Becoming the Witch’s Familiar

25: The Night of the Gala



“Bila-jihns looks like a young short haired elf woman with ligh-”

“I know.” Sara whispered under her breath, cutting off the message from The Eternal.

A moment of incredulousness passed before he continued, “How do you know? Can you sense her with your succubus abilities?”

Sara pretended to take a drink from a square crystal glass, trapping her voice within the cup, “She’s right next to me…”

Bila had dragged Sara to her seat, the table filled with high ranking politicians and law-makers. Few paid the foreigner any mind as they spoke elvish back and forth amongst each other, the language sounding like a song. The senator continued to hold her hand underneath the table, still joining in the conversations with her contemporaries.

“I’ll be right there.”

Sara almost wanted to stop him, but felt like the plan was still underway, if not accelerated now.

“They are curious as to what you are.” Bila’s heavily accented voice broke Sara from her thoughts. Turning to look out onto the table, all the high-ranking elven contemporaries were looking her way.

“Uh…” Sara tried to look between each expectant gaze, her mind frozen with the sudden lie she had to quickly conjure up. Saying she was a succubus would be a death sentence, not with the elf wearing religious robes sitting directly across from her. “I’m… half dwarf.”

Quickly relaying this in elvish to her table-mates, Bila turned as one barked something back. Something Sara already knew was coming.

“And err… What is the other half?”

Sweat began to form on her brow, “W-well my mom was a dwarf, while m-my dad was a-”

“There you are sweetie!” The Eternal burst into Sara’s view, causing Bila to release her grip. “I was curious where you went. Who would have thought I would find you here?” He leaned onto two chairs, the occupants moving away as he looked for approval around the table.

Sara let loose a nervous chuckle, “Right… dear. You left me at the base-”

“You left her at the stairs.” Bila piped up, her expression serious.

“W-well, we were going to go up together…” The masked man began flounder himself, seemingly having traded in his social graces for his ability to craft spells, “But I g-got wrapped up in a conversation with someone else.”

Bila’s eyebrow shot up once more. She spoke in elvish to The Eternal, the rest of the table now able to follow along their conversation.

Responding in kind, his elvish was fluent, yet seemingly muffled by the mask he wore for once.

Reaching out to one of the retainers she thankfully still had following her, Sara stood. The two spoke fervently, with very light interjections from some people on the table. Ignoring any motions she made, the casters continued their bickering as she silently shuffled away.

“Twelve hells…” She swore, finally out of earshot of any elves. The room had not filled in yet, hundreds of empty chairs and tables densely packed all around. A stage sat at the center of the room, presumably for any dine-in entertainment, most likely some sort of musical accompaniment.

Great drapes were held open at each of the massive windows that stood floor to ceiling, letting in the golden light of the late day. The light sparkled as it passed through the countless crystals that hung freely from the chandelier above. Sara had seen such an ornate structure before, but on a much smaller scale. It seemed to be an elven invention, known for their ability to manipulate crystals.

Watching the two converse heavily while she maintained her distance, she felt her stomach rumble. “How am I supposed to kill Bila-jihns if she doesn’t have a dick?”

Sara liked the idea of two women becoming passionate with each other and was curious as to how it felt, but lacked the penetration necessary for her to drain the elf of their mana. Someone’s fingers could potentially reach the teeth, but lacked the blood vessels for her to properly drain her prey.

With the conversation seemingly to have reached it’s conclusion, The Eternal walked over to her, “Well, Bila certainly is interested in you…” He adjusted his mask once more, the oversized bird nearly falling forward, “Play your cards right and we will not need to go to the hearing in the morning.”

“Weren’t you a part of the hearing as well?” Sara asked, locking eyes with the senator once more across the room.

The Eternal found a seat next to her, “Who cares? They do not need me anyways…”

Breaking her gaze from Bila, she looked over at her teacher, somberly throwing himself on the table, letting the mask droop once more, “Question: if Bila can change her shape, and I’ve seen you do it, why don’t you do it here too?”

The Sage picked himself up, correcting his momentary shortcomings, “Because it is not well considered amongst this crowd. Bila is popular enough to get away with it, however.”

“And you’re not?”

“Sarakiel…” The Eternal’s shoulder slumped forward, “I am not sure if you have noticed, but I am not well-liked around these parts.” Shooing away his retainers, he leaned against the table once more, “Many say I am only good at making spells and not much else…”

Grimacing, Sara leaned back in her chair, relieved to take the pressure off of her feet, “No…” She tried to find the right words, “You’re a good teacher! And you have all those servants who seem to respect you!”

