Diary of the Shadow Queen

Maxine mentally sighed as she stood just outside of the Lentil embassy while waiting to escort the diplomat to the meeting place. The diplomat was supposed to leave an hour ago to begin their discussions, but had yet to depart. You'd expect them to want to get there early or at the very least, on time. Is this some kind of weird power play? If it is, it's one that I'm not familiar with.

Finally, she heard several sets of foot steps approach and swiftly grunted to get the other shifters' attention. They looked at her curiously before perking up their ears and got into position. Melvin Temmil came into her sight first and he did not look happy about their tardiness either.

"I apologize for the wait," the Lentil diplomat said, "It took me far longer to ready myself for the day's events than I anticipated."

"It's fine," Melvin Temmil said, "As long as you begin your deliberations today."

"Let's get going, then," the Lentil diplomat said calmly, "I hope we havn't made our esteemed colleagues wait too long." Maxine pulsed her spiritual sense and rolled her eyes. The Chanti diplomat hadn't left yet either.

Maxine internally shrugged and took the lead. The Lentil diplomat raised an eyebrow at her, and looked at Melvin Temmil in askance. "Maxine may be smaller and less ferocious looking than her peers, but she can and has beaten the other five by herself in a five on one fight," Melvin Temmil said calmly as they began boarding a carriage.

"An impressive feat," the Lentil diplomat said as he got comfortable inside the carriage, "But I wonder how she would fare against automatic weapons."

"Quite well as a matter of fact," Melvin Temmil said with a smirk, "She's proven to be completely bullet proof. She literately shot herself in the hand with a silverine bullet to prove that point."

"That was her?!" the Lentil diplomat said in mock surprise, "I feel far more secure knowing that such a fierce creature is ensuring my protection."

"She would've been protecting the Chanti diplomatic group, but you know how they are when it comes to shifters," Melvin Temmil said.

"Yes, I'm fully aware of their prejudice," the Lentil diplomat said while shaking his head. He's one to talk. He just called me a 'creature' rather than a woman just a few seconds ago.

Maxine stopped paying attention to their conversation as the carriage door shut and took the lead position infront of the carriage as they began to move out. It didn't take them long to reach City Hall and she escorted the Lentil ambassador inside. Once they were secure in the meeting room, Maxine took up position outside the door with two other shifters while the others started patrolling around the building to ensure no unauthorized personnel approached.

Maxine spread out her spiritual sense and found that the Chanti diplomat was already on his way. She shrugged and waited for his arrival.

When she finally spotted him approaching down the hall, she gave him an impatient look, and swiftly opened the door for him. His bodyguards gave her a hateful glare as they took up position nearby.

"Ugh, this place smells like the stables," the Chanti diplomat said as his face twisted in disgust before he walked past her. Asshole.

"Are you really so boorish as to insult our gracious hosts?" the Lentil diplomat said calmly, "They even went to the trouble of acquiring such fearsome protectors for us. The least you could do is show proper decorum."

"Very well," the Chanti diplomat acquiesced, "I apologize for my earlier remark, but please, keep your 'guards' well away from me. They make me uncomfortable."

"If it makes you feel any better, we don't like being around you either," Maxine said coldly, "But we were paid to ensure your safety and we will do just that."

"Noted," the Chanti diplomat said calmly as he walked inside and took a seat.

"Miss, could you, please, close the door?" the Lentil diplomat asked gently, "These discussions could get rather loud and I know how sensitive shifter ears are." That was oddly considerate of him.

"Of course," Maxine said as she gently closed the door and took up her position just off to the side of it.

It only took a few moments for the words of the Lentil ambassador to come true as she heard raised voices from behind the door. It didn't bother her that much since she expected it. What bothered her, though, was the two bodyguards for the Chanti ambassador. They were giving her a murderous glare. I've gotten those kind of glares before.

"If you have something to say, just say it," Maxine said bluntly, "It won't hurt my feelings. It's not like you can say anything that I havn't heard before."

"Don't speak to me, demon spawn," the bodyguard on the right said.

"Demon?" Maxine asked as she looked to the werewolf to her right, "Do I really look like a demon?" The werewolf shook his head in denial.

"This is what I warned you about, Dan," the bodyguard on the right said, "They try to lower your guard by acting 'human,' but make no mistake she is more beast than anything else. She'll rip your throat out at the first sign of weakness."

"That's a rather rude assumption to make," Maxine said and saw both of them glare at her. Well, It's clear that their prejudice runs deep. It's most likely due to some form of propaganda.

