Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Nine — Prelude to Disaster
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Nine — Prelude to Disaster I tugged at my blouse, then at the seat of my pants, all the while staring at the Broccoli Bunch in the mirror.The suit somehow made me look very... handsome. I didn’t quite have the chin to pull it off, but I think it was suitably cute, especially after Awen helped me do up my hair in a nice braid and Rosaline applied just a pinch of makeup to my cheeks and eyes.It was all topped by my top hat, now equipped with a nice blue ribbon around its band so that it matched my shirt and a big floppy bow to make it prettier.I looked like a grown-up, which was natural because that’s totally what I was.“Are you done staring at yourself?” Amaryllis’ voice asked from my bedroom’s doorway.Grinning, I turned around and nodded. “Yup, all done,” I said before taking a moment to look her up and down. Her dress was very nice, all sleek and curvy. “You look very pretty,” I said.“And you look like less of an idiot than usual,” she replied in a deadpan. “Clementine is insisting that everyone gather in the hall before we head out. She can’t grasp the concept of fashionably late, so we’ll probably arrive with an hour to spare.”“That’s alright. More time for talking and that kind of thing.”She rolled her eyes and let out a little ‘fine’ huff. “You would enjoy that, I suppose. Some of us have had years of these kinds of balls to endure. Trust me, the magic wears off.”“Is there Ball magic?”“You idiot.”I stepped out of the room, looped an arm around Amaryllis' wing, and held her close as we made our way down towards the main hall. “I think tonight might be fun,” I said. “We’ll have all sorts of new people to meet and friends to talk to. I’m certain we’ll have a blast. Ohh, and Rosaline and Awen are going to dance and it will be very romantic, and I bet I can find a couple of nice harpy boys to boogie down with.”“I don’t know what boogieing is, but please keep it to a minimum,” Amaryllis asked. “It sounds like the kind of thing that would ruin the Albatross clan’s reputation.”“It’s fun!”“Exactly,” she said.We arrived in the great hall to find Clementine sitting still in a big plush chair while a trio of maids fussed with her head feathers and smoothed down the pleats of her flowing pants. The customary dress worn by a harpy noblewoman was a little strange.They reminded me of those pants people used to think were cool back in the nineties until they got older and realized that they were the opposite. It still looked a lot more practical than a big hoop dress or something overly complex like that.“You’ve finally arrived,” Clementine said a moment before freezing up so that one of the maids could dab a ball of powder-covered cotton against her cheeks.“Yup!” I said.“Wonderful,” was her reply as soon as the maids were done. She stood up and dismissed them with a wave and a nod of thanks. “I sent Gen-Gen up to go fetch Rosaline. As far as she’s concerned the actual starting time is an hour earlier than usual, an hour before the extra hour we’re already leaving at. It’s that, or she’d never be ready.”I snorted. “That’s clever.”“I know my sisters,” Clementine confirmed. “What about Awen? Is she ready yet?”I nodded. “Yeah, I think so. She just needs to get over her jitters, but she’s a brave girl. She’ll come around.”“Good. On a related note, Miss Bunch, could I ask that you stay near either myself or Amaryllis?”“Sure?” I asked.Clementine pressed her talons to her chest and then let her arm drop. “I know that you’re not entirely familiar with how things function in our... tier of society. So keep close to one of us at all times. If things become complex we can at least bail you out.”“Or explain that you’re a country bumpkin who doesn’t know any better,” Amaryllis added.I stuck my tongue out at her just as the sound of steps came from the spiral staircase at the back of the room.Rosaline appeared, both arms full of the fluff from her poofy dress and a big grin on her face. “I’m ready!” she called out.“About time,” Clementine said. “The coach has already pulled up.”“You can’t complain this time,” Rosaline said. “I’m not even the last to arrive.” She glanced around the room, counting us off one by one. “Where’s Awen?”“She was getting ready,” I said. “Do you want me to get her?”Clementine nodded. “That would be nice, yes.”I skipped along towards the guest wing and past my own room until I was near Awen’s. The door was just a little bit ajar, but I knocked anyway. I didn’t want to catch Awen half-dressed. She was the sort to embarrass easily about that kind of thing.