15 Hostile Takeover

I sighed and sank into the large brown leather chair. This was looking more and more like a meet and greet rather than a real dinner with the parents.

Within a matter of minutes, I could hear the guests arriving. I turned toward the sounds with the basic 'greeting' smile as our long-time butler led them through the open entryway that adjoined the foyer to the parlor.

A tall woman with blue hair entered first. Her face was thin and long, and where her mouth should have been there was a thin red gash of lipstick. She wore a formal ball gown of a rich dark gold color that clashed horrendously with her blue hair and eyes.

On top of all that gold fabric, she wore huge gold jewelry on her ears, around her neck, and on her arms and fingers. She even wore a tiara on her head as if she was some queen. This woman had no style but she was dripping in gold.

Immediately behind her was the now-familiar shimmer glitter white-haired young man with the blue eyes I had met at the Council of Mages meeting. His magiked glamour that had made him drop-dead gorgeous earlier in the day had dissipated but he truly did not need it.

He was still very handsome…just not sparkly fake handsome. Too bad his sort of pompous handsomeness turned me off something fierce.

He was no longer wearing the godawful cornflower blue vestment with the 'cornmeal' words written on it. In its place was a gold vestment that resembled the Monteceto vestment with one major difference.

Where the Monteceto vestment used black as a secondary color to highlight their lexeme, his vestment's secondary color was simply a darker gold. It seemed as if he and his mother's tastes in colors matched quite well.

My 'greetings' smile froze on my lips. Please don't tell me that our dinner guests were going to be these gaudy portentous people.

"This way please," Boris extended a hand at the general area where I was seated. The two dinner guests saw me and their eyes lit up.

"This is the young Lady Inanna of Imara," he announced, then turned to me. "And this is the Lady Angelina Mocchus and her son, Marcus Mocchus."

Ye gads. What a name.

I stood up and dropped into a naturally graceful curtsy. It was only 'naturally graceful' after years of mother's repeated coaching.

Lady Mocchus nodded her head and Marcus Mocchus gave a quick bow in return. As his head rose, his eyes sparkled at me with overwhelming intensity.

I threw my head back and shot him a cool gaze.

Let the games begin.

"I had heard much about Harrington's and Donna's daughter, but I must say, I was not expecting such a gracious beauty!" Lady Angelina Mocchus began.

I smiled. "You are too kind, m'Lady."

"The truth is rarely kind," Marcus Mocchus interjected, "but in your case, it does not need to be. You truly are a gracious beauty of the highest caliber."

"Thank you, kind sir."

"No need to thank me. You would make a ravishing bride." He smirked.

I was about to retort with some smashing comeback to that snide remark when Father's voice floated in from beyond the doorway.

"Ah. Lady Angelina Mocchus and young Lord Marcus. Welcome to our humble home."

Father was a tall imposing figure clad in the classic cerulean blue vestment over the basic black mage bodysuit. He rarely spoke but when he did, his cultured elegant voice commanded instant respect.

Mother popped out behind him, dressed in her pale blue evening gown with touches of brilliant diamonds on her brows, ears, and neck. She was the epitome of refined class. Standing together, they were a magnificent looking couple.

"Harrington and Donna, you both look absolutely stunning!" Angelina Mocchus's voice was like melted syrup.

"Angelina! It's so great to see you! Come. The dinning hall has been prepared and waiting for you. It is such an honor to have you at our house…" Mother rattled as she led everyone out of the parlor and through the hallway leading to the dinning hall.

The long table had been set with white linens, candles, and bowls of white roses that did not have a scent. Her best pale bone china and heavy sterling silverware was out on proud display. The sparkling crystalware was also our most expensive crystals. Mother had outdone herself.

Boris and the serving maids were busy in the background, bringing out the first course of the evening. I didn't have to ask what the menu items were. My culinary nose had picked up the scent of roast duck and artichoke hearts.

These were not ordinary guests.

Mother and Father were seated at the ends of the table. I was the sole occupant of one side while the mother-son duo sat opposite from me. Angela sat near Mother and Marcus was next to Father.

It was the perfect set-up for a perfect first meeting.

Dinner was a rowdy affair, at least for the two older women. They went on and on about the latest fashion crazes and the various gossip around town. It was almost as if they were trying to create a happy jolly festive atmosphere at a dinner setting where nobody knew anyone enough to say much.

Father was a quiet man at normal times. In these social hours, the more Mother talked, the quieter he became. I also noticed he did not touch the glass of wine in front of him.

Marcus was an enigma. Although he did not join in with the women's conversations much, he would on the occasion, throw in a few comedic lines which would cause the women to burst into loud raucous laughter.

