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jamjarDavy kept himself tucked in Mark's wing while they waited, enjoying the rare sensation of being so close to Mark, without having to concentrate on keeping his null field in. Most times when Davy had to be there when Mark had meetings, Mark made him stand a few meters away, so he could work spells if he had to. And it was sensible, Davy knew, for him to be far enough away from Mark so Mark could work magic, safer even, but still... He didn't know what made this different, but Mark hadn't told him to keep his field in once on the drive here, just calmly said that Davy would have to be sociable- Mark's code-phrase for not letting his null field spread too wild- when they got there.
The ride in limo had been fun, even if Mark had been concentrating on boring work stuff. There were loads of buttons to press, games to play- even a TV built right into the seat, and loads of videos. Another way that Mark was cooler than anybody else, was Mark let Davy watch anything, so Davy'd spent most of the journey watching a violent, human film, with so much violence Mark kept interrupting to say that bit wasn't possible, and there was no way they could have flayed him in that little time.
And then the limo had dropped them off just outside the gates to this really big house. The car couldn't go any further, and Davy didn't know if that was because the road stopped there, or because of the wards he felt. He could've walked through them easily, of course, but Mark had held him back, tucking him under his wing while they waited. Mark looked annoyed, which normally would have made Davy keep out of his way, but this place was kind of empty and he was actually pretty relieved to be near Mark, since he almost never held him like this, shielded by a wing.
~~~
He hated being stripped of his glamour like this. He could almost picture it getting sucked into the magical void that was his little brother, leaving him vulnerable and exposed. Mark resisted the urge to grind his teeth and kept one hand on Davy's shoulder and one wing around him to stop him running through the gate and breaking the wards. Davy's control of his null-field, while tenuous, seemed to improve if he'd been allowed proximity to strong sources of glamour. As amusing as it could be to see a fae's reaction after meeting Davy, political (and, more importantly, financial) necessity meant Mark should do as little as he could to disturb his potential business partner.
Sir Elian, who insisted on the sir even though he'd never say who had knighted him, played himself as old, high Seelie court. It was a nice trick if you could manage it, played well with the populous, and gave Sir Elian an excuse for toying with Mark. How had Elian put it? "We need to make sure our personalties are compatible. Some of my associates have some qualms about furthering our association."
Nothing he hadn't heard before, from a million other squeamish human and fae that he made uncomfortable, but held too much power to be intimidated by him. Let alone the ones with 'moral issues', or at least, were willing to use that as an excuse to avoid dealing with him.
"Oh, of course we want to do business with you, but we're just a little concerned..." about the fact that you're a dangerous dark fae, as if the inhabitants of Oberon's court weren't perfectly capable of stabbing their business partners in the back. "Well, you are new to this world and we just want to check..." if you're civilised enough for business. "We've built our reputation, our business, on..." plausible deniability, and we think having a Chaos-worshipping, predatory, dark fae vampire necromancer on the board might make our protestations of innocence a little less plausible
And Markkas was forced to smile close-mouthed to hide his teeth and talk about discretion (since no-one would believe innocence) and use annoying phrases like "think outside the box" or "push the envelope" to explain how useful it could be to have someone like him as an ally. ZauberCorp needed their business, their influence, at least for the moment. A little humiliation now, for the promise of future power, future security, and the knowledge that sooner or later, he'd have the opportunity for a little revenge.
This weekend meeting was meant to be casual. Sir Elian had insisted that Markkas bring Davy. Mark could think of any number of reasons for this, ranging from making Mark jump through hoops to getting a potential hostage in Elian's home, a place that he'd probably warded six ways from Sunday to increase his power and make vulnerable anyone that attacked him.
Although there had been something in Elian's voice that made Mark think he'd heard some rumours about Davy.
A fast-walking figure was coming up the pathway from the house. He recognised her as Beatrix, Elian's PA, a rather dour human with latent power. Latents were useful reservoirs for those capable of drawing magic from others, if somewhat tricky. There was always the danger that their powers would become active, and the longer dormant the power, the messier it's awakening. Beatrix- if she had a last name, he'd never heard it- had enough power to see through most glamour, even if she couldn't prevent herself from being influenced by it. Her efficiency only just made up for the impression that it was only a sense of professionalism that stopped her from treating subordinates and superiors alike with the contempt she felt the deserved.
"I apologise for the delay," Beatrix said, looking completely unapologetic. "We didn't realise you'd arrived yet." She gave a faintly suspicious glance at Mark, before it settled back into puzzlement. "We really should have felt you arrive."
Mark shrugged and made a mental note that Elian relied on magic, rather than technology, for security.
He tightened his grip on Davy's shoulder, a warning to behave, and then untucked him from his wing. Davy stepped forwards reluctantly.
"My brother, Davy," Mark said, pushing him further forwards. He felt an instinctive relief as his powers came back to him, and then was amused as Beatrix showed more warmth and personality than she'd ever displayed to him. Mark wondered if Davy had suddenly developed glamour powerful enough to make Beatrix smile wide enough to show her teeth and say"How nice to meet you, Davy. I'm Beatrix." as if she meant it.
