Mageslayer Ch. 04

She would make sure to leave an impression, spending far longer than she normally would to prepare and groom in the morning, but eventually she was satisfied, and left her chambers wearing her mask. Already she saw staff bustling about, and heard the distant sounds of preparations being made for a proper greeting for the other nobles' arrival. She told Elz to look after Maddie until the lord of house Azari arrived, and with a quick flourish and subsequent flare of magic, the dryad was gone. She went to Lord Eter's sanctum, away from his chambers but still connected via various secret passages, guarded by some guard runes to cause bewilderment and at the very entrance, potential death in the form of an arcane spike. None but the Lord was allowed to enter this small subwing of the manor, it was where he practiced his magic rituals and stored his arcane knowledge and memorabilia. Arguably it was the most important room in the estate, and where most mage business happened. Of course Lori had little trouble sidestepping or simply ignoring the wards. At first Eter was surprised and angry when she showed up in his sanctum, but after some nice distraction from his work in the form of a blow job and quick fuck, he became more ammable to the Neko's presence. Since then she came here often when she needed to meet him and didn't want to wait.

The old wooden door engraved with who knows how many runes swung open as Lori entered. The sanctum was circular, ringed by bookshelves containing grimores, tomes of arcana, essays, and magical items. It was then layered with multiple rings of stone that made up the floor and dipped down, almost like stairs. Each ring was inscribed with various runes and other arcane sigils, and with some effort, could be rotated, and a magical system of pulleys and other machinery could lift or drop the rings vertically. Finally in the center was a stone circle, otherwise similar to the rings surrounding it. It could form any arcane rune sequence a mage could ever need for any ritual, instead of needing to scribe a new one for each ritual magick. It didn't have the simplicity, the subtle beauty of druid circles, but it was efficient and calculated to give as much power to mages as possible, fitting for the magocracy. Eter of course was to the side standing at a desk, reading something.

Lori enjoyed his jump of surprise when she only made her presence known by nuzzling her face against his cheek. To his credit, it only took a moment for him to regain composure, still focused on the tome. "I wasn't expecting you." As normal when it was just the two of them, he spoke in high arcano, ensuring that even if somehow a member of staff was eavesdropping, they wouldn't understand a word. Lori purred as she continued to press herself against him, giving him a quick kiss on the neck before lowering herself to be standing normally, no longer nuzzling against him.

"Lori knew that. Other lord will be arriving soon yes? Eter has not told Lori why even if she can guess." Lori spoke softly, she wasn't here to try arguing with or interrogating her master, she simply wanted to see him, hold him, remember why she was so quick to try killing that stupid druid. His calm, measured tone, diligence to the task at hand, and willingness to put up with her antics were certainly reminder enough.

"He will be here soon, that is correct. He told me he would arrive sometime around 8, so in around an hour. You will entertain him and his entourage in my absence for some time, I need to finish casting a summons for a phoenix. The council requires a magical beast as levy." He explained briefly, not mentioning why the lord was coming in the first place, he knew she already had a decent enough idea. Lori was momentarily surprised the council had requested a phoenix from him, but it made sense. He had few people living on his estate, not enough to levy traditional troops, but did have access to a variety of rarer reagents and a decent spot of magic energy convergence. A moderate fire elemental, a phoenix could be summoned with a significantly powerful ritual that required both. It was worth at least 500 men, and would ensure the council remained pleased with his contribution to the army for at least half a year. She also knew he had not timed this accidentally, and was most certainly testing her ability to interact with others of nobility. She did not plan on failing the test.

They did have an hour though, and Lori didn't quite let him get away that easily. She was careful to maintain her groomed appearance, but that didn't stop her from collecting some of Eter's seed, distracting him from his study for the ritual for some time as they tangled their bodies, once more letting Lori feel properly full. By the time she had finished with him and was once more presentable, even with the obvious signs of sex still partly staining her thighs, around an hour had passed. She left him, entering the main section of the manor to wait for the arrival of the guests.

She heard the scramble of chefs in the kitchen, preparing a morning meal suitable for a banquet of nobles, it was a shame she couldn't smell it, the mask was certainly functional, but she would prefer a way to get past the arcane stench without crippling her senses. Soon after there was commotion outside, and as etiquette called for, she departed the manor to meet the guests, finding herself accompanied quite suddenly by Elz. The wonders of a teleporting handmaiden.

The large carriage that brought the Lord and his Lady was clearly visible, and some servants wearing the crest of house Azari were helping a middle aged man exit; he was short, slightly stout, and wearing a vast assortment of jewelry and fine cloth, with his house's crest clearly visible on most. Lori could not smell his aura, but saw the pale violet flicker around him. His wife followed, she was a half elf, or so Lori believed, she was slim, and looked quite young, her ears were slightly pointed and she had long flowing golden hair. She was quite beautiful all things considered, the lady of house Azari was the subject of many portraits. The neko noted Gabriel, presumably there to greet them, she stood back, observing and striking a dignified stance, head held high and back straight. Her ears were fully perked, and her face looked like it had a polite smile, she didn't actually of course, since her mouth was hidden by the mask, but she made every outwards appearance to be polite and inoffensive while also proud.

The posture and appearance of a noble lady, held by a neko. She truly did grin when she saw the flare of confusion, shock, and practically outrage on the Lord's face when he saw her, before quickly smoothening his expression, the politeness of nobility. Lori had always found it amusing. "Welcome to the Erenvloth Estate Lord Zahle Azari and Lady Azari, I am the head of staff here and hope your journey was pleasant." Gabriel spoke with his normal comforting, pilot tone, gently bowing his head before continuing.

"Lord Erenvloth is currently preoccupied with council matters within his private sanctum. But Mistress Lori Erenvloth can entertain you in the meantime." He once more gently bowed, gesturing towards Lori before stepping to the side, speaking now to some of the visitors own servants and what not, uninteresting to Lori. She saw as Lord Zahle's face blistered in surprise and indignity, aura flaring once more, but he composed himself and approached her, holding his wife's hand as she also observed the neko, seeming more relaxed and certainly less enraged at the presence of a half fae.

Lori's ears flattened and her eyes narrowed however as she noticed something else, an ash colored horse being stabled, appearing almost translucent, not fully real, distorted. The stable boys, including Maddie's brother she noted, were struggling with the horse, trying to grab it and reign it in places it wasn't. Without magical senses it was hard to even detect. If Ashe was here, that meant Leric was too, he alone rode the steed. Part of Zahle's entourage most likely, presumably he called in a favor from the noble. She noticed another figure slightly away in the distance, speaking to some members of staff. A large figure, at least seven feet tall and as bulky as Ale, maybe a bit more. They were dressed in various pieces of fairly thin red cloth wrapped around them almost like robes, including a turban. An orc was also with Zahle, which ultimately was unsurprising, they were important in trade.

Lori returned her gaze to the approaching nobles, and perked her ears as Lord Zahle began to speak. "I had heard rumors that Eter had taken a.... unique, mistress but had not quite believed them until now." He didn't say anything directly offensive or insulting, but it's not like his meaning was lost on the neko. He spoke in high arcano of course, and a hint of his aura suggested he was hoping she couldn't understand. That he could discredit her legitimacy so easily. Without her scent aura reading was much less precise, but she was still capable of basic insight. She noted the lady's aura seemed smaller, more tamed, a light purple color.

Lori would need to be careful, if she played her cards right though, she could begin a plot, find a weakness or two, and bring down her enemies before they realized she was a genuine threat. She had no plan to let herself be scared by an arrogant noble, she had killed many before, she was The Mageslayer after all.