The king entered, the queen holding his hand. The first thing that the king Daen the First noticed was the smell of cinnamon. Lilian, his queen, his wife, his love, led him forth into this room filled with red, silky curtains, and cushioned furniture. The heavy wooden door closed behind them on their own, sealing his commitment to this idea.
He paused, dragging her lightly back. "Are you sure about this, Lily?" He asked, looking into her brown eyes that reflected the lamplight.
"I told you, honey," she whispered, "there's nothing to be afraid of. I've done this many times. No one will find out. It's all for fun." She still paused and took a step closer, putting her soft hand on his beard. The colour of her skin almost perfectly matching its brown hue. "Love? If you are uncomfortable about this, we can still leave."
This was his chance. He knew it. His heart pounding in fear of the unknown. He'd been on countless battlefields in his life, so why was this one the scariest. It might've been because there he wore a set of steel armour. Here, he had only a commoner's clothes. He shook his head. "I gave you my word, didn't I?" He smiled at her, kissing her hand.
Instead of answering, she took another step towards him and kissed him. Her soft lips on his, washing away the world for a short moment. Just the smell of her perfume and cinnamon remained. She broke the kiss with a light chuckle, her breath on his lips. "You'll enjoy it. I promise."Β She whispered.
He smiled back, putting his pale hand on her cheek. Nodding, he said simply, "wherever you'll go, I'll follow."
"Look at you." She said, poking his chest playfully, "almost as brave as the night we've met."
They both chuckled as she grasped his hand once again and moved through the silky curtains.
A few seconds later, he finally saw her, the silhouette of the Mistress. Even though he'd never seen her, he knew it was her instantly. The curled horns breaking the shape of what one would expect from a human. Lilian lifted the last curtain, revealing the Mistress in her whole, devilish beauty.
She stood there, fingering a beautifully decorated knife. She was dressed only in her panties, her nipples shinning with the bright jewellery that pierced through them. As his eyes travelled up her slender, red body, he stopped at her grin that revealed the predatory sharp teeth. A long, forked tongue slithered out and licked her dark lips, her almost completely black eyes fixated on Lilian. Dozens of golden chains connected her two horns behind her short black hair.
"Ah," She moaned, "the regular has returned." She looked at Daen, taking a step forward, the jewellery on her chest and horns clinking. "And who did she bring to my den with her?" The black eyes sized him up and down. Stopping at his eyes, she smirked and bowed. "My king. I was wondering when the day would come. Are you here for business or pleasure?" She said, the knife in her hand puffing into smoke, instead a handful of gold appearing in its place. "I can reassure you I pay my taxes." With a chuckle, she let the gold fall to the ground where it puffed into smoke as soon as it touched the red carpet. The small black cloud got waved off by her thin tail that she kept hidden until now.
Lilian was about to speak for him, but he raised his hand. He gave her his word after all. "I didn't know this place was owned by a succubus."
The Mistress smiled, "it's what we live for after all."
The king nodded. "I suppose. Anyway, to your second question. No business here tonight, only pleasure."
"Ah!" She hopped, clapping her hands. "Wonderful! Well, what shall it be tonight? Are you looking for an experience with a different species than your own? Perhaps a threesome with a mimic? Shapeshifters are also very popular with people these days. Especially with people that like mirrors." She winked at him.
"I think we'll go with the usual," Lilian said, putting her hand on Daen's chest. "For the start."
"Ah. Wonderful indeed. You're in luck, we have a minotaur attending tonight."
"A... Minotaur?" Lilian gasped.
The king opened his mouth to ask something, anything, but he literally had no idea what to expect. He saw a minotaur before. A giant beast, half-bull, half-human, decimating his troops with furious rage. It seemed as if the gods themselves wouldn't be able to stop such a thing.
"Mhm." The Mistress mused. "A rare visit from the East. I'm sure you can both enjoy it if you wish to do so." She took a step towards Lilian and whispered in her ear, loud enough for Daen to hear as well. "The legends are true about this one." She then winked at the king again as she stepped back. "Anyway, let us not delay any further, shall we?" She turned around, revealing her tail completely. It slithered behind her leg like a snake.
A wooden drawer, decorated with true craftsmanship materialised out of nowhere. Was this another illusion? The king was intrigued, finding himself trying to peer over the Mistress' shoulder as she searched through it.
"There it is." She said, lifting up a small, glass pen, its tip dripping with ink. "Anonymity is our foundation. Everyone gets to have their face and voice hidden, unless they decide otherwise, of course."
Lilian stepped forward. Her confident steps revealed she'd gone through this many times before. The Mistress smiled and put a black dot on Lilian's cheek. Black smoke poured out of it, covering her face, before it formed into an elegant mask that covered the top of her face, black feathers sprouting at the sides. The Mistress then stepped towards the king, who gave the pen a cautious look.
"So, how does this work?" He asked, curious and a bit uncertain.
"Ah, this, it's my essence. A speciality of our establishment, you could say. Once applied, your face is shrouded in a spell. Anyone you allow it to, will be able to see your face and hear your voice." She said as her face changed and formed a mask as well, her voice changing as if of a different woman. The pitch became slightly off, the tone different. "And those you don't want to, will see just a mask they can never take off from you."
The king frowned in thought. A dangerous thing, these illusions. "If one can create a mask like this, could they pose as someone else?" He asked out loud.
"Oh? Is that what a king would like?" The Mistress chuckled. "No, it's either a mask or nothing. Imagine how scandalous would it be if you could put on a face of anyone in the kingdom."