Chapter 135 Shapeshifters and Disguise.

  Ohhh deceit!

  The mother of all risks!

  The one behind every windfall

  Use her wisely.

  But not too much. Or she’ll take away all of your money.

  Kilako, the Golden Prince of Gains.

  “How do you feel about cutting and dying your hair, Mistress?” We’re in my chambers in front of my mirror. The murals on the wall feature the beautiful city below, completed by the window where paint mixes with reality.

  Jerro stands by the window, eyes glued to the city below. He leans on his wooden cane. His gray stained tunic is never clean, no matter how many times I asked the maids to clean it. I even catch a whiff of tomatoes. It’s just the gross way the man eats.

  Sharla wears my face and body with a grin, copied to the last minor detail. It’s as if I'm looking in the mirror behind me, without the opposite reflection the mirror gives. I raise my hand and expect her to raise the opposite hand like a mirror for a split second, yet, she doesn't move to match me. Seeing myself like this without any control over my reflection's movements just feels too alien.

  No. It's not me. It's her, faking her appearance to look like me.

  I remind myself again, yet, I can't help but look. Her long auburn hair falls on her back shoulders and chest in waves. Her gray upturned eyes narrow slightly with her smile. And her closed up red dress fits her slender body like a glove, hugging her lower curves. Her scarlet garment contrasts the azure blue I'm wearing.

  Somehow, she makes me look way more beautiful than I really am. I have no idea how she does this, because she's an exact copy of myself, and not a single line in my face or body is different. Yet, I don't feel so beautiful when I look in a mirror. I'm by no means ugly, but not overtly beautiful either.

  It's an odd sensation. I wish I could look perfect like that. Maybe a bigger chest too, but not too big. Just enough for an actual visible curve...

  I shudder. How easy it is for her to take my place? She did wear my form and order the maids around for her amusement before… “I can’t say I like the idea. I’d rather just hide down in the wine cellar with a good book, my grimoire, and meditation until you guys catch the assassin.”

  “That’s impossible,” Jerro says. "The Shaf of my Lord has a drawing of your image. We have to change your image and hide you like a tree in a forest. A crowded place such as the palace. But the cellars are not crowded.”

  Sharla raises her curved eyebrow, my eyebrow. Is this how I look when I do that? Awfully judgmental. “And what if someone sees you going down there and tells the assassins? Trust me, maids talk way more than they should. We’re going to have to change the way you look.”

  I fold my hands. “How much can you change my appearance? Just cutting my hair and dying it won’t hide me.”

  “Oh, leave that to me,” Sharla responds with a chuckle. Is that how I sound when I laugh?

  Her body and face slowly shift, tiny ripples visible under her skin. Her long auburn hair gets sucked into her scalp, now at shoulder length. Its color turns raven black. Her face goes through a series of slight changes. My high cheekbones disappear, or at least not as prominent. The eyes don't appear as upturned anymore. My brows turn darker and thicker, much thicker. The chin and jaw widen slightly, while her pale skin acquire a tan.

  I can barely recognize my own face, but the body changes too. Her chest grows by a few centimeters, her shoulders widen slightly, and she grows a tad bit taller.

  “What do you think?” she asks with a face similar to my own, yet different.

  “Can you really do all of that to me without your Fae magic?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

  “Why, of course! I wouldn’t suggest that if I couldn’t.” She snickers and pushes me to sit in the chair.

  “Wait. How exactly are you going to make me taller?” I ask. “It’s not like no one will see high heels…”

  She rolls her eyes in the same way I normally roll my eyes when someone asks something stupid. I have a feeling she’s already copying my habits. "You'd be surprised by how many people don't look down to check for heels, especially men, but no, I have another plan." She picks a pair of seemingly flat boots from her bag and shows me the hidden heel on the inside. “I’m going to add some stuffing to your shoulders and padding to your jugs. It’s not that complex. The makeup on your face is harder because you have to make sure not to cry or sweat for a day after I apply it.”

  “I see. Sharla, why would you learn all of this if you can simply shapeshift however you want?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

  She grins, her face and form shift back into my own. Do I really grin like that? This looks so evil... No wonder I terrify Berthold... “Sometimes you need to wear a mask on your mask. Sometimes you want people to notice your appearance is fake. Sometimes it's just fun to let people think they've exposed the real me behind the makeup. Wouldn't you agree?"

  "No. Not really? Why do you even enjoy something like that?"

  She rolls her eyes again. “By the monarchs, I have to remember how curious you are. You love your questions, don’t you?”

  I shrug. “I’m just asking what I’m curious about.”

  She shrugs, copying my gesture. Her slender shoulder moves in a way I'd think is actually attractive. Is it really attractive though? “So just let myself ask when I’m curious. Thanks.”