Davy smiled, politely close-mouthed. "Uh, s'nicetomeetyou,too." He gave a half-bow, looked back to mark to see if that was right, then held out his hand instead, like he'd seen some people do. Beatrix shook it an Davy braced himself for the usual flinch and was surprised when Beatrix just smiled brightly. he was so surprised that he lost control of his field for a second, but even that didn't make her step back, though he could see Mark do that blink-thing he did when he wanted to move away but couldn't.
"Sir Elian has a wonderful collection of rare birds, would you like to see them?" Beatrix asked.
Davy grinned, tiny fangs just poking out over his lip. He was obsessed with flight at the moment, stretching his wings out whenever there was a breeze, in the hopes that he'd take off, climbing up walls and jumping of them, impatient and eager and annoying. Beatrix smiled back and held out her hand for him to take. He took it before Mark could say no.
Beatrix seemed to realise that Mark was still there and turned to him with her usual expression of deliberately blank politeness.
"Mr Sartain, if you'd like to come with me? Sir Elian would like to apologise for the walk up to the house, but there are certain conditions tied in to the enchantments in this area." She gestured at the path up to the house that looked a little too old for the United States and waited for him to start walking. He was amused, though unsurprised, to note that she kept a full body length distance from him, with Davy holding her right hand and standing in between.
With Davy that distance away, Mark could feel wards that must have been tied in to the foundations of this place. Impressive enough that he'd like to be prepared before he started anything. Even without trying, he could feel the network of energy, pure Gaia as well as the expected Fae, feeding back to the house and, presumably, it's inhabitant.
"What do you know about the house," Mark asked. he smiled his best, charming smile because he knew it would irritate her. "It looks almost renaissance. Does Elian have a history fetish?"
"The house and land belonged to Sir Elian's late wife," Beatrix said. "Her family brought it over when they moved here, in the late seventeen hundreds, when most of the enchantments were established."
That explained it, then. Elian's wife, presumably human, would have had a connection to Gaia that let the earth-based power be used, and when he married her, so would Sir Elian. Common fae never needed such extreme measures to make Gaia a little more welcoming and modern fae wouldn't bother, but an old high fae, reluctant to give up any power or strength to iron sickness... He re-worked his assessment of Elian to take in this new information.
"So the wards react badly to modern intrusions?" Mark asked.
Beatrix shrugged. "Only some. Cars are a problem, and before fibre-optics, there were problems with the phone lines. No external power lines, but a generator on site seems to be acceptable. I'm not a witch, so I can't talk about the technical aspects."
tbc
The ride in limo had been fun, even if Mark had been concentrating on boring work stuff. There were loads of buttons to press, games to play- even a TV built right into the seat, and loads of videos. Another way that Mark was cooler than anybody else, was Mark let Davy watch anything, so Davy'd spent most of the journey watching a violent, human film, with so much violence Mark kept interrupting to say that bit wasn't possible, and there was no way they could have flayed him in that little time.
And then the limo had dropped them off just outside the gates to this really big house. The car couldn't go any further, and Davy didn't know if that was because the road stopped there, or because of the wards he felt. He could've walked through them easily, of course, but Mark had held him back, tucking him under his wing while they waited. Mark looked annoyed, which normally would have made Davy keep out of his way, but this place was kind of empty and he was actually pretty relieved to be near Mark, since he almost never held him like this, shielded by a wing.
~~~
He hated being stripped of his glamour like this. He could almost picture it getting sucked into the magical void that was his little brother, leaving him vulnerable and exposed. Mark resisted the urge to grind his teeth and kept one hand on Davy's shoulder and one wing around him to stop him running through the gate and breaking the wards. Davy's control of his null-field, while tenuous, seemed to improve if he'd been allowed proximity to strong sources of glamour. As amusing as it could be to see a fae's reaction after meeting Davy, political (and, more importantly, financial) necessity meant Mark should do as little as he could to disturb his potential business partner.
Sir Elian, who insisted on the sir even though he'd never say who had knighted him, played himself as old, high Seelie court. It was a nice trick if you could manage it, played well with the populous, and gave Sir Elian an excuse for toying with Mark. How had Elian put it? "We need to make sure our personalties are compatible. Some of my associates have some qualms about furthering our association."
Nothing he hadn't heard before, from a million other squeamish human and fae that he made uncomfortable, but held too much power to be intimidated by him. Let alone the ones with 'moral issues', or at least, were willing to use that as an excuse to avoid dealing with him.