After nearly ten minutes, Maxine spread out her spiritual sense out of boredom and raised her eyebrow. She detected five people that were discreetly approaching the discussions. However, they were not using the hallways. Instead, they were using a combination of servants passageways and very small crawlspaces inside the ceiling. But what concerned her was that one of them was carrying a blow dart gun with a trio of poisoned darts.

"I'm going to do a quick patrol of the hallways," Maxine announced and turned to Darzog, the werewolf, "Darzog, keep an eye on these two and make sure they don't do anything stupid while I'm away." Darzog grunted before giving the two bodyguards a meaningful glare.

Maxine slowly walked down the hall and when she was out of sight, she moved swiftly to intercept the armed intruder. She burst into the room just as he removed a well-concealed panel from the ceiling. The intruder was only able to give her a surprised look towards the door before she appeared beside him and knocked him out with a swift and precise strike. Next, she disarmed him and threw him over her shoulder while she carried his weapons in her other hand.

A few minutes later, she was at the entrance to the building and got the attention of the ordinary guards out front. "Found this idiot while on my patrol through the building. He had these on his person," Maxine said as she held up the the assassin's weapons, "These darts appear to be poisoned. I think it's wise for one of you to take this man somewhere to be interrogated." She didn't give them a chance to reply before she turned around and returned to her post. The two bodyguards gave her a curious look, but otherwise, remained in their positions.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

After another hour, Dan asked the other bodyguard, "Do you think that youth retaining beauty cream is for real?"

"It's probably just a hoax," the other bodyguard said calmly.

"It's not a hoax," Maxine said bluntly, "Just look at the local noblewomen. They started looking a decade younger after using that stuff for just a month."

"Really?" Dan asked with an excited tone before he could stop himself, "Where can I buy it?"

"Find me after our job is done," Maxine said, "I'll take you to where it's sold."

"Thanks," Dan said.

"Don't thank her," the other bodyguard growled, "She's going to lead you into a trap."

"Why would I do that?" Maxine asked defensively, "I would literately be the prime suspect if anything happened to him. It would be beyond stupid to harm him. If anything, I would be more inclined to protect him."

"I didn't know you were smarter than the average shifter. Most of your kind are little more than wild animals," the other bodyguard said with clear hostility.

"Now, I understand why shifters hate your nation so much. You've been mistreating them for who knows how long," Maxine said in a frigid tone.

"If they didn't want that treatment, they should've been born human," the other bodyguard said.

"Baldun! What the hell?" Dan demanded, "Don't tell me you're part of 'that' group?!" Maxine know what 'that' group was. It was essentially a hate group of people that were extremely prejudiced against shifters. Their activities ranged from beatings and murder to rape.

"You're a Son of Craldos?" Maxine asked with unadulterated hostility.

"So, what if I am?" Baldun asked confrontationally, "What can you do about it? I'm part of a diplomatic group. Any harm caused to me by you will effect the relationship of our nations." Maxine instantly blasted him with her killing intent. He pissed himself as his face paled to a deathly white before Maxine retracted her killing intent.

"You should take your companion to a healer," Maxine said calm tone to Dan, "It's clear he's come down with something."

"Uh, yes, of course," Dan said as he helped Baldun walk out of the building.

A few moments after they got out of earshot, Darzog made a sound to signify curiosity while pointing first at Maxine and then at the shrinking backs of Dan and Baldun. The werebear also extended his ear towards Maxine to hear her response.

"I don't know what you're suggesting," Maxine said with a small smile, "There's absolutely no way that I could've made that man piss himself and get pale like that with just a glare." Understanding seemed to flash across both of their faces before they started chuckling.

A few minutes later, Dan returned to his post, but it took another fifteen minutes for someone to take over Baldun's post. Thankfully, neither of them spoke, but the newcomer kept glancing at her while sweating nervously.

"Is there something on my face?" Maxine asked as she gently brushed her fingers over her face.

"No, he's just never seen a shifter like you before," Dan said calmly, "Neither have I for that matter."

"Oh, that's not surprising," Maxine replied, "The only other shifters like me are part of my family and aside from my father, my entire family dwells within the walls of this city."

"Oh? Where is he at?" Dan asked with what sounded like genuine curiosity, but warning bells went off in Maxine's head. He's acting way too calm. I literately terrified his companion enough to make him piss his pants and yet, he's still daring to bother me. He's either very stupid, very brave or fishing for information. Perhaps, a combination of the three?

"He's most likely dead," Maxine said without having to fake the melancholy in her tone.

"Sorry," Dan said with a wince, "I'll shut up now." Damn it. I can't tell if he's being genuine or not. This is why I prefer open conflict. It's so much easier to figure out someone's intention when their swinging a weapon at your face.