The forced gaiety was making me nauseous.

I sat there and picked at the roast duck trying not to get the juices on my ivory dress. It was too hard to eat and talk at the same time so I joined in only when someone directly asked me a question…

—like right now.

"So, Inanna. I heard from Marcus that you were at the Council of Mage meeting earlier today." Lady Angelina Mocchus said.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent. All eyes turned to me with an expectant look.

I swallowed the morsel of duck that was still in my mouth and took a sip of the ice tea to give me enough time to come up with something flippant.

Nothing was coming up flippant so I opted for the truth.

"I was just helping Magus Asada with the voting process."

"Magus Asada has not joined any of the Council of Mages meetings ever since she became head of Augury," Mother sniffed. "I wonder what prompted her decision to come to the meeting."

"She did not come to the meeting," Marcus smirked.

"What do you mean, Marcus?" Mother put her stemmed glass down.

"The Magus Asada was there via scry-visual, carried by this beautiful daughter of yours." Marcus grinned. "I saw Inanna walking across the stage carrying a round sphere the size of a beach ball, with Magus Asada's talking head embedded into the visual."

Mother's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in the most unladylike manner. She whipped her head toward me, "What—what were you wearing???"

I mentally rolled my eyes. I couldn't do it for real. To roll my real eyes in front of Mother and Father was a sin so stark I would die and go to the seven depths of hell with nothing to eat but burnt popcorn for eternity.

It was so typical of her. The most important event to happen in forever and all my mother was concerned with was what I wore.

I said nothing but of course, Marcus was very obliging with the details.

"The ravishing young Lady Inanna Imara was wearing a cute blue sheath that hit mid thigh. She has lovely legs."

Mother sputtered. Her eyes rolled back in shock. I thought she was going to have a heart attack.

"Cute—cute blue sheath?" She muttered under her breath and then suddenly her eyes bulged. "Oh you mean that blue rag I told you to get rid of two years ago?"

I pressed my lips together into a straight line and stared straight ahead. That was my favorite blue dress.

I had to rescue it from the garbage chute after Mother discarded it along with much of the clothing I wore during my last year at school. To be fair, she had filled my closet with articles of clothing, but they were so fragile and delicate there was no way I could do any of my pick-ups and deliveries work in them.

Mother clutched the ivory pearls around her neck as if they were Mala prayer beads.

"Tell me you didn't wear that thing to the meeting."

"She did." Marcus laughed. "My nymph must have had chocolates before the meeting because she had smeared it all over herself."

A**hole.

"That was not chocolate. That was blood." I hissed.

"Blood?" Mother gasped. "What blood? Whose blood?"

"Mine," I cleared my throat.

"But—how—what happened?"

I looked up at my cold and silent Father and my overly fussy Mother, and for the first time, I decided that I did not need to pander to their idea of what was appropriate for me any longer.

"I almost got run over by the Osiris twins and scraped my hand. It's not a big deal."

"The Osiris twins," Marcus sneered. "So that's how they treat the most beautiful woman of Topaz."

"It was an accident. It was not their fault."

"Nevertheless, they will have to deal with me. How dare they hurt you."

"What does it have to do with you?" I glared at Marcus.

"Oh, more than you realize," he muttered almost as if he was talking to himself.

Mother began huffing and puffing with rage. "I will most definitely have words with Mage Asada. How dare she put my daughter in that situation!"

"Please, Mother. I was just trying to help her vote. You know she's blind and cannot move around very well."

"You are the child of Lord Imara. You should not be participating in other Houses' or Disciplines' decisions that could be construed as House Imara colluding with anyone!" Mother clutched her stemware so tightly I was afraid she would snap the stem.

"What was Asada's vote?" For the first time, Father directed his comment at me.

I turned to him, startled. "I'm sorry Father. This is not something I am able to divulge with you."

"There is no need for your daughter to tell us. We already know." Angelina waved a careless hand. "We knew Monteceto, Jaynami, Sylphyte, and Imara Houses were going to vote yes. And we had already secured Morton's, Jonesbarry's, and Quimby's votes." She listed them on her fingertips.

"The only ones we could not convince were the Houses of Bainsworth, Osiris, and Blackstone, and of course, Pomello and Blackstone himself. That should have clinched the 'Yes' vote except that Nimitz turned traitor at the last minute, that dimwit backstabber."

She tore apart the hot bun with a savage hand. "Add to that was Asada coming in with the deadlock 'No' vote plus the tie breaker from some token 'ship captain' and we lost the vote."

Mother's mouth trembled. "Asada was not physically present. The vote should not have been possible. The chip has to be close enough to the voting box for it to be registered and accepted."