"Oh, of course we want to do business with you, but we're just a little concerned..." about the fact that you're a dangerous dark fae, as if the inhabitants of Oberon's court weren't perfectly capable of stabbing their business partners in the back. "Well, you are new to this world and we just want to check..." if you're civilised enough for business. "We've built our reputation, our business, on..." plausible deniability, and we think having a Chaos-worshipping, predatory, dark fae vampire necromancer on the board might make our protestations of innocence a little less plausible
And Markkas was forced to smile close-mouthed to hide his teeth and talk about discretion (since no-one would believe innocence) and use annoying phrases like "think outside the box" or "push the envelope" to explain how useful it could be to have someone like him as an ally. ZauberCorp needed their business, their influence, at least for the moment. A little humiliation now, for the promise of future power, future security, and the knowledge that sooner or later, he'd have the opportunity for a little revenge.
This weekend meeting was meant to be casual. Sir Elian had insisted that Markkas bring Davy. Mark could think of any number of reasons for this, ranging from making Mark jump through hoops to getting a potential hostage in Elian's home, a place that he'd probably warded six ways from Sunday to increase his power and make vulnerable anyone that attacked him.
Although there had been something in Elian's voice that made Mark think he'd heard some rumours about Davy.
A fast-walking figure was coming up the pathway from the house. He recognised her as Beatrix, Elian's PA, a rather dour human with latent power. Latents were useful reservoirs for those capable of drawing magic from others, if somewhat tricky. There was always the danger that their powers would become active, and the longer dormant the power, the messier it's awakening. Beatrix- if she had a last name, he'd never heard it- had enough power to see through most glamour, even if she couldn't prevent herself from being influenced by it. Her efficiency only just made up for the impression that it was only a sense of professionalism that stopped her from treating subordinates and superiors alike with the contempt she felt the deserved.
"I apologise for the delay," Beatrix said, looking completely unapologetic. "We didn't realise you'd arrived yet." She gave a faintly suspicious glance at Mark, before it settled back into puzzlement. "We really should have felt you arrive."
Mark shrugged and made a mental note that Elian relied on magic, rather than technology, for security.
He tightened his grip on Davy's shoulder, a warning to behave, and then untucked him from his wing. Davy stepped forwards reluctantly.
"My brother, Davy," Mark said, pushing him further forwards. He felt an instinctive relief as his powers came back to him, and then was amused as Beatrix showed more warmth and personality than she'd ever displayed to him. Mark wondered if Davy had suddenly developed glamour powerful enough to make Beatrix smile wide enough to show her teeth and say"How nice to meet you, Davy. I'm Beatrix." as if she meant it.
Davy smiled, politely close-mouthed. "Uh, s'nicetomeetyou,too." He gave a half-bow, looked back to mark to see if that was right, then held out his hand instead, like he'd seen some people do. Beatrix shook it an Davy braced himself for the usual flinch and was surprised when Beatrix just smiled brightly. he was so surprised that he lost control of his field for a second, but even that didn't make her step back, though he could see Mark do that blink-thing he did when he wanted to move away but couldn't.
"Sir Elian has a wonderful collection of rare birds, would you like to see them?" Beatrix asked.
Davy grinned, tiny fangs just poking out over his lip. He was obsessed with flight at the moment, stretching his wings out whenever there was a breeze, in the hopes that he'd take off, climbing up walls and jumping of them, impatient and eager and annoying. Beatrix smiled back and held out her hand for him to take. He took it before Mark could say no.
Beatrix seemed to realise that Mark was still there and turned to him with her usual expression of deliberately blank politeness.
"Mr Sartain, if you'd like to come with me? Sir Elian would like to apologise for the walk up to the house, but there are certain conditions tied in to the enchantments in this area." She gestured at the path up to the house that looked a little too old for the United States and waited for him to start walking. He was amused, though unsurprised, to note that she kept a full body length distance from him, with Davy holding her right hand and standing in between.
With Davy that distance away, Mark could feel wards that must have been tied in to the foundations of this place. Impressive enough that he'd like to be prepared before he started anything. Even without trying, he could feel the network of energy, pure Gaia as well as the expected Fae, feeding back to the house and, presumably, it's inhabitant.
"What do you know about the house," Mark asked. he smiled his best, charming smile because he knew it would irritate her. "It looks almost renaissance. Does Elian have a history fetish?"
"The house and land belonged to Sir Elian's late wife," Beatrix said. "Her family brought it over when they moved here, in the late seventeen hundreds, when most of the enchantments were established."
That explained it, then. Elian's wife, presumably human, would have had a connection to Gaia that let the earth-based power be used, and when he married her, so would Sir Elian. Common fae never needed such extreme measures to make Gaia a little more welcoming and modern fae wouldn't bother, but an old high fae, reluctant to give up any power or strength to iron sickness... He re-worked his assessment of Elian to take in this new information.
"So the wards react badly to modern intrusions?" Mark asked.
Beatrix shrugged. "Only some. Cars are a problem, and before fibre-optics, there were problems with the phone lines. No external power lines, but a generator on site seems to be acceptable. I'm not a witch, so I can't talk about the technical aspects."
tbc
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Date: 2003-02-23 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-01 08:51 am (UTC)