Magical Mate Chapter 5: At Combatir´s Teahouse of Magic and Wonders

This was a teahouse? Nel looked around the hallway in surprise. It was more like stepping into a forest- the walls were hung with fabric cut to look like leaves; the carpet was a deep brown and springy underfoot. Here and there were sculptures of trees, spreading leafy canopies overhead. Her mate smiled at his reaction.
"They like to play to people's expectations."
"Senel." A voice said from the shadows behind the door. "Welcome."
"Night," Heero replied. "This is Nel. Regulus should be expecting us."
Nel blinked as a man pulled himself out of the shadows. A fall of dark hair covered one half of his face. His visible green eye studied Nel for a moment.
"You are welcome here, Nel of the Pride.", Night Albain greeted him in a rather monotonous voice.
"Thank you," she managed.
"Regulus is waiting for you in his office." Night smiled slightly and vanished back into the shadows. Senel gave a little tug on Nel's arm and headed down the hallway. They passed several curtained alcoves and a few rooms. In each one golden haired woman sat bending over crystal ball or their client's' palm. The murmur of voices filled the air.
"Course he loves you." "She has another lover." "Don't trust the one armed man."
They passed one of the golden-haired women in the hallway. She was carrying a teapot and a stack of cups. Senel nodded at her and she smiled back warmly. Very warmly. Nel remembered what Mithos had said about the ladies being fond of Senel, and moved closer to her mate. She just grinned at her and continued on her way.
Nel realized that the hallway was a lot longer than she'd first thought- but had the building been this long? This seemed nearly double the size of what she'd seen outside...
"Senel- the building-"
"It's bigger on the inside than the outside." Senel rolled his eyes. "Like I said, they enjoy all the little enchantments- and it's a good draw for the tourists. "
Finally, they reached the last door in the hallway. There was a large face carved into the surface, and much to Nel's surprise, Senel spoke to it.
"Please tell Regulus we're here."
The eyes opened and the face smiled. "He already knows. Please come in." The door swung open and Nel followed Senel into the room.
Where the hallway had looked like a forest, this room looked like a tent. The walls were hung with silks and a small brazier blazed in the corner of the room. Small tables were scattered around the room beside large silken pillows. Nel half-expected to see harem girls lurking in the corners.
"I see you redecorated," said Senel to the blonde man lounging beside the center table.
"One gets tired of the same old things," the man replied with a dazzling smile. Nel blinked: Seated on a cushion behind the blonde man was the other man from the front door- Night. How had he gotten down the hallway before they did?
Night winked at him.
"Please, have a seat." The blonde gestured to the pile of cushions across from him. "It's always good to see you, Senel," he said with a look that made Nel want to growl. Then he turned that look on Nel, and the urge to growl turned into the urge to blush. "And who is this?"
"Thank you," Senel sat down on one of the cushions, tugging Nel down beside him. "This is Nel- my mate. Nel, this is Regulus Combatir."
Nel couldn't help the small skip her heart made to hear Senel refer to her as his mate. Regulus' smile widened. "Mithos said you had managed to win a gorgeous shifter as a mate- I'm glad to see he wasn't exaggerating for once. Pleased to meet you, Nel."
"The pleasure is mine," Nel returned automatically.
"Oh, it could be." The blond lifted an eyebrow at her and then turned to Senel before Nel could react. "So, Senel, how can I help you today?"
Her mate looked annoyed. "Regulus- you're psychic, why do I have to explain it? You know already."
"Fiona really has made you lazy. There's nothing wrong with observing the forms. Besides, unlike Fiona and the girls, it's an effort for me to do that sort of thing."
"And you're calling me lazy?"
"Ha. You know I don't exert myself unless I think I should. Besides, you always have such interesting problems- it's fun listening to you explain them."
"Oh, then this should be amusing. Nel came to me because someone had cursed her with a were-shape. A wolf, to be precise. I took it off of her-"
"So you have the curse? Bet that's useful."
"Yes- except it's not a wolf shape now."
"It's not?"
"No. I have Nel's form- it turns me into a jaguar."
"Can I see the mark?"
Senel shrugged out of his coat and rolled up his sleeve.
"You could just take your shirt off."
"You can see it just fine this way."
