Satyr Play 02 Pt. 02

"What's wrong?" Sigrid asked as she settled in on the other side.

"I've gotten used to having my mattress on the floor. Regular beds feel too high now but this one..."

She snorted softly and cuddled in against his side. He glanced down at her head on his chest and settled back and the pillow. This was definitely more comfortable than the couch downstairs, but his mind wasn't ready to settle down yet.

He was going to find out tomorrow what the Queen wanted in return for the glamors, and he knew, whatever it was, he'd pay it for the sake of his friends.

He owed them that much.

Chapter 41

It took two large SUV's to carry all of the people accompanying Henry to the Queen's Manhattan residence. They pulled into the underground parking and took the ramps to the lowest public level where a gate blocked the next ramp. A surly looking goon stood guard. Roy showed the card Henry handed to him and gestured to the truck following them. The guard returned the card with a nod and raised the gate for them to continue down. When they reached the lowest level, they found parking spots close to the elevator.

They got out and gathered in front of the trucks as they looked around. There were only a few other vehicles. Sandy, Tish, and Dayshia were wearing the hooded cloaks Meixiu gave them before they left the mansion for the ride here. Kesini kept slipping tendrils out of the hood only for Sandy to push them back in.

Mary had chosen to remain in her black jeans, a grey t-shirt, and black leather jacket. Meixiu was wearing a white silk dress that flowed as she moved. She looked especially luminescent next to Mary.

"Are there no other guests attending this party?" Camila asked.

Sigrid shrugged then moved to stand before the three ladies who'd be getting glamors, but she focused on Dayshia. "Are you seeing glamors?" Dayshia nodded. "Good. You want to stay that way until we leave. Do your best to maintain a poker face. The Fae wear glamors of great beauty, but often this hides less appealing features. The Queen especially. She's ancient and exceptionally powerful." She looked to the other two. "It's best not to look too long or too closely at her if you can help it, regardless of being able to see through her glamor. The beauty of her glamor can be a little unsettling too. Demure glances are perfectly fine and expected."

"Are we in any danger?" Dayshia asked.

Sigrid shook her head. "No. No more than if you were visiting the Queen of Denmark or England. Just show Queen Mab the same level of respect you would show them."

"What about this Hidden Race Council? Are we in danger from them?" Mary asked. Nate nodded with a worried expression.

"No, leave them to me," Mahati said confidently.

The group walked over to the elevator bank, and Roy pressed the button. Moments later the wide doors opened on one of the most luxurious elevators Henry had ever seen. Sandy gave him an exaggeratedly impressed look, drawing a smile from him. He nodded to her as the group boarded. The light on the button for level one pulsed, so they just settled in for the ride.

Dayshia sat on the plush bench with a regal air, and Tish snorted. Sandy giggled, but Henry could tell it was nerves. Far quicker than they expected, the elevator binged, and the doors opened. In the hallway, they faced four huge, fierce and rough looking men.

Roy stepped out first and let the first of the security men frisk him for weapons.

Sigrid stepped forward, and the big goon leered as he rubbed his hands together, stepping closer. Sigrid's gaze promised death, and his leer dropped away quickly. He grunted in annoyance and pulled free a short club hanging on his hip.

He suddenly folded back in two, squealing in pain.

"That's no way to greet our visitors."

Queen Mab's voice was pure honey and sex and drew every eye. The remaining security men carried their injured member away quickly.

"Henry! Welcome to my little home away from home!" Mab sighed as she came forward to lift her hand for Henry's kiss. She only had eyes for him. He took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips, earning him a satisfied smile.

Finally, she looked to the others. "You've brought along your little friends. You have quite the posse now. Isn't that the term in use at the moment? Posse?" She smiled at her cleverness. She looked to the three women in cloaks. "You may place those robes on the hooks." She gestured towards the side of the corridor. "You can be assured of privacy and discretion within my castle."

Dayshia, Sandy, and Tish took off the heavy cloaks, showing they were dressed uniformly in black silk dress shirts and black yoga pants, with black sandals for Dayshia and Sandy and black hooves for Tish. No longer hidden by the voluminous robes, Mab's eyes widened in delight as she saw their distinct states. "What have you done?" she said with a smile, glancing at Henry.