  I heave a sigh. “You know you don’t need to achieve perfection while copying me, right? It’s a little disturbing.”

  She heaves a similar sigh. “Oh yeah I can imagine, but I’m nothing if not a perfectionist. Let’s get started, shall we?” She turns my chair to face my silver mirror. I watch with horror as clumps of my hair fall all over my shoulders and chest. Sharla’s gray eyes—my own eyes in her face—are focused on her work, and she keeps tucking her auburn hair behind her sharp tipped ear in the same way I tend to do.

  “If you shapeshifted into me during autumn, would you be able to use my magic?” I ask.

  “It doesn’t work that way. I can use your natural abilities if you had any, such as a Drake’s Firebreath or a Wyvern's Poison Stinger. But I can’t exactly cast the arcane spells you’ve learned. I don’t shapeshift into you per se. I shift into a half elf, and shape myself to look like you. So I can't even copy your natural abilities because I have no idea what your Fae-Blood even is. Though I could get some Mind Reading abilities if I shift into a Rakshasa. It's also very limited to autumn. The closer we are to the middle of autumn the stronger I will get. It's still a little too early now for something such as a Drake or a Rakshasa, but I should manage a few fighting forms.”

  I observe my shorter hair. The shoulder length cut annoys me. Mainly because it feels like the sharp tip of my ears will be seen, but they’re still well covered behind my locks. “So you can’t shift into the hag and use her magic?”

  “Monarchs, no. I can make myself look like her. I can copy her manner of speech and behavior, but not cast her spells. If I could I wouldn’t have been here right now, would I?” She starts moving a brush with something wet in my hair, and my shorter hair takes a purplish tint.

  “Fair point,” I sigh. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  She sighs. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  I roll my eyes and watch her rolling them in the silver mirror. “Didn’t you say we couldn’t be friends?” I raise an eyebrow at her.

  “Are we friends now?” She raises an eyebrow, then picks some makeup tools and goes over my face. “Stay still…”

  “Brushing each other’s hair seems pretty friendly to me,” I let the sarcasm enter my voice.

  She shifts back into her Fae form and kneels at my side. “I’m so sorry, Mistress! I shouldn’t have indulged myself, please forgive me!” Just when I’m about to tell her not to do that, she giggles. “Sorry, I simply could not resist. This is delightful. You’re not feeding on my soul, and weirdly enough, you got over my betrayals. I wonder if you are capable of ignoring all of them. Anyway, I’m even having fun nowadays. Beats hanging back in Axero waiting for the day I die. Yeah, there’s no reason we can’t be friends if you still want us to be." She leans in close to my ear. I can feel her breath on my neck, and her scent enter my nostrils. A whiff of chestnuts and fresh mud after the rain. "Keep in mind," she whispers. "This girl still has a few secrets she keeps close to her chest, hmm?”

  “Such as the betrayals you've just hinted at? Are you ever going to tell me those secrets?”

  She shifts back into my own form with a mad sultry smile I never thought I could see on my own face. She traces her hand on my cheek and a thumb on my lips. “A girl can have her secrets. That’s why they’re secrets. I wouldn’t just tell you when you ask.” She goes back to applying the makeup and dyes to my face.

  “Can you shift into a man during autumn?” I wonder aloud. Just what are the autumn limitations?

  “Oh yeah, easily. Maybe I can even do that right now. Autumn is pretty close, let me try.” She stops applying my makeup and stands with a deep frown on her face." Is this how my frown looks? It contorts my face too much. A moment later Sharla wears Jerro’s shape down to the exact detail. “Yaaaaay! I made it! A few days and I can turn into a Drake too!” She exclaims with girlish excitement that doesn’t fit Jerro’s detached apathy.

  Jerro’s brown eyes nearly bulge out when he looks at her. She giggles and I join her. Jerro is way too cold for such an expression.

  Let’s tease him some… “Can you also have sex like this?” I ask.

  “Why, are you interested?”

  “Nah, just curious.” What if she takes Kolag’s form… I could finally feel what it'd be like without that damned armor... His actual warm hands on my skin... And his actual snake without all the... I feel the heat flushing my face. Then what? She still isn’t Kolag… It won’t be real. I’d rather have the real Kolag.

  “Yeah, of course I can. I’ve got all the right parts.” She takes off her pants.

  I cover my eyes instantly. “I really don’t want to see that. Thank you!”

  “I think I should leave,” Jerro comments stoically and steps out of the room.

  She chuckles and shifts back into my form, her clothes turn into the exact copy of my blue velvet dresses. She covers her eyes and blushes in the same way I do. “I really don’t want to see that. Thank you!”

