08-20-2018, 10:54 PM
Rowan laughed demurely into her hand at Mik’s questions. Rough type indeed. What kind of schooling had the man had in life? Not that Rowan judged others based on their intellect. She had had the finest schools money could buy. She was privileged; something she never forgot. Rowan had won the lottery when she entered the world. Not many others could be so lucky. She had seen the poor and impoverished, healed and taught them. She would never judge those that could not control the circumstances that dictated their lives. Still. It would be helpful to know if only so she could figure out which way to steer the conversation with the man. Magic. She knew magic. That would have to do for now.
Before Rowan could answer Mikhail, something caught her attention in the Séance Room, which was the main room, the one they had entered into the Amber Room from. A tickle nagged at the back of her mind. It was the same tickle that had revealed Mik and that strange Asian man for Channelers. It was different this time, though. Rowan felt an affinity for that strange man sipping his coffee; but not for the woman he was ogling. There was something about her too though; Rowan could not put her finger on it. She hailed one of the servers and he came rushing up to Rowan. The young man bent his ear down to Rowan’s mouth and she whispered, “Keep an eye on those two,” She signaled to the pair in the Séance room, “Give the signal if they say anything… interesting…” The server nodded and rushed off to the main room, busying himself within earshot of the other pair.
Turning back to Mikhail, Rowan smiled sweetly, “I do apologize, Mon Dieu. Something caught my eye… Where were we? Oh, yes… my name. Rowan Finnegan, daughter of the famed architect Seamus Finnegan, and twin sister to the American superstar, Aiden Finnegan. I won’t bother telling you why I am here because I’ve already done so. My damn brother has sequestered himself out here doing god knows what. It is imperative that I find him. Our very lives may depend on it…”
Rowan swirled the red in her glass before downing the contents of the cup. A different server rushed up to refill her glass. She leaned back on the chaise, effortlessly, looking every bit the queen in her court. It was all an act. Rowan didn’t normally carry herself so… glamorous. She needed the act. When people came to the Bottom of the Cup Café, they saw the lush surroundings and expected it’s owner to behave a certain way. Imagine if they saw her demure and tending to the roses, which she would much rather be doing right now. That wouldn’t do. Once the sun went down, Rowan put on her diva mask and let people form their own opinions.
“You mean… Can’t you divine the future? Or information about others? I was taught the arts of Voodoo in New Orleans. That is where I was given my gifts, the ones you saw me use in the ritual. Control over the elements, divining the future, making the dead speak. All of that is a gift of the Loa, the ancestor spirits that answer to the calls of Voodoo priests and priestesses everywhere!” Rowan downed her glass again if only to loosen the lips a little. Another refill and she was talking again, “I’ve heard this Ascendancy guy talking about Channelers and the like. I suppose that is what I am. Although I have never met another… Until you showed up tonight. Do you practice Voodoo? I haven’t heard the Ascendancy talk of Loa, so that must mean there are others out there that came upon their gifts without divine intercession… The things you did… I should have you at every ritual. The crowd really ate it up. I see many faces here tonight that were at that circle. That’s never happened before.”
Her eyes-and-ears, the server that is, announced in the next room, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen! On behave of the Voodoo Queen of Moscow, I bid you welcome to the Bottom of the Cup Café tonight! As a special thank you for your continued patronage, we will be starting a happy hour right now! All drinks in the house are half-off for the next 60 minutes! Don’t forget to tip your bartender and enjoy your night!” Rowan stopped talking at the announcement and a sly smile curved onto her lips. She turned to Mik and said, “Just a moment, darling.”
Rowan opened herself to the touch of Papa Legba and pulled a piece of chalk from her sleeve. She drew a symbol on the ground; it appeared to be a stylized crossroad. She tossed two small pieces of paper down on to the symbol and felt that familiar light behind her shoulder. A small thread of fire appeared above the papers and burned a message into them.
‘You are cordially invited to a private gathering in the mistress’s quarters upstairs. Food, drink, and weed will be supplied free of charge. Please make your way up the main staircase next to the main entrance. We have much to discuss. – Always and Forever, Rowan’
With a flick of her wrist, Rowan sent the two pieces of paper spiraling through the air and into the hands of the two other strangers; the female almost knocking over her table. Rowan suppressed a smile and grabbed Mikhail’s hand. She pulled him up and lead him through the Séance Room, past the pair, and up a set of black-varnished stairs. Mounted lanterns lined the wall, providing an eerie flickering light to their ascension.
Rowan spoke over her shoulder as the made their way up the steps, “That rhyme in your head? I heard it in mine when I looked at you. Remember that Asian gentleman at the ritual? The one that didn’t want to play? Well, I heard something in the back of my head when I looked at him too. The first time that’s happened, but I knew what it meant. Both of you could touch magic and wield it… I hope he calls me. I’d very much like to pick his brain too. Is there a Coven around here? A gathering of Channelers? If there are many of us out there, I do not see why we cannot work in tandem, or at least come together to share our tricks… How did you do that flame aura thing? I’ve tried to make fire bend to my will, but I can’t do much more than candle tricks. Earth and Water are another matter…”
They came to the top of the steps, a long stretching hallway lay before them. It was white paneled and brightly lit with three candelabras. Three doors were set into the right wall, four to the left, and one large set of double doors at the very end.
She led him to the doors and stopped before them, turning to face the roughly handsome Mikhail, “Those other two down there… They cannot Channel… I don’t think… But there’s something about them… Something familiar about that man… I’d know what it is, so I have invited them up here to my private rooms for a little… party… You like to party, right, Mik?
