Sacrifice for the Balance Chapter 2: The Queen Enters The Game

[The last chapter can be found here.]

Lady Astor Mary Brisbane did not like what the motorcycle helmet would do to her hair, but it was better than using the limousine. Tomasz Cel Tradat had picked her up from the airport and had given her the choice of a limousine or a motorcycle. One look at the gorgeous red Harley Davidson with its chrome, and she knew the limousine was the worse of the two rides. While she loved the ostentatiousness of the limousine, it would never make it to the hidden village she was traveling to.

She did request a few minutes to change, however; she had flown here in a linen black dress that worked well to enforce her seriousness with its pink ascot and white shirt, all under a dark overcoat, but it would not do for the ride she was bout to receive. She decided to exchange the dress for a pair of woolen slacks and quickly mounted the motorcycle. They quickly disappeared over the horizon.

The trip went swimmingly. The Washington forest they were going through was pretty enough, with the trees disappearing into the various canyons, and the seacoast was beautiful in its raggedness. The ever-present cloud cover made the starkness of the forest stand out even more and provided a familiar flavor to the former London resident. She allowed herself to enjoy the trip, not even allowing the cold wind ripping through her clothes to dim her enjoyment.

The forest looked like it would be a fun place to roam through.

A missile suddenly flew past them. The sphere of blue flame was followed by another, and Tomasz swore under her breath. He revved the motorcycle up, and it screamed in response. "Yeah, old girl, I think this is ridiculous, too!" The motorcycle managed to dodge another two missiles.

Lady Astor grew suddenly cross at the disruption of her drive and so quickly looked for the source of the missiles. Quickly determining where the shooter was, she leaped off the motorcycle, backflipping behind it. She ripped off her gloves while running to point of the missile's origin, her fingernails growing sharper, her hands thicker, as she ran. When she arrived there a few heartbeats later she leaped onto the man in military fatigues. He didn't even have time to scream as her claws penetrated his chest.

She allowed her hands to relax, and she grabbed the man's radio. Bringing it close to her mouth, she whispered into the radio, "You have a man down. If you don't want more casualties to deal with you will stop now." She was putting on her gloves when Tomasz pulled up to her. "Sorry for the hasty departure. I felt a more personal touch would work."

Tomasz smirked as she mounted the bike. She was going to fit in well with the Seventeen Oaks.

* * * * *

Percival glanced at his watch. Sheriff Ann had given copies of all of the files, and he was busy digging through them, just as she was likely digging through the files he had given her. His personal notes grew, and then he updated his murder board. He didn't like the pattern that was evolving, but he needed a few more bits of information before he could really tell what was going on.

Hopefully, their meeting tomorrow afternoon would fill in the blanks. Meanwhile, he had to run. I hate tribal politics. He turned off the light as he ran out.

* * * * *

Lady Astor dismounted the motorcycle and Tomasz disappeared. Before her loomed the hidden village of Eidelton. The village was more of a trailer park, with most of the trailers partially hidden by camouflage netting. The trees above had been encouraged to grow together, so the netting was more perfunctory than anything else, but the trailers were hidden well enough. There were some nice trails and there were plenty of flowerbeds throughout. Nice enough, but more of a provisional situation than an actual habitation.

An older man came out to gather her. His camo pants vest fit the theme well, but at least he was wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt. "Apologies for the lack of fanfare, but we don't do such frills."

She moved into him, hugging him with a slight embrace. "I would not expect anything less. At least you and I have a few moments alone."

Lord Jonathan allowed himself to smile and returned the hug. "All of this is yours, of course. This isn't where you will be living, I hope, but it is the headquarters of the Seventeen Branches. We just found it useful to keep a few trailers in the middle of the woods rather than back in the town."

She fondled his arm. "No worries. It makes sense considering the various directives of the tribe." She looked him in the eyes. "So this is all mine? Well, it could be worse, I suppose."

He smiled. "The place is a lot better on the inside. There are two hubs for the computer networks, it has one of the fastest WiFi networks in the area, full cellular coverage, and a drone farm for surveillance. There is also a full arcane library, with digital versions of most books, as well as a full lab. There is also a pretty extensive garden on the other side, with both vegetables and fruits as well as herbs."

She broke away. "Sounds like fun. Let's go explore." She walked towards the village.

He ran to catch up to her.

* * * * *

Sheriff Ann glared at the USB drive that Percival had handed her. She hoped that it would tell her its secrets, possibly through the power of osmosis. When that was obviously not happening she plugged it in and started looking through its contents. She was impressed by how thorough Percival, was but also depressed: What she had given the kid was somewhat simplistic compared to this. She had given him her written notes and copies of the witness transcriptions and autopsy reports, but he had included lab reports on the poisons used and a wealth of pictures of each crime scene.