“Um, yes?” came the soft reply. I heard cloth rustling and moving about.“It’s me,” I said. “Do you need help with anything?”“N-no, it’s fine!” Awen said. Her shoes click-clacked closer to the door and it opened to reveal a flushed young woman in a shapely dress. It was more of a summer dress than the ones I’d seen her and her mom wearing back at their home. The hem was long and flowing, but still stopped just past her knees and the top was cut just low enough to be a little daring.“Wow,” I said before giving her a thumbs-up. “You look great.”“Awa, thank you,” Awen said before clasping her hands together over her tummy. “Do you think Rosaline will like it?”I snorted. “I think that she’d be very silly if she didn’t.” I reached out a hand towards her, and after only a bit of hesitation, Awen grasped it so that I could pull her along after me and head back to the entrance hall.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.I walked in first, pulling the three harpy sister’s attention away from some bickering, then stepped aside so that they could see Awen in all her splendor.The reactions on Amaryllis and Clementine were rather muted. They took in Awen at a glance then lost interest in her prettiness, which was only fair.Rosaline, on the other hand, paused for a long moment, then her cheeks reddened under her make-up and she broke out into a huge grin. “You look wonderful!” she said.Awen turned her focus to the floor. “Ah... thank you,” she said.Rosaline came to stand next to Awen, then extended an elbow at her. Awen caught on fast and carefully grabbed the limb and hugged it close to her side. She was still looking down, but her smile was unmistakable.“Very well, let’s head out,” Clementine said.The eldest harpy sister led us out of the front doors of the mansion and towards a waiting carriage sitting out front. A young harpy boy opened the door for us and set a stool in place to make it easier for those with big skirts to climb in. The way he was staring at the sisters though hinted that they were all quite pretty.As soon as we were all squeezed in, the coach took off and we were heading to the ball.“This is going to be so much fun,” I said. “I can’t wait to meet all sorts of cool people and eat so much food. I skipped breakfast and lunch you know? I’m so hungry I could puke.”“Please don’t,” Amaryllis asked. “I’d also advise that you don’t eat like a pig; seeing you destroy traditional meals would set some of these old harpies to squawking.”We went back and forth for a bit while the carriage rumbled along over the cobbled roads. The place where the ball was taking place wasn’t all that far. Apparently the big name clans all sort of lived close to each other and the Albatross, while not the biggest, did have their estates rather close to the other big clan’s.We slowed down as we reached a line of carriages that extended around a curved entrance towards a large tower-like building. It was huge and tall and rather square. A bit squat compared to most homes I’d seen so far, but it made up for it by having plenty of windows at the front filled with warm yellow light and stonework that was carved with images of harpies looking very noble and important.When our carriage arrived at the front of the building at last, a valet harpy opened the door and assisted those with skirts out of the carriage. The air outside was nice, but the sun was beginning to set and I didn’t doubt that it would be dark soon.I landed with a ‘hup’ next to a valet who stared with one eyebrow lifted. There were dozens of harpies around, all in their fanciest clothes. Most of the men were in well-fitted suits, not dissimilar to what I would expect a nobleman to wear back on Earth, but their pants were often cut off at the knees and their suits ended near the elbow where their wings began.The women wore more varied dresses, usually with the sort of flowing pants that Clementine had on. The big difference were the men and women in more militaristic outfits that looked like the suits but with sharper lines and no ascots, regardless of gender.Rosaline pulled ahead with Awen still glued to her side. “This way!” she called out, her voice ringing over the subdued hubbub around the entrance.That earned us a few looks, looks that stayed when those around us noticed that there were two humans among all the harpies. I hoped that we weren’t the only non-harpies at the party.