Realms of the Raven

Sorry for the delay - it’s been a heck of a week. Keep your fingers crossed for my kitty to recover.

(Archives are on the website, if you want to read the offerings of past weeks)

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Leather, Lace and Leaves
(c) 2008 by Maura Anderson

There had to be one hell of a joke playing out and Sabine not only didn’t get it, she seemed to be the butt of it.

It was almost too much to take in. The shop’s windows were swathed in what appeared to be a cross between a late Victorian bordello, a funeral parlor and a BDSM club. Heavy burgundy swags, complete with pom-poms dangling every inch, were offset by black lace sheers with studded leather tie-backs. The entire backdrop seemed to come from another universe than the delicate tea cups and saucers arranged on the leather-lined window display shelf.

Leather, Lace and Leaves.

“A goth tea house?” She shook my head in disbelief. “Only on Capital Hill.”

Maybe I just have the wrong address? She glanced down at today’s email on her cell phone. No such luck.

A girl dressed in layers of rustling black and red satin skirts and a leather corset brushed past her and proceeded to open the shop’s door without giving Sabine even a second glance. The scent of amber and cured leather in her wake made Sabine’s nose twitch. She was never going to get used to her new sense of smell.

Well, her symptoms were only getting more and more intense. Someone had to have an answer for her, no matter what kind of nutcase they seemed on the surface. Maybe this tip was the one that would give her the information she needed.

Out of habit, Sabine started to take a deep breath then remembered what had happened the last time. She’d coughed for an hour. Instead she settled for throwing her shoulders back and flung the shop door open, standing aside and praying to not be inundated with a tidal wave of “Eau d’Occult Shop”. Nag Champa made her eyes water now, in any concentration.

A shallow breath. Then a deeper one. Wow, for once she’d not fear passing out from breathing too shallowly. In fact, she liked the delicate aromas emanating from Leather, Lace and Leaves.

Entering the shop felt like she’d been dropped into a different world. The walls of the hostess area were lined with shelf after shelf of tea cups, all carefully arranged on their saucers. The riot of color and pattern was almost dizzying. The front of the lectern had a sign mounted on it, the beautiful copperplate script somehow not clashing with the black leather and studded mat that surrounded it.

Odder still was how she suddenly felt…normal. Normal in a way she’d thought gone forever. At peace. Comfortable. The tension seemed to flow from her in a rush. Even the ache through her shoulders seemed to disappear.

Sabine broke free of her amazement long enough to pay attention to the small sign on the top of the lectern that invited patrons to choose whichever cup suited their fancy. She began to examine the cups in detail, taking a few down to run her fingers along the rims and down the handles. One cup in particular called to her and she kept returning to it again and again. The delicate scene painted on the fluted cup fascinated her with its strange portrayal of what appeared to be a cat with fairy wings. Not at all like her normal slightly hippie, slightly geek style. Not that tea was her style either.

Why not use this one? Her mind finally made up, she took down the saucer that accompanied the cup and, as if signaled, the black velvet drape across the doorway-shaped opening opposite her parted and a tall, slender woman gracefully seemed to flow through the gap.

“Good afternoon. My name is Aliya. Welcome to my tea house.” Even her voice was relaxing with a musical quality Sabine couldn’t identify.

“I see you’ve chosen a cup. That’s not one that gets picked very often.” Aliya smiled slowly. “Are you here for a reading? Or for passage?”

“Passage?” Sabine struggled to make her mind focus again on what had seemed so urgent only a little while ago. “A friend of my family, Thomas Bedlam, said I should come here and ask if the owner could tell me anything about these strange episodes I’ve been having and all these changes in my body.”

“Oh dear. Where are your parents?” Aliya’s smile seemed to fade a little.

“Dead. They both died when I was in college.” Sabine fought against the desire to relax, to be soothed. She had to find some answers before she really went nuts and killed herself – or someone else.

Aliya reached up and tucked her jet black curls behind her ear, all the while watching her as if she was looking for something. Waiting for something. It wasn’t until Aliya lowered her hand that Sabine realized the other woman’s ear had quite a few dainty rings lined up along the outer edge – but that it was inhumanly pointed as well.