He cleared his tight throat. "Queen Mab, may I introduce Sandy Marlow, Dayshia Morrison, and Patricia Evans." He glanced at Mary. "And Mary Carsten."

Mab gave Mary the briefest nod, but the other women received a thorough eyeballing until each felt a little uneasy. She was particularly taken with Tish. "Another Satyr! How remarkable! Planning on bringing your people back?" the Queen asked Henry with a coy smile. She missed the twinge of pain that flashed across Tish's face, but Henry didn't. He shook his head as he ground his teeth at her unknowing cruelty.

Mab shrugged and returned her attention to Mary.

Henry didn't wait for Mab's question. "Mary's change doesn't require a glamor, but she's here to meet the Council members as well."

Mab's lips did a little downturn at the mention of her other guests. "Oh yes, they're here too."

"My friends from work, Camila Villamor, Marisa Villamor, Sigrid Gunderan, and Roy Duncan." The Queen nodded regally to them.

"Meixiu, who was a slave of Walter Zhao but escaped to become our good friend and master of Zhao's estate," Henry said with a smile for the sweet woman who smiled in surprise at his words. Meixiu bowed deeply to the Queen who nodded to the Vampire with a slight smile on her lips. She also seemed to enjoy the karma at play there.

"This is my new friend Nathan Walker." Nate was openly dazzled by the Queen, and she enjoyed that very much. She lifted her hand, and he moved forward to kiss it as Henry had. The Queen's smile showed she appreciated this as well.

"Finally, may I introduce Mahati Chandra, my legal counsel," he said as she bowed to the Queen.

"You brought a lawyer to the party?" The Queen's eyes showed her displeasure.

"Again, to meet with you and the Council members. Business before pleasure?"

Mab's eyes glowed slightly at the reminder of the evening's main event. She was impatient but knew she couldn't rush the spell's timing. "Indeed. Come, the mages are ready for your friends."

She led them down a hallway paneled with lovingly hand buffed exotic woods. She reached double doors guarded by two of the goons they'd met earlier. They opened the doors before Mab reached them, so she walked through without pause.

Henry tried to take it in stride that a room inside a house would have the sky as a ceiling and soft grass as a carpet. There was no sign of the outer walls as the illusion showed a distant horizon with a hint of mountains. The air was fresh, and smelled faintly of wildflowers. Another Fae illusion but master level. He remembered the room under Rockefeller Center where his life took such a dramatic change... at the hands of Queen Mab and Walter Zhao. He glanced back to his friends, and they were all stunned. He saw Mab's amusement over their shock and awe. While that irritated him, calling her out on it wasn't a smart move.

Ahead, he spotted the familiar faces of some Senior Council members who seemed to be waiting for them; Lise-Anne Hoek, Minister of Security, Clive Darrowess, Racial Affairs Minister, and Rand von Deussel, Council Investigator in charge of the Eastern United States.

He also spotted the Minister who looked like a hunky male version of Sigrid. Henry recalled this glamor hid a being with the head of a fish on a skinny scaled body. Isaac Nils, the Minister of Diplomatic Affairs.

None of the Council members looked pleased to be here. They were openly staring at the three ladies in confusion.

The only member of their group not frowning was Michelle Beaumont. She smiled at Henry.

Beyond the council members, standing in the lush glade next to an arrangement of chairs and cushioned benches, were the Fae mages. There had to be at least twenty-five of them. Most but not all of them were the same ones who'd given Henry his glamor. They watched him warily as they recalled the ordeal. Henry stumbled slightly as his memories of the night flashed through his mind. Mab was instantly at his elbow and guided him to the side where a small table and chairs under an umbrella had been set up. Mab took a chair and offered the second to him. She glanced up to see Mahati standing behind Henry at his shoulder.

"Henry and I have a matter to discuss... in private," Mab stated firmly.

"A contract negotiation? As his lawyer, I would be negligent if I didn't attend to look out for his interests," Mahati said calmly.

The Queen's eyes flared with anger.

"It's my first negotiation. I would be grateful for being allowed Mahati's counsel," Henry blurted to forestall Mab's backlash. Her eyes immediately went to his, and he saw he'd said something she liked as hers held only satisfaction now. Her emotional flip-flopping was making him feel very uneasy. She usually showed far more restraint than this. He wondered what it meant.

