Chief Qa'watil sits at the head of a large table in the center of the community longhouse, the place where the tribe gathers for important events. The table--dressed with autumn flowers in handcrafted pots, warm candles, and polished wooden bowls filled with pears, apples, and persimmons--signified the honored stature of their guests.

Minuk sits two seats to the right of the Chief with a woman--who by her elaborately stitched, brocade dress is clearly the Chief's wife--sitting in between them. Patrick sits to the left of the Chief, with Farid and Aidan sitting next to him, in that order. The additional six guests sit across from each other, lining both sides of the table, down to the farthest end.

Chief Qa'watil stands. He holds a glass of Kitá wine high for a toast.

"I would like to take a moment to welcome our guests to our home and to our table. Three representatives from the Otherworlder Integrated Academy, one from each of the major races--Shifter, Vampyr, and Enchanted--have joined us tonight to enlighten us on ways in which we, as a people, can work together to put a painful and difficult past behind us. We look forward to learning more about what they have to teach us and what they've managed to achieve so far."

He raises his glass higher and all seated at the table follow suit. The guests murmur cheers and greetings and then settle in for their meal, several of them not so subtly craning their necks to get a better look at the honored guests.

The minute the Chief leans comfortably back in his chair, servers hustle out from the kitchen, carrying steaming plates of food, the first of a lavish four-course meal prepared for the occasion. Pockets of conversation overtake the table, with the guests making small talk with whomever is seated nearest to them.

Minuk peers over his wine glass and studies Patrick and Farid for a long time. Eventually, his lips purse into a disappointed frown. They both look like competent young men which means they'll be far too difficult to crack. No, no they're not the ones he needs to connect with tonight. It's the Enchanted boy who will be most helpful to him in the end, and with that decision made, he hones in on Aidan with the goal of starting a conversation.

He leans across the table, ensuring that he can be heard and says, "So tell me, Aidan," he inquires, "is it true that Enchanteds are endowed with different powers, even within the same family?"

Aidan, surprised that anyone so important would deign to speak to him, coughs, choking on his wine. He pulls the linen napkin from his lap and wipes his mouth, giving himself a moment to regain his composure.

"Uh, yes," he says. "Magic amongst our people is quite varied from Seers to Mages to Elementals to Healers. Although the same type of magic tends to run within families, it's not unheard of for two Enchanteds to get together and pop out a Ginger." He chuckles.

Minuk's eyes narrow in confusion and Aidan realizes his cultural misstep.

"Oh, sorry, sorry," he adds apologetically. "It's a reference to an Enchanted child who has very different powers than either of their parents. "You see," he leans back in his chair confidently and kicks his legs out underneath the table, "usually your powers are some variation of whatever your folks' have got. Like your sister's ability to move water comes from your mother's ability to freeze it and make ice. But then your brother turns out to be a necromancer, which is odd, given that your father's power is telekinesis. Does that make sense?" Aidan tilts his head and looks at Minuk, but plows on anyway, not waiting for his answer.

"So, in those cases, the children are as rare as red-headed children within a family of blondes and brunettes. It's fascinating really because in both situations--the red hair and the type of magic your children exhibit--results from a recessive gene." Aidan sucks in a deep breath, winded by his own extensive explanation. As he looks to Minuk to see if he has any questions, he instead registers the blank look on Minuk's face. 

Oh, shoot!  He's probably just lost him. Why did he go on so long? 

"Well," Aidan shrugs apologetically. "You know, it's just something we say," he finishes weakly.

Minuk nods, genuinely interested, and says, "I see. And which one are you? Or rather, should I say, what particular Enchanted gifts have you been endowed with?"

"Oh," Aidan perks up, straightening in his chair. "I'm actually what they call a Spirit Guardian which means I can call upon certain spirits and invite them into our world, usually but not always, to do my bidding."

Minuk sits back with a confident smile. "Interesting. Very interesting. That sounds much like our Shaman. They can call on spirits too."

Aidan scoffs. "Well, I doubt that you can consider them the same thing. You see magic is pretty much limited to Enchanteds. I mean I'm sure your Shamans have some spiritual talents at their disposal, but I doubt it compares to anything an Enchanted can do."

Minuk arches his back defensively and glowers at Aidan, but then catches himself, takes in a deep breath, and eases back into his chair adopting a more casual demeanor. Plastering on a polite, but insincere smile, he continues, "I'm certain your abilities are quite impressive. Perhaps it's something you might demonstrate for us, you know, in the name of cultural education and exchange?"

Aidan tilts his head and considers if it's appropriate for him to show off his powers so spontaneously. But ultimately, he decides since their cover is to be Ambassadors, it certainly couldn't hurt.

So, he rolls up his sleeve past his elbow, leans forward, and whispers the incantation that brings Maximus to life.

The tattoo on his forearm begins to ripple and shift, and in seconds, it's peeling itself off of Aidan's arm, and coming to life. Maximus circles Aidan's head a few times, eventually perching himself proudly on Aidan's shoulder. He squawks in greeting, and all conversations at the table cease.