"Spoilsport." Regulus leaned over the table and examined the mark on Senel's arm. "Odd. The mark is still the same. Just like I drew it out. Nothing changed that way."
"So you are the one who made this?"
"Of course." Regulus said matter-of-factly. "You know perfectly well that only you or I could cast that sort of thing around here."
"You could've warned me."
"Why would I do that? Mithos has been saying for years that you needed to- what was his phrase- 'get laid more often'? It seemed a perfect opportunity." He smiled cheerfully at Senel.
"I'm going to kill that dragon."
"Why? Do you not want your kitty? I'll happily take her."
"Reglus-" Nel was impressed. He didn't know his mate could growl like that.
"Kidding. Anyway, the curse shouldn't have altered itself- that's nothing I did. I'm not even sure there is such a thing as a were-jaguar curse."
"Well, there is now." Senel pointed out.
"Good point. I'm going to have to go look and see if any of my books have an answer for you. While I do that, maybe you can deal with our little artifact?" Regulus got to his feet.
"Where is it?"
"Over on the table there- under the cloth. I had to shield it here, of course. I can't tell what exactly it does, but it came in with a bunch of charm rings."
"I'll take a look."
A moment later, they were alone in the room. Nel blinked. "Do they do that often?"
Senel nodded. "Of course." He got to his feet and moved over to the other table. "Stay there- not that I think this thing is going to do anything bad, but you never know."
"All right." Nel stayed where she was, but kept her eyes on Senel. He hoped whatever it was Senel was examining wasn't that dangerous. Her mate unfolded the cloth and started muttering under his breath- Nel couldn't make out all the words. Maybe he was trying spells on the thing?
"Do you like him?" The voice in his ear made him jump. He turned to find Night beside him. Where had he come from? Nel would've sworn that he´d vanished with Regulus.
"Sorry," the fae smiled, his voice still soft. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay." Nel tried to calm her pounding heart.
"Don't worry, Senel can't hear you. We cast a spell to make sure he couldn't." Night patted his shoulder. "So you can be totally honest. Do you like Senel?"
Nel was a little worried. Cast a spell so Senel couldn't hear? And Senel had been nervous about bringing him. She felt herself tense, even as she tried to answer casually.
"I like him very much."
"Why?"
Nel blinked. "Why?"
"Yes. Why do you like him?"
Nel had to think about it for a moment. Of all the strange questions! "There's lots of reasons- but the main one is that he's kind to me."
"That's good," said another voice on the other side of him, and Nel managed not to jump. One of the golden-haired women was perched on the table, smiling at him. "You aren't used to kind people, are you?"
That was true enough. "There aren't many in the Pride, no."
"If you could leave him- without having to worry about going back to the Pride, would you?" Night asked.
How did they know he didn't want to go back?
"Psychic, remember?" The woman winked at him. "I don't blame you- I wouldn't want to go back there either."
"So, if you didn't have to worry about it- if for example, we offered you sanctuary here," Night continued, "would you stay with Senel anyway?"
Sanctuary? Here? Nel wasn't sure she'd like that. He felt much happier in the shop or at Senel's home than she felt here. Were they trying to get him to leave Senel? Why? Was this why Senel had been worried about bringing her here? There were lots of stories about the fae spiriting people away. She shifted, just a little, ready to defend herself. But- what if they used magic?
"I want to stay with Senel." He answered and hoped they didn't take offense.
"Why?"
She said the first thing that came into his head. "Because I'm happy with him- and I think he needs me." Would that discourage them? Would she be able to get away? Why didn't Senel turn around already?
"Ah. So you like him, he's kind to you- and you've already realized that he needs you. A very good start!" The woman looked pleased.
"It is?" She asked, completely at a loss. Maybe they weren't planning on trying to steal her?
"Oh yes," she tapped her nose. "Wondering why we're so nosy?"
"Well, yes," she admitted and she chuckled.
"We've been worried about him." Regulus had reappeared behind the table, a book in his hands. He smiled at Nel. "Don't worry- we aren't going to harm either of you- and I have no intention of taking you away from him. We just needed to talk to you without him listening."
"Why?"
Regulus put the book down on the table and sighed. "It's just- well, you know that not all magicians are good, right? That some of them- well, go bad?"
