point any skill was useful, although most of us were already working on different things. We were too few not to pitch in working in other areas. They offered new things that we desperately needed if not to survive then at least to make ourselves stronger than we had been.
We had started our own halls although they were at best rough and not in a fit state to host any kind of gathering to the extent that court politics would require. It limited our options, especially when I had not dabbled in court politics when I was at court let alone now. There was also the fact that given our current weakness the moment we rose and made ourselves known one or a few of the other courts would move and strike us down.
There were however other options. Some of us myself included had been more versed than some of the others. We knew of places outside the courts. We knew of gatherings of different people, we knew of other bands some more wild and uncontrollable that we didn't want to risk encounters with.
When discussing our options one evening one name came to mind, someone me and Carliah both knew at least in passing. That was the self-styled Queen Sienna. The courts often sent representatives to her although they were openly dismissive of her self-proclaimed title. It meant nothing to the courts she wasn't one of them she was something entirely different and therefore easily ignored.
For our purposes though she held an advantage. We knew of her at least a little. I had seen her even if I hadn't spoken. Carliah had spent time there before as well. We knew that as dismissive as the courts were of her, they still often visited her. Her power did not match the weakest of the courts, but she held power none the less.
She was less of a threat to us, at least directly she couldn't openly match even our power. But the fact she met with all kinds of people courts included meant we would be safer beginning there. A visit by court members would be unremarkable unless someone was looking for us specifically something that wasn't the case as yet.
It would be a good start for us to begin to venture out. If we succeeded, we might gain some potential benefits. If we failed, then we would lose little. So, we had sent a messenger requesting a meeting. We had no immediate reply to our messenger, they'd been politely hosted and then told a reply would be sent after consideration.
This may have been a ploy. It may have been while Sienna herself considered her options. It may simply have been surprise on her part. Maybe the courts weren't so formal with her, and she wasn't sure if some plot or scheme lay behind it. We couldn't be certain. Instead, a few weeks afterwards when we had started discussing other options a short message arrived inviting several of us to a banquet.
It named me personally which was the most surprising and intriguing part of it all. It formally requested my presence along with a few fellow guests to a banquet the Queen was holding. Again, we had sat and considered the risks. None of us were certain what we were getting involved in. Eventually however we agreed we needed to start somewhere.
A reply was sent, a date arranged and at the given time me, Carliah and several of the others left to travel to the court. It was a longer trip something we were conscious of as it left our new home relatively unprotected given Carliah was probably still the most formidable asset we held although she'd disagree.
But we found ourselves entering politics again something I was acutely aware of when I found myself seated at the high table alongside the Queen herself. My companions were all seated on another table. In places of honour of course but away from me none the less. It was just me and the Queen on our table. All the better to discuss things perhaps.
We enjoyed dinner, shared polite small talk and until the entertainment began did little else. The Queen herself was in high spirits that evening. It was the closest I'd been to her, and she had an undeniable presence. The courts might mock her, evenly openly at times but that evening she clearly taken the time to make an impression and she held a degree of power even if it wasn't the same as our own.
She was a shapeshifter. Normally when I'd seen her before she drifted between forms suiting her own moods. That evening she was much more like us. Either trying to make us more comfortable by assuming our identity or else mimicking it for some motive that we couldn't see openly. There were some differences.
Whilst she could change her shape and form it took effort. She was a foot shorter than me. Sat beside me at the table her head just reached my shoulder. The second was her eyes. She could change many things but those she couldn't match. Her own were just dark orbs. But otherwise, she had an aura about her.
She had striking features, all sharp angles. A sleek figure small, petite and tightly formed. Her hair normally on the few occasions I'd seen her was usually unbound and flew wildly as she moved. Tonight, it was far more styled and formal a blonde colour with darker streaks.
She was also wearing a sheer green gown. It was like a second skin showing the body beneath in it's entirety something I had been aware of when she'd greeted us earlier that evening. She had offered me a small, pointed smile and dipped her head in greeting when she'd taken my hand making sure I took all of her in as we shared pleasantries.
She was I reminded myself as we came to the point of being there as sharp as they came and as deadly in her own way as any of the courts if I didn't tread carefully. At that point I had been away from the courts to long. The intricacies of court politics and careful negotiations through words, deeds and gestures had escaped me.
Instead, I fell back on what I was good at. At that moment it was simply being honest and dealing with her fairly. After the food had been cleared, as the dancing and music began, we sat back and watched each other wearily.
"You can imagine my surprise of course when your messenger arrived." She began as we started our negotiations.
I offered her a small smile of my own inclining my head.
"I can count on one hand the number of times a court has openly asked to meet me." She continued.
