2607 Caged Beasts (Part 1)



"I know that you are a grassroots mage in the most literal sense of the word." Quylla said while looking Morok in the eyes.

"Like me, you are an orphan. You've never had a home, a family, or somewhere you belonged. You've spent your whole adult life moving from one place to another, searching for something that you know is lost forever.

"No one can give you the family or the house you never had, but I can give you my own and hope that you'll share it with me. With this key, I'm asking you to stop looking at the past and start building the future with me."

Morok's hands trembled as he accepted the key, wrapping Quylla in an embrace even though they weren't supposed to touch each other until the officiant gave them permission.

Meron rolled his eyes at the third breach of etiquette in a row, but the crowd was sniffling, caring more about the feelings of the couple rather than tradition.

"Congratulations. In the name of the Griffon Kingdom, I declare you husband and wife." The King said.

As the newlyweds kissed, the guests gave them a standing ovation and Lucky howled, quickly followed by Abominus, Slash, Tezka, and Syrah's children. The Hati Queen had been shapeshifted into a woman in her mid-thirties with silver hair the color of her regular fur and stern features.

She and Aalejah managed to stop them before anyone noticed them. Syrah inwardly thanked the gods for the presence of the much bigger and louder magical beasts that along with the roaring applause covered most of the kids' noise.

The wolf-fox-something in particular howled as loud as a full pack by himself and his voice reverberated with multiple timbres like a choir of wolven gods under a full moon.

The members of the senate waited for the rest of the guests to be done with the congratulations before taking their turn. They didn't like mingling with humans and were afraid that somehow they could see past their disguise.

Too many among the guests had been looking at the monsters for too long than it was polite for the entire duration of the ceremony, making them feel out of place. The truth was that aside from Syrah, the rest of the group looked stunning.

Balor, Fomors, and Traughen had all been gifted by evolution with a degree of body refinement similar to Awakening. Even after changing their appearance to human with Body Sculpting, it would have taken major changes to give them average looks.

They would have preferred a plainer appearance, but between the Harmonizer and their fallen life forces, there was only so much that could be done without putting their lives at risk.

Long story short, if not for the presence of the children, many noble bachelors would have loved to know those mysterious ladies better.

"Thank you for including me in your invitation!" Aalejah hugged Morok and Quylla like they were old friends. "Your vows were moving and I filled a whole notebook with my observations about the humans' emotional response to commitment.

"It's amazing how much spite, lust, and scorn lie behind those smiling faces."

"Wait, what is behind who now?" Quylla asked.

"I'm terrible at reading human expressions so I'm basing my analysis on the conversations I've overheard." She tapped on her ears with her quill while checking her notes.

Shapeshifting had no effect on one's senses so even in their shorter, rounder form her ears still had the acuity typical of elven hearing.

"By the way, do you mind explaining to me how the betting tradition works? I personally found it pretty rude, but since everyone did it, I can only assume it's one of those customs that don't make sense unless you are part of the tribe."

"What bets?" Quylla asked to take a look at the notebook and when Aalejah turned it toward her she found the next best thing to a ledger with names, numbers, and odds about the duration of her marriage.

Annulment after the wedding night was given 1:100, with most of the bets giving the couple from a few months to a year.

"This is no tradition! This just means that my parents need better friends because as long as I draw breath these guys are not getting invited to anything anymore." The only silver lining was that no one of her friends and colleagues had taken part in it.

The names in the ledger belonged to nobles and members of the Royal Court that her parents had been forced to invite for political reasons.

Meanwhile, the house staff that the Ernas had brought along for the occasion moved the chairs out of the main hall and lined several tables along the walls that the kitchen staff set with food and beverages.

Much to the dismay of the members of Zelex's senate, their children had no problem mingling with the humans. Aran and Leria knew the truth and it took more than being a member of the fallen races to scare them.

They gave the new kids a tour of the tables and explained to them the nature of the various dishes, giving special emphasis to the sweets that everyone ate like a bunch of famished trolls.

Especially the trolls.

Lilia and Leran shamelessly sniffed the young Hati who returned the gesture, drawing several glares from the guests. Selia was still bedridden and without her, Protector didn't care much about formalities.

"We are from the groom's side." A light of understanding shone in the nobles' eyes at Protector's words, shifting the blame from the Ernas and earning them compassion.

Filia and Frey, instead, would have found it awkward to interact with those overly attractive youths that seemed to lack any common sense and knowledge if not for Tezka's presence.

After dealing with kidnappers, thugs, and assassins on a regular basis, Zinya's children had long since learned that as long as the Fylgja didn't ask them to cover their eyes they had nothing to worry about.

After Essagor had been promoted to an Arch Duchy, Vastor had received huge amounts of gold to build new Warp Gates and cities along with sole discretion to where invest them.

The various internal factions believed that Zinya's kids were the quickest way to send him a message or blackmail the Master into doing their bidding. Unluckily for them, Vastor had no idea the problem even existed.

The Suneater rarely needed to leave behind more than one tail to deal with the hired muscle while he brought the kids back home on time. At that point, the Organization would step in via its capillary control of the underworld.

Middlemen and shell companies did little good to hide your identity when you didn't play against another criminal faction but against the house. The nobles responsible would always be found dead a few hours after the attempt on the kids.

Some died of heart attack, others left behind a suicide note, while the rest would simply suffer a tragic "accident".

"I really think that you should sell this stuff." Protector had a bowl of ice cream the size of his hand. "The kids love it and they are not the only ones."