  My cheeks turn hotter. “Do I really look like that?”

  “Yeah.” She goes back to applying my makeup.

  “I look horrible…”

  She pushes my chair back and looks into my eyes with my own gray eyes. “You're being silly. You don’t look horrible. I don't know why you're so detached from your own looks, but you’re actually beautiful. Nothing stunning like an actual elf, but you look really good. Better than most human women."

  I shrug. "I don't know what magic you use to make me look beautiful, but it's not what I see when I normally look in the mirror." This is clearly a magical effect of some kind...

  She keeps applying makeup to my face with a steady hand. "That's not magic. That's your own assumptions and expectations, hmm? The vision people have of themselves of how attractive they are is always skewed. Some think they're more attractive than they actually are, others, like you, tend to think they're less attractive than they truly are. At the end, the only real judge on such matters is the people who see us. Or someone neutral and immortal like me who's invested in beauty such as myself. Trust my judgment here, ok?"

  Or maybe it's psychological? She has a point. There's only one real physical argument here... "What about my chest?" I ask when her hand moves to the upper side of my face, dying my eyebrows.

  "What about it? You have no idea how many men wouldn't care and some even find it even more attractive. I changed into a flat girl to seduce a man more than once."

  She can't be serious! "You're just lying to make me feel good..."

  "Why would I do that? You think I give a flying snake about how you feel? The only feelings that I'd ever care for is pity or lust toward me, anything else is bland. Like I've said, I'm a neutral immortal who's invested in beauty, trust my judgment here, hmm? I’ve seen some skyblessed women, and I've seen the most rotten ones out there. You’re way above average. If we compare you to a human, you're very attractive. If we compare you to an elf, you're just a little below average."

  She turns my chair and observes my face. She nods to herself and shifts her body and face into a plain looking woman. Her tiny brown eyes are too far from one another, and her nose is far too big for her face. “Now this girl has a real struggle. And this.” The next face changes back into my form but with acid burns.

  I flinch. I don't even want to be reminded of that!

  “Not everyone can heal from something like that, you know. You’re quite lucky.” She stands and shifts into a taller, busty, red haired woman, with a perfect figure, a stunning face, and a pair of long sharp ears. “Now, this is a young elf, but not everyone gets to be created by the goddess of beauty, hmm?” Now that's actually attractive.

  She shifts back into me, and only now I notice a few elven features on my face, mainly the upturned eyes. I guess she’s not wrong… I didn’t mean that I look bad, just that I look horrible blushing like that… But it’s nice to get some validation for my looks regardless… And I should just keep lying to myself about having insecurities at all... Yeah, that'll be useful... ugh... fine! “Thank you,” I smile, my face staying rather warm. Why the vain interest in my looks again? Why does it bother me so much, I don't need good looks to survive. I'm no longer just surviving and I'm starting to have other needs. It's a good sign.

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  She shrugs in the same manner I normally do. “Don’t mention it. Nearly every human girl I’ve met and even some Fae girls feel uncomfortable about their looks. Except for elves. Those rotten jars look good and they know it. They also snatch anyone with a snake in the nearest area. Male elves are worse. And elves mainly target humans since they can stand human aesthetics, unlike most of the other races. At least they’re honest about their relationships, they might make someone cheat on their spouse, but they won’t cheat on you.” She applies wide strokes with a brush to my cheeks.

  "Have you met any elves?"

  "Plenty. Elves have very high standards for attractiveness. It's something that has to do with their innate psychology. I wouldn't be in a hurry to blame your elven heritage for the reason you find your looks lacking, plenty of human women have the same trait, but your elven blood might be adding fuel to that fire. I won't rule that out." She moves to brush my forehead.

  "So elves need to be attractive and vain as a part of their nature?" Would explain all the beautiful elf pictures in books...

  "It's more than that. Elves associate beauty with morality. We talked about this on the way to Apricot City. Elves loose their looks if they commit a crime. It shaped their culture to judge people based on their looks. You don't need me to tell you how elves get along with orcs for example, and the horrors orcs inflict on anyone they deem weak only justifies the elven skewed view of the world. To an elf, beauty is justice." She finishes with my forehead and moves to my eyelids.

  Is my obsessions with looks in my blood then? No. Plenty of humans care about their looks, I can't just blame my elven blood. And even if it is, it's a part of me I'll have to accept.

  Sharla gets me to take off my dress and teaches me how to apply the stuffing.

  "It'd still be nice to have some chest," I note.

  "I don't think you've reached full maturity yet with your Faeblood, not to mention your elven side. This might change in a few years. Besides, Rakshasa are shapeshifters. You might inherit that ability when you fully mature.”

