“Madam Ravenfeather, two guests wish an audience with you, should you be so inclined.” Jill’s voice was completely emotionless, nearly devoid of inflection. I had to hold a sip of coffee in my mouth to keep my own tongue.

When she did not turn to gesture towards the guests I scanned the floor. Near the front, two tables away from the door, were a pair of women watching me with the same intensity as Jill’s formality. The café is in a more tolerant portion of the City, to see a mix of ethnicities and religious displays in public was the norm. (As long as you were human.) So to see the women in head to toe covering was not unusual. I glanced at them coming in, noted the jeweled head scarf and jeweled veil, and thought nothing of it. But now they were looking straight at me.

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