Shadowing Bright, page 11
Neekil looked at the other agents near the door. “They might be interested in a consult as well. One will be child-friendly.”
The Dullahan laughed. “Maybe a bouncy castle.”
“I can get one sized for adults as well.” Krys smiled. She saw him pause and think for a moment.
The other cocked his head. “Can you do formal northern weddings?”
She smiled. “Thinking of taking Amy down the aisle?”
He blinked. “You know her?”
“I work part-time for the XIA public relations department.” She smiled. “I am used to working with you tools and making everything look normal.”
Hannah laughed and covered her mouth with her hand. She put her hand down and grinned. “Hired.”
Neekil grabbed her around her waist and hauled her around the corner. Krys continued making notes on several pages.
She asked Kairek, “Does your family do folk dancing?”
He blinked. “How did you know?”
“Just a guess. I know Iris’s does.”
He winced. “You know Iris, too?”
“Of course. I hang out with Amy, Iris, and Emily now and then. Amy and I became friends when I bailed her department out of a handling issue.”
“Are you dating a member of the XIA as well?”
She laughed. “No, that would be insane.”
He cocked his head. “Why?”
“I don’t shit where I eat.”
He blinked and started laughing.
Emmers said, “Do not tell Amy that.”
Krys smiled. “I won’t. I have my habits, she has hers. You are her snack, and that is that.”
Emmers grinned. “I am?”
Krys looked at him and laughed. “Don’t get a swelled anything about it. You still have to go on the first official date. The Night Faire with your grandmother doesn’t count.”
Emmers’ jaw opened slightly. “How do you know that?”
“The options are I am friends with your grandmother, I am friends with Amy, or I am a member of her new clan.”
“Uh, member of her new clan?”
Krys turned to him and flipped the side of her blouse to one side, showing the collarbone with the silvery snowflake that some of her people wore if they were affiliated but did not have snow-based skills. “My parents are arctic wolves.”
He blinked and nodded. “Right. So, you arrange these things for the clan?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Uh...”
“I arrange these things for extranaturals. Occasionally, some Frostfires are there. Mainly, I work with a lot of exotics who are trying to meld and mix two different traditions.”
She started taking measurements.
“So, the clan isn’t great.”
“The Frostfires are way better than the buttheads who ditched her. I just never told them when the wave set other things off. Everybody was content the way things were.” She laughed and smiled. “In Frostfire, if you don’t have snow skills, they don’t make you go to the endless mixers that they throw, they don’t make your parents introduce you to suitors, and they don’t make you participate in the winter games. I am way better off as a member under my parents.”
Emmers blinked. “You don’t want to seek a partner?”
“Not now. The moment that I do, I out myself to Normic and Keel, and they will have a line of guys or girls out the door, whatever I am up for. They are very supportive, but it can be a little much.”
Understanding dawned on him. “You are wanting to live on your own a little.”
“Yup. They put me through school, I got the marketing job, but then I helped a friend with her wedding, and I was hooked. There are so many logistical stressors and organizational tornadoes. I love it, and it doesn’t leave a lot of room for anything else.”
“So, it makes you happy.”
“Not just me. I throw a helluva party. The happy couples don’t remember me, but they remember perfect weddings.” She grinned. “And I still get paid.”
Emmers laughed. “Well, Amy and I are not there yet.”
“When you are, you know where to go and who to call. Of course, the leader has his own coordinators, so you will be dealing with someone else.”
“What if we want to use you?”
“You will have a fight on your hands.”
He nodded. “Okay. Got it.”
She smiled, got a measuring tape out, and started measuring entryways, the grand staircase, and the entry into the room with the erotic mantelpiece.
She measured the mantelpiece and smiled. Kairek came near her. “So, why are you measuring it?”
“Some photographers might have squeamish clients. Making a high-quality façade that they can put in when they tidy up the images will be easier for the photographers, and they can’t have more or less naked dark elves for the kids’ pictures that get taken to school.”
She looked at it. “Or I can do this.” She snapped her finger, and it looked like it was carved of unmarked stone. “Just an illusion, but it is an option.” Krys smiled. “I am pretty handy with illusions.”
Kairek smiled. “Do you use that for anything else?”
“Oh, sure. Getting out of traffic tickets, for one.” She grinned.
The couple taking over the mansion walked down holding hands. There was affection there and hope. Love was going to arrive when it wanted to, but it appeared to be not too far away.
She looked up the stairs. “May I go and seal those rooms for you?”
Vaia nodded. “But we can still get in, right?”
“Of course. I will be right down and go talk to Sable.”
Krys headed up the stairs and slapped each of the doors lightly, putting an invisibility shield on the rooms. The ward would hit with the force of a turned-up taser.
When she was done, she skipped back down. Everyone was chatting, and she walked out back to the stone statue of a gorgeous young woman in an elegant gown.
“Hello, Sable.”
The statue moved. “Hello. I don’t remember you.”
“My name is Krys, and I am here to let you know that the mansion is going to start hosting weddings.”