  That's an interesting thought... But it's irrelevant at the moment, I still can't do it and not sure I'll ever be able to. Of course I will, Balusha had some shapeshifting magic, why can't I have it or get someone to help me with that? Once I get my hands on the shapeshifting magic Balusha has, I'll do something about this for sure! "You're right. I will be capable of shapeshifting like you in the future and it won't bother me as much. How does it feel like? To be able to change your looks in any way you want?"

  "Amazing! But never forget what you originally looked like, it's a major part of your identity. Once you've gone through all the shapes and forms possible, it's always nice to go back to my own skin. I've known others of my kind who... forgot. They're miserable. Trust me on that." She brings a maid uniform from the nearby wardrobe.

  “Wait, do you want to dress me as a maid?” I ask.

  “Got a better idea?” She grins at me. “No one will know. Kolag will introduce you tomorrow to Tasyia as a new girl looking for work. I bet even Taisya won’t recognize you.”

  I look at myself in the mirror. I do look different. But it’s still me and: “What about my voice?”

  “Change it a little? Raise the pitch or lower it? Not that hard, hmm?”

  “But I don’t exactly think about it.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Then think about it. Or just get yourself to be excited all the time, your voice will get higher on its own. It'll also give some personality to your act. Monarchs, you're so repressed, I've never seen you get properly excited like you should for your age.”

  I shrug. “No time for excitement with what I've had to deal with and I can’t just fake excitement.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “Why not? Most girls have to fake excitement at some point in their lives, not everyone gets to blast their way around with magic.”

  I roll my eyes. “But I…”

  “And stop rolling your eyes. I can tell it’s you just because of how you’re doing that.” She rolls her eyes theatrically a few times. "Stop thinking of everyone else as stupid. You don't need this pointless arrogance right now, especially not as a maid.

  “Most of those maids don’t know me well enough to recognize my habits.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “Is that so? Most of those maids see you every day.”

  “You take this way too seriously, Sharla. I’m not you, I’m not a shapeshifter. It doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if one of the maids recognizes me? She’ll stay quiet about it.”

  Sharla places her hand on her chest, changing her mannerisms entirely into an acidic highborn woman like my stepmother. “Oh my~ I didn't realize you were a naive little girl. I thought you've went through indiginities that would cause one such as me to faint. Allow me to educate you. The maids see and hear things you can’t possibly imagine. No one of note pays attention to the servants, and they are by far the best spies around. Trust your neutral immortal on this, hmmm?”

  I cross my hands. “Then why a maid? Why throw me into a group of the best spies around? Why can’t I just go stay at an inn or something? Less chance to run into someone who’ll recognize me.”

  She crosses her hands and leans back, going back to copying me. “You know what? You’re right. Go stay at a tavern for a week or two, just until we catch the next assassin. I don’t have to tell you to use an alias, do I?”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m not that naive. Call Jerro back in, we’ll ask if it’s a good idea.”

  Jerro enters the room before I finish my sentence. “Go for a stroll around the city, tour it for an hour, then go to the Queen’s Rest Tavern. Stay in the tavern for the duration of a week. Do not leave, and do not expose your identity even if the inn is on fire and people start dying all around you. Do not expose your identity no matter what.”

  I raise an eyebrow. "People dying around me is a possibility?"

  "A strong one," he replies.

  “The Queen’s Rest? Who even came up with that name?” I ask.

  Sharla shrugs. “Ask the owner. It’s newly built at the eastern side of town, near the docks and the slum.”

  “You mean the harbor district. It’s no longer a slum, Kolag cleaned the place up,” I note.

  Sharla rolls her eyes in a way that I’m already too tired of seeing. “It’s still a slum. Just better and brighter, and people probably won’t starve to death during winter. Just ask around, you’ll find it. I’ll let Kolag know about the change in plans. It’s better that you won’t be seen by too many people. Leave early in the morning tomorrow, when everyone is asleep.”

  “How about I turn invisible?” I ask Sharla with a grin.

  “That would be ideal,” Jerro notes.

  I did plan on learning an invisibility spell for a while now... It's a utility spell that I do need. I open my newly unlocked grimoire and place a hand on an empty page. I need a spell that makes me invisible.

  Wassho’s invisibility

  Names: Wassho’s invisiblity, Invisiblity.

  Element: Light

  Sub element: Light

  Level: 1

  Words: Revatol revisoroar, revatol revisarisoroar, sorev revisoroshak takoar tokari atrevi. Saja atakesh to Revisorserini.

  Translation: Spirits of light, spirits of truth, shine hidden light of yours upon me. Eternal darkness to the lightless.

  Quicken: Revisor, sorev revisoroshak tokari atrevi.