"Remember that gratitude," she purred. Her eyes moved over to the three ladies. "I see we have three new glamors we need to link to... what, Humans?"

"Post-Humans I think is a more accurate term. Human Plus? Regardless, they aren't strictly human anymore," Henry explained.

"And how did this miraculous transformation occur?" Mab asked.

Henry glanced at Mahati who just nodded. He looked back at the Queen. "You're aware my... essence is saturated with Wild Magic. They were exposed to sufficient amounts, and it changed them permanently and significantly."

"Wild Magic changes Humans? Fascinating! Such variety too! How does that happen?" Mab leaned forward in interest and exposed a delightful amount of cleavage in the process.

Henry tugged his eyes away and caught her smile. "It's chaotic and random."

Mab's eyebrows went up. "Random chance resulted in a Satyr?" she said, giving him a doubtful look.

Henry shifted uncomfortably. "Her transformation may have happened that way because I was in contact with her during her entire change." At her raised eyebrow, he sighed in exasperation. "I'm not a wielder! I don't understand how magic works! I don't even want to know how it works. I'm happy to leave it to you!"

She nodded as she agreed magic was for wielders to control.

"You've brought me three... individuals who need glamors. If I do this for you, I expect three favors in return."

Henry felt Mahati's hand rest lightly on his shoulder, and he closed his mouth as he'd been about to agree.

"These favors must be defined in scope if not in substance," the lawyer said in her calm, professional manner.

"Scope?" Mab said, her eyes locked on Mahati's. Henry felt a pressure building between the two women. Wills were clashing.

"Yes. The favors cannot, in any way, impinge upon Henry's physical or mental freedom. They must not, in any way, endanger him physically or mentally. And those two conditions also apply to those Henry considers important to him."

Mab went still as she reviewed the points in her mind. Suddenly, she smiled. "I can agree to that! Harming Henry, or his friends is the furthest thing from my mind."

Henry made an involuntary choking sound as his mind took him to the night he found Tish horrifically crippled from an attack Mab, herself, ordered. He wanted to jump up and scream BULLSHIT directly in her face, but he knew he couldn't. His friends depended on him to give them a chance at getting their lives back. He fought back the bile that threatened to climb up his throat then lifted his eyes to look into Mab's. Her expression was open and curious. She knew he knew and she was waiting to see what he would do. She was also quite aware his hands were tied.

"Past is past," he ground out, and her smile widened slightly.

"But never forgotten."

Mab froze as she looked into his eyes and he held her gaze. He wasn't going to be the first to look away this time. Realization of this began to appear in Mab's eyes.

"So we have a deal," Mahati blurted and drew their attention. They nodded and shook on it.

Giving Henry a final glance, Mab stood and walked back to the others with Henry and Mahati following.

Lise-Anne immediately stepped forward to address the monarch. "Good evening, Queen Mab. Thank you for the invitation but... what are we doing here and who are these people? Aside from the new Satyr, whose existence is a shock, I don't recognize the Races these two are from," she said pointing to Dayshia and Sandy. Kesini rose up and fanned out in annoyance over her condescending tone. "Are they your creations?"

Queen Mab aimed her shark's grin at the councilwoman. "Not mine. Henry's. He's altered his Human friends... accidentally?" she asked Henry with a coy smile.

He frowned. "Yes, accidentally. Wild Magic has the power to alter humans." Henry looked to Mahati who stepped forward and gestured for the four former human females to join her.

"These four women were once Human. Now, they are more," she said.

Clive pointed to Mary. "Is she wearing a glamor?"

Mary shook her head. "I don't need one."

Lise-Anne looked upset. "We have a problem. There is no contingency for Human's being altered by magic because... it doesn't happen. They belong to no treaty-" Queen Mab's eye lit up, and she moved to speak.

"They're mine."

Everyone looked at Henry. "My treaty covers their creation as offspring. My treaty protects them."

"There's no offspring section in your treaty. You're one of a kind." Lise-Anne glanced at Tish. "Or were when it was created. There was no need for the offspring section."

"Yet it's there, and you all signed it. So it's binding," Henry replied firmly. The Council members looked to the historian.

"There was limited time, and the request to remove the sections was missed," Michelle said quietly.

"You don't miss things!" Rand growled.