Thankfully, the rest of the time went in relative silence until lunch arrived. Several servants were laying heaps of freshly cooked meats on a nearby table. One of the larger platters had a small slip of paper with Maxine's name on it. "Oh, lunch is here. Do you guys mind waiting for a moment while I eat?" Maxine asked. Darzog shrugged and gestured for Maxine to go ahead, "Thanks. I'll try to finish quickly so you two can get to your meal."

As soon as Maxine got to her tray of various meats and fruits, she caught one whiff of the food in front of her and her hunger awoke with a vengeance. She was eating so fast that she got weird looks from everyone, including the shifters. It took her less than a minute to devour seven pounds of meat and two pounds of fruit.

"Alright, I'm done," Maxine said as she returned to her post and did her best to ignore the weird looks before Darzog moved to get his meal.

"I've never seen anything eat that fast before," Dan said.

"I was extremely hungry," Maxine said.

"Does your whole family eat like that?" Dan asked.

"Only when we remain in our shifted state for prolonged periods of time," Maxine answered honestly, "Well, except for mom, since she's a human and all."

"You have a human mother?" Dan asked, "How did you not shred her apart when you were born?"

"I wasn't born looking like this," Maxine answered with an annoyed tone, "Shifters usually don't possess the ability to change until their seventh or eighth year."

"I didn't know that," Dan commented.

"It's common knowledge around here," Maxine said coldly, "It's partly why you rarely see adolescent shifters. Most of them are learning to properly control their transformations. It takes time and proper training for them to learn to retain their sense of self while in their shifted state. Although, there are exceptions, like myself and my baby siblings, who were not completely feral on their first change."

"Oh, that sounds ... impressive," Dan said uncertainly.

"Some would think so," Maxine said calmly and finally had enough of him 'trying' to play as a spy, "Now, why don't you stop trying to wait for the right moment and just ask the question that you really want to ask."

"Wha..?!" Dan asked in surprise.

"You're obviously fishing for information, so just ask me what your boss wants to know directly," Maxine replied, "The worst that I can tell you is that it's none of your business."

"Sorry, I, uh," Dan said nervously before he recovered and asked, "He wants to know how to tell the difference between a shifter and a normal human just by looking at them and how to forcibly induce a transformation."

"Neither of those are big secrets," Maxine said calmly as she shrugged, "And to be honest, there is no way to tell just by looking at them, but if you've got a strong enough sense of smell, you can smell them out. Although, it would make you look rather weird to be constantly smelling people. As for forcing a transformation, that's easy. Just make them angry, REALLY angry. But that has the downside of you getting mauled by the shifter in question. Any other questions?"

"I had other questions, but you've already answered them earlier," Dan said honestly, "Truth be told, I didn't think you'd actually answer me."

"As I said before, none of that was any sort of secret," Maxine said offhandedly, "Now, if you asked for familial techniques or special medicines, I would've told you to go to hell."

"I'll keep that in mind," Dan said and frowned, "Wait, you have special medicines? For what? Can't shifters heal from almost any injury?"

"We can," Maxine replied, "But sometimes we need an antidote for silverine poisoning or boosts to our regenerative abilities to get us back into the fight shape sooner. However, this knowledge is only held by our medicine makers and their identity is always a close kept secret. Keep in mind that not every group has one. Regardless, you shouldn't ask who our medicine maker is nor should you go looking for them. That is unless you don't mind experiencing a lot of pain." Her two companions looked nervous, especially Darzog. She had saved his son three days ago from a horrible illness that only effected young shifters and only medicine makers could cure it. Hence, she unintentionally became their medicine maker.

"That's something I didn't know," Dan said, "Last question, does your group have a medicine maker?" Audacious idiot. I literately just told him not to ask about the medicine maker and what does he do? He asks about it almost immediately after. Although, to be fair, it would be quickly apparent who our medicine maker is considering I'm already recognized as a healer.

Maxine glared at Dan before answering, "Whether we have one or not is none of your business. Also, you're lucky that I'm a very outgoing and peaceful shifter. Otherwise, you would've been maimed or killed just for asking about that. You might want to add that into whatever profile you have on shifters. Now, you best remain silent for the rest of the negotiations. Am I clear?" Dan paled and visibly gulped before he nodded vigorously.

Maxine mentally sighs and shakes her head. Seriously, who assigns someone a task like that to something like him? This guy is so new to this he doesn't know when to shut his mouth. Whoever assigned him was probably didn't have a lot of options and Dan was the best that they could find. Also, I need to report this as soon as possible. Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid and this won't result in this city getting invaded. I'm not that unlucky, am I? Oh shit. Did I just jinx myself? Wait, I think I need to say it out loud to jinx myself, so I should be safe. Right?