“She’s right,” Amaryllis said. “Between lingering out here and indoors, I’d rather be indoors.”I shrugged. Either way was fine with me. The mountain air may've been clear, but the night chill was coming on, and the inside of the building looked warm and inviting.A butler stood by the entrance with a large floating scroll beside him. “Greetings, and welcome to the Owlflight estate,” he said. “May I enquire as to your names?”Clementine stepped up. “Clementine, Rosaline and Amaryllis Albatross, of Clan Albatross, and two guests.”The butler paused while looking over his scroll. “Guests, ma’am?”“Broccoli Bunch, of the Bunch family, and Awen Bristlecone, of the Bristlecones,” Clementine said.Recognition flashed in the butler’s eyes. “Of course. Please step into the foyer, you will be announced shortly.”We followed Clementine into a rather small room, one with a door leading off to one side towards what I suspected was a washroom and a wall with coat racks and a mirror to the other side. The far end had a large set of double doors, one of them ajar.I was going to ask what the room was for then the butler scribbled something on a note and flicked it to the side. The sheet flew through the air, across the room, and out the other door.“What’s going on?” I asked.Amaryllis brushed her dress flat across her tummy. “We’re going to be announced,” she said. “This is a waiting chamber, in case a lady needs the facilities to touch herself up before meeting everyone else. It’s a courtesy.”“Oh,” I said. That kind of made sense. “And what was up with giving our names like that?”“You’re guests,” Clementine said. “It’s a little strange, but not too much so. More because of your species than anything else. The whole names are to give you a bit of... sovereignty. It helps that Bristlecone is a rather... infamous name.”“That’s uncle’s fault,” Awen said.I could imagine Abraham making a bit of a scene, or being important enough that his name carried weight.“We’re about to be called in,” Clementine said. “Look sharp everyone.”
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Chapter One Hundred and Fifty — A Canadian Riftwalker in the Harpies' Court
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty — A Canadian Riftwalker in the Harpies' Court “Introducing!” The announcer called out, his voice ringing out across the ballroom.The girls and I stood at the threshold of the entrance overlooking the main floor. The area was built rather strangely. There was a large open floor with a square in the middle for dancing and a stage beyond that where a harpy woman was pulling a bow across the strings of a violin while a band set up behind her.The room was ringed by two balconies on the second and third floor, each one with railings around them that let the people mingling there look down onto the dance floor proper. Some younger harpies were jumping down from the second floor and onto the first with a few flaps of their arms to soften their landings.The chairs and tables where food would probably be served were all on the second and third floor, which left the first open to let people chat and, presumably, dance, though it seemed as if it wasn’t time for that yet.The herald took a deep breath. “Lady Amaryllis Albatross. Lady Rosaline Albatross. Lady Clementine Albatross. And guests, Lady Awen Bristlecone. Lady Broccoli Bunch.”I watched the Albatross sisters to know what to do next. All three stepped up as one and cleared the area around the entrance. Awen was still hooked onto Rosaline, so I decided to skip after Amaryllis to keep her company. “Do we get food now?” I asked.She snorted. “Your one-track mind is showing,” she said. “There’s another hour, maybe two, before the food is served.”My tummy didn’t like that news, not one bit. “Not even snacks?” I asked.“It’s a bit of a faux-pas for a lady to eat before the food is served. But there are some finger-foods for the men.” She gestured upwards. “They should be served a floor up or so. Somewhere out of the way.”“There’s sexism in the food order?” I asked. It was the first big display of anything like that I’d really seen. I had thought that the harpy were egalitarian, or nearly so.Amaryllis shrugged. “It’s tradition? If it helps, the ladies get desert foods after that the men don’t.”I scrunched my nose up in distaste. “Do you think I could use my country bumpkinness to get away with a snack or two?”Amaryllis grinned. “I’m certain,” she said. She gestured to the side and towards a staircase tucked away in a corner. “Shall we?”