“Really?”
“Certainly. The haunt has been removed, and the dark elves are hanging out at Neekil and Hannah’s.” Krys smiled. “Did you want to have your plinth moved there? Or did you want to join a lot of parties?”
Sable stepped down off her plinth and said, “Can I think about it? I mean, Benko made this body for me. My bones are here. I was killed here.”
“I know. You will be an honoured guest to any and all events held here, but I didn’t want you to look around and see vendors setting up for a party and wondering what the hell was going on.”
“Who are the people taking over the mansion?”
“A dragonborn and his wife. Azreen and Vaia. Vaia is a local dressmaker, and Azreen has been growing up abroad for the last fifteen years. They were part of a marriage of convenience, and now they actually want to have a ceremony and event with their new community.”
Sable smiled slowly. “That will include me?”
“If you want it to. Despite your temporal situation, this is your mind and your new body. You can do whatever you want with it.” Krys paused. “I can even tell you how to control a wedding, and you could work as my assistant. You are anchored to the property, so if you want to participate, holding a tablet in front of you is a great way to keep a bit of distance between you and the masses.”
“So, there will be flowers?”
“Yes.”
“Music and dancing?”
“Yup. Food, too. Oh, and I can make you look alive if you want. It will be just an illusion, but it will be you at your best or the best I can imagine.”
“Can I taste things again?”
“Well, the problem about that is there would have to be an exit for everything.”
Sable blinked. “Oh. Right.”
“However... there can be charms designed and crafted that will give you a simulation. It will work off memory, but it doesn’t have to be your memory.”
“What?”
“I can work the charm by wearing it while I eat, and give it to other people who are experiencing things, like the taco truck.”
She smiled. “Benko hasn’t been to the taco truck yet. Can you make the charm and give it to him and then take him around to eat?”
“If he’s up for it, I can haul him around to eat his way through the city. If he can come out during the day, I can even take him to a teahouse for prissy tea with tiny sandwiches.”
Sable smiled. “I like the idea of this.”
“It is yours as long as you promise to enjoy the events here at least. I will bring all the couples to you for introductions, and then it won’t be a stranger issue.”
Sable grinned. “You are really talking to me like I am alive.”
“You are in a different body style, but you have an advancing consciousness. You are alive, you just don’t have a pulse and are harder to kidnap.” Krys smiled. “So, food?”
“Yeah. As much as you can load on one of those charms.”
Kris touched the cool hand. “It doesn’t just have to be one. I can make a few, and you can have one for desserts and one for mains and one for appetizers. Even hot versus cold. Or an entire charm full of street food. I don’t cook a lot, so this is going to be an easy assignment.”
“I can create the charms and then embed them into the stone.” A low voice spoke carefully from the shadows. A dark elf that looked like a younger, less impish Neekil. “What do you need?”
“You are Benko?”
He nodded and walked up to Sable, taking her hand in his. “You are talking about letting her taste food?”
“Well, she can upload the memory of the taste. How are your taste buds?”
He blinked. “Why?”
“Because she can taste through the charms. If you make them, I will prime them.”
“What do you need?”
She made a glowing disk. “What is the dark elf glyph for memory?”
He carved it into the disk, and she smiled. “That is what needs to be on the charms. They should be no larger than an inch and a half and easy to put in a pocket. They will be activated when there is something in the wearer’s mouth.”
Benko grinned. “So, if you are with your lover, you would take this out of your pocket.”
“If I were with my lover, I would have suffered some kind of head injury. I don’t date.”
Sable blinked. “Why not?”
Krys sighed. “For me to date, I have to ask permission of my clan leader, as I am too old for my call. So, I don’t really want to ask them, so I don’t date. It leaves me all kinds of time for planning weddings. I really enjoy them.”
Benko frowned. “What’s a call?”
“A sound that the females of the northern clans make that is designed to make ourselves known to compatible males across great distances.”
He nodded as if he understood. He kissed Sable’s cheek and said, “I will be right back. Please excuse me, miss.”
Krys nodded and said, “So, do you enjoy the gardens?”
“Yes, but there aren’t enough flowers.”
“I can fix that. I want to make a dozen different arbours here for couples to get quiet pictures and have a horticultural mage grow them into full bloom before each event.”
“Do some with bare vines that can be dusted with glittery and fresh flowers.”
“Will do.” She added them to the list, along with different coloured roses.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, in this business, when someone mentions something, you write it down as completely as you can and sort it out later.”
“My finger doesn’t register well on contact devices.”
“So? Use a stylus.” She popped the stylus out of her tablet and tapped the code for unlocking it, making notes in an app. “See?”
“Oh, can I get one of those?”
“If you like.” She smiled. “So, you are interested?”
“Can you teach me what I need to know?”
“Sure. I can do it with illusions to mimic the general idea of what you will be facing.”
Sable smiled. “This is exciting.”
