The young giant had blond hair, caught up in an oiled topknot, beads and other decorations attached to the tail that dangled down to the middle of his back. The sides above his ears were shaved close, with earrings looped all the way up the lobes. He also wore a torque made of silver and enameled with green and yellow over a loose white shirt, white pants, and broad leather belt with several weapons attached. His ankle boots were embroidered thick with green and gold thread that matched the embroidery pattern on his pants and shirt.
The man with him had darker hair, almost brown, and was older. He dressed similarly, with the same embroidery colors and pattern. The woman had a black topknot, and while the men had copper penny eyes, hers had a green patina. She had a generous mouth and an hourglass shape, and she moved as if she knew quite well what to do with the weapons she wore. Her gold earrings dangled to her shoulders and gleamed with sapphires. Her torque was made of gold set with more sapphires. Matching cuffs circled her wrists.
She wore a similar clothing style to the men but made of gold cloth with blue embroidery. Her boots were made of blue leather stitched with gold.
Mal nodded a greeting as they stood.
“I wasn’t expecting three of you,” she said. If they thought she wouldn’t call them out, they were mistaken.
“There are reasons to be concerned for Coorsel’s safety, are there not?” His male companion asked.
“I am not concerned, Uncle,” Coorsel replied with clear irritation.
“Nevertheless, this wedding concerns us all, and we are entitled to be here,” snapped the female.
“I’m Mallory Jade. I work for Effrayant. I’m going to be helping make sure the wedding goes smoothly,” Mal said before a fight could break out.
“Like that brawl when we arrived?” the female giant said with obvious disdain.
Mal smiled. “I call that more a ballroom blitz. Anybody die?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“And bonus, everybody got a refreshing little nap. Sounds like a fun time was had by all.” Mal kept the smile plastered on her face, even though she’d had to dissect the two little bloodsuckers wedged in her nose and ear in order to get them out.Nother idea of fun.
“May I know your names?”
At that, all three looked like they’d had pointy sticks jammed up their butts. Apparently, they didn’t like getting called out for bad manners, at least as far as introducing themselves went. Barging in uninvited was fair game.
“My apologies,” Coorsel said. “This is my Uncle Hammet of Clan Vorki. And this is Ilee Syvinga of Clan Sheske.”
Just then, Nayena arrived. She fluttered in and stopped, hovering just to Mal’s right when she saw that Coorsel had not come alone.
“I was told bring no one,” she said, a wealth of accusation in her calm statement.
“So was Coorsel,” Mal said. “Now that you have seen him safely to his destination, the two of you can wait outside,” she said to the young giant’s self-appointed escort.
Ilee smiled without any friendliness whatsoever. She had apple cheeks and dimples, which should have made her look cheerful but only emphasized the unrelenting cold of her eyes. “As I said, we are invested in this wedding, and what is said here involves us as well. We will stay.”
Would they, though? It was entirely up to Mal. She could simply move them out or put them to sleep or encase them in a mime box, only instead of being invisible and pretend, it would be invisible, impenetrable, and soundproof. After all, it was her party, and she could make them cry if she wanted to. The question was, would she learn more with them or without them?
Maybe both.
“All right, then. Let’s sit.”
She motioned for everyone to take a seat. A waiter brought a selection of foods, both sweet and savory, at least half of them Mal didn’t recognize. No doubt LeeAnne had preordered them. The waiter asked for drink orders, and Mal ordered an extra-large five-shot mocha with extra chocolate and extra whip.
“We’d better keep this short. Reception starts in just a few hours,” she said, checking her watch. “What I want to know is who has reason to want to stop the wedding and why?” She pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of her pocket and shoved them to the middle of the table. “Write down anybody you can think of.”
Nobody moved. Of course not. Why would they want to share that sort of information with someone who might actually do something about it?
“So you’re saying that everybody is absolutely on board with the marriage and you can’t think of anybody who might want to interfere. Is that it?”
“Of course not,” snapped Ilee. “But to tell you everyone who has an interest in stopping the wedding would take far longer than we have. Besides what would you do with such a list once you had it? You wouldn’t have time to check into even two or three before the wedding began and it was too late.”
Fair point.
“That’s true. Except I’m not interested in checking them out. I’m interested in keeping them from interfering. That, I’m pretty sure Icando.”