“Sure!” I said. My goal at the ball was to... be at the ball? I was really just there to be with my friends and maybe meet some new potential friends. It was Clementine who had an actual mission and responsibilities. I just had to keep my head down and eat lots.We climbed the stairs and moved to the second floor, or maybe it was the first balcony as opposed to an actual floor. I was certain they had their own fancy terms for it.The lighting was just a bit dimmer. Not so dark as to make it hard to see or cause you to bump into a chair, but dark enough to make the space feel smaller and more homey, with only the occasional lamp hanging off of pillars to light the room. The dance floor had been very bright, especially with the way it was all polished and shiny.“There,” Amaryllis said as she waved a wing towards the end of the room.There was a buffet table, with silver plates and platters covered in little bits of food that I couldn’t quite identify from across the room. True to what Amaryllis said, the only people around it was a group of harpy boys of about our age.Another table nearby had what looked like punch and bottles of wine with a servant behind them pouring for those who wanted something to drink. At least that seemed to be gender-neutral.“What’s the best snack?” I asked as I pulled Amaryllis along behind me.“At a ball like this? There will be some fish. There’s a pastry called a golden wing which is just cuts of fish pressed into a sort of soft dough and fried. It looks like a feather. I quite like those.”“Why’s it called a wing if it looks like a feather?” I asked.Amaryllis blinked. “I don’t know,” she finally said. It sounded a bit defensive.Giggling, I pulled up to the buffet and started eyeing up all the food. I was just reaching out to grab a small plate-an actual plate, not the sort of plastic plate I would have expected at any of the parties I’d even been at-when I heard Amaryllis groan.“Oh no,” she muttered.I looked over to her, then followed her gaze over to the young harpy men. There were four of them, and they were coming our way. That much was fine, they were probably coming for the food, maybe even to tell me that I was too much of a girl for the food meant for them, but the sneers they wore and the way they were focused on Amaryllis instead of me said otherwise.“Amaryllis Albatross,” the harpy in the lead said. He was a tallish boy, with brownish-red feathers that I suspected made him a hawk harpy. He would have been handsome if he wasn’t wearing an expression like someone who just walked home to find that their dog pooped on the carpet.“Oh, it’s... you,” Amaryllis said. She frowned a little. “What was your name again?”The lack of panic over forgetting his name suggested that it was all a ruse to poke at the young man, which, judging by how red he got, worked exactly as planned. He took a deep breath, then let it out as a whistle between grit teeth as he reigned in his anger. “I do believe you know my name, Lady Albatross,” he said.“I don’t!” I said. I smiled big and happy at him and his friends. Maybe I could turn the situation around? There was no reason we couldn’t all get along.The boy looked me up and down, then scoffed dismissively. “Is this one of the friends you made when you ran away from your duties, Amy?” he asked.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.Amaryllis huffed, a very dangerous huff. “As a point of fact, she is, Francis.”The harpy’s face turned red again.“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Francis,” I said. “My name’s Broccoli!”“My name,” he said. “Is Francisco. Francisco Hawk of the Hawk clan.”“That’s nice,” I said. “Who are your friends?”Francisco paused for a moment, looking a bit confused until Amaryllis snorted while holding back a laugh. “They are of no concern to you,” he said. “How about you leave me and my fiancée to talk; I’m certain someone of your sort can find something productive to do with your time.”My smile didn’t so much as twitch, though it wanted to. “Fiancée?” I asked.Amaryllis looked unconcerned, but I’d been her friend for weeks and I knew that something was up. “We had a contract. Emphasis on had. I would like a husband of... quality, you see.”