But Aidan doesn't notice. Instead, he strokes Maximus on the head and coos, "Well, hello there, Max. How we doin' today? Do you want to show this nice gentlemen what you can do? Hmm? Why don't you go over there and fetch me an apple?" He points with his chin to the end of the table where the fruit bowls are, and in response, Maximus bobs his head, squawks loudly again, then spreads his wings swooping over the heads of the guests.

As Maximus makes a beeline for the fruit bowl, the confines of the room affect his ability to fly. The tighter space causes his wings to flap sporadically and his legs to hang too low. Unfortunately, his talons get caught in one woman's hair, ripping off the extension she'd so carefully twisted and coiled on the top of her head.

Maximus swoops even lower, buzzing by an older gentleman who flails and swats at him as if he were a fly, leaning so far back in his chair, he almost topples over.

Needless to say, they're all looking at, what one would politely call, a dumpster fire.

Maximus knocks over wine glasses, overturns plates, and at one point looks like he's going to knock over a candle. But despite the chaos, Maximus is on a mission, so none of that mayhem will stop him.

Circling the big bowl of fruit at the other end of the table, Maximus snatches up a pear, not an apple, and then returns to Aidan's arm, proudly dropping the fruit onto his master's plate.

He waddles up onto Aidan's shoulder, squawks one last time, then bobs his head vigorously, as if to brag about his little performance.

Silence blankets the table, as people stare in awe at what they've just seen. But once they recover from their shock, surprisingly, they burst into applause.

Aidan picks up the pear to inspect it, and given how ripe and juicy it looks, he takes a big, ol' crunchy bite.

Minuks nods his head in appreciation, then says to Aidan, "I'm astounded. That was quite a show you and your... Maximus put on for us. Well done, young man, well done."

Chuckling, Aidan says to Minuk, "Well, he's my first beastly spirit and he's still learning, to tell you the truth, as am I," he smiles broadly. "I do have a few other, smaller animals and such, but nothing mythological, nothing like him." Aidan holds up the pear to let Maximus take a nibble and then continues, "You see, when your spirit creature is mythological, it means that you can conjure up other types of spirits as well, which is really cool. But I don't host them or claim them until I know that I can control them. That's kind of a rule with me."

Minuk gives Aidan an inscrutable look, then smiles, but genuinely this time. "Well, it was very impressive," he says. "I didn't know that Enchanteds had that kind of power."

"Thank you," Aidan says, bowing his head again.

And despite the mishaps Maximus caused on his way across the table, it seems that Aidan's opportunity to connect with the Shifters was ultimately a hit.

But, Aidan being Aidan, he can't just leave it at that...

"So, you see what I mean?" he suddenly blurts out to Minuk. "That's what I was talking about earlier. While your Shamans can certainly do their mythical hocus-pocus, and that's perfectly fine for you and your tribe. What you just saw there, my friend, well that was real magic. And not even the most powerful kind of magic I can do. " He beams with pride.

At this, all conversation at the table ceases again, everyone having just overheard what Aidan said.

Mortified, Farid covers his face as he slinks down in his chair, while Patrick's eyes narrow so intensely and he grips his knife so tightly, it looks as if he would crawl across the table to cut off Aidan's tongue if he could.

Chief Qa'Watil, however, stands and just stares at Aidan in disbelief. "Did I just hear someone insult our Shaman?" he asks.

Farid is about to speak up when Patrick intervenes.

"Not at all, Chief Qa'watil," he says tightly as he gives Aidan an ominous side-eye. "What my friend here was trying to say..." He takes in a deep breath through gritted teeth, "...is that magic comes in many forms for many people. None better nor more powerful than any other."

Aidan, still pissed from Patrick's chastising him earlier, mutters under his breath, "Well, that's not exactly what I was tryin' to say."

Patrick whips around and glares at Aidan with the intensity of a thousand suns.

Aidan finally gets it. He nods vigorously stating, "Oh, yes! What was I thinking? Patrick's totally right, that's precisely what I was tryin' to say." He turns to face Patrick. "Thank you, Patrick," he says, "for articulating things so clearly. I'm indebted to you." He nods assuredly, not knowing if his 180-degree turn actually worked, then just smiles awkwardly at the guests.

******

The boys make their goodbyes to those at the party and as they're leaving Aidan tries his best to apologize to Patrick, who just ignores him as he stalks off back to their tent.

They pass by Minuk and give him a silent nod and a smile, and Minuk nods back, then moves around to the side of the Longhouse. He checks to see if anyone is near, and then he pulls out his cell phone and dials.

"Yes, it's me. The dinner just ended." He listens for a moment to the other person on the line. "No, it actually went quite well. I think we got lucky. The Enchanted they sent as a part of the delegation? Well, he's what they call a Spirit Guardian..." He rolls his eyes, "and quite the loud mouth, but no matter. We can handle that." He listens again, then says, "Yes. Yes, I know. I know. He'll definitely prove useful to our cause." He chuckles gleefully. "In fact, as far as the plan is concerned, I don't think we could have gotten any luckier if we tried."

*****

A/N - Okay, editing took waaaay longer than I thought it would, but the chapter is up! 😁

I'm going to bed.

Enjoy!

~ Paula ❤️