She was impressed. The kid should work for the FBI or something. She sighed as she dove into the information.

* * * * *

Percival threw back the hood of his robes as he exited his trailer. The party was already going on, with disco lights orbiting the yard and a rock beat permeating everything. He waved at a few people, all in robes of their own, smiled at a few others, and walked to the podium. Lord Jonathan grabbed him in a shake that Percival returned, and then swung him towards the woman waiting there.

Lord Jonathan patted him on the shoulder. "I need you to give the orientation as I go deal with some idiotic dispute over acorns." He disappeared into the crowd before Percival could object. He turned towards Lady Astor. "And thus departs the lord, to tell off some poor fairies." She smiled. "I'm Percival Shea. We'll be interacting. A lot." He offered her his hand; she took it and then returned it after a quick shake.

She looked around the room. "Well, let's hope they aren't all boring." She focused on him. "So…the orientation?"

He sighed. "It's not that bad. Tomorrow I'll give you your personal tablet that will keep you linked to the system; it'll have all digital copies of all the important documents. You'll find all of the t's crossed and i's dotted. You'll also receive paper copies; don't worry; you have until noon to sign your life away." He smirked.

She returned it. "But there is still an orientation."

He smiled. "Yeah, but it's more of just an informal thing." He nodded to someone in the distance and smiled. "Any problem doing it now?"

She rolled her eyes. "May as well get it over with, right?"

"That's the spirit." He smiled then stiffened. "You just need to remember three things: First, you're the second-in-command here; only Lord Jonathan is your superior. This may not be a big thing in the strategy meetings, but it means that disagreeing with you in a fight can be fatal."

She lost her smirk. "So the war chief is not someone to be trifled with here. Good to know."

He leaned in just a little. "We may be mostly informal, but we treat combat very seriously. You have witches, fairies, and a few others in this forest; everyone is pretty chill right now, but many of them have enough power to level the town if angered enough. We're the police here, so we need to treat any combat situation with the utmost seriousness." He straightened up.

She smiled. "Even a fairy prank war?"

He sighed. "Those are the worst. But yeah: Even those. But you need to keep in mind that you are not to be disrespected in the field; it could be dangerous to all involved. You just need to keep in mind that your commands as war chief are to be treated as law. Period."

"Understood.'

He grabbed two drinks off a tray that passed too close and handed her one. She accepted. "Otherwise, bear in mind that the informality does have two side effects." He sipped from his drink. "Sorry about the drink. They like their alcohol." She smiled. "The first is that teams can change at any point. We tried to regulate them, but the system has worked. If you need someone specific you can ask for them and usually get them, but you'll find that the system tends to work in your favor."

"Yes, that is pretty strong." She put her drink down. "And the other?"

He waved at someone in the crowd. "We're wolves, and you're the pack beta." He sighed. "Partners tend to be pretty fluid, and most of the older wolves have a breeding partner and a loving partner: One to continue the tribe, one to continue living, as it were."

She smiled a bit. "The old familiar problem. Necessary because the ones we breed are sometimes weaker than we are."

He tipped his glass. "Pretty much. But…as wolves, we define authority by physicality, and so any means of physically demonstrating superiority is acceptable. That includes through sex."

"My betrothed did sort of mention that. He mentioned that sometimes it was necessary to demonstrate authority. While I can understand the necessity, it feels a little like rape."

"Which is why there are so many restrictions on it. You can ask anyone at any time to have sex; that's your right as a war chief. But that person can also tell you 'no', and that's their right. But don't expect it to happen too often; sex with a leader is a status thing. It also means that after a celebration, when everyone starts pairing up, you'll be expected to pair with someone other than, well, other than Lord Jonathan." He took a sip from his drink.

She also took a drink. "Fun. But I was sort of informed about that. I do not readily approve of it, but it is a tradition I will work with."

He smiled. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are ways out of it, especially if you work things out ahead of time." He sipped again. "A number of us don't really like that tradition."

She smirked. "Well, it is fading."

"Cool." He put his drink down. "So that's it. I'll have the paperwork ready for you tomorrow."

She offered her hand. "Anything else?"

He shook it. "Nope."

Lord Jonathan walked up. "Bloody fairies." He grabbed a drink and swallowed it in a single drink. "You, young man, probably have someone to hook up with. You can run off now." Percival disappeared. "Time to reacquaint ourselves….."

The two moved to hug the other and then walked out of the courtyard.

[The last chapter can be found here. The next chapter can be found here.]