“Okay, okay, wait!” I said as I stepped up between the two and raised my hands. “I’ve seen this scene in like, a dozen books before. You’re both going to keep sniping at each other, and it’s only going to get worse, and then someone’s going to end up calling a duel or something and none of us want that.”Francisco glared at me. “Who do you think you are?” he asked.I stared at him. “Do you have any idea who I am?” I asked.The man hesitated for a moment. “No, no I’m afraid I don’t,” he said.I really, really wanted to start spouting off some sort of ridiculous title. Like I’m Broccoli Bunch, the breaker of dungeons and rider of dragons. I have risen ten levels in less than a month, befriended necromancers and kidnapped princesses. I am a riftwalker, called to the world to make it my friend! But saying something like that would be super rude.“Well... okay, so I’m not actually anyone important, but I might have been, and if I was then being rude like that would be really silly. Heck, even if I’m not... which is actually the case, being rude is just kind of not nice. I’m sure we can all talk civilly about things.”Francisco didn’t seem to know how to handle that, but his buddies seemed to know just what to do. One of them, the biggest of the lot, made himself look bigger by puffing out his chest, and the others glared. “Back away from Lord Hawk, you bun peasant.”I snorted.I saw Amaryllis’ hands tighten into little balls and she glared right past Francisco and to his friend who’d spoken. “Keep your tongue in check,” she said.I wanted to slap my hand over my face as that only got Francisco to puff up even more. “An ironic statement from the likes of you,” he said. “I can recall your reputation suggesting that you had a hard time doing just that yourself. A problem I was told I’d need to fix as your mate.”“How fortunate for you that you’ll never have to fix anything of the sort,” Amaryllis said. “I pity any lady that lets the likes of you close to her eggs.”Francisco crooned a sort of growl and leaned forwards as if trying to intimidate Amaryllis. Amaryllis who’d fired spells at a dragon before. It didn’t work very well. “You Albatross are all the same. You’re just like that slattern sister of yours. I’m glad that our blood never mixed.”Had... had he just insulted Rosaline?“Do you want to solve this in an arena?” Amaryllis asked. She looked perfectly calm, but I could feel the mana wafting off of her and snapping at the air with little statticky sparks.Francisco scoffed. “What do you take me for? An idiot?”“Yes,” Amaryllis said. “Though... perhaps not. I actually respect some of the idiots I know.”The harpy’s face went some interesting shades. “What do you wager, then?” he asked.“Um. Really? There are actual duels?” I asked.“Of course there are,” Amaryllis said. “It’s a simple way to demonstrate one’s superiority to weaklings like Francis here.”“To the death?” I asked.Amaryllis shrugged. “Not at a venue like this. I’m certain they have somewhere where we could humiliate Francis.”“It’s Francisco,” Francisco corrected again. “And I’m from the Hawk. We have a proud heritage of military service. Not that I would use even that as an excuse to beat the likes of you.”“You wouldn’t manage,” Amaryllis dismissed out of hand, “not even the four of you together could take me and Broccoli on.”“Very well,” Francisco said. “The four of us against the two of you.” He smiled smugly. “And we’ll fight over... Are you the member of the Albatross clan being sent on the expedition? Or do they not trust you that far?”Amaryllis grinned. “I’m going to Slyphfree,” she said.“Still as expendable as before, then,” he said.Judging by how pinched Amaryllis looked a moment before she schooled herself, that had stung. I patted her back and glared as hard as I could at Francisco.“How about this then. You lose, and your family doesn’t send anyone. We lose, and we’ll do the same.”Amaryllis’ smile was downright predatory. “You’re on,” she said.The Hawk harpy didn’t seem to expect that. The stakes were probably too high and the odds too poor for anyone to actually want to try... anyone that wasn’t a really ticked off Amaryllis, that was.“Very well. We’ll see you and your mongrel friend in the arena later.”And with that, Francisco and his friends were off.I watched them go for a bit before turning to Amaryllis. “Are you sure that was wise?” I asked.“No. But It’ll be worth it to wipe the smug look off of his face,” she said. “That guy’s been a jerk to me ever since he learned how to open his beak. That marriage contract just made him worse. I think I’m going to have fun wiping the floor with him.”
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