Michelle drew herself up to full height and stared down her nose at the much shorter man. "When I'm given sufficient time to prepare the required documents properly, you can be assured of one hundred percent accuracy. I was not, so you received less. As you noted, there was one Satyr. The inclusion of the unedited section was too insignificant to reconvene all parties to sign a new revision." She handed Lise-Anne the treaty. The Security Minister skipped to the Offspring section and quickly reviewed the text. Her expression just soured as she read. Finally, she handed it back to Michelle to look to the others.

"The treaty is binding. Post-Humans are protected by it," Lise-Anne confirmed, glancing at each of the other Council members and Queen Mab. "What about this missing male, Roger... Jensen," she grumbled, looking at his details from the message on her cell.

"We've been unable to contact him. He's an anarchist, impulsive, and highly motivated by conspiracy theories. Finding him quickly is imperative. While we don't agree with the more... extreme measures the Security Division may choose to deal with him... we understand the danger he represents," Henry acknowledged with a sad frown.

While the Council members were not happy with the inclusion of the post-Humans, they saw no benefit in challenging the validity of Henry's claim, for the moment.

Lise-Anne was particularly uneasy about the slippage this seemed to be imposing on their security. With firmly drawn lines between the Hidden Races and the Humans, it was easier to define Us and Them. Now the Satyr was bringing Humans into Us. The lines were blurring and she couldn't, wouldn't accept that. She glanced at Rand, and she saw his agreement. Their decision to launch their contingency plan now felt utterly justified.

Rand glanced down at a vibration in his pocket. He pulled his cell out and ignored the frown from Mab. He read the text, and his face paled. He looked to Lise-Anne, and she knew something was very wrong. Rand struggled to get control then looked to the Queen.

"Thank you for the gracious invitation but... I've just received news of a death in the family. I'm afraid I must leave. I must return to Germany, to collect his body."

"A parent?" Queen Mab asked curiously.

He shook his head with a troubled frown. "Cousin. Thane del Neev." The Queen nodded, granting him leave and he gave her a deeper bow than he usually would. He turned to go, and Lise-Anne walked a few steps away with him. She whispered something to him, and Rand shook his head fiercely. Those watching this heard him growl murder before he stormed off. Lise-Anne walked back to the group with a worried expression.

The Queen had an interested twinkle in her eye then gestured for Henry's group to proceed. Marisa and Henry led their friends forward to meet the mages. Mahati stayed behind to bring the others up to speed on the contract he'd made with the Queen.

"Is this going to hurt?" Sandy asked nervously.

"Not for long. The Fae know how to bind glamors to people linked to the Wild Magic. They won't linger. Their old realm magic won't let them," he said gently.

Seeing the ladies unease, Marisa picked up the conversation from this point. "The link between you and the mages is very intimate, and they are as open to you as you are to them. Normally bindings like these are done to infants whose unformed minds don't look back. The mages don't like it so they will complete the binding and leave as quickly as they can. You mustn't resist them as they are delivering something you want. Your job is to concentrate on the photo you brought, locking that image of you in your mind so you can impress it upon the blank glamor they will bind to your core. They will tell you when it's time to do that."

"That doesn't sound too hard," Tish responded and received a nod from Marisa.

Dayshia took a deep breath and stepped forward to stand next to the first bench. An older Fae approached with six others behind him. "My name is Joren. We will begin with a shallow insertion to determine the strength of the foreign magic. The Satyr's link was so strong we lost one of our own to it. We've learned how to perform the binding, but we need to know how much of this magic we will be working within. Please recline and clear your mind. Allow us access and remain calm. There will be no binding in this first stage."

Dayshia glanced at Marisa then stretched out on the bench on her back.

Marisa addressed the Fae mage. "The Wild Magic within them isn't as strong as Henry's. While linked to the new realm, the flow doesn't feel like a raging river as it does with him." The older mage gave her an evaluating look then tilted his head to her in acceptance and thanks for her assessment. Relief was visible in his expression as well. He gestured for some of the others to hold back. It initially looked like he intended to have the entire group participate in the exploratory dip into Dayshia's mind.

Only four mages took up positions around the bench and closed their eyes. Marisa saw them taking deep, slow breaths which quickly became synchronized as they linked minds and prepared for the effort.

"Oh!" Dayshia chirped as she suddenly felt the presence of otherness in her mind. She instinctively pushed it out.