For the first time that night, Angelina Mocchus bared her claws at Mother. "Magus Asada elevated your young daughter to the status of Official Representative of Augury Discipline."

Her eyes turned cruel. "It was Inanna herself who obliterated the Null vote that we were counting on. She even had her own yellow voting chip."

"Oh! Oh my—" Mother was starting to hyperventilate.

Father made a motion to the staff and one of the maids came and assisted her from the room.

He then turned his cold eyes onto me. "So, you went into a full Council of Mage meeting and cast the lynchpin vote, throwing the Mage Elites plans into a huge disarray."

I licked my lips. If it was going to come down to this, then I also had a score to settle.

"Father. Since when did you hand over the Imara vote chip to someone who had no idea what the Imara colors were?"

Something flared in Father's eyes. "The Imara colors have been in existence for thousands of years. Sometimes—changes happen."

"Changes do happen Father, but not to the point where the Official Representative for House Imara goes around wearing a vestment that is a pale floral shade of blue with the word 'Cornmeal' emblazoned across his chest!"

Marcus's eyes turned a deadly shade of blue. "What does a thaumaturge with a cooking degree know of ancient power words?"

I turned to him with a smile that did not reach my eyes. "My cooking degree is what taught me that so-called 'power' word. There are sacks and sacks of cornmeal with that exact word printed on the front of each bag. I see it every day when I go in to work."

Marcus' eyes glazed over. "You will quit that demeaning job and stay home from this moment forward. I do not want my wife traipsing around wearing rags and doing hard labor."

"What did you say?" My fork clattered onto the dish in front of me.

His eyes burned with lust. "You are a highborn noble Lady of great beauty. You should look this dazzling every day as you enjoy the comfort and protection of my powers. However, if you truly wish to work, I will arrange for you to do something more fitting with your exalted position in life."

This time, I truly did roll my eyes. "Where did you get the idea that I was going to marry you?"

Marcus gave a lopsided smile and flickered an eye at Father's direction.

I turned to Father. He did not even meet my eyes.

I took several deep breaths for a moment to clarify inside what the situation was.

A change in Imara colors—a change in Imara lexeme—a change in Imara Representation—and a sudden and unannounced marriage into the Imara lineage.

I pushed my chair back and stood up. "This is a hostile takeover isn't it?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Marcus stabbed at a slice of duck with a fierce fork. "The Imara House needs a new Lord. Since you are female and still not yet of age, the best thing to do is to marry me and let me take care of everything."

My jaw dropped. "My Father is hardly senile or decrepit. We don't need a new Lord for the Imara House. In any case, I have five brothers! Why would we need you?"

He crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. "You need me to keep the Imara House intact."

"Come again?"

"Within the next few weeks, all those Houses and Disciplines that voted 'No' will face a crisis that will rock their foundations."

"They will fight back!" I faced him.

"They will cease to exist," Marcus shot back. He picked up the crystal wine glass and slowly swirled the liquid around and around.

"Bainsworth, Osiris, and Blackstone—they will all be wiped from the history books forever. In their place will be other Houses that will take over."

"Are you threatening us?" I looked down at his sardonic mocking face.

"On the contrary, my bride." He put the wine glass back down and stood up. At his height of six feet, he easily looked down on my upturned face. "My wedding gift to you will be my generous protection of you and your family. I will Lord over the House and allow the continued existence of the Imara name. Of course, there will be slight changes."

He sniffed. "The color will need to be changed to the cornflower blue color. And of course, our beautiful children will be part of the Mocchus Family. This means by the time one of them is ready to take over the Head position the House name will need to be changed to match their status as Mocchus Lords."

"Father!" I turned back to him. "Don't tell me you agreed to this!"

Father said nothing.

"You're trying to save the Imara House for one generation. Is it worth it?"

Father fixed his steely gaze on me. "No child. I am not trying to save House Imara. I'm trying to save YOU."

"Me?"

"There is something you are not aware of, my beautiful bride. We are part of the Mage Elites. When we take over—and we will—your family will survive because I will extend my protection to my bride and her family. Can't have my in-laws in danger for their lives."

"House Imara voted 'yes'. Doesn't that count as being on the side of the Mage Elites?"

"Ordinarily yes. Unfortunately, you destroyed that pact by casting your Official Representative of Augury 'No' vote. But it won't matter once you are under my protection. As my wife, you will get the same protections and advantages that the Mage Elites offer to their members."

"I can't believe you are a member of the Mage Elites." My throat closed down on bile.

"Darling, I'm not just a member. My Father is Head of the Mage Elites and as his son, I am second in command."