Darkling

The Empress

"What's wrong Petal?"

My little friend glanced at me, terror in her eyes. Her large round ears quivered as her entire slight frame trembled and her hairless tail wrapped around her ankles tightly. Her gaze quickly shifted back across the Great Hall as her fingers clutched tightly at the decanter in her small hands. "I feel like they're thinking about eating me."

I didn't have to ask who.

The Empress of Nyxia and her lieutenants had given the entire banquet hall pause when they had swept in. Everyone had been staring at the horns and claws and sharp teeth. The clink of weapons and creak of leather armor. Even when they had been forced to give up their weapons, something all three had been most displeased about, it had barely diminished the danger swirling about them.

Meanwhile, I had been utterly captivated by their wings. Leathery, rather than covered in feathers. Crowned with a claw and obviously beautifully colored despite being kept folded tight. Certainly of an impressive span.

Mine were small and drab in black and browns by comparison, but that didn't matter. This was the first time I had seen anyone with wings like mine. This was the first undeniable proof I wasn't simply a diseased, featherless Avian.

"I could take them for a bit if you like."

Petal perked up, facing me again with so much hope and gratitude in her eyes. "You'd do that for me?"

I nodded once, my black eyes and large angular ears focused on the Nyxians. "For a bit. Don't want Mistress to be mad at either of us."

Petal grimaced, drawing in on herself and tail coiling that much tighter around her legs. "Certainly not. Just... Here. Fill their glasses at least. I just need another minute to calm down."

I carefully took the decanter from her and eased around the edges of the hall, silent and unobtrusive as I could be. Gracefully going to my knees at the low table before the Nyxian's lounges, I started filling glasses. One of the men began laughing, and it wasn't until he spoke that I realized it had anything to do with me.

"I told you Deimos. You were going to scare the little one off."

"Shut up Mithra. Maybe she's just busy."

"Busy hiding from you."

A snarled word prompted an argument to flare up in their native tongue that just as quickly died when the Empress hissed a word of her own.

I quickly finished filling their glasses and made to rise and retreat.

The Empress purred in an almost amused tone. "What are you called?"

I dropped back to my knees, bowing my head. "Darkling, Your Imperial Majesty."

"And are you available this evening Darkling?"

A thrill of fear and anticipation went through my chest and settled like a stone in my stomach. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Excellent. I will see you at the end of the night's festivities then."

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." I hesitated, waiting for anything further, then got to my feet to hurry away. I heard the Empress chuckling behind me.

"See Deimos? That's how you engage companions here."

Deimos growled something I couldn't quite make out with the blood rushing in my ears and my heart pounding in my head. I retreated back into the servant hall and struggled not to collapse to my knees. A tiny hand on my arm made me jump. Petal retreated with a quick apology. Slowly shaking my head, I caught my breath.