Rowan was all doe eyes and sugary sweetness as she asked the question, batting her eyes and staring deeply into Mik’s own. This man had secrets of his own, and she would know those as well.
Before Rowan could answer Mikhail, something caught her attention in the Séance Room, which was the main room, the one they had entered into the Amber Room from. A tickle nagged at the back of her mind. It was the same tickle that had revealed Mik and that strange Asian man for Channelers. It was different this time, though. Rowan felt an affinity for that strange man sipping his coffee; but not for the woman he was ogling. There was something about her too though; Rowan could not put her finger on it. She hailed one of the servers and he came rushing up to Rowan. The young man bent his ear down to Rowan’s mouth and she whispered, “Keep an eye on those two,” She signaled to the pair in the Séance room, “Give the signal if they say anything… interesting…” The server nodded and rushed off to the main room, busying himself within earshot of the other pair.
Turning back to Mikhail, Rowan smiled sweetly, “I do apologize, Mon Dieu. Something caught my eye… Where were we? Oh, yes… my name. Rowan Finnegan, daughter of the famed architect Seamus Finnegan, and twin sister to the American superstar, Aiden Finnegan. I won’t bother telling you why I am here because I’ve already done so. My damn brother has sequestered himself out here doing god knows what. It is imperative that I find him. Our very lives may depend on it…”
Rowan swirled the red in her glass before downing the contents of the cup. A different server rushed up to refill her glass. She leaned back on the chaise, effortlessly, looking every bit the queen in her court. It was all an act. Rowan didn’t normally carry herself so… glamorous. She needed the act. When people came to the Bottom of the Cup Café, they saw the lush surroundings and expected it’s owner to behave a certain way. Imagine if they saw her demure and tending to the roses, which she would much rather be doing right now. That wouldn’t do. Once the sun went down, Rowan put on her diva mask and let people form their own opinions.
“You mean… Can’t you divine the future? Or information about others? I was taught the arts of Voodoo in New Orleans. That is where I was given my gifts, the ones you saw me use in the ritual. Control over the elements, divining the future, making the dead speak. All of that is a gift of the Loa, the ancestor spirits that answer to the calls of Voodoo priests and priestesses everywhere!” Rowan downed her glass again if only to loosen the lips a little. Another refill and she was talking again, “I’ve heard this Ascendancy guy talking about Channelers and the like. I suppose that is what I am. Although I have never met another… Until you showed up tonight. Do you practice Voodoo? I haven’t heard the Ascendancy talk of Loa, so that must mean there are others out there that came upon their gifts without divine intercession… The things you did… I should have you at every ritual. The crowd really ate it up. I see many faces here tonight that were at that circle. That’s never happened before.”
Her eyes-and-ears, the server that is, announced in the next room, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen! On behave of the Voodoo Queen of Moscow, I bid you welcome to the Bottom of the Cup Café tonight! As a special thank you for your continued patronage, we will be starting a happy hour right now! All drinks in the house are half-off for the next 60 minutes! Don’t forget to tip your bartender and enjoy your night!” Rowan stopped talking at the announcement and a sly smile curved onto her lips. She turned to Mik and said, “Just a moment, darling.”
Rowan opened herself to the touch of Papa Legba and pulled a piece of chalk from her sleeve. She drew a symbol on the ground; it appeared to be a stylized crossroad. She tossed two small pieces of paper down on to the symbol and felt that familiar light behind her shoulder. A small thread of fire appeared above the papers and burned a message into them.
‘You are cordially invited to a private gathering in the mistress’s quarters upstairs. Food, drink, and weed will be supplied free of charge. Please make your way up the main staircase next to the main entrance. We have much to discuss. – Always and Forever, Rowan’
With a flick of her wrist, Rowan sent the two pieces of paper spiraling through the air and into the hands of the two other strangers; the female almost knocking over her table. Rowan suppressed a smile and grabbed Mikhail’s hand. She pulled him up and lead him through the Séance Room, past the pair, and up a set of black-varnished stairs. Mounted lanterns lined the wall, providing an eerie flickering light to their ascension.
Rowan spoke over her shoulder as the made their way up the steps, “That rhyme in your head? I heard it in mine when I looked at you. Remember that Asian gentleman at the ritual? The one that didn’t want to play? Well, I heard something in the back of my head when I looked at him too. The first time that’s happened, but I knew what it meant. Both of you could touch magic and wield it… I hope he calls me. I’d very much like to pick his brain too. Is there a Coven around here? A gathering of Channelers? If there are many of us out there, I do not see why we cannot work in tandem, or at least come together to share our tricks… How did you do that flame aura thing? I’ve tried to make fire bend to my will, but I can’t do much more than candle tricks. Earth and Water are another matter…”
They came to the top of the steps, a long stretching hallway lay before them. It was white paneled and brightly lit with three candelabras. Three doors were set into the right wall, four to the left, and one large set of double doors at the very end.
She led him to the doors and stopped before them, turning to face the roughly handsome Mikhail, “Those other two down there… They cannot Channel… I don’t think… But there’s something about them… Something familiar about that man… I’d know what it is, so I have invited them up here to my private rooms for a little… party… You like to party, right, Mik?
Rowan was all doe eyes and sugary sweetness as she asked the question, batting her eyes and staring deeply into Mik’s own. This man had secrets of his own, and she would know those as well.