Nel frowned, wondering what Regulus was getting at. "Right. Magicians that grow up in places that don't understand them- mistreated as children-"
"Right- that's one way for a magician to turn to dark magic. And we- the fae- we usually try to find those children- but we don't always succeed. Some slip through our searches. Senel was one of those- we didn't know about him until he showed up in the city."
"But- Senel's not evil-"
"No. But not all magicians turn only as children. Other ones turn later in life. Senel- and Fiona can affirm this too- Senel is one of the ones that has the possibility of turning in his future."
"No-" Granted, she hadn't known the man for long, but she couldn't even imagine it.
"I'm afraid so."
"But- he's not like that. Senel wouldn't-"
"I hope not- and the possibility of him turning has just decreased significantly. As of two days ago, in fact."
"Why?"
"Because of you."
"Me? But-"
"You. That's why I agreed to help your Grandmother. It's why Fiona didn't warn Senel about your status. We knew that he needed you. There were other ways you could've met- but this was the only way to get you firmly into his life."
"So- it was all a set up?"
Regulus laughed. "No. It was simply a series of events that we didn't try and stop."
Nel considered it for a moment. "But- why tell me?"
The fae shrugged. "Because you need to know."
That wasn't really an answer. But before Nel could say anything more, Senel turned around. His eyes narrowed slightly, but his tone was mild.
"It's a charm ring- just like the others you usually get. It's iron of course- and it's already been imprinted with the spell." He stood up, balancing the ring on his fingers. "You shouldn't have a problem selling it- or I can take it back to the store and sell it there for you."
"What's the spell?" Reglus asked in the same sort of tone.
"It's a sleep spell. The wearer can cast a sleep charm with a ten-foot radius around them." Senel sat down next to Nel, still with that wary look in his eyes. He nodded at the woman. "Hello Irea."
"Senel. Good to see you," she smiled back innocently.
"Hm. Well, I wish I could say I was as successful as you, but all I found was a reference to a similar spell being cast on a shifter. Apparently shifters don't usually get curses to turn them into animals-"
"It would be sort of redundant," Night agreed, from his space behind Regulus' shoulder. Nel wondered when he'd moved.
"Right- but the same sort of thing happened- somehow the curse took her shape and passed it on instead of the one the magician intended. This writer speculates that shifters have an odd effect on the were curses- since they sort of have one naturally- their ability warps the curse to match."
"But then wouldn't the curse just stop working on them?"
Regulus shook his head. "No, the author surmises that the adjustment takes place when the curse is moved- since the moving spell makes the curse fluid for those few moments- and vulnerable to being tampered with."
"Hn. So I wouldn't have to worry about this curse then?"
"I don't think so." Regulus tapped the book. "No ill effects were reported."
"Thank you." Senel got to his feet, and Nel hastily followed. "We should get back to the store. What would you like me to do with the ring?"
Regulus' eyes met Senel's. "Consider it a gift. I am sure you can think of someone who could use that sort of protection- but I wouldn't count on it being the only one she needs."
Nel's expression softened a little. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome."
Nel followed Senel down the long hallway and back outside. Senel took a few steps away from the front door and then turned, pulling Nel close. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." Nel was surprised to see that Senel looked worried. She was even more surprised when Senel reached out and touched his fingers to Nel's forehead, muttering something under his breath. "What is it?"
Senel took a deep breath and moved his hand away. "It's nothing. Just- checking. Here." He dropped the iron ring into Nel's palm. "Put that on- it should bind itself to you. We need to get back. I'm glad it stopped raining." He turned on his heel and started off down the sidewalk.
Nel slipped the ring on her finger and hurried down the street after her mate. "Sene? What-?"
"Just twist it around your finger once quickly to activate the charm. Since you put it on, no one should be able to take it off you."
Oh. Nel blinked down at the ring. That would be very useful if one of the Pride tried something. But what was wrong with her mate? She didn't like the expression on Senel's face at all. "Thank you-"
"It's not my gift," Senel cast a quick look at him. "Regulus meant it for you. I still think we need to look into more protections for you- the ring is too easy to get around."
"What do you mean?"
"If you were knocked unconscious- or they caught your hands somehow-"
Nel shivered. "Good point." She moved closer to Senel, matching his pace. She could feel tension rolling off of her mate. "Are you all right?"
"Fine," Senel gave him a smile that didn't reach his eyes and Nel knew he was lying.