“Are you awake during the day?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I only work half days for the marketing department, so I can spend the rest of my time training you, and we are going to have a trial this upcoming weekend. Eight days for a wedding is really going to show what we can do. It’s a good thing I am allowed to use magic to decorate. I am going to be exhausted, but it will work out. It’s going to be gorgeous, and there will probably be a dragon or two in attendance.”
Sable smiled. “Dragons?”
“Azreen’s father is a dragon and spends most of his time in that form. There is also at least one dragon from nearby. They get funny about territory. Things might get heated.”
“That sounds fun.”
“Yup, but Matthias is in charge here, so they have to go through him. He’s inside, by the way. Have you met him before?”
“Not directly.”
Benko came out of the darkness with hands full of charms. “Is this enough?”
“Oh, wow. Definitely.”
She picked up one of them and held it in her hand; the priming charm was easy. It stuck to the stone swiftly.
“If you want to get others to taste things, I am going to ban sex flavours from the mix or anything unpleasant.”
Sable stared. “It tastes like something?”
“Oh, sure, there are musk and sweat and salt involved for a start. But you tasting another woman might be a little jarring. So, we are blocking out trolls.”
“Oh. Right. That would really mess with the joy of dessert.”
“Yup. So, only trusted people, and I will block the other tastes. I should have a working set of charms by tomorrow. Benko, did you want to hit the taco truck tomorrow night?”
He grinned. “That would be welcome.”
“Great. We each take a charm. I eat some items, you eat others, and then we switch and add a ton of hot sauce.”
“Can I come with you one day?”
“Certainly. If we can get a charm to let you travel that far from your home without your consciousness dispersing.”
Sable cocked her head. “Ask Mage Imara Mirrin. She’s really good at soul manipulation.”
“I will speak with her.” She looked over, and the six people were exiting the house and coming toward them. “Here they are. Neekil and Hannah, whom you know; then Matthias and his assistant, Leonora; and the couple we are talking about, Azreen and Vaia. She’s Imara’s cousin, by the way. I don’t know if they have ever met, though.”
Sable asked, “Is it a sensitive topic?”
“Probably.”
“So, you will take Benko out tomorrow and test his taste buds?”
“If he’s willing. I don’t traumatize the unwilling.”
Benko chuckled as the others got closer. “I am willing. Anything to enrich her life.”
Krys made the introductions and pocketed the charm. The ones in Benko’s hands disappeared with a wave of her fingers.
He looked at her, and she pressed a finger to her lips with a wink.
Everyone got along, and Vaia shook Sable’s hand as the statue was the original inhabitant.
Krys took them around the property and showed them photo settings, another for the ceremony. When she mentioned the ceremony, Azreen took Vaia’s hand and held it tight.
“Do you have an idea of who will perform the ceremony?”
Vaia paused. “I think I have someone in mind. I have to contact her, though. I will have to figure that out.”
“I am good at finding people. Just give me what information you have. Azreen?”
Azreen nodded. “We will have a guest list by tomorrow. I am estimating two hundred people.”
“Good. I will assess everything for three hundred. There are always people who say they won’t and then they will.” Krys smiled. “Now, do you want plated food or buffet? With this much space, either is very doable and still keeps everything going smoothly.”
Vaia blinked. “Can you even get catering with this short notice?”
Krys smiled. “Sure. I own a catering company. Bright Solutions Catering.”
Hannah gasped. “That’s you?”
“Well, it’s my company, and I know my staff. I know what we can and can’t manage. So, Azreen and Vaia, I will send you sample menus in both seated and buffet options.”
Matthias murmured, “How do we not use her more regularly?”
Leo smiled. “We have contracts that will be up for renewal in the next few months. Keep that in mind.”
Krys sighed. “I am also trying to avoid direct competition for my clan’s businesses. They are rather food-focused. So, since this is a new venue, if I can get in now, there will be no competition. I am not asking them to move, I am simply standing in an unoccupied space.”
Matthias nodded slowly. “If you can pull this in a week, you will have my seal of approval.”
Leo smiled. “And mine, which carries more weight in town.”
Krys giggled.
Matthias stroked Leo’s back and patted her hip. “We will discuss that later.”
Krys sent the couple a carefully organized list of things to start deciding on and mentioned that if they could send them as soon as a decision was made on a single topic, that would be amazing.
The plans were started, and she had a week to make the Grunwald mansion suitable for a wedding. No pressure.
Chapter Eight
Krys was determined. Every break at work was spent sending emails and making calls. She had her florist lined up as well as the landscaper. Benko had surprisingly offered to make an expanding and contracting dance floor. It was a stone piece that a simple cantrip could activate.
When she had reached her lunch break, she exhaled and finished her PR tasks for the XIA. She had gotten the information from the bride and was off to speak to the family member she wanted to officiate the wedding.
She got into her car and saw Amy heading for lunch with the ladies from admin. With a smile, Krys headed out and drove across town to a butcher shop where familiar faces smiled as she walked in. “Hey, guys. Is Mom here?”