“It’s all inherited wealth…” The Sage reclined deeper, throwing up a dismissive gesture, “I just got lucky to have parents that made enough for me to go through life studying magic.”

“But that’s what they’re supposed to do.” Remembering her own daughter, now an adult if she was still alive, Sara felt a wellspring of emotion arise from within, “Any parent wants their children to live a life doing what they love the most and for you, that’s coming up with new spells.”

The Eternal sat upright, staring at his student before correcting himself once more. “But all I’m good at is developing magic.”

“Then just keep fucking doing it!” Sara almost shouted, “Ash- The witch told me you came up with the sending spell. That spell alone had saved thousands of soldiers' lives when I used it on the battlefield! You’re changing the world far more than anyone else alive!”

Taking a minute to think further about it, The masked man began to laugh, sounding muffled once more, “To think, the spell I made up to pass notes in class would be used in military theater…”

“See? Who cares about what all these fuckin’ nobodies I’ve never heard of around here think about you. You’re the best damn wizard in the whole fucking world!”

The Eternal laughed once more. “I know I am, Sarakiel.” Looking down at the floor, his voice sounded muffled once more, “But is nice to hear time to time…”

- - - -

Discordant notes echoed through the stone hall as the tables were filled with those adorned in only the most immaculate finery. Politicians, generals, Bishops, doctors and lawyers chatted between themselves as the meals were slowly doled out.

Finally reaching Sara’s table, the food tray floated magically as the plates found their way from the serving dish to their guests. Her table slowly filled in with a few unfriendly elves as the space around the hall grew more and more sparse.

Looking over, she always seemed to catch the gaze of Bila, the woman locking eyes with her from across the room.

As the night went on, Sara felt her eyes grow heavy. Avoiding any heavy drink that was in abundant supply, she patted the shoulder of her teacher before standing, “See you tomorrow.” She whispered.

Spotting his affirmative nod, she stood and began to shuffle her way to the restroom. Only the most exquisite buildings had indoor plumbing, and given the sheer number of important figures within elven society there that night, there was bound to be one.

Finally finding it and catching herself before stepping in the male’s room, she entered the female lavatory. Lines of half walls ran down the room for what seemed to be miles. Choosing the closest one, Sara looked down the hole in the ground, revealing a dark pit with only the slightest glimmer of sand underneath. She was entirely unsure how efficient the system was, but seeing that the hole was small enough for a person to have to make the conscious effort to go down, she knew the process was more intentional than it seemed.

Having finished, she stood and prepared to leave, when she heard a familiar voice, “I knew I would find you here.”

Bila stood at the entrance to the lavatory, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. She had a confident look about her, half shut eyes with only the most impure of intentions.

Sara had no choice but to gulp.

“I needed to get away for a bit…” She started, trying to match the energy of the room, “Maybe get up and talk to someone new.”

Striding forward, each step intentional, the senator looked like a lioness on the hunt, “Hi.” She drew closer, mere inches from Sara’s face, “I’m new.”

Her lips were thin. Bila-jihns’ figure was narrow and bony as compared to the succubus’s plump, succulent features. However, she made up for it with technique. The thinner woman’s tongue felt strange, the shorter, sharper muscle dancing exotically around Sara’s imitation of one.

Bila pressed Sara against the wall. Normally the aggressor, the succubus almost felt powerless against the elf’s forcefulness, her smaller figure pressuring her. Biting Sara’s lip, the politician was a ravenous beast, each move in her partner’s mouth feeling calculated, purposeful.

For once, Sara felt like the prey.

Samuel only did what he needed in the bedroom. Sarakiel only looked after herself when it came to feasting. But this woman knew pleasure. This woman was unlike anything she could ever imagine.

“Let us leave here.” Bila panted, finally free from her assault.

Sara could only nod.

Taking her by the hand, Bila rushed her new prize out from the lavatorium, out from the ballroom and out onto the mostly empty streets of the city.

It was only a brisk three minute walk until they reached a taller building. Having removed her heels, Sara found it was easy to run into the domicile and resume the passion once behind closed doors where Bila could drop her public image once again.

With the senator still taking the form of a woman, Sara was unsure about how she would go about killing her target, but for the time being, that was the least of her worries.


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