Eastern European looking.
Achtung! Yeah, danger. No shit, Sorrow.
Janek cleared his throat. “Elder, may I present my classmate, Declan O’Carroll. Declan, I have the honor of introducing you to Elder Senka of the Coven.”
I don’t know shit about the Coven. But I’d heard Tanya and Chris speak a little bit about Elder Senka. Enough to scare the crap right out of me. I had no idea how to address her and she was much more dangerous than the sword-wielding giant glaring at my back.
“Your Grace,” I said. Okay, so we’d been watching a lot of Game of Thrones on TV. It just friggin’ popped out.
The other woman snorted. Senka turned her head just ever so slightly and the woman stiffened.
“I am not royalty, Declan. Just call me Senka, but I do appreciate the respect,” she said, glancing sideways at the woman. That one rolled her eyes… slightly and quickly.
“This is Veleslava Majtas, who has served me for many years. She is, like you, a witch,” Senka said. Veleslava snorted again and said something foreign, maybe Hungarian. Whatever it was, it was derogatory and about me.
Janek spoke back to her in the same language, his tone even but firm. He spoke at length and although I couldn’t understand a word of it, I could tell two things: he spoke well and he was defending me.
The woman crossed her arms and looked pissy. Senka looked amused.
“Well spoken, Janek. Declan, I’ve wanted to meet you for some time. Janek’s family has a long relationship with me and when I heard he was here, I asked for this introduction,” Senka said. Her accent was full-on Brit and it was pretty awesome. Her personality was overwhelming, completely overshadowing everyone else in the room.
“Ah, me, ma’am?” I asked, confused.
“I am deeply interested in my granddaughter’s life,” she said, not bothering to tell me who her granddaughter was, although I already knew that much.
“Now, Tatiana is currently in a bit of a… snit. So I haven’t exchanged many words directly, you see, but I have plenty of eyes on both her and Christian. I discovered some time ago how much they both favor a young male witch. Naturally, I had to see for myself.”
“Ah, see what, ma’am?” I asked in brilliant response. If she was testing my intelligence, I think I was failing.
“Why, the boy… my apologies… the young male witch with so much power who Christian likes so much. My grandson-in-law does not get on with witches, Declan. Not at all, except for you,” she said.
“Ah, and my aunt,” I pointed out. Not sure why I offered that up. Still not representing too well.
“Yes, your famous aunt. Even Vel will accede to her solid reputation,” Senka said. Veleslava shrugged, which for her seemed to be a big concession.
“But Veleslava is steadfast in her belief that no male could wield even a tiny bit of the power that has been ascribed to you,” Senka said.
A ball of fire appeared in Veleslava’s hand. She slowly moved it out in front of us and pulled her hand away, leaving the ball floating in space.
“Put it out,” the witch said, daring me with her dark eyes.
The ball was shielded, that was obvious, as was the fact that it was a test of my strength. That pissed me off. Sorrow made a suggestion, just a floating image of a spell super-imposed on my vision. I saw it as glowing runes, a slight variation of the spell Sorrow had offered with Macha and her powerful assistant. I took it and laid it like floating spiderwebs over the fiery orb as I pretended to bend down and inspect it.
“So, if I understand, you came all this way from Europe or wherever, to meet me?” I asked Senka, now ignoring the orange ball of flame.
“Well, to be truthful, I also met your young friend Ariel. I had heard there was a Seer here. Nice girl. Skillful, I think, but only in a narrow range. I asked her about you,” she said with a smile. I waited, ignoring the smug look on Veleslava’s face.
“My specific question was about how it was to be a precognitive in a school of supernaturals. Did her classmates bug her for test answers and predictions of course material, that sort of thing. She answered that most of them did, with the exception of her close friends. She said not a single friend had ever asked her for a prediction or reading. I was intrigued, so I pressed further. She said it